Facial recognition just sounds like a cool tool and while it’s become quite powerful in event management, how significant is it for Event Planners in NY? For starters, this booming technology isn’t just awesome sauce for front desk check-in at hotels. It’s also speeding up and securing registration check-ins at corporate events. With facial recognition being deployed at large events, you can avoid the pileup of people at entranceways since they just simply have to scan and go.
One of the core challenges that facial recognition is helping event management with is customizing experiences using personal identification. When you use facial recognition in conjunction with other technologies like human posture and emotion recognition, you now have a deeper understanding of who your attendees are, where their mood shifted, what was least entertaining to them, and other behavioral patterns. This is an excellent way to customize existing and future experiences for them.
Keep in mind that every powerful piece of technology comes with great responsibility. Handling metadata and respecting people’s privacy in a practical and transparent manner is a requirement. Every party that has access to this type of information should be trustworthy and held accountable to the highest standards.
If you’ve been contemplating whether or not implementing facial recognition will help or hurt your event planning practice, keep reading. We’re going to review how:
7 Reasons Facial Recognition is Improving Event Management
The ability to identify people in a scalable, non-intrusive manner has substantial benefits for Event Planners in NY. In other trades facial recognition is being utilized for surveillance, access control, personalized marketing, time attendance, enhancing the user experience, and exporting analytics. The possibilities within the events industry are just as exciting! Keep reading so we can tell you exactly where it’s going to make its biggest mark at events.
Check-In
Despite the type of event, the importance of a smooth and efficient check-in process simply can’t be overstated. People waiting in line makes a bad impression and kills the mood. Why do we see long lines at events? Several factors make the process inefficient. The attendees aren’t the best at following instructions that are displayed on the terminal, they cannot find their ticket, it takes them a while to retrieve the QR code on their phone, or they simply need time to type in their email address. In many cases, we see people coming to an event with their hands full meaning that they must place their belongings down before they can initiate the check-in process.
ID Check
It is more important than ever for Event Planners in NY to increase security at events. Because of this, we see more and more checks that are dependent on different forms of identification documents (IDs) such as driver’s licenses and passports. In certain regions of the world, checking the ID of people walking into the venue is required by law enforcement. In other cases, the ID check is enforced by regulations such as restrictions on liquor sales.
Watchlists
One of the most effective ways for Event Planners in NY to increase security is by actively scanning people attempting to get into the venue and ensuring they have a clean record. As we mentioned, humans are great at remembering people they know well. However, our memory fails us when we are asked to identify a person from a large database of faces. Facial recognition makes this easier and more efficient than ever.
Session Tracking
Education and networking are the top two priorities for corporate event attendees. That being said, professionals in event management spend a substantial amount of time employing speakers, curating the content of their shows, and organizing sessions that cover different aspects of the event theme. In addition, conferences with a deep educational focus often assign credits and accreditation to participants who attend specific sessions.
Heatmaps
Organizing an event with multiple points of interest presents unique challenges and opportunities. Events that fit this profile type, will need to identify and address potential bottlenecks by assigning resources accordingly in real time.
Convenience & Personalization
Event Planners in NY have found that the vast majority of event professionals use the attendee satisfaction and user experience as the core metrics to measure the return on investment (ROI). Offering attendees easy access to information and making them feel important are good ways of improving their experience. And there are many opportunities to accomplish this throughout an event, in addition to all the other use cases mentioned above.
Lead Retrieval
The main purpose of exhibitions and trade shows is to facilitate networking and spur new business opportunities for the participants joining the event. Attendees want to receive written communications only from service providers you are genuinely interested in. As an exhibitor, you want to prioritize and focus on leads which are a good fit. In addition, you want to have access to statistics that help you maximize the return on investment from attending the show. This is one of the use cases where face recognition can make a big difference.
Conclusion
Event management firms employ event pros who are eager to use the latest technology and offer a better experience to their attendees. Registration companies want to differentiate themselves and stay ahead of the curve. Facial recognition is the perfect solution for all participants because it is better, faster, and more affordable than existing solutions.
To learn more about the latest technology in the events industry, be sure to attend The Event Planner Expo in New York! Each year the top event professionals come together to share and demonstrate all of the latest tools to help enhance events.