Once again, we are thrilled to bring you the latest startups shaking up the event industry. Here they are.
It looks like it is going to be a hot summer for event technology. We are proud to be the voice of innovation in the industry since day one. In the latest month we have been bombarded by submissions.
Event professionals around the world are realising the potential to use technology at events. Next week we will announce the first research and report dedicated to the role of technology in engaging attendees.
In October, we will reveal the Event Technology of the Year Award. Speaking of which, it is great news that Marja Verbon, Associate at Piton Capital joined our panel of judges. This is one of the first times the world of venture capital has had such a presence in an event technology competition.
I know you can’t wait to see the startups featured this month, so I’ll cut it short. Just a remainder of the rules of the game, we don’t cover 100% registration or mobile verticals as we cover those in our reports, The Good Event Registration Guide and The Event App Bible.
If you are a startup and want to be on our radar, here is where to submit.
Charlie
It’s been a while I was so excited about an app. While this is probably not an event planner’s app, it gives two strong signals to the industry. Firstly, it teaches a lesson to many event apps that fail to facilitate meetings and networking at events. Secondly, it redefines meetings and their effectiveness.
Charlie syncs with your Google Calendar and fetches information about the people you are meeting with. This is probably not revolutionary as tools like Rapportive have been doing it forever. The context is what makes Charlie unbelievably great.
Before your meeting, you get a detailed report about the person you are going to meet with with; tweets, news and LinkedIn profile. It tells you their interest and what you have in common. It also allows to share the brief with your colleagues so that they don’t ‘blow the meeting’.
It is early stages and quite beta but AWESOME!
Ligo by Limefy
Mix location based awareness and wearable tech and you end up with a potential revolution. Ligo plans to make networking better by showing via an app where networking matches are located in the room.
By cleverly displaying on app the interests of those next to you, you make networking easy. What sets Ligo apart from other apps is the wearable touch. It is in fact based on wristbands, lanyards or badges – three favourites of the event industry.
Definitely one to watch.
InGo
InGo is trying to break into a space where many failed before, social promotion and evangelism. The concept is very simple, sync InGo with your registration data, they will work their magic and find relevant connections that attendees can invite to attend. Attendees send personalised invitations.
The key here is how accurately the system identifies relevant connections and makes the event appealing to those who receive the invitation. A couple of signals, such their pricing strategy tells me this is one to watch.
EventCollab
EventCollab is finally live after capturing the interest of many #eventtech commentators while in the making. Project management is the most expected yet not 100% cracked problem in the event industry.
Event planners are among the best project managers. Events are not easy to plan and the need for a solid and dedicated project management tool is still vivid as few manage to offer solid tools.
EventCollab gives us two things we need in project management; great user experience and simplicity. They are up to standard in terms of modern requirements such as team collaboration, staff management and to dos.
EventCollab is the Slack of the event industry, so give it a go.
Thinkwall
Thinkwall is not a new startup, but it should have been in one of these roundups forever. If you were in social media and events in 2009, you’d known Thinkwall as one of the first digital walls to display social media at events.
They have been among the first to set the tone in terms of what it is expected in social media walls. Things like multi network display, SMS integration, moderation all in a ‘set it and forget it’ approach. Something that as event professionals we enjoy.
I also liked the approach to training and support the company has. Worth checking out.
what3words
Few startups these days are brave enough to aim to change the world. While entrepreneurialism is very healthy, few want to go further.
I am amazed by what what3words is trying to do. They are trying to reinvent the way we locate ourselves and communicate it to the world. As their site says, 75% of the world suffer from inadequate addressing. what3words has redefined geography in a grid of 57 trillion 3m x 3m squares.
Each square is identified by a 3 word address. You can quickly communicate your 3 word address to attendees who can in turn share it to meet with friends at a venue.
I am writing this from orange.robots.demand, where are you based? I could spend hours on the map 🙂
ExpoTor
ExpoTor is an attempt at cracking one more event technology that hasn’t taken off yet, online marketplaces. I love the focus on exhibitions and exhibition suppliers.
If you plan exhibitions around the world it is not always easy to find local suppliers who will help. With ExpoTor you can post your project and receive bids from individual or corporate profiles. Great idea, we all get it.
What could set ExpoTor apart will be their ability to get both masses involved in participating, usually the biggest hurdle with marketplaces. It is free to use, so no drama there, go and try it.
Stepsi
The mid-sized event market is getting a lot of attention lately. With giants such as etouches, Lanyon and Cvent competing at the top of the market, several companies are now entering a space which is growing in budget and capacity.
Independent and small event planners are looking for a one stop solution to manage everything, registration, marketing, project management, apps, websites. This is where Stepsi is positioned.
If you plan few events with 200 to 2,000 people, this could be a great solution to avoid sylos of technology that do not talk to each other.
Definitely worth having a look.
SpeakerStack
One area of meetings and conferences that needs help is speaker sourcing. Yes, speaker bureaus are still an option to source top profile speakers, but what about rising stars and small niches?
This is where SpeakerStack fits in. It offers a free service to speakers to organise their profile online. It is very common to find 1999 looking pages online that do not offer all the vital information that event professionals need.
SpeakerStack makes sense of all of that while offering a very cost effective solution for event professionals to discover the perfect speaker for their event. You pay only if you find relevant profiles. Definitely have a look.
10times
It seems this is the post of the great ideas that still haven’t taken off as they should have. Discovery is definitely one of them. There is no Google for events yet. Few have succeeded to offer comprehensive information about all types of events happening around us. Maybe 10times is going to be the answer to our searching needs!
I really like how they cover multiple areas. Geography is one of the problems with discovery. Ensuring a wider reach is a plus for everyone entering the space. I also liked how there is a social component in the platform, that shows who is attending the event. This is one of the most significant questions we want answers to before deciding to purchase, hence very significant.
Interesting also the stats given for each event with data such as estimated visitors, exhibitors (if applicable) and opening and closing times.
In Conclusion
It is a great time to get involved in event technology. Whether you are an event planner or an entrepreneur, using and creating tools that make events better is the next big thing in tech.
Keep an eye on the blog in the next couple of weeks as we have several announcements for you to get involved and be part of the tech revolution.
Our commitment to give space to these bold entrepreneurs with a passion for events will always be there, now it is your turn to help them out by sharing this article with your colleagues. It will mean the world to them and to the industry.
