Alison Williams, divisional events manager, L'Oreal Professional Products, UK & Republic of Ireland, said technology is weaved into the brand's events, from pre-engagement on social media to the whole event experience by using screen content, as well as post-event engagement and reach.
"It's integral but it does not stand alone," Williams said. "We weave it through everything we do."
Mariam Ahmed, head of events at Shortlist Media, said social media has played a big role in the events it does. "We've got more than 100,000 followers on Twitter for Stylist magazine, so our events can live a lot longer. We can tweet about it beforehand and on-site, and it has a shelf-life afterwards."
Kelly Phillips, senior events manager at EE, said social media is at the forefront of all the brand's event ideas. "We built a bespoke social media platform called Splash for our employees so that they can engage across the company, and we go wild with that in the event space."
She added EE uses social media platforms for events registration, with Splash aimed at getting delegates talking about events live on-site, and it is also used for feedback afterwards. "It is weaved through our entire event journey and we couldn't deliver our events without social media."
on millennials and what technology and trends will shape the future of events, Will Scougal, head of brand strategy and creative at Twitter UK, said 80% of Twitter UK’s 15 million users are activating the website using a mobile device, and internet usage has doubled between 2010 and 2013.
He also described social media platforms Vine, Instagram and Buzzfeed as some of the most popular smartphone apps around because of their live publishing ability. "There is a desire for millennials to be connected to everything around them," he added.
What role do social media and technology play in your events, and do you think it is integral to their success?
Comment below to let us know what you think.
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