Many of us will find this scenario familiar: you’re at a great event, discovering the latest trends, and gathering learnings to take back to your team. And then the networking hour arrives. A room full of strangers where each and every one could become your next best connection. If only it wasn’t so daunting to strike up that first conversation…
Event networking is extremely valuable. Meeting peers in person is what draws 76 percent of us to live events. But for many, it can be a fraught experience — especially when done solo.
That’s why we advocate for using event networking technology to simplify the process and leveraging data to ensure attendees meet the right people. The ultimate objective is to close the gap between the networking objectives your attendees have when they register for your event, and the reality of walking into that sea of strangers’ faces.
Let’s take a look at two partners — Braindate and TurnoutNow — that use innovative technology to do that and how Eventbase can help by bringing people together through the event app.
Braindate: Putting attendees in the driver's seat
Braindate by e180 facilitates a new, deeper kind of networking based on the issues that matter to attendees. The Braindate solution is built on the belief that the humans who surround us already have the knowledge that we seek to propel our own projects forward. All we're missing is a way to share this knowledge.
How does it work?
Event managers integrate the Braindate platform, a web app, directly into their event app. Attendees post “braindate topics” that they want to discuss at the event to the platform’s topic market. These might be influenced by the event’s agenda, but each session will take its own unique direction.
Other attendees review the topic market, choose a conversation, and schedule meetings directly through Braindate—either one-on-one or in groups up to five. Events have a dedicated Braindate Lounge, where e180’s team of professional hosts greet attendees and introduce them to their braindates.
For sponsors that want to provide out-of-booth experiences, Braindate offers a pretty unique and memorable opportunity. At the Experiential Marketing Summit, braindates took place poolside at Caesar’s Palace. Participants who were waiting for their braindates to arrive had a variety of Lincoln Log-style building games to encourage them to get creative.
As Sophie Silkes, Director of Marketing & Communications at e180 puts it, “This is personalized and self-directed experiential content that goes way beyond traditional networking.”
TurnoutNow: The power of AI
When it comes to facilitating connections at an event, wearable tech has the power to truly surprise and delight attendees. Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons in each attendee badges can transmit useful data back to event organizers via technology providers like TurnoutNow.
TurnoutNow is an omnichannel data platform for events powered by artificial intelligence. The platform takes attendee data such as interests, job title, and seniority, and combines it with session history to create holistic individual profiles.
Combining the data-driven profile with behavioral data from the beacons in each attendee’s badge, TurnoutNow’s intelligent networking recommendation engine, PeerConnect, can surface networking suggestions inside the event app, alongside a percentage match. This functionality makes the first hello that bit easier. Once attendees are connected, they can message within the event app, invite colleagues into the conversation and arrange in-person meetings.
Eventbase: A stream of activity
Social media has transformed how we connect with others. Research by Sparks found that 89 percent of attendees find social media to be at least somewhat valuable at events. Event managers that want to capitalize on the engagement factor of social media can do so with an activity stream within the event app.
The activity stream allows event managers to recreate the draw of social media with a private, event-specific social networking. It’s the gathering place for online about the event and a great place to serve attendees with user-generated content that can spark conversation.
Eventbase’s Activity Stream takes the best of social media and packages it within a branded, enterprise-grade event app. It’s a place for attendees to post about what they’re seeing and doing and for other attendees to comment, like and share their own commentary on the event.
The advantage of the Activity Stream is that it reacts in real-time to what’s going on at the event. Conversations begin based on shared experiences, in the comfort of the app where dialogue can continue after the event has finished. This facilitates the kind of lasting connections that deliver real value to attendees.
As an event manager, you’re a pro at bringing like-minded people together under one roof. But to be truly successful, you also have to create opportunities that connect those people in meaningful ways. Let your event app and partner integrations do the leg work of determining who meets who so that you can focus on optimizing the experiences of your attendees when they do meet.
Discover more ways to engage attendees with personalized content in the ebook, The Attendee Journey: Creating Personalized Experiences for Conference Attendees.
