Last year we had 5 takeaways this year we have 4 from our time at this year's BizBash NY conference.

1) Photobooths, Photobooths and more Photobooths
We've lost count of how many variations of the modern photobooth we've now seen. This can only mean 1 thing....events like photos.  Why?  They're fun!  And today they are    a powerful way to make your event more social.   The best booths we've seen integrate easily with social media platforms (Facebook, Tumblr, Flickr, Twitter, etc) which allows attendees to share their event experience with their social networks and therefore exposing the event to more people.  We're most inspired by solutions with simplistic interfaces that require limited operator help.   Fun props for attendees to look foolish a must!

2) Planners Love Unique Experiences
Similar to last year, we continue to see event planners incredibly focused on creating unique event experiences.  Obviously this shouldn't be news to anyone.....it's our job as event producers. It's just interesting to see it happening in every aspect of events.  Decor, catering, invitations (preferably electronic), lighting, talent, ice sculptures, even carpeting!  When you think about all the things that go into planning an event its immense.  When planners pay close attention to every detail to create their own unique event experience is when they are most successful and when guests are most inspired.
   

3) More Events = More Freelancers
You may have seen the piece MSNBC did following our CEO during our time producing events at the RNC and DNC this summer.   That was inspired by MSNBC's research that estimates that the event planning industry will grow by 40% over the next 2 years and Event Planning has become one of the most sought after jobs in the country.  We're already seeing it.  We're also seeing a trend towards more freelancing.  We met dozens of freelance event producers at BizBash.  Organizations and companies are hosting more events and that means that there's more work for planners.   This is opening up more opportunities for Freelancers.  We think this is happening because events are easy easy to compartmentalize into projects so outsourcing event planning makes sense and can save money.   #lovefreelance


4) Can Twitter be a distraction?
We didn't have too much time to engage in the twitter conversation surrounding #bizbash this year but we were surprised this morning when we looked back to catch up and searched #bizbash on Twitter and found a decent amount of tweets but not to the level we expected from thousands of event planners. We haven't fully digested why yet but here's a thought: Maybe everyone was just really busy like us, engaged in personal interactions and didnt have time to tweet?  Could this actually be a sign that the conference was more effective and brought people together for in-person interactions?  Is Twitter potentially a distraction? Hmmm...........

While we didn't set out to answer that question initially, it is now clear that Event Farm will leave its mark on the 2012 Democratic and Republican National Conventions.   Don't worry, we're not crazy enough to think that Event Farm will sway voters per se, but we do believe that a more effective RNC and DNC can give both parties a stronger voice on the campaign trail.

Having been to several political conventions over the years, I've come to know the scene well.   It's an amazing opportunity to interact with our political leaders outside the beltway, the celebrities and A-list parties are great, and the dozens of corporate and non-profit leaders that turn up are inspiring. But for lots of convention attendees the experience turns into a week of chaos, exhaustion and ultimately a waste of time.  Trust me I've been there.   You spend so much time tracking down your tickets to events, finding people to meet up with, and struggling for access to parties that there isn't any time left to actually experience the convention.  
 
We asked ourselves:   How can we make this better?  Can we create mobile apps for attendees to have all their tickets and invites on their phones?  Can we provide event planners a better invitation and ticketing solution? Can we somehow connect hundreds of independent events and thousands of people into a single digital experience?  Yes. Yes. Yes.

So about 8 months ago we began working on a solution. And with the help of our partner, Bloomberg Government, it's becoming a reality.  We have a free software solution for event planners to completely customize their own invitation/ticketing system, distribute tickets in block to sponsors, run will call onsite, etc.  We have free mobile apps (iOS, Droid, and Blackberry) for attendees to download and automatically build their calendar for the week, find their friends, and transfer extra tickets they have.  And of course we've added integrations with Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Yelp.   We really are going to revolutionize the 2012 convention experience and we actually might influence a Presidential election after all. 

You can learn more and sign up at www.my2012conventions.com

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