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Lee:
Welcome to the Event Engine podcast. My name is Lee, and today we have on the show, the one and only. It’s Chloe Barnes. How are you today?
Chloe:
I’m very well. Thank you for having me.
Lee:
Oh, well, I’m very glad to have you on the show. We have literally only just met. We’re here at EventTech Live, and you’ve agreed, nervously, But..
Chloe:
Yes, hesitantly.
Lee:
To come on the show and just to share some of your own experience of the events industry. Before we do that, I would love to know what’s brought you specifically to Event Tech Live, and then Let’s go into the time machine into your background.
Chloe:
Well, officially, I’m actually here in London on holidays at the moment from Australia. It just happened to coincide that the show was on at the same time I was going to be here, and my background is around Event Technology. So I thought the stars were aligning, and I had to come and check it out.
Lee:
Yeah, so you basically are a fellow nerd and thought, You know what? I’m just going to hang around with like-minded people.
Chloe:
These are my people.
Lee:
Well, let’s jump in that time machine and let’s find out a little bit of history. What’s your history in Event Tech and in events in general?
Chloe:
My history with events is predominantly in the corporate space within large agencies, working with corporate clients, association clients, Before that was… I actually started my career with a local council in Australia doing big outdoor public events and then transitioned into corporate events. Then most recently spent my time leading a digital team within a large events agency.
Lee:
Yeah, amazing. If we talk about a corporate event, what does that look like? Because I think many people have a different idea of what a corporate event might be.
Chloe:
I guess working with large brands and delivering events for them. Everything from their internal sales events that are just targeted to their internal teams through to more marketing-style events where they’re trying to connect with customers or potential customers. It could be an exhibition, it could something that’s more targeted for them, road shows, things like that. Yeah.
Lee:
All right. So literally everything and in between. Absolutely.
Chloe:
Yeah. It feels like I’ve done it all, and yet there’s so much that I haven’t done.
Lee:
No, I hear you. Well, I think in its own right, every event is completely unique anyway. Was there any style of event that you particularly enjoy organising?
Chloe:
I always loved the gala dinner because they’re… I don’t They’re often a space where you can be a little bit creative and try something new. But being the nerd, really, that I am, Event Tech was always something that excited me. Being able to put something new into an event and see that come to life, that was always really exciting for me.
Lee:
Well, let’s explore Event Tech then. What was it that you were doing with the Event Tech agency?
Chloe:
This was a few years ago now, and I think this was before COVID, which I think is important to say because I think COVID was a catalyst for a lot of the change and a lot of the innovation that we’ve seen within the industry. Even hybrid events or virtual events weren’t really a big thing for COVID. The bulk of the time that I was leading that team was before COVID, and there was about a year or two that was during COVID. It covered everything from the registration process through to the on-site experience, the post-event analysis. There were lots of different touch points from a technology perspective that I oversaw.
Lee:
We were chatting before your hand, you said that you’re quite into the data aspect of things. What data were you gathering or should event organisers be gathering at any particular event?
Chloe:
I always thought the industry as a whole has been slow to use the millions of data points that we’re actually collecting. Whether you realise you’re collecting it or not, or realise that you can do something with your data, you’re already collecting so much. I don’t know that… There are certainly agencies and, I guess, owned events that are doing better with that. But as a as a whole, I think there’s a real gap there in terms of how we can be using and understanding our data to understand who we’re connecting with, what they actually want, how they want to engage with us, and to be… I mean, it’s a bit of a silly saying, but to be smarter with data.
Lee:
I like it. I mean, the fact you say that in an Australian accent is just perfect for me. Because I say data, you say data.
Chloe:
I know, yes. It doesn’t quite work with the British accent.
Lee:
Yeah. Smarter with data.
Chloe:
No, no.
Lee:
How can an event organiser be smarter with data? Now I’ve got data in my head now.
Chloe:
I think the first starting point is to actually understand where you’re trying to end up. Starting at the end and working backwards. What is it that you want to understand from your event before you actually start planning it? Because often it’s difficult to retroactively come back and try to extract that information.That’s a good point. If you haven’t first designed to collect When I’m talking about collecting data, it doesn’t always mean your personal information, because we know there are all sorts of restrictions around what we can and can’t collect. But even de-identify data around people flow or things that really have nothing to do with anybody’s personal identity, but just the overall makeup of the event. But I think it’s really important to start at that endpoint from the start and work backwards.
Lee:
Okay, so it could be quite simply having sensors in a room and working out where the most footfall is, because if you as an event organiser, let’s say I’m going to start with the end in mind. My end in mind is I want to know where the most valuable positions are in this building so that I can therefore prove that and sell it for higher.And charge more. Yeah, exactly. Sell more. So I’m going to put these sensors in the room. This is all anonymous data, but I know now that the most footfall is in these areas, et cetera. I can even maybe begin to extrapolate why maybe someone was giving away lots of free coffee. Oh, okay, now we know why.
Chloe:
Just helping to understand the nature of your event and use that to grow it. I think there’s always going to be a starting point. You’re never going to be able to understand everything all at once the first time you run this event, but using that each time. This time I’m just understanding foot flow. Next time I’m understanding how people are engaging with sessions and just building on that to then get a really deep understanding of your event, your attendees, your exhibitors, your sponsors, to really know your event and how to get the best out of it.
Lee:
It feels like it should be relatively easy to get some of that data or data from, say, an online event. What are some of the ways of capturing that information in a more in-person environment?
Chloe:
I think it’s utilising some of the tools that are already out there, but utilising them with that goal in mind. For example, the badging that you have, and you’ve got all of your sponsors that are engaging with exhibitors and scanning in people that they’re connecting with, not just using that as, Well, this is a tool for your exhibitors so that they know who they’ve connected with throughout the event, but using that and going, Okay, so we had this exhibitor over here that connected with 75% of the attendees, and this one over here that connected with 10%, and this one over here is telling me that it’s a terrible show. I got no return on investment for being here. It’s a waste of my time and money. But being able to look at that and go, Well, why is it that you only connected with 10% of the audience? Is it the people that are actually on the stand and they spend the entire time on their laptop? Or were you in a terrible spot? And next year we need to make that a food station rather than an exhibit stand. Using that to understand it.
Chloe:
It doesn’t even have to be something that you’re adding on as an additional thing to use. It’s using your existing data. It’s using your existing things that you’re already doing, but looking at them or utilising them in a slightly different way.
Lee:
There’s me going for fancy sensors that probably don’t exist, and you just highlighted the fact that we already have most of that information already. This event will know how many people are going to each stand. Well, not everybody because we don’t scan everyone. But at least for us, we’ll know how many people are flowing through. Then the exhibitor has that higher level as well.
Chloe:
Then there are the super cool sensors and things like that that you can bolt on. But as a starting point, start with what you’ve already got. How can you utilise that to understand your event better?
Lee:
Start with whatever you’ve got. Then go from there. Start with the end in mind. Look at what you’ve got right now to see whether you can achieve whatever it is the end is. And then look for the extra Event Tech, if need be, and connect with people like yourself who are in the know to help find.
Chloe:
It’s a great point. Look at what other people are doing. How are they understanding their event? Look at, I guess, the bigger events who’ve got the budget, who’ve got the resourcing to do all of the fancy things, and then scale it back for what you can afford or what’s appropriate for your event, and start small.
Lee:
That’s amazing.
Chloe:
Start somewhere.
Lee:
Start somewhere. Well, this has been wonderful. Highly educational, and I’m excited already. So thank you so much for your time, Chloe. What’s the best way for people to connect with you and then wish to say goodbye?
Chloe:
I think the best way is probably on LinkedIn. You can find me. No worries. I’m in Australia. I’m not in the UK, so that should help narrow it down a little bit.
Lee:
No worries. Well, folks, we’ll make sure that we put a link in the show notes. And thank you so much for your time.Put it there.
Chloe:
Thank you so much.
Lee:
Nice one. Thank you..
