London,UK - 20^th January 2017

Eventopedia – the leading cloud-based venue search platform and demand generation tool for the global meetings & events industry – invited leading global media intelligence company Gorkana to keynote at the new etc venues County Hall on Thursday evening to demonstrate the tangible ROI delivered by Event Tech.

Gorkana Event & Marketing Manager, Victoria Morrison, delivered a keynote before joining a panel session moderated by experienced conference host, Jeremy Jacobs, and comprising Event Tech CEOs Mike Piddock of Glisser, and Clemi Hardie of Noodle Live.

A poll run during registration found that 41% of (107) registrants are using Event Tech for their 2017 events, with 48% outlining they “may be” incorporating usage of Event Tech into their 2017 events.

The 60-strong audience of event planners, who were joined by a Facebook live stream audience, learned what practitioners need to know to get a seat at the board table. Victoria Morrison outlined the importance of defining holistic objectives to measure successes through the different stages of the event management process – pre, during and post event. Victoria suggested that the opportunity for technology & data to make a positive difference for event professionals is massive.

“The value of live events is given greater visibility by linking the measurement of Gorkana’s tactics back to the organisations’ objectives”, said Victoria.

In response to brands wanting to hear customers talking of their ‘love’ for their brand, Victoria continued,

“Events can provide a ‘wow’ that connects directly with customers, more than other forms of marketing. Being able to measure this more scientifically will be part of the future of event technology and live event marketing.”

The event was made available by live stream globally from EventStream Live^™, a service of London-based Easy TV Ltd. In another world first for Eventopedia, the event featured the first public outing of the beta version integration of EventStream Live with Glisser, the leading platform developed in Microsoft Accelerator allowing presenters to interact with their audience through their presentation deck.

A Glisser poll run during the event found:
   77.8% of event planners currently measure the success of their events

The most popular metrics were identified as
   27% Attendee satisfaction surveys
   9% Show Rate
   18% Number of Attendees
   46% £ ROI

(Poll size: 58)

Mike Piddock, CEO of Event Tech Glisser, likened the emergence and importance of Event Tech to 1849 San Francisco and the Gold Rush.

“Metrics used in the right way can be transformative for live events. There is a massive opportunity to utilise data – like other sectors – to provide meaningful context to the value of live events, and to help event professionals demonstrate this to colleagues across their businesses who may not understand the impact they are having.”

Glisser shared that, on average, 25% of a corporate marketing budget is spent on events, yet it is the piece event planners can measure the least

Attendee, Simon Hughes, an experiencedleader and business consultant with over 25 years’ experience in developing and managing events in both the public and private sector, worries that the events industry is ‘way behind’ in comparison to other consumer sectors and the way in which they utilise data. He suggested that the events industry is often constrained by clients who don’t like paying for data and research, saying,

“The great thing about event tech is that it is lowering the cost barrier and making it easier for us to present clients with real and meaningful data, allowing more discussion about objectives and strategy, placing event professionals – where we want to be – at the top table with other marketers.”

Addressing the issue of clients paying for data, Victoria Morrison, said,

“On average, clients allocate about 10% of their PR budgets on measuring their campaigns. There is no reason why it shouldn’t be the same for events.”

Clemi Hardie, CEO of Event Tech Noodle Live, identified the need for Event Tech to remain human.

"Computers and data are neat. Human beings are messy. Event professionals may want to track the attendees’ journey through an event, but what we've seen so often is that when you look at the data sets, you've got people who didn't check in for the event, but they're checking in for sessions. That's the human aspect of gathering data. That's what makes it a challenge. You still need humans to analyse the data we're gathering. You always will."

Eventopedia COO, Alan Newton, comments:

“Our first Eventopedia Discovery event of 2017 followed our familiar format of producing simple educational events providing event managers with thought-provoking content, delivered by industry experts and free from our own narrative.”

-ENDS-

EvenWorld War II Bomb Doesn't Stop etc. County Hall Delivering Latest Eventopedia Discovery

London, UK – 20 January 2017

An unexploded World War II bomb was found in the Thames in the Westminster and County Hall area last night, closing multiple bridges and tube stations whilst police and bomb disposal experts dealt with the situation.

The old expression 'The Show Must Go On' couldn't have been more apt as some delegates found it a challenge to reach new venue opening etc. County Hall in the heart of ground zero for the latest Eventopedia Discovery event - How Does Event Tech Deliver ROI? In fact, the challenges didn't end there as authorities contacted etc. County Hall to advise that precautionary safety measures meant all events scheduled to occur in any of the Thames facing rooms needed to be moved. So, with the champagne in full flow during registration and networking, the venue operator executed flawless crisis management in switching to a room within a 'safety zone' and completing the set-up in quick time, so well that executed the delegates didn't know the difference.

Toby Heelis, co-founder & CEO of Eventopedia, said,

"When you need a venue to step up to the plate and deliver in a crisis, you want a calm, experienced and well-oiled team, and we were highly impressed with our experience with a brand-new venue where sometimes the team are still finding their way. The etc. County Hall teams' delivery and crisis management was flawless and they've proven to be a credit to the etc. group."

Theteam at the newest events offering from etc. venues County Hall, which opened this month, perhaps had their biggest event challenge yet as security concerns over the unexploded WWII bomb meant that the venue were instructed to vacate anyone from the Thames suite with only 20 minutes before the event was due to start.

AlanNewton, co-founder & COO of Eventopedia said,

“etc.venues did a super job last night. TheCounty Hall venue is one of the best new venues I’ve seen in a long time. It’s sure to be popular with event organisers owing to the design, flexibility of space, and the flawless delivery.”

-ENDS-