It’s little surprise that brands are wanting more from events. The technological world has evolved to allow them to connect with a virtual audience in a similar way to how they would with an in-room audience. The sophistication of today’s live-streaming, on-demand downloads, and online audience participation make webcasting events not just a great engagement tool, but also a revenue raising opportunity. By delivering your event through webcasting, you’re creating three distinct forms of valuable product: Content, Exposure, and Measurement. And you’re creating an opportunity to boost your revenue much higher than you would with a one-off, one-location show. Four ways to make money from webcasting your event By broadcasting your event through a tool like Staging Connections’ Event Webcast, you’ll be able to target the key areas of sponsorship, content and marketing collateral. Here’s a little bit more on how to get the most of it. 1. Paid access to content Sometimes, there will be people who want to attend your event but just physically, or geographically, can’t be there. You might want to offer training, or have a global audience who is keen to hear what you have to say. That’s where paid access can come in handy. Staging Connections can help you set-up a pay wall to view your streamed event, so people can participate from afar and still have access to your valuable content. The branded webcast page will also be live for up to a year after your event, allowing you to continue hosting and charging access for. It’s a great tool for maximising the return from your event. 2. Sponsorship Opportunities Staging Connections’ webcast platform is the most customisable in the Australian market. The webcast skin and embedded features provide brands with many sponsorship opportunities. Below are some ways you can use the realty to attract sponsors vying for the same audience: Brand name or logo insets on the webcast skin Branded questions included in the live polling platform (available only in certain packages) In-video and pre-roll advertisements similar to what you see on YouTube Branded social media links posted on embedded social media feed Branded downloadable documents Don’t forget, you’re online with a webcast, so directing participants to a sponsors website, video content, social media or any other web-based promotion is a very simple task. 3. Data capture The great thing about giving viewers the opportunity to stream or watch ondemand is that will provide invaluable data in order to access the content. When you register for a webcast you are often asked to submit your name, company, job title, location, email address and even phone number. This information coupled with some basic web analytics can provide a lot of information about your audience. You can measure everything from who attended, their location, what device they’re using, how long they watched the video for, and even who interacted with the webcast add-on features such as live polling or social media. Once captured this data can help create audience segments and aid future marketing and business initiatives. This is especially useful for business development and lead generation. Now that you know what content the audience is interested in, and they have given you their information, you can start a conversation and follow-up with additional webcasts or cross-promote other services your brand offers. The webcast is used to start the conversation and now it’s up to you to nurture that lead and turn them into a loyal customer. 4. Marketing Collateral By their very nature, webcasts are a fantastic platform for your sponsors. Why? Because you’re hosting an event that’s capturing the attention of a very specific target audience, something traditional mediums of advertising just can’t offer for branded messages. When you webcast, you’re not just streaming live – you’re recording valuable video and audio that can be repackaged and repurposed for future use. And you’re doing it at a fraction of the cost of sourcing footage in other ways. This means you’ve already got yourself material for ads, promo videos, and branded material for you to promote on your website and on social media. It’s a saving on your marketing budget that can lead to big things. Of course, when you host material on your website you also get the added benefit of increasing your content, driving traffic to your social platforms and sponsors links, better SEO, and cementing your credibility in the market. Benefits of Webcasting your event Staging Connections has brought webcasting to events for a wide array of applications. Beyond conferencing or sales, webcasting can be used for connecting with global audiences, streaming celebrity clients for launches, and ensuring people don’t miss out on important events all around the world. We’ve helped Australian manufacturers’ webcast announcements and demonstrations for products to a worldwide network. We’ve helped companies communicate from the CBD to remote Australian towns. And we’ve helped our clients do this quickly, and effectively – so let’s talk about how we can help you do the same. Webcast your next event Not sure if webcasting is right for you? Get in touch with us and one of our experienced event directors will help you find the best products to match your event objectives. Related Articles on Webcasting The benefits of webcasting your event Opinion Piece: Making Money from Webcasting by General Manager - Digital, Tim Chapman Launching Hobart 39 - a live webcast of ship unveiling ... Read More

Are you planning your AGM, conference, new product launch or attending an exhibition? Lighting, Sound and Vision technologies are integral to communicating with your audience so you need to be sure you have the right audio visual equipment to do the job properly. Here at Staging Connections we specialize in providing the right equipment you need for your event. Are you planning your AGM, conference, new product launch or attending an exhibition? Lighting, Sound and Vision technologies are integral to communicating with your audience so you need to be sure you have the right audio visual equipment to do the job properly. Here at Staging Connections we specialize in providing the right equipment you need for your event. Sound and image bring your message to life at your event and for this you need the audio visual equipment For most companies, the answer is no. Not only is the equipment expensive, it's also rapidly developing. That means the cutting edge items you buy now could be virtually obsolete next year. Add to the fact that your pricey AV setup will be sitting in a store room collecting dust for much of the year, you can see it's not a smart investment. Consider too that such equipment needs to be regularly tested and maintained if you want to be confident it works when you need it. And perhaps most importantly of all, using your own AV equipment means finding skilled staff to operate it. This is why audio visual hire makes such perfect sense. When you can hire your AV equipment from Staging Connections, you get the latest cutting edge technology. We constantly research new methods and tools to allow us to offer our clients the very latest options. But that's not all, you also get a host of additional services. We select the right equipment for your needs, we deliver and install it for you. And of course we provide the right people to operate it to ensure a perfect event for your company. And if you wish, Staging Connections can work with you from the beginning to plan and organize your event. That way you can benefit from their extensive experience and expertise in this field. Audio visual hire allows you to create and hold events that delight all, and present your organization in its best light. It's also economical and ensures you're using equipment that's maintained, tested and proven. ... Read More

It's all hands on deck when you're delivering one of the biggest events in the Australian corporate events calendar. On Sunday 27 March, the Staging Connections NSW team delighted 1,150 Amway Taiwan VIPs with a breathtaking, Australian-themed gala dinner as the pinnacle event of the 5 day major Asian incentive. The incentive gave Staging Connections the opportunity to showcase our ability to deliver technically demanding live events encompassing the breadth of our event services. With so many seats at the table, it was crucial the table styling also left a lasting impression and did justice to our beautiful country. Creating Australiana-themed centrepieces and table styling for 1, 150 guests The brief was big, an Australiana-themed spectacular for the people of Amway Taiwan. Staging Connections accepted the challenge to create an incentive event to outshine and out-sparkle any other we’d ever seen. Naturally, how everything looked was going to be an essential part of it. Therefore our talented Event Stylist, Felicity Webb, had a big role to play in getting it right. “I was responsible for finding the perfect look for centrepieces, table décor and linen,” Felicity says. “It was about conceptualising and realising the client’s specific brief, and finding the right solution that would result in an appropriate and beautiful execution.” Aside from all the incredible acts and dazzling performances – the gala dinner was a crucial element of the whole event. It was more important than ever that the styling was carried out across every element of the evening, so the Amway guests continued to be immersed in the spirit of the theme at every opportunity. That’s exactly why the event styling and centrepieces had to integrate perfectly with the Australiana-theme as well as be a feature, all on their own. “Each table had unique Australian-themed centrepieces with textural native flowers. The miniature bud lights in the flower displays twinkled and there was an LED light in the center of the arrangement, which also made the flowers glow. We even had a nod to Easter, with a few little eggs and bunnies making an appearance too.” Not only was the theme reflected throughout the event styling, but as with any corporate event, the Amway brand had to feature strongly too. The styling team designed custom-embroidered napkins with Amway branding as well as engraved napkin rings, some of which were produced overseas, requiring even more attention to timing. Another element of the event styling brief was to create a special section for Amway's VIP guests. Positioned directly at the foot of the stage and over the red carpet, the VIPs were treated to an oppulent table setting. "The brief was to create a luxurious table that made the VIP section stand-out from the rest. We draped the tables in gold sequin cloth and covered the chairs in pleated gold satin. In keeping in theme, we used the same wreath base for the main guest centerpieces but added more styling elements such as clusters of pillar candles which created a stunning warm glow reflecting off the sequins. Each VIP guest also received their own individual chocolate gifts, comprising a gold Lindt bunny and basket of Easter eggs," says Felicity. Felicity's tips for creating a winning table style and centrepiece design Every event planner knows in order to run a successful event preparation is key. For stylists, with so many objects and materials to coordinate, preparation is paramount. It's about ensuring you have everything you need, looking the way you intend so every guest has the same experience right down to the finest detail. Those small details, whether they’re LED lights or the right shade or texture on the tablecloths, are what our style teams thrive on. Order more than you need. If you have wriggle room in your budget it's always best practice to over order so you have plenty of back-ups just in case. This applies to table runners, chair covers, napkins, centrepiece elements and more. For large events, repetition in styling is what creates a beautiful event landscape so you'll want to avoid having anything missing or looking out of place. Treat all of your elements separately. Calculate the time and people needed to create all of the individual pieces. Give vendors notice and be sure to over-estimate time to give yourself as much leeway as possible. Know who your styling for. Consider styling implications for working with different cultures as the aesthetics and customs are likely to be different than that of your own. The reward of delivering an event of this scale An event like this certainly takes hard work – and when the centrepieces and table décor takes 32 staff (and counting) to create, it’s clear Event Stylist like Felicity had her work cut out for her. But as anyone in events will tell you, there’s nothing quite like seeing it all come together on the night – and that’s exactly what happened for Amway. “It was so satisfying seeing everything come to life on the night knowing we’d really pleased the client." says Felicity. Tony Chamberlain, Managing Director, Staging Connections commented on the impact that this type of major incentive has on Australia’s reputation for hosting spectacular business events. “Asian incentives look to Australia to offer their guests experiences that they cannot have anywhere else in the world and this market is experiencing major growth, contributing massive economic benefit to our country, based on our international reputation for excellence. “We have delivered a range of international events, from the G20 in Brisbane, to the Rotary International Convention, Joymain Incentive and the IUCN World Parks Congress in Sydney, and now the Amway Taiwan Leadership Seminar. Our teams have excelled in delivering superior results for these clients, putting their events in the spotlight on the global stage and delivering lasting memories for attendees, which have all contributed to Australia’s strong reputation for delivering world class events,” said Mr Chamberlain. Partner with Staging Connections for your next incentive Staging Connections has been the name behind some of the biggest international incentives for over 30 years. We're the preferred event services provider for corporate events due to our proven-track record for first-class events as well as our unrivaled breadth of event services and in-house venue partnerships. Speak to a Staging Connections representative today to start planning your next corporate event by calling 1800 209 099 or sending an enquiry. ... Read More

This week's Event Styling Profile brought to you by Event Stylist, Felicity Webb. Event Styling Profile: Carnivale and Mad Hatters Tea Party Themes The end of 2014 saw the installation and execution of two very colourful events. A Carnivale themed corporate function at The Westin Sydney and a Mad Hatters Tea Party themed Christmas Party in ivy’s Sunroom. The Mad Hatters Tea Party brief was for a fun filled room with props and teapots that created a Mad Hatter environment. We knew that the guests were going to be dressed in theme, giving us confidence to really get creative with the quirky side of the Alice in Wonderland story. The client expanded the brief by allowing us to style further into the space than what was originally given, allowing us to really immerse every area of this quaint venue. The challenge with this event was the tight turnaround for the set up meaning that a team of over ten people were required to run around the venue and set up this prop heavy, and detailed styling approach. For a playful approach, tea cups, hats, playing cards and candles were arranged upside down, sideways and on top of colourful candlestick pedestals. Arrangements of bell jars and tea cups, birdcages and candles, and rabbits and hats were scattered throughout the room providing detailing to larger items such as the Alice in Wonderland backdrop, fairy lights and lanterns hung in the dance area. The theatrical feature of the room were the marquee letter lights spelling “TEA” and so clearly setting the scene, yet adding a theatrical statement feature. Both this and the Carnivale themed event provided the perfect opportunity to introduce our new coloured glass candlestick range. Where colour features, yet style and class are desirable, these candlesticks not only display our rustic pillar candles, but in the case of our Carnivale event they showcase vividly coloured feathers for a festive look that also mimicked the clients event logo. Event Styling Profile: Intimate Dinner Settings On the other end of the spectrum - far, far away from the colourful realms of Carnivale - we’re seeing a range of stunningly intimate dinner looks where it’s all about mixing textures, florals and festoon lighting. A recent styling highlight for us was this intimate dinner at Cockatoo Island’s Naval Store. Our client wanted to create a memorable and intimate dinner for their special guests. Our team of Account and Event Managers together with a Technical Director and Stylist worked together to overcome location challenges and heritage listing parameters to create a bespoke solution. The decadent tablescape starts with an elegant furniture selection and develops through beautifully juxtaposed textures of smooth, glossy elements and rustic detailing. The venue’s timber cog tables made beautiful display pedestals for customised vignettes of soft, warm pillar candles and petite bud vases with blooms. With a sunset palette, the flowers colourfully adorned the tables and brightened the worn, yet delicate space. Completing the look were festoon lights strung across the ceiling space over the table and making an intimate glow. In addition, the long king table allows for real impact in the space as table decor repeats with varying levels to create interest. The mix of textures on this event made for a very enjoyable and satisfying event to style and was a fresh look to inspire for 2015. Our stylists search the globe for what’s trending so they stay ahead of the game. They’re inspiration comes in all shapes and sizes, from what’s happening in the fashion, movie and music industries to website designs and home wares. Want your next event styled like this or have an idea you want brought to life, get in touch with us today! Get your daily dose of event inspiration by following us on Instagram. Want to stay up to date with industry trends? Browse our range of downloadable Event Insights papers ... Read More

Immerse your guests in a cinematic experience with our new LED Wall - Crown Palladium Ballroom has been at the forefront of event technology in Australia for more than 15 years. It was the first Ballroom to use intelligent table pinspots, the first to use Meyer Sound’s award-winning horizontal array loudspeaker system and now features another stunning new innovation. The room now boasts 58m2 of VuePix E series Pro LED Wall permanently deployed by Staging Connection with the express purpose of providing event clients with a truly stunning visual experience thanks to its impressive size, brightness and colour intensity. The impressive 14.4m wide and 4m high display is mostly in use as a backdrop on the proscenium stage to provide the perfect virtual set for event designers that want to create strong visual impact. Due to the flexibility of the system it can also be safely rigged or ground-stacked* almost anywhere in the space either as one complete wall or as a series of displays. Employing more than half a million individual LEDs with a rated brightness of 3500 nits (a home television is usually around 350 nits) your show content will display brilliantly and will have no issues competing with stage lighting. “Once upon a time corporate Ballrooms used starcloths or cycs as a show backdrop. This new LED Wall takes the creative potential to an amazing new level. Anything is possible,” says Andrew MacColl, Director of Event Technology at Staging Connections Group. Use the new LED Wall to display corporate or club logos and branding, engage audiences with dynamic animated media backdrops, up the ante for band or dance performances with exciting multimedia or even customise the configuration to deliver a unique event that captivates your audience. The sheer size and impressive luminance makes the LED Wall the perfect backdrop for all events. Being a blank digital canvas it lends itself to all types of events such as; Corporate breakfasts, lunches and product kick offs. Charity events and fundraisers Awards nights, gala dinners and sporting events Music concerts Conference plenary sessions Staging Connections’ team of in-house multimedia designers can create custom content, both animated or still imagery, to leverage the power of the LEDs. The LED Wall was used at the Crown Melbourne Christmas Showcase to give the stage a more dynamic environment and allowed the event theme to carry across the stage set. “The Event theme was the 4 seasons of Christmas travelling through different countries. This theme allowed us to cast the room in an array of different colours through spectacular on-screen content, supported by dramatic lighting. The theming of this event came to life through the vision elements with the intensity of the LED Wall giving more impact to the imagery,” says Kristy Richards, Crown Melbourne Venue Sales Executive for Staging Connections. The LED Wall was the final piece of the puzzle that turned the event into an immersive visual journey for guests. “The LED Wall was displayed in conjunction with all the other screens in the room. It was the central feature, flanked by two 20ft x 11ft screens and lining either side of the room was two 30ft x 10ft screens.” Throughout the event, Staging Connections utilised different applications of imagery to demonstrate its versatility and show how well the LEDs work against projection. “We’ve been the in-house AV supplier to Crown Melbourne since it opened in 1997. During this time, we’ve helped the venue maintain its position as one of Australia’s leading event venues and it’s because of our relentless commitment to technological innovation,” says Mr MacColl. "The LED wall that was used for the Shared Tables Gala Ball in 2015 added that extra sparkle to the room and elevated the entertainment to the next level. A sensational addition to our event by Staging Connections, who have been designing and collaborating with Shared Tables for the past 14 years to ensure we have the best show in Australia for our guests." Gerard Doherty, Shared Tables | Crown Melbourne Staging Connections Melbourne Events Team Our Melbourne team is proudly led by Haig Walker and comprises some of the most talented design and styling professionals in the industry, offering event excellence across 7 key venues. If you're looking to host your next corporate event in Melbourne, than we're the experienced events team you can rely on. We proudly offer Australia's largest range of event services across audio, lighting, staging, vision and extending to styling, multimedia and digital event solutionslike webcasting, live polling and event social media. Get in touch with us today or call 1800 209 099 to speak with one of our event experts. * Please note there are additional charges for the rigging or moving of the LED Wall from its current position within The Palladium at Crown Melbourne. ... Read More

A theatrical set is a combination of engineering, practicality and imagination that, at its best, becomes part of a show’s narrative as it helps tell it. The ubiquity of digital video technology means that your event can benefit from the same attention-grabbing visual techniques that wow Broadway audiences. With the right content, your brand, message and story can fill screens, dance across walls and create long-lasting impressions in your audience’s memories. Even better, your content can be transported to new venues, re-used in electronic communication, broadcast on web and re-purposed as a promotional tool after your event is over. What is a digital set? ‘Digital Set’ is a catch-all term for a combination of techniques, equipment and strategies that all use digitally created graphic content to enhance a live event. A Digital Set can be any combination of static, animated or video content displayed on screens, projected on surfaces or animated across LED lighting fixtures. The options with projection alone are almost limitless! With one projector you can present an animation on a central screen all the while projection static branding on two peripheral screens. Set the scene of your event The first thing you need to consider when using digital sets is the venue you intend to deploy them in and the projection space that allows. Small function spaces - will be well served by projection to a modest central screen, augmented by strategically placed flat-panel displays. Larger theatre-style presentation spaces - can support multiple projection screens and projection onto walls. Extremely large ballroom or gala centres - allow you to stretch your imagination. They can house multiple sized custom screens, curved screens and projection mapped immersive visuals, all on a grand scale. Designing to your message The aim of your event is to convey your message, a digital set is intended to enhance it not outshine it. The development of your content and its technical implementation should go hand in hand. The best AV companies now have graphic designers, computer animator and video content creators in-house, which is the ideal team for enhancing your message. Take your speaker’s PowerPoint or Keynote presentations as a starting point and work through them with the content creators. They will pick out themes, selected static or animated visuals, highlight the most important sections and help structure the presentation with visual markers. Making use of the natural breaks You obviously don’t want to subvert attention during your speakers presentations but there are several natural breaks in the proceedings; introductions, walk- ups speaker changes that allow you to use the whole Digital Set to entertain the crowd. For example, introducing a speaker allows you to use all visual displays in unison to immerse the whole venue in a single visual sequence. An image can traverse the room making heads spin, light and fire can rise from every corner in your event. All these transitions should be made with tight, precise timings before bringing the focus right back to the speaker. Making an experience for your guests Envisage this: Video operators ensure that all presentations are queued up on a central computer and can be edited at a moments notice if necessary. All of your creative content will be deployed across projectors and screens via media servers run through powerful video mapping software. Lights go down, animation and video come up and your first speaker will take to the stage, right in the middle of the digital set you have created. Your presenter speaks. Slow video loops of your logo and slideshows of images pertinent to your theme run unobtrusively on secondary displays, quietly setting the scene in your audiences peripheral vision. At the moment when the major new product/direction/award is unveiled all displays leap to life in concert with the key image and text. As the details are explained, different points and illustrations make their way to different parts of the room, adjusting and focusing the audience’s attention as necessary. As the presentation ends, the room becomes one image, surrounding the crowd in the environment of the idea. Take your digital set with you Marketing memory After the applause has died down and the audience has left, your Digital Set is ready to keep working for you. You should follow-up your attendees via email, framed in the same style and content as the event and send out a link to video highlights. Make sure you tie their experience into your emailed content. You have created a memory that is branded with your visuals in each attendee’s mind, and every time you communicate with them make sure to use these same images. If your content and message were compelling, they will recall the event even more fervently. Portable set If your event is travelling its easy to take your digital set with you and adapt it as needed to the new venue. Projections can be scaled up and down according to room size and available surfaces. Similarly, images that were split across multiple devces can be amalgamated to one or vice-versa. Digital Sets are incredibly malleable and coherent content with a clear message with translate well no matter what media is carrying it. Your digital content is now a business asset that cost a fraction of its physical counterpart with the ability to be scaled down to an iPad or up to an arena. Digital set event packages Staging Connections offer Digital Sets in their Event Create packages. In-house content creators work with you with options for either static or animated imagery. Standard display options include projecting from one projector onto multiple screens or from multiple projectors onto ultra wide screens, if your venue can physically accommodate them. In all cases and all combinations, Staging Connections work with you to bring out the heart of your message, and enhance your event with the right combination lighting, sound and decoration to fit with your theme. Unique boxes The standard package does not limit your ability to create something truly unique. Staging Connections’ creative team and event planners love to extend themselves by creating totally individual events that create an environment for the organisation’s message. Whether it is bringing a character to life, creating a new display concept for a revolutionary product or finding a way to communicate a radical idea with absolute clarity, the Digital team love a challenge. That’s the great thing about the digital visions tools of modern AV – it’s never been easier to bring the hardest-to-image concepts to life and it’s never been more affordable to create a theatrical experience for your audience that’s every bit as entertaining as a night on Broadway. Want to stay up to date with industry trends? Browse our range of downloadable Event Insights papers ... Read More

Building a presentation may seem straightforward, but sometimes presentations can turn very complicated when it comes to the delivery. One way to avoid the pitfalls is to remember to get the basics right Building a presentation may seem straightforward, but sometimes presentations can turn very complicated when it comes to the delivery. One way to avoid the pitfalls is to remember to get the basics right: 1. Before starting to create your presentation, ensure you adjust the page setup to match aspect ratio of the display device, so as to get rid of those black bars around our slides. 2. When styling your presentation, remember that dark backgrounds should be used for darker rooms and light backgrounds for lighter function rooms. 3. When authoring your presentation, check that your text is well contrasted against the background colour, so your audience can easily understand your message. 4. Knowing that a picture is worth a thousand words, check to see if any of your text can be swapped for images instead, as this will avoid your audience suffering “death by PowerPoint”. 5. When saving your presentation, make sure that any files linked to the presentation are saved with the presentation, so as to avoid that stress just before you present. 6. When setting up your laptop make sure you connect the power supply and have disabled any screen savers and power management, eliminating any surprises mid presentation. 7. When loading your presentation, save it first to the laptop and run it from there, this will reduce any lags or delays in the presentation moving from slide to slide. 8. Once you have your slides on screen during rehearsal, walk to the back of the room and double check that the text size is adequate for viewing from the last row of chairs. 9. Don’t forget to take a depth breath and relax just before walking up on to stage! While some of this sounds straight forward it is important to lay the foundation for the more complicated demands of an event by getting the simple things right the first time! Check out this link for more information: http://office.microsoft.com/en-au/support/microsoft-powerpoint-curriculum-guide-FX102832612.aspx Written by Katie McDonald Katie McDonald is the Digital Brand Manager and resident Brit at Staging Connections. Armed with post-graduate qualifications in Marketing and specialist skills in Digital Strategy, she is passionate about management, execution, and measurement of all digital efforts that enhance and humanize brands online. ... Read More

Event apps - The new way to manage and plan a successful product launch event. To help event planners organise a successful product launch event, Staging Connections has recently released Event Briefcase, an event planning app that allows you to upload important information about your product launch and simultaneously share it with all event attendees. And best of all - it's free when you use our event services exclusively for your product launch. With Event Briefcase, you can provide attendees with important information such as a list of speakers, a list of event attendees, live event polling, a social media and so much more. Our app is a great way to add value to your event for those who will be attending and to increase engagement with your guests. If you are planning a product launch and you want to give your attendees a great experience, our event planning app can help you do just that. Here are 10 ways that Event Briefcase can help you plan a flawless product launch. 1. Share an Agenda Feature: Agenda With Event Briefcase, you are able to upload the agenda and schedule for your event so that your guests can view it from their smartphone or mobile device. 2. Upload Speakers’ and presenter bios Feature: Speaker Information With our event app, it is possible to share a list of the people who will be on hand to speak at your event. Our app also goes a step further and allows you to upload bios and important information on all of the key people who will play a part in the product launch you are planning. If you have special presenters at your product launch, this is a useful feature to help communicate and explain to your guests who they are and provide some context as to why they're speaking. 3. Share Venue Information Feature: Facility Overview It is likely that not everyone who attends the product launch will be familiar with the location of the venue you have selected for the event. With our event planning application, you can share a map complete with helpful directions to the venue. With the map, you can include any relevant shuttle or transportation information as well via the Transit feature. 4. Attendee list and networking Feature: Attendees With Event Briefcase, you can upload a list of your event’s attendees complete with their email address so that they can network and communicate with one another. If you upload email addresses, your attendees can even contact one another simply by tapping on the email address which will instantly open up their email client with the email address automatically in the recipient field. 5. Provide Paperless Handouts Feature: Downloads With our event planning app, we can help save you money and time by making it possible to upload handouts, floor plans, and other relevant information that is traditionally printed out and handed to event attendees. Not only is going “paperless” more cost effective, it also helps to save paper and creates less waste. 6. Quiz your audience, manage Q&A and get them talking about your product! Feature: Links With a product launch there are a number of reasons why you’d want to incorporate live audience polling into the event. A live event poll is a quick and easy way to conduct a Q & A session about the new products that are being featured at the product launch. You can also use a live poll as a means of testing the organisations employees on information retention about the new products, obtain feedback, conduct a survery and brainstorming sessions. Event Poll is Staging Connections exclusive audience polling platform which offers event planners a choice of 11 question templates, giving you the flexibility to choose the best format and brand the questionnaire. 7. Give your product launch social media exposure Feature: Links Utilising social media as a part of your product launch is a great way to garner engagement from attendees. Product launches tend to be private events made exclusive for VIPs, bloggers, employees and the like with the content embargoed. If your content is sensitive but you still want to engage your guests, we have a specialised event social media platform that enables a private social feed. Our event planning application allows you to provide everyone at your launch with a link to Event Feed - so guests can freely post without the content leaking to the public. 8. Keep Everyone Up-to-Date Feature: Bulletins Our event app makes it easy to share news and important bulletins in relation to your product launch with your audience. 9. Share Great Content Feature: Videos Videos are a fun and easy way to share content and information with your audience. For a product launch, you can upload videos packed with information about the new product being launched so that attendees of your event can experience the new products in video form. 10. Additional Promotion Feature: Downloads / Links When you choose to host a product launch party at a venue, often that venue will offer your guests various promotions. Our app makes it easy for you to share these promotions with your event’s attendees. Event Briefcase by Staging Connections - a free corporate event app. Our free corporate event app, Event Briefcase, is just one of the ways that Staging Connections can help you plan and flawlessly execute a stand-out product launch event. We also offer you the skills and expertise of more than 30 years of experience and we can provide you with a professional and organised event production team who will assist you in the production of a product launch that will blow your attendees away. To find out how Event Briefcase can enhance your event, speak with one of our Staging Connections representatives today by calling 1800 209 099 or by sending an online enquiry. ... Read More

1 Companies Stopped Spending Money On 'Stuff' And Started Spending On Experiences. This trend applies to both big and small companies, as the consumer culture has shifted in favor of experience rather than a simple act of buying. If before, the purchased product was enough to justify the act of spending money, nowadays the act of purchase has to be an event in itself. Apple has pioneered this concept with its Apple Stores. This had a dramatic impact on event marketing. In part because of this consumer obsession with experience, companies have started spending more money on event marketing than ever before. While this seems like good news for event marketers, it is important to remember that the expectations of companies for event marketing have increased. This trend disproves the earlier assumption made by many companies that the physical object will be valued by people more than the intangible experience. Apparently, when spending their money, the people are paying more attention to the emotional side of their brain rather than the logical one. That is why enjoyable experiences, such as vacations or concerts, are highly valued by people and are always in demand. That's why you need to choose the location of the event wisely. 2 Mobile Event Apps Are More Popular Than Ever Before. A great number of event marketers have stressed the importance of mobile event apps. Most of event marketers are using at least one mobile event app, while many other event marketers are using multiple event apps for a single event they manage. This helps them streamline every aspect of their event marketing work, everything from check-ins to guest interactions during event. 3 Event Marketers Are Stressing The Importance Of Integrated Technology Solutions. With a proliferation of technology, more and more devices are becoming available to an event marketer. With this multitude of devices has come a need for one unified data set that can be accessed from any device. This is important not only for the purpose of work simplification but also for the purpose of ROI measurement. That is why mobile event apps should be integrated with existing marketing automation platforms and customer relationship management software. This eliminates the need for manual data entry and makes it easy to measure data. 4 Event Marketers Are Still Unsure On How To Prove The Event ROI. More than half of event marketers interviewed in a marketing study said that they believe that the event ROI is going to be the primary measure of their effectiveness. Nevertheless, the vast majority of event marketers cannot identify the key metrics that can be used by companies to measure the event ROI. This points to yet another interesting trend in event marketing that we discuss below. 5 Adoption Time For New Technology In Event Marketing Is Still Quite Long. While the new event marketing technologies are entering the market almost every month, not many of these technologies will have a permanent place in the pantheon of marketing. The vast majority of marketers seem to be aware of this phenomenon, so they shy away from many new technologies, in part because they require investment of both time and money. However, the fact that mobile apps have gained ground in event marketing in a relatively short period of time is an encouraging development for all the tech enthusiasts out there. ... Read More