From big trades to trivial activities such as grocery shopping, technology has made its way into our daily lives and it’s here to stay. One such field that has embraced the technological revolution is event planning.

Technology has changed the way events are planned, executed and managed. The past decade has seen multiple innovations, some bordering on brilliant that have completely transformed, and in a way, simplified the way we execute events and how attendees see them.

Here are five ways technology has transformed event planning.

1.     Event Automation

Event automation is a boon to event planners. Taking traditional event management software to the next level, event automation tools help automate multiple aspects of event planning including the creation of event websites, registrations, e-mail marketing campaigns, social media marketing as well as feedback.

Such tools also help in keeping track of the event management process with the help of reliable metrics. An additional bonus to event automation is the ability to customize. Hence, event automation makes life really simple and convenient for event planners while facilitating personalization and event branding.

2.     Simplification Through Mobile Apps

Event technology has led to the elimination of a lot of earlier complications in traditional event planning and has simplified many aspects of the process, such as registrations, event schedule, navigation, etc. Pen and paper registration forms, printed schedules and paper maps are all passé.

Event bots are also a fast-emerging trend in event apps. For example, the event app for the 20^th E-governance conference held in India last January had a virtual assistant integrated within the app that guided attendees based on their profile in terms of whom to meet, which booth to check out, etc., thus making their experience easier and more convenient.

3.     Active Interaction

Virtual reality concepts at trade shows have been known to generate a lot of interest from planners and audiences equally. Beacons can also be used to make the event even more interactive and personalized. When an attendee passes by a booth where beacons are installed, an exhibitor can access certain information about them with the help of a Bluetooth-enabled device.

For example, beacons were used at the 2016 GSMA Mobile World Congress in various innovative ways, including one that led attendees to premium exhibitor stands.

Beacons can also help in the geo-tagging of attendees. Thus, the attendees can be actively engaged in the events in a more personal way.

4.     Near-Field Communication System

Near-field communication (NFC) is a major technological innovation. As a wireless system that allows the exchange of information between two devices, NFC can be incorporated into events via wearable gadgets.

NFC can also help events avoid the hassle of security checks, payments and entry verification via simple NFC-enabled digital bands that can be beeped at the show’s entrance, thus handling all those complex processes in one go.

5.     Targeted Promotion

Geo-filters help event planners promote their events to a specific audience at a specific location. For example, an event in New York City can advertise through multiple digital and social media platforms within that city using geo-filters.

Apart from this, it is possible to target selective audiences based on their interests using their social media profiles, through which planners can get data on potential attendees that may be interested in their events and advertise accordingly.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. Technology is bringing about the revolution and the only constant is change.