I’m a huge fan of PSKF and I’m also a member of their expert network, The Purplelist. I was asked a great question today by Scott Lachut and thought I’d share it because events and fans are some of these most exciting aspects of the emerging mobile market:
Recently listened to an interview with Ticketmaster CEO Nathan Hubbard, in which he discussed the future of live events. Given the cost, travel considerations etc. associated with attending these events, alongside the type of experience that can be created at home through HD TVs, surround sound, WiFi, take-your-pick food delivery and comfortable couches, I’m curious to know what event producers and venues need to consider in order to compete?
How will the mobile phone, jumbotron and other technologies help to augment the current live experience?
What else would you like to see take place at these events from concessions to audience interaction (t-shirt bazookas notwithstanding)?
My answer: Great question! Events are going to become more important for businesses as fans become conduits, helping push the experience to fans and potential fans who can’t attend. I believe hardcore fans will still attend the event and stream what they’re seeing and hearing during the event. This stream of UGC will be pushed to the Internet where fans that can’t attend can view the content streams being created. Over time those streams will be joined by quality content shot by business partners of the band/team. Think of a real time dashboard with every angle of the event represented AND a unique perspective layered in. (“Did he actually cross the goal line?”)
Because of this, businesses are going to get better at developing the entire event life-cycle. The before, the during and the after. Examples of before would be not just building expectation but helping fans realize where they should be during the event to best suit their needs. If I’m a video streaming guy, I need to sit up front. If I’m an bootleg guy, I need to sit further back; maybe near the sound board. During the event takes on a life of it’s own and FB would be a great place to watch all of “it” go down. (https://www.cruc.es/facebook-and-their-expansion-into-social-activities/) Then, after the event is over, I can buy an event summary on iTunes to commemorate the entire experience, including the live tracks that I heard last night. (Pearl Jam used to do that. Sell the recording of the show you heard the night before. AMAZING!)
Jumbotrons will pump UGC content from fans onto the screen. QR codes will be used to drive traffic to concessions where people can pay for their beer with their phone and then push any feedback for that experience to Facebook. “If you show up now, you can get a free shirt.”. Social Commerce at events is going to be huge. (Gangs use Twitter to organize cleaning a store out. Fans could do the same but they get to pay!)
iPads may be a good way to push Augmented Reality into the live experience. Think of a mashup of live music and complementary animation over the musicians. (Something like the animation featured here: https://www.cruc.es/following-the-leader-you/)
I want a t-shirt catapult. Take a whole section out at once with schwag. KABOOM!!!!
