By Michelle Bruno | Dec 19, 2018
The International Association of Exhibitions and Events (IAEE) held its annual meeting and exhibition, Expo! Expo!, in New Orleans, December 11-13. Of all the product categories represented on the exhibition floor and in the conference rooms, technology stood out in the 2018 edition of the event.
IAEE programmers brought back the Tech Startup Pavilion exhibition floor and the Tech Startup Experience & Pitch Competition (a robot won). The conference this year also featured Tech Huddles—ten-minute introductions to new products. New this year, the Science & Technology of a Show track explored more advanced topics for IT professionals, including 3D Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR), artificial intelligence, business intelligence, and chatbots.
Proximity technologies were big this year. TurnOutNow led the group with its attendee tracking, recommendation, and AI-powered lead solutions based on BLE beacons. eventLoop included beacons and radio-frequency identification (RFID) technologies in its portfolio. ThinkProxi demonstrated beacon-based audience engagement and event-marketing solutions, and The Indoor Lab showcased LiDAR (which can detect and classify objects) for event security. Registration companies Experient and Convention Data Services also exhibited beacon applications.
Attendee acquisition also made a strong showing at Expo! Expo! Standalone solutions, such as Gleanin and InGo, gave attendees a lesson in automating social referrals. Feathrdemonstrated its ability to activate attendee data across multiple digital channels, including targeted ads and landing pages. VIP Guest Invites, Event Technologies, and nvytes offered tools (emails, banner ads, social media) for exhibitors to invite their clients and prospects to the show.
Michelle Bruno
Michelle Bruno is a writer, blogger and technology journalist. She publishes Event Tech Brief, a newsletter and website on event technology. You can reach her at michelle@brunogroup.com or @michellebruno on Twitter.
