©2019 by Corbin Ball, CMP, CSP Technology changes in the past six decades have been astonishing. This chronological list of significant technology milestones with societal technology events in “black” and face-to-face and virtual events industry-related technology innovations in “blue” shows far we have come, 1962 The Kodak Carousel slide projector was introduced. 1963 Bell…

©2019 Ralf Llanasas, Whatphone 5G and the International Rollout The highly anticipated fifth generation of wireless network technology is finally a reality in countries around the world. Statistics predict that 5G networks will be full in use by 2020, with over 1 billion users connected to the technology by 2025.…

I recently attended an open-air concert in the small city where I live. Before the music began, I noticed what appeared to be three generations of women sitting in front of me (a teenage daughter, mother and an elderly grandmother). I heard a phone ring and watched the grandmother reach…

Industry trade shows enable companies to get the opportunity to make a lasting impact on potential clients, affiliates, and customers. Companies joining a trade show face the combined risk and opportunity of being compared with competitors and other booth designs in a live space. In a previous feature, we looked at…

2019 Guest Post by Natasha Ponomaroff As of 2018, Instagram had an estimated 77.6 million active users. 500 million people use Instagram every single day; 71% of U.S. businesses use Instagram and 23% of Instagram images are more likely to get ‘likes’ vs Facebook images. Still not impressed? How about…1…

©2019 Corbin Ball, CMP, CSP, DES Presenters and meeting planners are often faced with the following dilemmas: In today’s multitasking environment where event participants are regularly on their mobile devices, how to keep their attention? How do you keep attendees engaged? And how can you best measure their interests and…

©2019 Guest Post:  Callie Walker, ePly   Event planning technology can be a broad subject, but it can be boiled down to this definition: Any technology that helps you plan, manage, and organize data when putting on an event. Different types of organizations put on different events, but all organizations can benefit from…

There are many event tech choices available to manage nearly every aspect of the meeting planning process as well as enriching the attendee experience. For example, I track nearly 1,500 event tech products in 60 categories at my website: corbinball.com/tips-tools/corbinslist. . With so many choices, the planner’s dilemma is: how does…

©2018 Corbin Ball, Chair of the IBTM Technology Watch Judging Committee Established in 2000, The IBTM World Technology & Innovation Watch is the longest running and regarded by many as the most significant technology award for the meetings industry. The goals are to recognize technology innovation and to highlight significant…

©2018 Guest post from Shem Szot Everyone knows that tradeshows are an excellent chance to spread the word about your business. A physical presence and personal engagement can often leave deeper impressions than online interaction alone. And joining a tradeshow means you don’t have to worry about bringing in the…

© 2018 Corbin Ball The twisting of reality is becoming common practices in the meeting, tradeshow, event and exhibition world. By using an ever-evolving array of technology such as virtual reality, augmented reality and mixed reality, users can enter worlds created from scratch to entertain, provide demonstrations and eventually sell a…

Editor's note: As part of the 20th anniversary issue of TechTalk, I thought I would include an article I wrote in 1999 -- at the turn of the new millennium (back in the time of 1G phones when even flip phones had not yet been invented). In this article, I predict…

©2018 Arthur Retman, Movavi As a medium there are many ways to utilize videos for events – but one of the most popular is definitely promo videos. A promo video is basically any video that is used to promote or market the event, and boost its visibility, entice prospects, or directly…

We are living in a time of unprecedented technology change. How will these changes affect meetings and tradeshows? Will they remain a central form of education, networking and marketing? Will virtual meetings and other communication technologies replace the need for face-to-face events and exhibitions? Although there will likely be very…