Corbin Ball’s 6th prediction for 2013 confirms a trend we have seen as well: Event Wi-Fi problems will get worse before getting better. With attendees bringing multiple devices and sharing/consuming information throughout the conference, existing bandwidth often crawls to a halt, which causes a lot of attendee frustration.
While Wi-Fi is required for social media use or accessing web pages, you have control over providing all event related information in an offline format and you can curb some of that Wi-Fi frustration with these tips:
- Offer attendees the EventPilot Standard app implementation – the entire event program is all included in the initial app download from the app stores. No need to wait for slow data updates: Attendees continue using the app normally while additional data updates, such as room or speaker changes, are retrieved whenever Internet is available, regardless of the connection speed.
- Check with your ATIV project manager how to include important information offline in the app, such as:
- hotel bus schedule,
- emergency information,
- important phone numbers,
- animated venue maps,
- how to access the Wi-Fi (if available).
- Ask us about pre-caching certain aspects of your app.
- Create a comprehensive app that includes all the event information so attendees can find what they need without having to access your website.
- Use HTML instead of PDFs for abstracts and scientific papers so they can be integrated natively within the app for instant offline access.
- Let attendees know if PowerPoint presentations are available in your app so they can download the slides for offline slide-note taking during the session.
- Advertise your app early so attendees already have it installed by the time they pick up their badge.