In Event Tech News, Huddle Agency’s event tech experts keep you updated on all the latest tech trends in the corporate meetings and events industry. This month, we look at reporting and ROI for virtual events, mergers of industry giants, free education platforms for event professionals and more!

New Initiative for Industry-Wide Reporting Standards

Reporting and demonstrating ROI is a challenge and opportunity for hybrid and virtual events. The data on the value they provide is excellent, but coming up with clear reporting standards can be complex and daunting. Even experienced organizers with access to the best global meeting technology have had to produce new ways of doing things. And now they must quantify that value as the world reopens. 

The pandemic has brought this into focus, with organizations trying to produce reporting standards that make sense for virtual, hybrid and live events. One initiative sponsored by Assurance provider BPA Worldwide has just reported back.

At Huddle, reporting for meetings and events is a key focus, and we have simplified the process for our clients by building HERO – Huddle’s Event Reporting Optimizer. It is exciting to see others in the industry giving this important topic the focus it deserves, and we are consistently updating the way HERO organizes data as new recommendations emerge.

Reporting Standards for Digital Events is the product of a 15-organization team from across the sector grappling with the problems of reporting in a digital world. Designed to provide a roadmap and framework for the industry, they set out to provide consistency and help develop standards and common terms. Standards are suggested for everything from attendee management to social media engagement and event marketing. This helps event professionals work across platforms and clearly demonstrate ROI to their clients.

Measuring success can be hard, and the data available can be daunting. But we are glad to see more people producing metrics to demonstrate ROI for clients and event professionals. The virtual meeting revolution is here to stay, so we all need to get used to it. 

Aventri and Meetingplay merge, launch Online Learning Hub

Event technology software giants Meetingplay and Aventri announced a merger earlier this year, aiming to strengthen their position as a maker of comprehensive event management and planning solutions. 

Since then, the merged company has launched Meetingplay + Aventri University, aiming to help educate the event community and make the planning process more dynamic and efficient. 

A free online resource for event professionals, MPA University will offer six-week courses covering event technology trends, industry innovations and downloadable resources to help planners move forward.

South by SouthWest gets AI Boost

Event organizers South by Southwest Conference and Festivals have announced a new partnership with Grip.

The event technology company will provide an ai-driven event platform for the in-person SXSW event, the first live event held by the company since 2019. 

Slated for March 11-20 in Austin, the tech solution will provide the hybrid event with sophisticated networking and matchmaking features, letting exhibitors and attendees from all over the world interact. 

The platform will deliver AI-generated recommendations and help users find new products, services or experiences they might be interested in, as well as providing navigational and scheduling aids. 

More events are experimenting with exciting new technologies like artificial intelligence and virtual reality and real time reporting in their mobile apps. We can’t wait to see what opportunities this opens up for attendees, organizers and event professionals alike. 

New Digital Events Report and Checklist

As online and virtual events continue to grow, the Professional Convention Management Association has partnered with AC Forum to publish a new report to help educate event professionals and event organizers. 

The report tries to clear up topics of confusion and give meeting planners a helpful checklist to stay on the right track with the latest event planning solutions. The data makes clear that in a modern world of facial recognition technology and powerful mobile devices, the bar for content and attendee engagement has been raised. 

The report is the result of a survey conducted across a global network of event professionals and associations who have been conducting digital events over the last 15 months. 

Covering everything from attendee engagement, mobile event apps, augmented reality, push notifications, artificial intelligence and more, we are excited to see what the rest of the industry has been up to. 

As you can see, there’s a LOT happening in the event technology space, and we don’t see this trend slowing down any time soon! Subscribe to our blog to receive our handy bite-sized updates and day informed in the event technology space.

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