Many event orgnaisers think that they can improve the experience of their events by just adding some technology out of the box, but most of the times this efforts fail miserably. In order to help the audience do what they already what to do, organisers have to design the required behaviours into the event experience, so that it flows naturally. A presentation on behaviour design focusing on how to use technology at events. The following slides from my talky at TechFest 2013 have been edited in format and with added commentaries to be shared as a PDF. Event: TechFest 2013, London (UK) Date: July 19th, 2013 By: Gianfranco Chicco

1. Event Technology
Doesn’t Work!
(And it’s the organiser’s fault!)
by Gianfranco Chicco (@gchicco)
TechFest London 2013

2. The following slides from my talky at TechFest 2013
have been edited in format and with added
commentaries to be shared as a PDF
on SlideShare.net

3. A personal story:
My father, born in the 20’s,
worked as an Engineer. They had
fixed phones and people called them
early in the morning or late in the afternoon,
when they would be at their desk. By
adopting this behaviour, they optimized the
environment to make the most out of the
existing technology. It’s not just about
how good technology is but how it’s
embedded in people’s
experience.

4. The Physical-Digital
Present

5. We’re more digitally connected
than ever (here Facebook’s connections in
2010)...

6. We’re more digitally connected than ever...
(a visualization of my LinkedIn connections)

7. ... and at the same time there more physical
events than ever taking place...

8. Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
... this is because as humans we crave for
human connection and a sense of belonging...

9. Photo by Jeremy Keith in flickr
... and even though the amount of digital
clutter (devices, interruptions, etc) has piled
up, the truth is that...

10. ... our “human interface” hasn’t changed
much except for a few new behaviours that
we’ve picked up in the last few years, like
constantly looking at a glass screen, which will
probably not last much longer as devices and
interfaces evolve again.
(pictured: a portrait by Leonardo da Vinci)

11. Balance?

12. So how can we find the right equilibrium
between the physical and digital worlds? Is all
this technology making our lives better? More
meaningful? Follow some good examples of
products trying to bring back some balance to
the system...

13. A project by a brazilian ad
agency Fischer&Friends: the
beer glass that only stands
supported by the mobile
phone “rescues people from
the online world and brings
them back to the bar chat”.
(video on next slide)

14. Video:
https://vimeo.com/64643705

15. A collaboration
between Evernote
and Moleskine
brings together the
best of manual note
taking and digital
archiving.
evernote.com/
moleskine/

17. But are all of them really
useful or just fancy? This is
the 3M virtual presenter was
presented at SXSW 2013 in
Austin, TX. Maybe useful at
airports, but at
conferences?
(video on next slide)

18. Video:
http://mms.businesswire.com/bwapps/mediaserver/ViewMedia?
mgid=361172&vid=19

19. Sometimes no tech is the
best tech

20. The best networking app!
A research I did a few
years ago among some
of the best event
organizers around the
world showed that the
“best networking app”,
especially with
heterogeneous
audiences, is coffee/
tea/drinks offered in an
area that allows
serendipity to happen
by being not too big so
that people can bump
into each other, but not
too small either, so that
it’s non uncomfortable.

21. The best
introductions
are made by
humans.
Having a series of
“networking concierges” that
know your audience members
well could result in better
connections (think how
seating is decided at
weddings by the bride and
the groom)

22. mastermundo.org
An intuitive and
straightforward way to
measure the mood of your
audience (from
Mastermundo).

23. Paradigm Change

24. Experience Content Networking Care
(This is the secret
ingredient)
Technology is not explicitly
mentioned.
It’s a driver, not a goal.

25. And with very rare
exceptions, applying
technology out of the box
hardly ever produces
relevant results.

26. It’s the event organiser’s
responsibility to design the
use of technology into the
flow of the event, design
the environment and the
behaviors they want their
attendees to perform with
the aid of that technology.

27. On Behaviour Design

28. "Help people
do what they
already want
to do"
BJ Fogg
BJ Fogg created a framework for
designing behaviors called the
Fogg Behavior Model. Checkout
www.behaviormodel.org and
www.bjfogg.com for more details.

29. B = m a t
m, a and t need to take place at the same moment
BJ Fogg explains that for a
behavior to happen, there has to
be a certain level of motivation,
ability (how hard or easy it is to do
something) and a trigger, a call to
action, that happen at the same
time

30. How it works...

31. In this video BJ Fogg explains the basics about the Behavior Model
(I explained it live to the attendees in under 2 minutes but as these
are just slides, check out BJ’s explanation from minute 00:10:10).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQjLOyguXSQ

32. www.behaviormodel.org

33. www.behaviorgrid.org
You have to consider
that not all behaviors
are equal. Some you
want to happen just
once (dot), others for
a certain period of
time (span) and yet
others are from now
on with no end (path).

34. Simple, Social, Fun
Learn from the “formulas” that
work for other people/companies/
events, especially from different
industries. One example is the
formula “Simple, Social, Fun” for
interactive experiences.

35. A good example of Simple, Social, Fun is the
interactive installation “Obliteration Room” by
Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama. Participants are
given a bunch of stickers and the only rule that
they can apply them wherever they want in this
totally white room.

36. After a few hours...

37. After a few days...

38. RFID interactive installations
by Mediamatic at the PICNIC
Festival in Amsterdam. www.picnicfestival.org

39. TEDx in a box project, a
collaboration between TED and
IDEO, made it possible to host a
TEDx event almost everywhere,
even without access to the
internet or a reliable power
source. You just need a surface
to project on.

40. At the Social Media Week 2013 in Milan we replaced the traditional
media room with a series of Fiat 500L with live streaming for all
interviews. The cars were an active space of the event.

41. At Internet es Tuyo in Madrid
the participants could ask for
ice-cream on Twitter from a
sponsor by using the standard
text on this roll-up banner.
www.internetestuyo.com

42. www.picnicfestival.org
At PICNIC Festival we created
the “Twitter Towers” to share
the online conversation with
those not using Twitter.

43. Summary

44. It’s your job to design the tech into the
event flow.
Help participants do what they
(already) want to do.
B = m a t (at the same time!)
Motivation is important but ability is
even more relevant.

45. The context, accessibility and
communications are often
more important that the
technology per se.

46. And remember...

47. “you never really know
a man until you stand
in his shoes and walk
around in them”

48. Sometimes you include a lot
of technology into the
experience but the need of
power or wifi access becomes a
limitation so...

49. Photo by Andreas Kwiatkowski@ MLOVE ConFestival EU 2013
... remember to make it easy
for the attendees to recharge.
At MLOVE one of the sponsors
loaned portable mobile
batteries to attendees.
www.mloveconfestival.com

50. @gchicco
gian@taikenlab.com
Thanks!