Beacons Guide the Way for Event Organizers and Attendees

February 26, 2015

“This industry (trade shows and expos) has not changed for 150 years. People just used to dress better,” said David Ely, head of sales and marketing for TurnoutNow.

But Ely feels change now is possible and affordable with the arrival of beacons on the scene. There is no need to guess what attendees are doing at your event. Through the use of Bluetooth beacons, real-time data now is available to trade show and expo organizers.

Bluetooth beacons are transmitters that use Bluetooth Low Energy 4.0 to broadcast signals that can be heard by compatible or smart devices.

A typical example would be a signal transmitted from a beacon to a smartphone. When the smartphone is in a beacon’s proximity (from inches to 100 or so feet), the beacon will automatically recognize it and will be able to interact with that device.

ASAE used TurnoutNow’s cloud-based, data analytics technology at their Tech Conference last December. Allison Wachter, director of registration and exhibits for ASAE, said that the beacons gave her information that will help ASAE better plan future meetings. Information that was never available before.

Wachter said that it was not unusual for exhibitors to ask her about traffic on the showfloor. Before they started using the beacons, it was not possible to accurately measure the traffic. “Now, we have hard data and can see counts of people coming in and out of the show floor,” Wachter said. “We have heat maps to see where the dead spots were.”

Because that information is available real-time, shewas able to address dead spots by moving coffee and desert stations to those areas to increase traffic.

ASAE plans to use the beacon technology for all their major events in 2015. While the tech event collected anonymous data, they plan to start having attendees login to the app. That will allow them to use the technology for CEU credit tracking and post show reporting on sessions attended and booths visited.

“As a planner I think it’s a game changer. It helps us do our job better and know what’s really going on at our event that we didn’t know before,” Wachter said.

While data can certainly help the event organizer, Iris Goldman, founder of On Location Engagements (OLE) feels the key to successfully deploying beacons at a trade show is delivering great content to the target audience. Goldman thinks the ultimate experience for an attendee at a show would be using beacons to create an experience for each and every attendee based on their unique needs and interests.

Retailers often use beacons to deliver coupons and deals to customers walking through their store. But that is not how Goldman thinks exhibitors at a trade show should be using beacons.

Goldman said, “It’s all about curation, no matter how you slice it and dice it if you don’t have much to say, it becomes a proximity marketing Bluetooth device, that’s all. Don’t make it a proximity marketing device because people will just turn it off immediately. “

The Boston Convention & Exhibition Center is using beacons as geolocation devices that help attendees navigate throughout the convention center.

Jacques Racine, founder and chief innovation officer of Sherpa Solutions and provider of the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center technology, said the mapping is just one of the advantages to geolocation.

Show organizers, exhibitors and attendees can tap into the system at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center and use it as a networking tool via Sherpa’s ActivLocator.

Racine said that with the Sherpa geolocation services, attendees can use the app to connect with people they want to meet and then actually locate them in the building.

Racine feels that attendees are not going to be thinking about a message they received through Bluetooth Beacons when they entered the exhibit hall and that messages from exhibitors targeted to attendees are not going to make or break a meeting.

“But if everyone can meet 15 or so more people in the course of a meeting, then there is a huge, huge value the system will bring to the attendees and therefore to the organizers,” he added.

While there are many different ways to use beacons, the key will be in providing an experience attendees value enough to prompt them to enable Bluetooth on their devices. 

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Partner Voices
Less than six months ago, Lisa Messina joined the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) as the first-ever chief sales officer after leading the sales team at Caesars Entertainment. A 12-year Las Vegas resident, Messina is a graduate of Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration and serves on MPI International’s board of directors. TSNN had a chance to catch up with this dynamic leader and talk to her about her vision for the new role, current shifts in the trade show industry, creating more diversity and equity within the organization, and advice to future female leaders. Lisa Messina, Chief Sales Officer, LVCVA With Las Vegas becoming The Greatest Arena on EarthTM, what are some of the things you’re most excited about in your role? Our team was at The Big Game’s handoff ceremony earlier this month, and I couldn’t help but think, “We’re going to crush it next year!”  These high-profile events and venues not only drive excitement, but also provide unmatched opportunities for event planners. Allegiant Stadium hosts events from 10 to 65,000 people and offers on-field experiences. Formula 1 Grand Prix will take place in Las Vegas in November, after the year-one F1 race, the four-story paddock building will be available for buyouts and will also offer daily ride-along experiences that will be available for groups. And, of course, the MSG Sphere officially announced that it will open in September, ahead of schedule, with a U2 residency. It’s going to be the most technologically advanced venue as far as lighting, sound, feel, and even scent, and it will be available for buyouts and next-level sponsorships inside and outside. There’s no ceiling to what you can do when you’re doing events in Las Vegas.  Allegiant Stadium As the trade show and convention business returns to the pre-pandemic levels, what shifts are you noticing and how do you think they will impact the industry going forward? Our trade show organizers are very focused on driving customer experience. Most of our organizers are reporting stronger exhibitor numbers and increased numbers of new exhibitors, with trade shows proving to be almost or above 2019 levels. Now our organizers are really doubling down on driving attendance and focusing on the data to provide that individualized, customized experience to help attendees meet their goals and get the best value. Some companies continue to be cautiously optimistic with their organizational spend when it comes to sending attendees, but I think it will continue to improve. As the U.S. Travel Association makes more progress on the U.S. visa situation, we also expect a growing influx of international attendees. What are some innovative ways the LVCVA helps trade show and convention organizers deliver the most value for their events? We focus on customer experience in the same way that trade show organizers are thinking about it. We got rave reviews with the West Hall Expansion of the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC), so over the next two years, we will be renovating the North and the Central halls, which will include not just the same look and feel, but also the digital experiences that can be leveraged for branding and sponsorship opportunities.  Vegas Loop, the underground transportation system designed by The Boring Company, is also a way we have enhanced the customer experience. Vegas Loop at the LVCC has transported more than 900,000 convention attendees across the campus since its 2021 launch. Last summer, Resorts World and The Boring Company opened the first resort stop at the Resorts World Las Vegas , with plans to expand throughout the resort corridor, including downtown Las Vegas, Allegiant Stadium and Harry Reid International Airport. The LVCVA also purchased the Las Vegas Monorail in 2020, the 3.9-mile-long elevated transportation system that connects eight resorts directly to the convention center campus. This is the only rail system in the world that integrates fares directly into show badges and registration. For trade show organizers, these transportation options mean saving time, money and effort when it comes to moving groups from the hotels to LVCC and around the city. Also, the more we can focus on building the infrastructure around the convention center, the more it supports the customer experience and ultimately supports our trade show organizers. Scheduled to debut in Q4, Fontainebleau Las Vegas will offer 3,700 hotel rooms and 550,000 square feet of meeting and convention space next to LVCC.  What are some of the plans for advancing DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) within your organization? We’re currently partnering with instead of working with a leading consulting firm, to lay the foundation and create a solid DEI plan and be the leader when it comes to DEI initiatives. The heart of that journey with the consulting firm is also talking to our customers about their strategic approaches to DEI and driving innovation in this space.  What are your favorite ways to recharge? My husband and I have an RV and we’re outdoorsy people. So, while we have over 150,000 world-class hotel rooms and renowned restaurants right outside our doorstep, one of my favorite things to do is get out to Red Rock Canyon, the Valley of Fire, and Lake Mead. Five of the top national parks are within a three-hour drive from Las Vegas, so there’s a lot you can do. We love balancing the energy of Las Vegas with nature, and we’re noticing that a lot of attendees add activities off the Strip when they come here.  Valley of Fire What advice would you give to women following leadership paths in destination marketing? I think it’s about being laser-focused on what you want to accomplish; building a team around you that lifts you and helps you achieve your goals; and being humble and realizing that you do it as a group. No one gets this done alone. Thankfully, there are a lot of women in leadership in this organization, in our customers’ organizations, and in this city that we can be really proud of. We’re a formidable force that is making things happen.   This interview has been edited and condensed. This article is exclusively sponsored by the Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority. For more information, visit HERE.