Christmas Parties: How Can Technology Make Your Venue The Place To Be

As the start of December hurtles past us at an alarming rate, it's inevitable that Christmas parties, inadvertent nights out and festive gatherings become more the normal protocol for the working week.

With this in mind it is crucial that bars, restaurants and nightclubs make sure they maximise the potential of their venue during this period. Here are a few techy ways how:

1. Live Social Media Feeds

We firmly believe the best way to interact with your customers is to have a interactive media feed, and more importantly than that we know photos are the most fun, interesting and simple way to do this. 

A live Instagram slideshow from eventstagram is a quick and easy way to get your customers photos streamed in real time to your big screen. In addition it gives you a credible social media output, with every Instagram photo taken shared with each customers network of friends and followers, encouraging even more unplanned nights out to your venue. 

2. Manage Your Tickets

Tech should not just stop at front of house activities such as the live Instagram slideshows mentioned previously. Running your back of house with well organised technology will not only increase efficiency but can also lead to a more integrating marketing opportunity. Nu tickets is a fantastic way of combining ticket sales, social media promotions, gate receipts and footfall analysis in one nifty product.

Even better and unlike other systems Nu tickets does not hold any of your money. All revenue from ticket sales is paid directly to your on line payment account.

3. Manage Your Promotions

This new technology is the perfect companion to your exclusive venue. Throughout the year handling promoter payments, organising tables and creating guest lists are the thorn in the side of any nightclub owner, but through the busiest month of the year there aren't many owners that wouldn't describe this as chaos. With nightpro there is a simple interface where you can manage all the promotional aspects of your venue in one easy to use dashboard. You can get started in less than 1 minute, and most features are available for free!

Eventstagram Takes On A Partner In Benelux

We at eventstagram keep ourselves in check my making sure we focus on our three key principles.

Looks. Our live Instagram slideshows will always look more beautiful, more consistent and more professional than any other alternatives.

Brains. We don't want to just be a pretty face. Our team are always innovating, and finding new features. We have already added moderation features for corporate events, the ability to customise slideshows with logos and colourways, and an array of animation options. We have loads more to come, and can't wait to get them finished.

Personality. Our service is really important to us. We treat each customer separately, and make sure we do everything we can to fulfill their needs. Let us know if you have any ideas, however impossible they may sound.

So in order to maintain our high levels of personality we have taken on a local partner in Benelux, to service our expanding trade in Belgium, Holland and Luxenbourg  Having a partner means that we benefit from local knowledge, be able to fulfil all our clients needs in their native language as well as being able to have face to face contact with major event management companies. 

Notion technologies is a well established internet marketing company that immediately saw the potential of eventstagram and our live Instagram slideshows. They have already begun marketing eventstagram in Holland, Belgium and Luxenbourg to directly to large scale events and project managers, whilst for the initial trial period eventstagram will remain servicing private, small scale customer through our own site. 

Here is their strategy for marketing the brand in Benelux - Blog

We look forward to a long and successful business relationship with our new partners in Belgium, Holland and Luxenbourg.  

Notion Technologies; 'Welcome to the team!'

What Makes A Great Instagram Photo?

As more and more events are becoming documented by photos, and more importantly by Instagram, the mobile photo sharing application, it is becoming vital to those seeking more followers to make sure their photos are 'likeable' and 'shareable'.

Event managers, wedding planners and party goers are no exception. In fact they need to be even more conscious about these rules:

1. Mix It Up

Now everyone wants to see some good food, but if all you do is take photos of your food then it isn't going to be the most engaging content for your audience. Make sure you focus on your event's theme but vary the type of images, type of filters and even colours that are used - be creative with your content. 

2. Photos Are Photos, Not Adverts

This Instagram photo from @vans is the epitome of  what shouldn't be tagged on Instagram. It's just an advert. The words are so small it makes you feel as though you are your granddad trying to interpret an ipad screen, the content isn't interesting and it is oh so obvious that all they want to do is sell to you.

This brand have taken an Instagram image of their stand before their launch at the Gadget Show. The basic photo is interesting to their clients, an exclusive peak at their set up, and a driver for customers to visit them:

Photo by @rhodzy

3. Let Your Customers Get To Know You

Photos are a fantastic way to let your customers into your business, and most importantly let them feel they part of the brand.

Take images of your staff like @Starbucks

Take a look at @stuloch 's photo of Mint wireless's boardroom:

Instagram is all about building customers, and taking photos are one of the best ways to engage your current and their wider network of followers, and turn them into customers.

It's the next big thing, so make sure your brand is interacting in the right way!

Rocking On With Instagram

The Event

Wednesday the 21st November's Rock On Awards in Montreal were an eclectic mix of fun filled activities, raucous games and alternative music. 

The perfect setting for a live Instagram slideshow to entertain the crowd (although the banned photos may have proved even more entertaining!) 

The Slideshow 

The live Instagram slideshow, powered by eventstagr.am, was a simple slideshow:

The photos were projected in real time onto a large blank wall at the back of the venue.

The Instagram Photos

Here are some of our favourite Instagram photos taken during the evening:

Photo by @sidleemtl

Photo by @blitzkriegnat

Photo by @vandaeva

The Best Wedding Photographers - Your Guests

A wedding isn't a wedding without a constant flow of photo taking. From professionals with their  oversized lenses to the pageboys and bridesmaids with their mobile phones, everyone wants a snap of the bride.

The good thing for Wedding organisers is that Brides and Grooms (or just Brides) also want lots of photos. In fact more often than not they want to see all the photos ever taken of themselves on their special day.

If you're looking for a photographer for a wedding that captures every angle, every moment and every kiss, then look no further than your guests. With the camera phones now being more common than a picture of a plate of food on Instagram, every guest will now be happily snapping away throughout the whole event.

By using eventstagram, these mobile phone images, taken on Instagram, can be streamed directly to a big screen, providing a live slideshow of all the photos your guests are taking. 

Here are some of the best and worst Instagram photos we could find:

5 Of The Best Wedding Instagram Photos

Photo by @gokercilogullari

Photo by @gokercilogullari

Photo by @pauloecida

Photo by @lililoft

Photo by @dan_shirado

5 Of The Worst Wedding Instagram Photos

Photo by @bibkaa

Photo by @pauloecida

Photo by @chelseagrove8

Photo by @emma7793

Photo by @mortthebushbaby

Don't Turn Into Your Mother - The Right Way To Use Social Media To Promote Your Event.

For those who don't understand the power of social media I often pose them the question:

'Are you most likely to listen to a friends recommendation, an experts advice or your mothers nagging?'

This mantra is key to understanding how to improve the social media exposure of your event. Social media is all about credibility and events need to become less of a nagging mother, and more of an aspirational friend.

Here are a few points on ways to achieve this:

1. Use your Customers Material

The days of writing your own reviews about events are more past it than Bruce Forsyth struggling to read the autocue on Strictly Come Dancing. When a customer logs onto Facebook, or Twitter or Instagram they are scanning to see what their friends are doing, what they have missed or what they should be doing next. 

So how can events use their crowds material?

Firstly they can encourage them to be more proactive on Social Media. Having a big screen with a promoted hashtag means that your crowds activity on social media can be assembled under one clear and continuous voice. 

Secondly you can reward your crowd for using your hashtag. By using a live Instagram slideshow you can create photo competitions providing an incentive for your audience to use your hashtag. 

2. Become Friends With Your Customers

Social networks were formed for friends to keep in touch with each other and that is still the primary object for their use. Brands and events have begun to muscle their way in on these friendly networks, but potential customers are wise to it and will only engage with your content if it is of benefit to them. 

Paddy Power is a great example of a company that has become a friend to their customer. Their updates are humorous  topical and more often or not something you want to share again with your own friends. Each post is a photo which makes the content easy and quick to understand.

Photos are a fantastic way of creating a casual and friendly relationship with your audience and non are prolific than Instagram. If you haven't already begun taking and sharing your photos of your wedding, festival, event or venue then your missing a massive opportunity to expand your market. 

3. Become An Information Source To Your Customers

If you can't be friends with your customers then at least become an expert source of information for them. Social media has grown so much that it is not only continuous status reel for your social network but it is also an update for your news, business, sport and leisure stories.

Now back to your mother. She can be a source of information, and most of the time she is right, but you don't necessarily want to hear it from her. Use other experts in the field to back up your claims. Re tweet interesting articles or stories, and start liking photos on Instagram that are relevant to your event.

Social media is absolutely vital for events of all types, shapes and sizes and the most important thing is that you start to get involved with it, even if sometimes you sound like your mother. 

Brewing Up A Storm; A Live Instagram Slideshow at ATX Home Brewing Event

The Event

ATX Brew Party hosted a cool, intimate Beer party last weekend and enlisted the help of eventstagram to display a live Instagram feed of their friends.

With over 100 guests in attendance there were, non-physical, Instagram brawls to get their photos displayed onto the screen first!

The Slideshow 

The live Instagram slideshow, powered by eventstagr.am, was our standard theme, giving a professional feel to the event. 

The photos were displayed in real time on a TV screen placed in the bar area of the event.

Photo by @ john_games

The Instagram Photos

Here are some of our favourite Instagram photos taken during the evening:

Photo by @homebrews

Photo by @bruwench

Photo by @clink1978

The Testimonial

'Event went great. Photos were tagged using #atxbrewparty. Everyone loved the app and many said they would be using it soon for their events.'

Christian Lavender (CEO at Niche Stores)