Michael Douglas, business development director, GenieConnect – an event participation solutions provider for the events industry – has released his top 10 predictions for the event technology industry in 2014.

1.  Organizers will seek integrated solutions – As technology becomes more prominent within the event industry, customers will have higher expectations of the services that their suppliers provide, and seek integrated solutions for registration, online mapping, mobile apps and audience response.

2.   Windows Phone will be the heir to BlackBerry – While many consumers are using iPhone and Android devices, corporate IT departments have been much slower to progress. This is partly because of the high security risk they attribute to iOS and Android platforms, and will see Windows Phone as a way to retain control of corporate networks, in a user-friendly manner. Gartner reports a market share increase of 2.3% to 6.3% from 2012 to 2013. Thus, there will be a higher requirement to cater for Windows Phone with native event apps for the best user experience.

3.   Event Wi-Fi will turn a corner – Venues will begin to see fit-for-purpose Wi-Fi as a competitive edge, and those that can guarantee it for large events will see a great increase in business. Exhibition organizers will begin to see that exhibitors will only attend shows that can cater for their needs, forcing them to employ companies such as MaxWifi and SmartCities to provide temporary networks.

4.  Analytics and ROI will outweigh the ‘WOW’ Factor – New and exciting technology and ideas will always have a role at certain meetings, but for the mainstream, organizers will be now be looking for solid results and returns from the recent wave of technology, before investing money in the next innovations.

Read More