XLIVE 2019: Evoking Response with Purposeful Technology

In this episode of Backstage, Allison McMahan, Marketing & Communications Manager, and Dave Pooser, Director of Product Innovation, both from Alford Media, discuss the recent XLIVE Conference & Expo held in Las Vegas held Nov 17-19, 2019.

Allison and Dave both attended the annual Live Events & Entertainment trade show. Tech with a purpose and audience immersion emerged as two themes that loomed large over the three-day conference. Allison sums the technology part up as a shift from trying to chase the coolest and best technology to outdo the last event to ‘how does that technology enhance the attendee experience?

“When people pay money to come out to a conference, a convention, an event of any kind,” she adds, “They want to go have an experience.”

Dave points out, in the B2B conference and event space, an attendee may be there because of a company mandate. But that doesn’t mean she or he is interested. It is the job of the company planning the event to immerse that attendee in the experience and get them engaged.

Some of the industry trends Allison notes from XLIVE were Bluetooth and RFID Tracking. She says these methods, which are popular in the B2C space, are gaining a foothold in B2B as well. Allison also mentions the uptick of AR in mixed/merged reality as something with growth potential in the corporate market.

Dave’s most significant takeaway from the conference was the message of not relying on ‘technology itself’ to do the wowing of event attendees but to use the right technology to create an amazing experience for the attendee.

“Do that,” he said, “and the social media follow-through from attendees will come.”

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