I love, love, love all things events and technology. If you can’t tell by my tweets, Facebook posts and all my other social media interactions, I love to talk about events and the tools that help us do what we do better. In June 2011, I partnered with an organization called imbookin to bring you PlannerTech – an event technology showcase. This weekly blog series is going to help continue to expose you to new tools you need to be aware of as an event planner. Also, in case you missed it, PlannerTech could be coming soon to your area!
Today, we’re talking about Eventstagram
Your name: Dan Strang
Company/Tool Name: eventstagr.am
Website: http://eventstagr.am
Twitter: @eventstagram
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/eventstagram
What is the “problem” that your tool seeks to solve?
The concept of eventstagram was conceived when a friend asked for some help displaying guests photos during his wedding. Immediately we thought Instagram would be the solution for this, but were astonished to find that there currently wasn’t a way to display live Instagram photos at events. Once the prototype was live it didn’t take long to realise that displaying real time Instagram photos would not only be a fantastic tool for weddings and parties, but allow event organisers of all forms to add a unique crowd engagement feature to their festivals, conferences or exhibitions.
What is the best audience for this tool? Corporate events? Social? Other? Large? Small?
We honestly believe that eventstagram is suitable for a huge range of events. In the short time since our launch we have serviced a number of weddings, small house parties and student gatherings, but also been one of the main attractions at large scale festivals and exhibitions such as ‘The Gadget Show’, ‘Eventia Awards 2012’, ‘Clockenflap Music Festival’ and the ‘LA Auto Show’.
We have created a tiered product package system that allows each user to get the features the require at the right price. Our small event pack gives a 6 hour long live Instagram feed, with the ability to ban any inappropriate photos that appear on the screen, whilst our premium product allows large events to customise the slideshow with their logo and approve all the images before they are sent to the screen. For large scale events we can create fully customised and branded templates with a completely integrated dashboard to analyse and interact with users.
What does your tool help event planners do better?
By using eventstagram we believe event planners can enhance their event in two distinct forms. Firstly they can add an interactive feature to their event. Our live Instagram slideshows encourages users to use Instagram on their mobiles to become part of the events wallpaper. Within seconds the crowd can be virtually up on stage with their favourite band, smiling next to an aspirational speaker or displaying their brands product on the big exhibition screen.
Secondly our live Instagram walls can help to market an event across all forms of social media. By using Instagram to take photos our users are encouraged to share their images across a number of social media platforms, including twitter, facebook and four square. As the crowds photos are displayed alongside our instruction slide they are encouraged to take images, which in turn means that the events hashtag and image are shared across the users social media network. We have already seen some huge marketing benefits for our events with increases of up to 360% in tagged images by using eventstagram.
How is your tool different from/better than the competition?
There are no direct competitors producing live Instagram slideshows for events so our key is making sure that we always stay ahead of the game with new features and add ons. Last month we launched two tiers of approvals which mean corporate events don’t need to worry about inappropriate content or poor imagery. This month we are also due to launch our online customisable slideshows where users can edit colourways, fonts and logos to create a unique template.
In addition to constantly updating our features we ensure our slideshows are the most attractive displays out there. By using Instagram we can ensure the photos are unified giving a professional, beautiful and quirky feel to the slideshows. Finally however small or large we treat each customer with the time and care they require. We know how important it is that their events run faultlessly so we are always on hand to help with any queries.
What is the single coolest feature of your product?
Eventstagr.am’s coolest feature is our customisation. By developing unique templates for each of our corporate customers our slideshows integrate seamlessly into the events branding and DNA. No design or idea is too hard for us and we work closely with the customer to make sure that the finished product meets their requirements.
By customising the slideshow in either the events branding or a sponsors theme it enables them to get closer to their crowd. As users tag their Instagram photos with the events hashtag, or watch the eventstagram slideshow to see their photo appear they interact directly with the brand, building loyalty and of course social media endorsement.
Anything else we need to know?
Eventstagram is incredibly simple to set up, you can even get started instantly with our live demo – enter a hashtag, take an image, and watch our beautiful feed display your images: http://eventstagr.am/demo/interactive
If you want to talk to us about a corporate slideshow, or in fact anything else, please get in touch on info@eventstagr.am
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