Simon on: ITCM - Make event apps a necessity not a novelty

As a nation of smartphone users we spend on average more than 43 hours each month accessing content via apps – so it’s easy to see why the events industry wants in on the power of mobile.

But when it comes to event apps there seems to be a few problems – said applications are ephemeral in nature and of the ones I’ve comes across, lack a clear purpose and benefit to the user.

So how do organisers transform event apps from a novelty into a necessity?

To find out, read the whole article featured on ITCM by clicking here.

Simon on: Data security in events

I know I bang on about data security a lot but it really is a subject that doesn’t get taken seriously enough.

I do believe that event websites are less likely to be targeted because of the short term nature of registration websites - that isn’t an excuse for not doing everything you possibly can to protect your data though.

Very recently a healthcare company in the US had a data breach and were sued by their customers. The healthcare company’s insurance paid out $4.1m in compensation, but an investigation revealed that the healthcare company had not done enough to secure their data and so the insurance company demanded the money be repaid.

Another recent study found that for the first time ever, bots are generating more traffic on the internet than people. A bot is an automated process that gathers information – Google use them to index web pages but criminal gangs are now using the same technology to look for personal information.

Our data is an important asset which needs to be protected. You wouldn’t leave your home or office unlocked when there’s nobody there so why leave your online information up for grabs?

Originally published in Conference News

Simon on: Tech for tech's sake

Despite various claims from the experts that wearables will be a game-changer in the meetings industry, it would seem the tech continues to struggle to make an impact.

We’ve seen Google Glass be taken back to the drawing board after mankind refused to become a nation of glassholes, and now, even the mighty Apple has fallen foul in the smartwatch stakes. Its new wrist wearable fails to work on tattooed skin – sorry inked delegates, looks like you’ll have to get your notifications the old fashioned way on your phone.

Smartbands like the Myo which controls a presenter’s slides with a series of arm swipes and gestures is only going to unnerve a speaker, as well as leave room for more technical issues to arise.

So why are experts hell-bent on hailing wearables as the next big thing? Well, to me it is simply a case of tech for tech’s sake.

There still hasn’t been any real proof that wearable tech benefits the industry. Why? Because deep down in the realms of common sense we know that all the industry actually needs is great content and great speakers.

Originally published in Conference News

Simon on: ITCM - Aerial drones at events

The first consumer drone event, the UK Drone Show 2015 is set to take place at the NEC in Birmingham this December, as radio-controlled aircraft continue to capture public interest.

But a lack of understanding and unawareness of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) regulations has led to hobbyists running the risk of breaking the law.

When it comes to events, we've seen accidents occur and several demonstrations of how not to fly a drone - FOX & Friends anybody?

So the question is, do drones have a place in the events industry? Read the whole article, featured on ITCM, by clicking here.

Simon on: The Meetings Show - Five things to get right in 2015

We're already a third of the way through a new year, and as January 1 rolled around, many a tech expert gave their view on the 'next big things' to watch out for in 2015.

But what really irks me is that the events industry can't seem to get the basics right, let alone be worrying about new annual trends to adopt.

So, I've listed the top five basics the industry needs to get right this year - the next big things can wait until 2016.

Read the whole article, featured on The Meetings Show, by clicking here.

Simon on: Technology and presentations

Since the start of another new year, we’ve seen industry experts give their opinions on what will be the tech trends to watch out for. However, some just seem to be throwing the latest gadgets into the events space for fun.

For example, the comment from the Jan/Feb issue regarding the Myo wearable armband, which will give presenters the opportunity to control slides, sound effects and visual effects with the sweep of an arm, simply struck me as misguided to say the least.

The average company bod making a presentation often struggles to press the right button to move their PowerPoint on one frame. Ask them to use slides, sound effects and visual effects, and they’ll be in real trouble – tell them they must control it all by waving their arms and some of them will freak out completely.

This is what’s becoming a classic case of tech for tech’s sake. To me, it seems totally pointless – there is nothing wrong with the wireless tools which are pressed once per slide, especially when you consider outstanding presenters like Hans Rosling use said standard clickers.

Some presenters would even go as far as to say that computers are temperamental enough. I imagine Martin Lewis (managing editor of this magazine) would agree with me, given that the last time I saw him presenting, his computer aide wasn’t playing properly – so adding another technological risk into the mix with a wearable seems just plain daft.

According to Myo creators, ThalmicLabs, the armband is claimed to let your content shine and leaves your anxiety behind knowing that you are in control thanks to its intuitive gesture controls. Waving left takes the presenter to the previous slide, a wave to the right jumps to the next.

But even Oliver Richardson of DB Systems who made the original comment, stated that with the Myo, ‘perfecting the right movements takes getting used to.’ When you pair that with the findings from a recent study conducted by human behaviour research lab, Science of People, the Myo seems even more of a ridiculous addition.

The study looked into the science behind TED talks, or more specifically, what makes them so popular. Half of the participants watched the videos with sound, half watched them muted before rating each speaker.

A correlation was found between the number of views on a TED talk and the number of hand gestures – the most popular videos had an average of 7 million views with speakers using an average of 465 hand gestures. The least popular talks had an average of 124,000 views with speakers on average using 272 hand gestures.

These natural hand gestures would surely include swiping side to side, so if the TED speakers incorporated the Myo into their presentations, they’d run the risk of jumping through their slides – not exactly the way to win over an audience.

The findings also showed that speakers who use their hands to illustrate and reinforce ideas came across as relaxed, confident and authoritative – something that would surely be lost if the speaker had to focus using gestures to control their presentation.

Originally published in M&IT

Simon on: ITCM - Low-cost spherical photography is a benefit

Meeting room at the Brooklands Hotel - Spherical Image - RICOH THETA

Spherical photography has moved into the mainstream thanks to digital technology, with even the smallest of businesses adopting the trend.

But can a 360-degree view of a room really benefit the meetings industry? I think it should - any venue with meeting rooms for hire can benefit from giving potential clients the ability to look around.

As for meeting planners, being able to see spaces in their entireties provides huge advantages at the researching stage.

Read the whole article, featured on ITCM, by clicking here.