Brisbane’s  Royal International Convention Centre (RICC) has teamed with New Zealand-based SmartShow Limited, the creator of event app Showgizmo to offer a branded mobile event application to event organisers using the new venue, which opens in March.

“With the mobile revolution in full swing and ‘app culture’ changing how people everywhere connect and transact, we wanted to make sure we encompass the full range of services that will enable our clients to stage events that resonate in this digital era,” says Sue Hocking, general manager, venue sales and marketing.

“Event attendees want to communicate and transact in ways they are progressively taking for granted via their phones and tablet devices. For busy organisers this can be problematic. They know they need to offer contemporary tools to their delegates and exhibitors but each year the event technology landscape becomes more cluttered and manyare having bad experiences with unsuitable or plain bad technology solutions,” says Hocking.

“Being able to use a reliable product that has been pre-screened and test-driven by the venue team will save time and money.”

Event organisers set up an event via a secure admin panel within the RICC content management system. They then invite their clients, delegates and exhibitors to download an app to upload information and access all event information via their phone.

In addition to a digital event guide, the app enables attendees to navigate around the event, see the list of attendees and exhibitors, view exhibitor and sponsor profiles, request meetings with exhibitors, rate and review programme sessions, collect brochures and receive live alerts and notifications about what’s going on and much more.

QR codes enable exchanges of information for exhibitors and organisers to capture more of those all-important leads. Performance reports mean that the organisers can access statistics and analytical data they wouldn’t otherwise collect to provide additional insights into what people have found valuable and highly rated, in real time.

“In the first instance, we will be sponsoring the cost of providing the app and its use by our clients as part of our commitment to making RICC the preferred venue for event organisers and their delegates. This offers a ‘value add’ worth up to $5K depending on the size of the event,” says Hocking.