Posted by

Barry Siskind

Community Manager

Wouldn’t it be nice to have a crystal ball that can reveal the future of technology for the exhibition industry?

Well, Corbin Ball, an international speaker, consultant and writer just may be the man to clarify the picture. “Technology: Your Innovative Partner,” is the title for his much anticipated presentation at UFI’s first Open Seminar of 2013, February 28 to March 1 in Jakarta. In advance of his seminar I asked Corbin to comment on two issues that had been on my mind.

Barry: Which technologies will have the greatest effect on exhibitions  in the future?

Corbin: There is a wide range of mobile technologies that will substantially improve exhibitions for venues, exhibitors, exhibit planners and attendees. We have had strong computer support before and after an event for more than a decade. But onsite has been a “black hole” of event data management. All of us have been “flying blind” during a show. This is now changing. With the advent of smart phone and tablet computers, we have instant access to the web, to documents, and hundreds of thousands of inexpensive apps, many of which can directly help events and exhibitions such as:

· Paperless event/exhibition binders using tablet computers to easily store, retrieve, annotate, and share thousands of documents,

· Conference wayfinding using indoor positioning technologies to help attendees find their way efficiently through a hall and large event venue,

· Attendee heat maps tracking mobile phones/tablets to determine hall traffic flow and hot spots,

· Advanced lead exchange (this will become quicker and far richer than traditional 2-D barcode lead exchange),

· Matchmaking and appointment scheduling,

· Up-to-date, interactive, multi-media conference programs and exhibition guides via phone and tablets,,

. Electronic literature pickup with a tap of a phone,

· Advance attendee analytics (every mobile click can be tracked),

· Social media and networking tools for attendee engagement,

· Group and subgroup alerts/ messaging,

· Exhibit service contractor and subcontractor logistics management.

These are just a few of the ways that mobile technology will transform exhibitions and events. Much more is mushrooming up.

 Barry: In your opinion which technologies are simply a fad and may disappear as quickly as they have appeared?

Corbin: This time period is similar to the dot-com boom in the late 1990’s when web-based commerce was exploding. Hundreds of thousands of interesting web sites and concepts came onto the market. However, many of them did not have a sound business model, and 90% of them went bust. The 10% that survived have gone on to change our world in substantial ways.

Right now there is an explosion with social and mobile apps. Many of these do not have a sound business model and will disappear in the next couple of years. For example, only 7% of social media sites have diverse revenue channels (most are ad supported only). Twitter, is trying to figure out a sustainable revenue model. Consequently, we will see lots of changes and volatility in these areas, but, in the long run, we will see very substantial social and business change.

In the big picture, the digital revolution we are going through will go down in history as being as profound as the industrial or agrarian revolutions. However, instead of taking thousands of years to go from hunters and gathers to farmers; or hundreds of years for the industrial revolution, this revolution starting with the advent of the PC is taking just a few decades. This is enabling a renaissance of discovery in science, medicine and technology that will make the world a very different place.

This first UFI Open Seminar of 2013 will be held February 28 to March 1 in Jakarta, Indonesia. For anyone who has considered or is now actively involved in Asia’s exhibition market, this  promises to be a great event. Check out the program at: http://jakarta2013.ufi.evenium.com