The Impact of Technology In The Events Industry

The impact of technology is a key contemporary issue within the events industry. This is due to event technology creating benefits for companies by providing speed and growth. However there are possible disadvantages of technology which can have detrimental effects on the events industry e.g. security threats, lack of knowledge.

Technological developments have brought many benefits to the way in which events are planned, managed and produced. Glodblatt (2002) states that technology is fundamental in the key foundation of success of events management alongside time, finance and human resources. For example the growth in speed of the internet has led to effective forms of communication. Therefore event organisers and stakeholders are able to communicate directly and efficiently to ensure that the planning process on the event runs smoothly. This also leads to a good relationship between client and the service providers as they can be kept up to date with information and can have their queries responded to instantly.

Another factor that has benefited the events industry is the general decrease in the cost of IT. I believe that this general factor has highly impacted the events industry as I feel that it gave smaller event companies a window of opportunity. With the lower cost of IT, companies are able to provider their employees with the necessary technology systems in order for them to complete their work responsibilities.

Corresponding with the growth in software solutions for event management has benefited the events industry as there are specific software platforms available to meet the needs of event companies.

However although the developments of technology bring many benefits to the events industry it has to be discussed that there is many risks that are generated by the use of technology.

One of the most important risks caused by technology is the rise in security threats, data theft and hacking that using technology can bring. Event data can hold personal and confidential information about an event attendee so it is essential that the data is stored securely.  However if the correct security measures are not in place the event company is open to competitors hacking the account and taking the database of clients for their own use.

Additionally a lack of knowledge about the technology is also an issue regarding the impact of technology in the events industry.  There is evidence that there is clear lack of knowledge from event organisations about technologies which are already operating within their network. For example, Etherlive survey of Wi-Fi and IT knowledge of venues, (2013) showed that 81% of respondents were unable to answer the question: ‘What size is your broadband capacity for events facilities? I believe that this survey shows that there is a clear lack of understanding about the specifics of technology. I also feel that this lack of knowledge leads to technology not being used to its full potential. For example research shows that there is a lack of knowledge about the benefits a hybrid event can bring to an event organisation. Therefore event companies are less likely to branch out and conduct hybrid events as they do not know enough information about them (Platt, 2011).

Overall I believe that the impact of technology within the event industry is a key contemporary issue as although technology brings many benefits I believe the lack knowledge is impacting the events industry more. I feel that the reason for this lack of knowledge is due to a lack of education. Therefore in order to understand the real benefit technology can bring to the events industry, training should be provided in order for them to understand the fundamentals specifically how to reduce the risk of threat.

Platt. S (2011). Why streaming an event doesn’t stop visitors from attending in person- by Sarah Platt of @Kintura. Available: http://www.eventindustrynews.co.uk/2013/08/08/why-streaming-an-event-doesnt-stop-visitors-from-attending-in-person-by-Sarah-Platt-of-Kintura/. Last accessed 4^th November 2013