Raphael Thys
Artificial Intelligence tools create efficiencies of time and money, but integrating artificial intelligence (AI) can improve live event management and make the life of an event planner easier. Let’s explore how event planners can apply AI to enhance your next live event.
Since the first mentions of AI in science fiction literature and movies, AI has gotten a bad wrap. From the 1960’s classic sci-fi movie 2001: A Space Odyssey to the cultural icon of the red-eyed Arnold Schwarzenegger Terminator movie series, AI has been painted as technology gone awry. The reality is AI today offers innovative ways to make our lives easier.
According to a recent 2018 survey, 88% of event professionals said they would be relying on AI, up 107% from 2017 (42%). Event professionals are quickly seeing the advantages of integrating AI into their event planning checklist.
From event planning to attendee engagement to venue security, using AI can make event planning more efficient and elevate event-goers satisfaction levels. Check out the ways event production, event management and even planners are building AI into live event workflows and execution.
Event Planning
Many industries use AI to streamline and improve their business, and there are options available to the live event industry as well. AI is helping event planners:
- Sort through and process vast amounts of data
- Discover the best fits in venues
- Locate the right vendor for their event needs
- Create efficiencies with faster decision-making
Styckie, a new event planning start-up, has developed a smart AI to locate and connect planners to ideal vendors, based on their event needs and perfect venue location.
“We understand the frustration and stress that goes into planning an event, and that’s why we’re continuing to enhance our AI engine. What an event planner does in months, AI will eventually do in seconds.” ~ Chetan Chadha, CEO of Styckie, Forbes magazine interview
This industry is only going to grow, so keep an eye on event planning software companies. More and more of them are incorporating AI and machine-learning algorithms into their platforms.
Using AI to Improve Event Experience and Engagement
Chatbots
Chatbots are conversational tools providing a simple interface for chat-driven conversation. They help give consistent responses to questions via AI programming. You see them all the time as the little assistant pop-ups in the bottom corner of a website. They are human-language trained to answer questions even if asked in a variety of ways. Chatbots are becoming more and more prevalent in our everyday lives with a growing list of reasons they are so popular.
Chatbots Are:
- Affordable and scalable to any size event from large to small and intimate
- Accessible as add-ons to commonly used apps, like Facebook Messenger, requiring low or no learning curve for attendees.
- On duty 24/7/365 and don’t require extra personnel as usage increases
- Instantaneous and provide consistent and event-specific information to attendees, regardless of who is asking who – Chatbots are the ideal support team that is working before, during, and after an event
- Provide real-time insights into event-goers reactions and satisfaction levels
- Able to analyze attendee interests and guide them with the most appropriate presentation, discussion panel, or workshop
Soon, chatbots will even be able to analyze attendee data, social media, as well as event input and comments. With this information, they will be able to customize a schedule to provide them the best possible event experience. It will even be able to personalize and target social media advertising for maximum ROI. Not using chatbots for your live events yet? There is multitude of information and engagement they can provide for your next live event.
Here are a few chatbot developers for you to research:
- ZOE, www.zoebot.ai • Bot Academy, www.botacademy.com • PubNub, www.pubnub.com
Event Applications
AI event applications can work a lot like chatbots. Their advantage is being more robust while offering a multitude of options. Within a developed AI application, you can have event schedules, viewable presentations, and documents, registration functions, as well as the ability to incorporate on-demand chat features. Apps can contain large volumes of event information and documentation. These features allow for a smoother event launch, as well as the ability to maintain a high level of assistance for your attendees with less personnel labor expenses.
Additional Advantages of Chatbots and Applications:
- Remove language barriers with language translation for attendees
- Improve networking experiences by connecting attendees with similar interests
- Increase vendor satisfaction by driving attendees with the best prospects to them
- Environmentally sound with a reduction in the need for physical handouts, schedules, and surveys
Although AI event apps are more expensive to develop, this option can be a considerable long-term, cost-saving and labor-reducing tool. Talk to your favorite event management software vendor and see what AI options they are or soon will be offering to improve your live event experience.
AI and Event Security
When security and safety issues are in the news every day, live events must be safe and secure for those that attend. AI is at the forefront of event security with programs like facial recognition and biometric registration. These systems allow for a more accurate way to verify your attendee’s identities while reducing human error and oversight.
For example, video surveillance can be used to scan attendees as they walk through venue entries without the need for a human being to check each badge. In addition, the advantage of these types of AI security systems is the prevention of badge-swapping or even misused stolen badges.
AI security systems can be expensive, but when compared to the cost of additional staff and the time needed for traditional methods, the price may be about the same or even less. Ultimately, you have to ask how vital event attendee safety is to you as the planner and those attending. Most will choose security over cost.
How AI Helps Generate Event Metrics and ROI
Of course, we couldn’t end this overview without tackling how AI can gather measurable data for event metrics and ROI. The best feedback and input are collected promptly. The sooner surveys deploy, the more accurate and top-of-mind the information attained.
But what if you could capture minute-by-minute reactions and comments DURING the event? Nothing is forgotten or overshadowed. Here is where our friend, the chatbot, comes back into action. With the proper use of chatbots, you can utilize AI to take polls and surveys throughout the event, after presentations and keynote speakers, even during networking and happy hour events. This level of immediate and accurate feedback will give you invaluable data to use in reviewing the success of your event and planning the next one. The better the data you can gather, the more strategic you will be with future decisions and planning.
Artificial Intelligence will allow event planners to focus on the aspects of their job that will add the most value to their events, vendors, and attendees!
AI is nothing to fear! Consider it as an innovative tool to approach, embrace, and integrate eagerly. Most importantly, AI can help you plan live events better and faster, improve engagement, tighten security and event safety, as well as capture attendee data and comments like never before. There is nothing artificial about the results you will get by integrating AI into your next live event! The future is here – take advantage of its wonder!