UFI, The Global Association of the Exhibition Industry, has named the event marketing software company Feathr as winner of its prestigious UFI Technology Award.

With a focus on “Digital innovation”, this year’s competition set out to find the best new technologies that support the exhibition industry.

international panel of exhibition professionals selected Feathr for its innovative Event Marketing Cloud, a suite of tools designed to help event organisers “know, grow, engage and monetise their digital audiences”.

Those of us who have been associated with the tradeshow industry for a long time know that the key to having a successful event is in having satisfied attendees. If attendees accomplish their goals and objectives in attending the event, then they’ll automatically become cheerleaders for your brand.

PCMA (Professional Convention Management Association) has unveiled its new Digital Experience Institute, formerly known as the Virtual Edge Institute.

“The revealing of the DEI is the latest step in the PCMA’s commitment to providing the best digital educational tools and resources for the industry,” PCMA CEO Deborah Sexton said, “Like the VEI before it, the Institute will represent our ability to harness future success for everyone involved.”

SmartSource Computer & Audio Visual Rentals, accompany offering computer, audio visual (AV) and technology solutions for businesses and events, has a new event technology to offer event planners across diverse markets.

It is the SwiftColor SCC-4000D Oversized Credential Printer. This state-of-the-art digital inkjet color printer instantly delivers high-quality, 1200 x 1200 dpi resolution, full-color, 3.5” x 5.5” documents.

Event planners can print oversized ID badges, media credential cards, parking passes, door hangers and much more in just two seconds.

During this year’s IMEX America, Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board (L.A. Tourism) launched Virtual Discovery L.A., a new virtual reality travel platform that provides meeting professionals with immersive 360-degree viewing experiences of more than 50 only-in-L.A. venues and locations across Los Angeles – the most comprehensive virtual tour of any destination in the world. 

In recent years, smart technology has enabled event organizers to automate transactions, scale processes, and simplify interactions with participants.

With significant reduction in manual effort, as well as in duplication of work, they can now centralize and analyze data more efficiently.

In fact, technology has become an indispensable part of an event management team’s operations. A larger range organizations are looking to replicate the same success for their nascent events as well.

Las Vegas unveiled its trade show booth, Vegas Interactive, at IMEX America, which ran Oct. 18-20 at the Sands Expo & Convention Center in Las Vegas.

The trade show booth featured an interactive video wall that allows users to access detailed information about hotel, convention and event spaces through the power of touch-screen technology.

"Our new trade show booth creates a unique and memorable brand connection to Vegas," said Cathy Tull, senior vice president of marketing, LVCVA.

The High Point Market Authority (HPMA) has made several enhancements and updates to the MyMarket app for Fall Market, on tap Oct. 22-26 in High Point, N.C.

Originally released in April 2016 in advance of Spring Market, the app features innovative indoor and outdoor mapping technology.

Utilizing GPS technology, the app offers building to building blue dot navigation, allowing users to easily select an exhibitor and quickly map a route from their current location to the showroom’s address.

Sixty-one point three percent of meeting professionals agreed that currently available event technology makes event management much easier and that it will develop and change dramatically in the next 10 years, but 92 percent admit that meeting planners are not making the most of

Digital continues to expand its presence today in every facet of our personal and business lives. The same is true for business-to-business exhibitions. For organizers and brand marketers alike, it is very hard to know which solutions are worth testing and which are ideas that will disappear as fast as a Snapchat message.

Digital leaves many in our industry wondering …

•         How can technology support and enhance the attendee experience?