At Pickevent, we love innovation. Inspired by Nike’s announcement that they’ll be making self-lacing trainers in honour of Back to the Future, we decided to look ahead and think about what we want to see at events in 2015.
1. Wifi everywhere
We’re slowly but surely getting to the stage where every professional event has wifi, which is amazing. By 2015, we want ALL professional events to be kitted out with the best wifi access available!
2. Video conferencing used WELL
Just because the perfect speaker for your London conference lives in Melbourne doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be able to deliver a talk! Good quality equipment, live streaming and interactivity are key to making sure long-distance speakers can still pack a punch.
3. Casual events
Growth is great, but sometimes we just want to sit back and relax. We want to see more casual events for professionals; things like Silicon Drinkabout, where startup professionals can meet for drinks every Friday in various cities. We don’t want these meets to replace traditional events, but it’d be great to see them supplement them.
4. Cronuts
We’re not necessarily demanding every event has cronuts, but we want to see more food innovation being featured in catering at large events! For all the publicity cronuts received, how many of us have had the chance to try one? We want all innovation to be featured at events, not just tech.
5. Eco-friendliness
We want it all: solar panelling, reusable water bottles, low carbon emissions, the lot. Making sure your event is easily accessible by public transport is another great way to reduce carbon emissions. Leading on from this, we also want to see…
6. No more paper
With technology growing, why do we still insist on so much paper? And you know one great way to cut down on paper use at events…
7. Virtual business cards
Apps that scan business cards are still pretty cool, in our book. We want to see things go to another level, though. A number of apps have tried to make business cards virtual, so far without runaway success. By 2015, we want this to change; we want to be saving paper and swapping details using our smartphones and tablets!
8. Smart timetables
You know how airports use departure boards to list their flights? Why aren’t we doing this with talks at large events? Either on live boards, or in an app on our smart phones. We want to be able to easily find out when there’s delays, if there’s a hall change, and how long each speech is going to be.
9. Wearable tech
We expect Google glass and Samsung Galaxy watches everywhere. Wearable technology is the current trend that’s expanding rapidly, and we want event professionals to be at the front of the innovation wave.
10. Cloud computing
Applications that allow cloud storage like dropbox are fantastic. We think more events should have their own cloud database for storing documents relating to the event – imagine if event speakers started putting their powerpoints on a cloud database? Making notes directly onto the powerpoint saves time and paper!
11. Soft microphones
Have you seen Catchbox yet? We saw them in this video on Michael Heipel’s site, and now want to see them everywhere! The first batch is being shipped in June 2014, and we cannot wait to try one.
12. More seminars
Lectures and speeches are great, but we want to interact more! Smaller discussion groups are a great way to supplement speeches, and we want to see them feature more at large events.
13. New Apple technology
With rumours of an iPhone 6 coming out later this year, and an iPad Air 2/iPad 6 possibly being released as early as April 2014, we can’t wait to see what new tech they bring in 2015, and we hope to see some of it in person at technology events!
14 Q&As; using social media
At the really big conferences, even soft microphones are impractical, and often no Q&A; session is offered. We want to see more events using Twitter or Facebook to get live questions from the audience, through the event hashtag or Facebook page.
15 Live streaming of all conferences
Sometimes, life gets in the way of attending events in person. That doesn’t mean we should miss out on seeing our favourite speakers give a great talk! 2015 should be the year that all major conferences are streamed online, so that no one has to miss out on a great speech again.
16. A Hoverboard
Even one you can’t stand on would do.