What do you do when you need to guide and facilitate the activities of over 7 000 delegates from 80 countries, more than 1 000 exhibiting businesses, in excess of 1 500 local and international buyers, and 600-plus journalists to make certain they’re on time for over 50 presentations, speeches and networking or social events all while trying to minimise your environmental footprint?
That’s the seemingly insurmountable challenge that faced the organising team of Africa’s Travel Indaba, hosted by South African Tourism, which took place in Durban at the Inkosi Albert Luthuli Convention Centre in May.
The team brought in Flock and its South African-built event management platform.
In addition to communication and information sharing – without printing the environmentally-unfriendly and often heavy delegate welcome pack – the organising team had the power to manage content delivery pre-event, during event and post-event
“Technology, and particularly that of Smart Phones and apps, is changing the way we live our lives, run our businesses, and experience events be they seminars or conferences, exhibitions or trade fairs, product launches or award ceremonies,” explains founder and CEO Mike Lysko.
“Flock is taking advantage of this trend with an online solution that streamlines how events are run. Importantly, through an app which delegates download on their laptops, tablets or Smart Phones, it also enhances the event experience for all event stakeholders be they attendees or delegates, speakers or exhibitors, sponsors or organisers.”
With Flock Event Platform, event organisers have all the tools they need to manage communication, attendee registration and accurate reporting all online. Without a single line of code, they can design custom branded event pages, apps and emails that look amazing on every device … no developer resources required.
For Africa’s Travel Indaba 2018, delegates were kept up to date with real-time event info, plan personalised schedules, be notified of any important messages and updates, receive reminders for official events, access the exhibitor list, network with other attendees and download brochures and presentations.
“We’ve had great feedback from the delegates that used the app,” comments Amanda Kotze-Nhlapo, chief convention bureau officer at SA Tourism.
“It definitely encouraged productivity amongst buyers and exhibitors and the up to date information communicated proved popular and certainly a brilliant tool for our delegates.”
“Why work with Flock?” asks Lysko. “The answer is simple: We take the pain out of the registration process. We offer increased engagement with attendees. We provide real-time, actionable data. We provide a mechanism to build additional revenue streams from sponsors and exhibitors. We extend the branding of the event and the organisation and we provide world-class support provided for over 100 events globally.”