How to Successfully Craft an Event Technology Experience
The 2024 M&IW Summit, Meetings & Incentives Worldwide’s signature event, showcased a variety of innovative event technologies, including AI-driven technologies such as express check-in, testimonials with sentiment tracking, and more. When it comes to changing the status quo, bringing in new tech can be challenging and sometimes even scary, but there are ways to make the process easier and ensure a successful end result.
As part of the M&IW Summit, M&IW’s Chip Begley, Director of Event Technology & Production, and Kimberly Stone, Vice President of Event Technology, led a breakout session exploring those best practices. While their session focused specifically on the technology used at the Summit, their top six recommendations have a broad application, making them relevant to any event.
Six Best Practices for Implementing Event Technology
1. Keep Strategy Top of Mind
To ensure your technology build is the right approach for your event, always keep strategy top of mind. Today’s event tech has so many features that it’s easy to get stuck trying to decide what to use for the desired user experience (UX). And if you spend too much time trying to make that decision, you won’t have the time you need to properly build and deliver that UX.
The solution for this is to constantly ask yourself, “What is the goal?” This question will always bring clarity, especially when posed to the broader event team. A high-level, strategic view helps you narrow down which features to leverage. Don’t add features just because you can, especially when working with a compressed timeline. Ensure they always have a purpose and benefit the attendee experience.
2. Thoroughly Document Requirements
Another best practice that is especially helpful when working with new tech or a compressed timeline is to thoroughly document the technology requirements. This helps minimize risk when changes inevitably occur.
This isn’t just about keeping records. It’s about creating a comprehensive guide to every technology used that can be referenced by all parties. Think of it as a roadmap guiding the event team through the maze of features and keeping everyone on the same page and aware of the latest information. When changes are requested or challenges arose, this documentation helps everyone adapt and communicate
3. Never Lose Sight of the User Experience
As fun as it is to play around with new event tech, it’s important to remember that at the end of the day, its purpose is to facilitate meaningful attendee experiences. If it’s too difficult or confusing to understand, people simply won’t use it, which doesn’t benefit the overall event strategy.
Also, while it might be easier to build or set up tech one way, that doesn’t always mean it’s easier or better for the user. A positive UX is always the end goal. Sometimes, it takes more time to achieve that, but you can build that into your timeline from the start to reap the UX rewards.
4. Embrace the Challenges
No one wants to run into challenges when setting up your technology, but it’s bound to happen. Shift your mindset from the start so you don’t view them as obstacles but rather as opportunities for growth and development. By learning to embrace challenges, you also learn to be resilient, push creativity, and drive results—lessons that can benefit all aspects of your professional and personal life.
5. Be Realistic About Time
As much as you may want to, you can’t create more time. That’s why it’s important to have strong time management skills and create realistic timelines. Without proper time allocation for each phase of the event tech process—scoping, training, development, and testing—the project risks delays and inefficiencies. Giving each phase the time and attention it needs guarantees success.
Time will also likely drive some of your feature and UX decisions. You may need to set more time-intensive ideas aside for next year, especially when working with a compressed timeline. Looking across your goals and desired UX and being realistic about time gives you the complete picture to make your decisions on what to build.
6. Be Creative with Technologies
Whether using a new event technology or one that’s tried and true, get creative with it! Be open to new ideas and willing to see how tech can be incorporated or integrated into something larger. “Rinse and repeat” thinking means missing out on new opportunities and innovations, which doesn’t benefit anyone. You should still keep strategy in mind, but reimagine how to fulfill those goals in new ways. You (and your attendees) may be surprised at the possibilities that exist.
The Future of Event Technology
Gone are the days of filling an event with countless types of tech to appear as modern as possible. Today, it’s about using technology strategically to enhance attendee engagement and the overall experience. Contact us to learn more about how M&IW can help you reimagine your approach to event technology. Already an M&IW customer? Contact your Customer Success Manager.
Interested in joining the M&IW team? View our open positions.
Contributors
Chip Begley
Director, Event Technology & Production
Meetings & Incentives Worldwide, Inc.
Kimberly Stone
Vice President, Event Technology
Meetings & Incentives Worldwide, Inc.