Imagine an event where the audience takes the reins, curating the perfect musical experience by making real-time requests and communicating with the band. Today, we're thrilled to introduce you to uRequest Live, a groundbreaking platform that does exactly that. In this episode of the Event Tech podcast, we'll explore the journey of uRequest Live, from its inception to its evolution during the pandemic, and how it has transformed the event entertainment landscape. We'll also discuss the importance of knowing your audience, adapting to changing expectations around event duration, and the future innovations that uRequest Live has in store. So, sit back and let us take you on a captivating ride through the world of audience-curated concert experiences!

The #EventProfs community is a strong network of event professionals who’ve come together worldwide to share their ideas and insights and seek support in the ever-evolving event industry. Our thriving community includes event planners, marketers, sponsors, technology providers, and more, and we’re all committed to improving our craft and the industry. As part of our ongoing commitment to progress and improvement, we’re changing platforms. 

In this episode of the Event Tech podcast, Will shares why he’s decided to make the shift, what he’s excited to implement in the new #EventProfs community, which platform the community will use, and what you can expect in the coming weeks and months. Let’s get started!

Unlike the Metaverse, artificial intelligence (AI) is progressing rapidly. Will and Brandt published the ChatGPT, DALL-E, and Other AI Tools You Need to Know at the end of February 2023. After only a few weeks and many headlines later, they’re ready to revisit the ever-evolving topic. 

In today’s episode of the Event Tech podcast, Will and Brandt share some of the latest AI technology news, their thoughts on how you should embrace the fast-growing technology, and what they’d like to see from it moving forward. Let’s get right into it!

In 2022, the United States saw 1,774 data breaches. And while 1,774 might not sound jaw-dropping, those breaches impacted an estimated 422,143,312 people. Cybersecurity for event planners is a recurring theme on the podcast because cyber threats are never-ending and are only getting more complex.

In today’s episode of the Event Tech podcast, Will and Brandt tackle cybersecurity, driven by the recent and controversial data breach at LastPass and a listener question. Eliza C. asked, what steps would you give to a new event planner to help protect against cybersecurity threats for virtual events? Tune in to learn six tips to protect your business and events against cybersecurity threats in 2023.

Artificial intelligence (AI) tools have dominated the headlines lately. And tools like ChatGPT, Midjourney, and DALL-E have artists and writers sounding alarms about job security. So, what does this have to do with the events industry? In this episode of the Event Tech podcast, Will and Brandt share their thoughts on visual and text-based AI tools and how you might use them for events in the future. Let’s dive in!

As we continue to transition out of the pandemic and into 2023, the effects of economic downturn, layoffs, and budget cuts are felt across the tech industry. And with record-breaking inflation, it’s no surprise many event professionals are forced to navigate tighter budgets with rising costs. So, what should you do if you think you're going to deal with a reduced event budget? 

In this episode of the Event Tech Podcast, Will and Brandt consolidate years of advice into eight tips event professionals can take into 2023. They’ll share where they would start if forced to reduce your event budget, what and how to cut, and how the right mindset can change your perspective.

As event professionals, we’re always looking to explore new methods, techniques, and technologies to make each event better than the last. Virtual reality (VR) is a topic we often discuss on the Event Tech podcast and has been a technology growing in popularity in recent years. But with the adoption of VR technology comes an important question: will people change their lifestyle to attend VR events? 

Endless Events has articles on VR dating back to 2017. Still, VR technology has been slow to make a splash in the average household. Bulky, uncomfortable, and impractical hardware has largely been to blame. But will people be more willing to change their lives to integrate this new tech? Join Will and Brandt as they search for an answer and share their thoughts on what will catapult VR tech forward.

Event management software can potentially make an event planner’s job more efficient. But when the right software doesn’t exist, planners are left to fend for themselves, often lacking solutions. In July, we discussed this exact issue in the episode, Why is there no good event software? Will and Brandt discussed what features the industry desperately needs and how companies can offer solutions. Two of the most important missing features included tools for budgeting and understanding profit margins. 

In this episode of the Event Tech Podcast, Will and Brandt welcome a special guest who brings a new and inexpensive solution to event management software, Rob Vaas. Rob is a co-founder and director of a new software company called Joi, a planning and scheduling software with unique features, including budgeting solutions that might be just what the industry needs.

Event translation and transcription are a segment that’s been on the rise in recent years. Will and Brandt discussed the increase of booths for these services at IMEX Frankfurt and IMEX America. As a result, in this Event Tech podcast episode, the tech duo outlines how to work with translation, transcription, and captioning services in your events. 

 

Implementing these services into your event can be full of benefits, making your events accessible to international audiences and those with auditory impairments. But, when done poorly, translation, transcription, and captioning services can lead to a poor attendee experience and even offend listeners. To help you ensure that doesn’t happen, Will and Brandt share tips for working with the services and explain how you can ensure you’re getting the total value from these services. Let’s dive in!

We're doing things a bit differently on this episode of the Event Tech podcast. Rather than covering a "new topic," we're checking in with you, our listeners, and readers and evaluating whether we should change anything about the podcast. So whether you're a new or long-time listener, stay tuned and reach out. This is an engaging episode, and we have many questions for you.