With the pandemic showing no signs of abating, the event tech boom is continuing to transform the way virtual and in-person gatherings are planned and experienced, as well as the way event professionals are skilling up. Check out some of the latest developments.  

yellobox

As the world gets back to in-person events, yellobox is persuading event professionals to think outside the box. The startup, which is the brainchild of tech entrepreneur Laurence Moore, launched in 2019 as a tool to seamlessly blend data sharing, digital marketing and lead-capture for in-person events into one opt-in interaction, without the reliance on a mobile app or the need for physical elements such as badges and paper marketing materials.

The company took advantage of the pandemic downtime to make enhancements that benefit event organizers and attendees alike.  

“We have bolstered our technology, made improvements to both our hardware and software and streamlined processes both internal and external,” Moore explained. “We’ve taken the time granted to feed in to our continuously improving business offering and ensure that we’re better placed than ever to serve the events industry the ultimate in data, customer insights and customer experiences.”

The technology works with a small yellobox placed at the entrance of an event and on each exhibitor stand, and each attendee wears a yellow wristband or carries a yellow card in place of a badge. Individuals can share their info with exhibitors by “tapping in” to the box to opt in for communications and content. This allows attendees to retrieve relevant content on-demand more easily and quickly and enjoy a more streamlined event experience overall.

Event organizers can access real-time and post-event attendee analytics, low-cost and easy content production and distribution, increased engagement features, increased lead conversion and greater exhibitor and attendee retention with the potential for increased revenues throughout. 

MeetingPlay 

MeetingPlay, one of the pioneers in creating innovative solutions for in-person, virtual and hybrid events, launched a newly augmented app designed to enable planners to streamline events, further engage attendees and provide greater value to vendors.

“Strong mobile conference app technology lifts the experience for everyone from the planner and the attendees to the vendors, and that’s what drove the development of our advanced mobile app,” said MeetingPlay Founder and CEO Joe Schwinger. “Our newly designed app is feature-rich and has even more tools to activate attendee engagement and promote personalization, the real currencies for events.”

MeetingPlay’s new mobile app creates a unified user experience, increases attendee engagement and provides a strong return on investment for sponsors. New features bridge the gap between in-person and virtual attendees during hybrid events, create a safe in-person experience and allow virtual attendees to join sessions directly from their mobile device instead of their desktop. 

Key features include:

• Fast-Pass Check-In through facial recognition for seamless entry and safety when in-person
• Agenda Management to effectively manage time and scheduling throughout the event
• Advanced AI Networking with 1-on-1 video chat between attendees
• Session Scanning to track attendee engagement and interaction
• Go Live Function that allows speakers and exhibitors to stream live to a virtual audience from their phone
• Real-Time Polling, Chat, Vote-up Q+A, Gamification, Networking and Matchmaking for increased attendee interaction and engagement
• Identify and Capture Leads and Access to Lead Data in Real-Time for sponsors to easily see the ROI

JUNO

JUNO, a software company that connects and educates people in virtual environments, debuted Launch U, a modern learning experience for event and hospitality professionals. 

Launch U features micro courses that include video interviews with industry leaders, short articles and thoughtful questions to promote personal and professional growth. 

“These leaders have a lot to share,” said Josh Hotsenpiller, founder and CEO of JUNO. 

“In this time of uncertainty, we hope people will find ideas within Launch U to prepare them for the future and help launch them into the next phase of their careers.”

Seven courses are currently live on the site, including Equipping Organizations for Change with Robb Lee of ASAE, Pivoting your Livelihood with Cindy Lo of Red Velvet events and Life Always Changes: Change With It with Mike Irwin of Bottle Rocket Advisors.

Aventri and Brandlive 

Organizers can bring the magic of television to virtual and hybrid events via a new partnership between Aventri, an event management software company, and Brandlive, a video solutions platform. 

The partnership combines Aventri’s all-in-one virtual and hybrid event platform with Brandlive’s patent-pending video production software, Greenroom.

“This partnership deepens our ability to serve customers in their ambitions to host the most engaging events in the industry,” said Kurt Chessman, vice president, corporate development and strategy at Aventri. 

Brandlive provides TV-like show production across live, pre-recorded and mixed formats in vivid 1080-pixel HD.

"The key to having a great event is content that will blow attendees away and keep them engaged before, during and after the event," said Sam Kolbert-Hyle, Brandlive CEO. "We’re invested in supporting partners like Aventri to help all their customers create content experiences worth watching, truly unlike anything they've ever seen." 

Earlier this month, Brandlive launched the next generation of Greenroom, which puts a complete virtual video production studio in the cloud and at organizers’ fingertips. 

Greenroom features that are now available on the Aventri platform include:

• Showboard, a timeline-style display that allows organizers to manage the show’s flow and make real-time adjustments.
• Showbuilder, a drag-and-drop tool to build shows in advance, including pre- and post-stream media, shot layouts, product notes and cues.
• Producer and Backstage Comms, which allows organizers and presenters to speak with each other without fear that their audio is being heard by the audience.
• Presenter tools that ensure speakers can view notes and teleprompters, drive their own slides, images, gifs and videos, share their screens and create mixed playlists of slides and video content.  

The partnership with Brandlive comes on the heels of Aventri’s Virtual Events 2.0 premier in April. The new digital platform features a networking suite that brings like-minded attendees together through artificial intelligence-driven matchmaking and smart recommendations.

In April, Aventri also unveiled a new version of its mobile app, retooled to support hybrid events. 

Intrado and Interprefy

Intrado Digital Media, a cloud-based global technology company, has enhanced its multilingual capabilities through a partnership with Interprefy, a cloud-based interpretation solutions company. 

Through the alliance, real-time audio interpretation is now available in 26 languages on Intrado Digital Media’s webcasting platform, Studio. 

“Event planners and organizers all over the world are thinking of new ways to integrate the virtual and in-person event model, including content delivery, to a dispersed global audience in multiple languages,” said Ben Chodor, president of Intrado Digital Media. “Integrating Interprefy into our webcasting solution will enable our clients to expand their global reach and deliver seamless webcasting experiences for their attendees, regardless of location.”

Interprefy’s cloud-based software was built for interpreters to deliver their services without needing to be on-site, making it a cost-effective, flexible solution to reach global audiences in their preferred language in real-time via desktop or mobile, and on-demand or post-event replay.

“As organizations around the world continue to communicate and engage virtually, the need to provide live language interpretation has significantly increased,” said Richard Roocroft, director of global sales at Interprefy. “Interprefy’s multilingual capabilities help drive engagement and foster inclusivity.”

Interprefy’s managed interpretation experience seamlessly integrates with Intrado Digital Media’s webcasting solution, providing users with language options to overlay as audio tracks on video presentations and the ability to select different interpreted slide presentation formats.