EventMarketer EventTech 2013 took place at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, and it was my first time attending any Event Marketer event. I had the opportunity to attend a number of different sessions, as well as speak. The topic I spoke about was: “Analyze, Synthesize, Maximize: Measuring Digital Experiences”. Data and Analytics have always been a focus of mine since studying economics at RIT. Overall it was encouraging to see many other speakers give talks with a similar message: That using data to improve your event efforts can significantly increase your ROI.
I think there were two unique things about my talk. I used three Helios projects as case studies. I dove deeper into what to do with the data once you have it. One of the weaknesses of some other data talks were that they were simply too abstract and philosophical. Almost every speaker encouraged gathering data mostly to be used in a larger marketing effort. Conversely, my talk focused on using data to improve the experience to better meet your goals. I was a bit disappointed by the lack of actual data and metrics presented as part of the other presentations, but there were definitely some valuable takeaways. Below are a few of interesting sessions I attended.
When I was first persuaded to speak at EventTech I wasn’t sure I’d find the content appealing. I tend to stick to more artist/creative conferences like Eyeo, or FITC. But EventTech was filled with studios similar to Helios. It’s always a good idea to get multiple perspectives on the same problem all of us are trying to solve: creating impactful digital experiences for our clients.
Interesting Sessions
BE HONEST WITH US: DOES YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA SUCK?
It’s always interesting to see what our partners FISH are up too and see their progression as a company. In the past FISH has primarily been thought of as the RFID integration arm of any event but their social capabilities have really caught up in the past year or so. A quick sneak peak at their analytics dashboards shows lots of effort going towards their event sharing backend service.
WIRING THE FOOTPRINT: TECH SELECTION AND CONTENT
Presented by Chad Willis of Sprint & Michael Verlatti of JHE Production Group
This talk provided a really insightful view on what’s possible with such a high-visibility activation. JHE’s production’s approach having content on kiosks that updates in real-time. I had a chance to speak with Chad after the talk and his insight was refreshing to hear. I asked him: “Why is there a focus on real-time? How are you using the data, and how short is that feedback loop?”. His response was excellent: he mentioned that in the older days before real-time analytics their team would always have to wait until the end of the day to know whether they were successful or not. Now with technology they can see the trend ahead of time and make corrective action. The other interesting tidbit is that they still struggle with providing ROI on a large, jumbotron display. But they are working hard to quantify it’s impact.
ROI CHAT: THE 3 TYPES OF MEASUREMENT THAT MATTER
Presented by Ben Grossman of Jack Morton Worldwide
Ben Grossman’s delivery on measurement for events was effective and concise. He broke down the types of data and who it really matters too. I’m always cautious of capturing too much data to muddy the analysis but the same can be said for the report. In Ben’s view the three types of measurement that matter are:
Return on Investment is calculating that there was more value added and it was a sound investment. This kind of data is often more useful to the C level type executives. Key Performance Indicators is measuring the key metrics that will determine whether the event is meeting it’s goals. This information is more important to senior marketing. Insight is what often includes extraneous information like demographics or age breakdown. This information is most sought after by marketing teams so they can plan their next events optimized for their particular audience and demographic.
SOCIAL MEDIA-DRIVEN SPORTS SPONSORSHIP ACTIVATIONS
Presented by Dave Brown of MKG
Dave had a refreshingly energetic presentation from most of the speakers. MKG’s approach to leverage social media influencers proved to be extremely cost effective and also engaging with emerging artists. The case studies showed elucidated the power of social media to reach larger audiences.