ARTICLE
What Event Technologists Need to Know Now
By Michelle Bruno
March 1, 2023
In 2017, I wrote about the need for a job title that married the understanding of event technology with the responsibilities of executing a business event. I was thinking about how few event professionals understood both the tech and the tasks, making it more difficult for software providers to sell their platforms and products to event organizers. An event technologist could help remove the impediments and shorten the sales cycle.
I introduced the concept during the first and only conference of the now-disbanded federation of event technology companies called the Event Tech Tribe and helped the group formalize the role as part of its Event Tech Manifesto. Thus, in 2019, we determined that an event technologist is a member of the event planning team who:
- Knows how to plan an event
- Plays a lead role in purchasing decisions for new event technology
- Takes a rigorous approach to learning about new technologies through industry publications, resources and events
- Develops or manages an internal communications system to keep departments up to date on new technologies entering the market
- Holds regular “office hours” for event technology companies to introduce new solutions, whether the organization is looking to purchase them or not
- Manages a technology budget
- Maintains relationships with existing vendors, including making them accountable for sending data back to the organization in the appropriate format
- Develops standards of performance and evaluates the organization’s vendors regularly against those criteria
- Negotiates service-level agreements, reviews and issues contracts to new technology vendors and cancels vendor agreements when non-performance occurs
- Oversees integration between best-of-breed technology vendors to maintain data integrity and functional efficiency
- Manages data flows
- Reports event outcomes
While event technology providers helped promote the event technologist role, event organizers recognized its value and started hiring. Development and collaboration software company Atlassian was one of the first companies to advertise for an event technologist. A search on LinkedIn today highlights the growing list of members with the event technologist job title.
A simpler time
Five years ago, when I and others were thinking about managing the acquisition and deployment of event technology more efficiently, organizations could get away with discussing digital transformation but hold back their investments. The tech environment was stable (i.e., pre-Covid), and the tech stack was limited. It covered:
- Event management and production
- Registration, check-in and badging
- Mobile apps
- Attendee engagement
- Marketing and attendee acquisition
- Location and access control
- Networking and matchmaking
- Data and analytics
- Virtual events and streaming
- Communities and marketplaces
The point is that organizers could avoid hiring for the position when the event technologist was a nascent construct. Often, they placed the responsibility for implementing event tech on the shoulders of very busy planners who scrambled to make it all work. After the pandemic, however, that ship has sailed. As in-person events re-emerge, planners are beyond overloaded with logistics.
New challenges
Not only is the need for event technologists more dire today than a half-decade ago, but those coming on board must address new challenges.
Technologists in 2023 have to be fluent in in-person, virtual and hybrid events and technologies whether the organization plans to hold all three event types or not.
During the pandemic, organizations became accustomed to tech amenities like instant and plentiful data. Event technologists now must orchestrate a data collection infrastructure for face-to-face events that rivals virtual event platforms.
The current event tech ecosystem is both crowded and fluid. More event tech companies in the mix make finding the right fit for an organization more difficult. Merger and acquisition activity continues to relieve the industry of small event-tech players and grow the number of all-in-one behemoths.
From now on, event technologists will have to understand not only the baseline set of technologies listed above but also the contours of:
- Event management and production
- Registration, check-in and badging
- Mobile apps
- Attendee engagement
- Marketing and attendee acquisition
- Location and access control
- Networking and matchmaking
- Data and analytics
- Virtual events and streaming
- Communities and marketplaces
In the not-too-distant past, organizers employed event technology mainly to increase productivity and lower costs. Event technologists joining organizations in 2023 also have to boost digital revenue.
The future
Technology will continue to consume event budgets; however, planners don’t have the time to manage technology and logistics. For most, it’s not a required skill; for many, it’s an acquired taste. A dedicated eventprof immersed in the technology and the job to be done (not an easy find) is an obvious asset to an event organizer. Event technologists will play a critical role in the evolution of events.
If you need help finding an event technologist or wrangling your unruly event tech stack, let us know.
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