Technology is continuing to transform the events industry with some of the most innovative events, products and ideas. Take a look at the latest happenings!

Hubilo

Leading event tech company Hubilo recently united 1,000-plus attendees for MIX 2022 (Mastering Immersive Events), its first-ever global hybrid gathering, which spanned three continents and 25 time zones.

The two-day event, which took place March 30-31 virtually and in-person, with live events in San Francisco, New York, London and Bangalore, was designed to show event professionals how to create immersive hybrid events at scale, exploring what’s possible in driving engagement globally and achieving desired marketing results in the digital event era.

Events are evolving to become the epicenter of marketing strategies, with brand interest, loyalty, leads and revenue being the objectives, according to Vaibhav Jain, CEO of Hubilo.

“Engaging audiences and the valuable data that results from their interaction at Hubilo events drives the demand that our clients say meets their goals,” he told the MIX 22 audience. “ROI can be achieved by combining next-level experiences with careful nurturing of the audience post-event. This is the future of audience and community building around brands.”

Jain added that the data available to marketers and event professionals as a result of offering virtual and hybrid events adds ongoing value, and engagement and networking play a huge part.

During MIX 2022, more than 1,600 messages were exchanged, 18% of attendees engaged in lounge conversations and all partner and sponsor booths had more than 100 visits each.

For Hubilo’s clients’ events, this data lets them effectively market to attendees and leads after the last person has logged off. Hubilo’s platform tracks attendance, areas explored by attendees, speaker ratings, engagement, profile views, bookmarks and most active feeds. Keeping an eye on these metrics in real-time allows planners to pivot or offer support to users and exhibitors.

MIX 2022 featured content focused on event trends, community building, hot topics and what’s propelling the industry forward, with highlights including special guest speaker Mindy Kaling, writer, director and actor in hit TV series such as “The Office” and “The Mindy Project,” who shared her experiences overcoming adversity to become a creative powerhouse.

Other standout sessions covered topics such as transforming events into experiences, personalizing events to boost attendance and engagement, creating immersive marketing experiences, the future of events, bringing compelling storytelling into event design, event professionals and mental health, building an equitable world, and how to prepare for the metaverse. A wellness component was also featured, with guided movement and meditation breaks.

The programming spotlighted numerous industry experts, including Vaibhav Jain, Cathy Song Novelli and Sophie Ahmed of Hubilo, RD Whitney of 365 Media and Community Leaders Institute, Chris Lee of Informa Markets, Liz Caruso of TechsyTalk, Brianna Elenes of Freeman and Miguel Neves of Event MB, among many others.  

Each session at MIX was accompanied by features that created a new way for diverse audiences to access events, from a sign language translator to event chats and more intimate lounges and one-on-one networking opportunities. From contests and a live event chat to browsing sponsor and exhibitor booths, MIX 2022 audiences were treated to the vast possibilities of hybrid and virtual events.

For more information or to watch MIX 2022 sessions on demand, go here.

Vault Health

Virtual healthcare platform Vault Health rebranded its subsidiary FSSolutions to fall under the Vault Health branding and logo. COVID-19 solutions, including testing and vaccine tracking for the events industry, is one of the company’s main product offerings.  

“We serve thousands of clients … who have come to rely on our fast turnaround times, U.S.-based customer support, compliance-driven focus, rapid integration and real-time reporting in one place,” said Stacy Williams, chief operating officer of Vault Health Workforce Screening.

The company works with trade shows, conferences and meetings, both on site and virtually, and recently executed a contract with Event Farm to support testing for its clients at conferences.  

Other initiatives have included vaccine tracking for the Black Enterprise Women of Power Summit 2022 and COVID-19 solutions for the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Conference and an Oscars-related event through Roc Nation.  

3e/EXPOCAD, EXHIBITORLIVE and Hall-Erickson

3e/EXPOCAD, a leader in technology for the exhibition industry, partnered with Exhibitor Media Group and event management company Hall-Erickson to provide its VISUAL PLAN technology for the first time in the U.S. at EXHIBITORLIVE, the annual conference and exhibition for trade show and corporate event marketing. This year’s event is set for June 20-23 at Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas.

First introduced in Mexico at FAMEX with great success, 3e/EXPOCAD’s VISUAL PLAN connects exhibitors and attendees in 360-degree walk-through environments. Visitors using touch, mouse/glide or Oculus VR headsets can walk, view and gather information from the exhibitors at the in-person event from any device. VISUAL PLAN is designed to be a digital twin of the live event.

According to Rich Stone, CEO, 3e by EXPOCAD, the company has worked with EXHIBITORLIVE for many years and chose the event for its U.S. debut of VISUAL PLAN due to its reputation for innovation.  

"The synergies fit perfectly into the tech format of the event,” Stone said. “The outcome is exciting." 

Randy Acker, president and COO of Exhibitor Media Group, said the company is always looking for new solutions for trade shows and events and was impressed with VISUAL PLAN’s capabilities.

“This new technology solution exceeded our expectations, and we were happy to collaborate and demonstrate a new solution to the industry," Acker said. “Thankfully, the timing worked out that we could beta test VISUAL PLAN at EXHIBITORLIVE, alongside other products and services that were also launching via our New Product Showcase.”

VISUAL PLAN extends the buying and selling at events by providing exhibitors with an engaging digital record of their exhibit presentation, according to Pete Erickson, president of Hall-Erickson.

"It will help exhibitors maximize their ROI by presenting their marketing message and product information in an online experience that looks just like their actual exhibit presentation in the live event,” Erickson said. “We feel the new technology helps organizers, exhibitors and attendees to connect in multiple ways." 

Questex

Questex recently unveiled Q Activate, a proprietary platform that combines event and content intelligence to deliver insight into what its audience of B2B decision makers are interested in on and off its websites. The new platform brings all Questex’s first-party audience data together into one database, allowing Questex to respond quickly to trends, intent and needs to fuel audience engagement.

“Our audience data is the lifeblood of our business,” said Kate Spellman, chief marketing officer of Questex. “With more data being generated than ever before, we’ve created a forward-thinking strategy that combines event and content intelligence with trends and demographics to deliver insight into our audience’s interests and buying intent.”

Q Activate allows Questex to gain a deep understanding of topic, audience and intent information in a single view from multiple data sources to identify the highest trends for each of its core markets. Questex can see what content is resonating and identify potential gaps to better serve audience needs, create more engaging marketing campaigns and advise clients on marketing solutions. 

“All of our audience profiles and buyer intent data are now available through Q Activate, allowing us to support strategic business objectives and monetization opportunities,” Spellman said. “We can now grow, engage and retain audiences through a fully integrated multi-channel journey via our websites, newsletters, content marketing, virtual events, webinars and live events.”  

Questex can now better collaborate with customers to activate audiences throughout the entire buyer’s journey as they move from discovering a problem to identifying features and functionality of a solution to selecting a provider and making a purchase. 

Q Insight reports allows for more collaboration with clients on who is visiting Questex’s media and event sites and what content these audiences are engaging with on and off Questex’s sites. The reports give Questex customers more insight as to what their target audience is consuming. Questex can also work with customers to deliver more targeting and personalization based on the detailed audience information it can deliver.  

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