Mid-year Statement: Exciting Blog Articles for Event Managers in 2017

What were the most interesting topics in the event blogosphere in the first half of 2017? From live streaming and virtual reality to terror threats and mega Oscar fails!

There is a wide selection of interesting blogs for the events industry. From the excellent Event Manager Blog from Julius Solaris and his team, to blogs by Slido, Gallus Events, Bizbash, Velvet Chainsaw, Techsytalk, Meeting Pool and Eventplanner.tv.  

These bloggers produce a flood of top content for our industry – sometimes it hard to see the wood for the trees.

We have put together several links to articles that we find particularly informative, useful or entertaining; so to say, a small reading and link list for the summer time!

Live stream becomes mainstream!

One of the biggest topic in the first half of this year was the possibility to present yourself, via live stream on Facebook, Periscope, YouTube or other platforms, for events.

In earlier times, what you needed a truck load of equipment to do, event managers can now do with the least amount of effort, sharing individual sessions, interviews or other live impressions of their events with the world. 

Depeche Mode in 360-degree live stream? Pretty cool! 

The Slido-Blog concerns itself particularly with the possibilities for Corporate Communications, Bizbash considers some of the still limiting factors – such as bandwidth. Betsy Bar from Velvet Chainsaw asks the question, what still holds event managers back from live streaming!

Catherine Reed from The Meeting Pool offers valuable tips on what you can do with live footage from an event. 

Terror Threats and Security Requirements Influence Event Planning

Not only first since the tragic events at the Ariana Grande concert in Manchester has it been clear that consumer events, as well as business events, need to be prepared for a different level of security. 

Julius Solaris addresses this topic in his event manager blog and asks the question of how we can be prepared for this new situation as event planners. This is obviously not light content, but of growing importance. 

The example of Rock am Ring 2017 shows us how important live communication via blogs and social media has become for events. The Rock am Ring festival was completely evacuated on the Friday night of the event due to security reasons – fortunately, nothing serious happened.

Event managers informed everyone via social media about the current situation so that festival visitors were kept in the picture. 

The Oscar Fail

An incident in February didn’t just shake the events world! As well as the Nobel prize awards, the Oscars belong to one of the most renowned award ceremonies worldwide. 

Remembering back: Warren Beatty was given the wrong envelope, mistakenly awarding LaLaLand, and not actual winner Moonlight, the Oscar for best film.

An embarrassing beginner’s mistake…

Jimmy Kimmel also didn’t avoid making fun of the Oscar mishap

The Event Manager Blog was also the fastest here and wrote five tips for envelope management at award events, and that not without a little jibe here or there as well!

Virtual and Augmented Reality (VR / AR)

A big topic in the event technology segment is the developments of VR/AR. Particularly augmented reality allows creative event managers dream of fascinating scenarios! And with the latest generation of smartphones, AR has access to virtually every household. 

The Meeting Pool had a look at diverse technical solutions. On the Event Manager Blog you can find the most important trends in VR/AR for events. Socialtables concerns itself with which chances VR particularly offers for venues. 

Sparks also points out that you can go over the top with AR/VR, as well as gives several examples of how events can integrate VR well, without overloading participants. 

This is how much fun VR can be at a concert!

Bottom Line

The best thing about the event blogosphere is that current topics can be looked at from diverse angles. This enables event managers to get a better perspective of current trends and to discern what these mean for their daily business. 

We also contribute our part to this on the Converve Blog, focusing on all topics surrounding networking and matchmaking at business events. Keep up to date – we wish you a great summer and time off!