4:5 Finding the best event tech solutions

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Lee:
Welcome to the Event Engine podcast. This is your host, Lee. And on today's show, we have the one and only, it's Max from Canapii. That rhyme. I didn't realise that was going to rhyme. How are you doing?

Max:
Very well, thank you. Thank you for having me.

Lee:
Well, thank you for being on the show. Max is here at Event Tech Live and is actually in the next stand to us. So we've developed a great relationship with the Canapii team. How convenient. Yes, over the last couple of days. How are you finding the event so far?

Max:
Good. Yeah, it's been a fun couple of days. It's been a long couple of days. We think, and from talking to people around the event, we think it's been good quality conversations, which is nice. Probably a little less footfall, but as long as we're having the conversations, booking the follow-up calls, that's been good.

Lee:
That's very, very important. Absolutely. For those that are not aware of what Canapii does, could you give us a high-level view of what is all about?

Max:
Of course. Yeah. So, Canapii is an all-in-one event management software solution. We do everything from start to finish to do your event. That includes registration, on-site checking, networking within a mobile app or a desktop version because we're a hybrid, and work on that end-to-end journey. As an organiser, our main goal is to make your life easier, less stressful, which obviously in events is very stressful. The platform as well is the goal there is to be intuitive, so everything talks to each other. You might make a change to a speaker profile during a live event that automatically can pull through to the desktop and the mobile apps. Everything talks to each other. We've been established four years now. As I mentioned, hybrid events, so in-person, virtual or hybrid.

Lee:
Four years old, that means that you will have had to weather the storm of the big C, COVID?

Max:
Yes.

Lee:
What was that like?

Max:
Well, it was interesting to say the least. As well as everyone, we started. It was like, okay, mobile app, on-site events. That was the event business. Pandemic happened and it was like, Oh, okay, we're now all virtual. We need to stream. We need to have live transcription and translation. I think it was a big adjustment. Good, though, because everyone else was in the same boat, so clients that we obviously worked with before stayed with us and everything just went to virtual, which made it easy. Then obviously then it was the same thing coming out the other side back to in-person. You're like, Oh, okay. Back to in-person.

Lee:
We're back to normal. I think it's great. I mean, being in the industry that we're in and both being suppliers of digital technology, it was great as well for us to be able to support our clients with in-person events, taking them online, because many people were in a position of, I can't do my physical event. What's going to happen? This lockdown looks like it's going to go on for years. No one knew, everyone was scared. We, as companies like Canapii were able to help those businesses continue to operate and facilitate people still meeting, even though it was digitally, still meeting, still networking, still building friendships, still fostering community. That's hats off to Canapii. Well done, guys, for continuing to do that. Likewise. I also have a podcast that's separate to the Event Engine podcast. It's the Trailblazer FM podcast. We've been going for eight years. We've got a huge community out there, which is wonderful. Every couple of years, I do my own event. I do a conference, two-day conference. I have a few exhibitors there as well. I sell tickets online, et cetera. Just in that hypothetical world, if you were going to have a conversation with me to find out about my event and then for what you could offer, could you ask me a few of those questions?

Lee:
Then perhaps you can share with me how Canapii might be able to help me with my next 2024 event?

Max:
Sure. With any sales call, I think it's really important to start getting to know the person. I think getting those basic needs, your feature requirements are key, obviously, to see if we can help. Then I think another great question is your struggles that you've had previously. So obviously, if you're looking for the 2024 event, I'm assuming if you're looking for tech, you're probably not happy with your current provider. Those are the questions that I would ask. Then once getting the pain points, the features you're looking for, the main overall requirements and also the experience you want to give to the attendees, then we can then filter it and give you the solution. In those examples, you could use Canapii for the registration. You'd have your RSVP, you can send that invite only the codes. We have a really dynamic ticketing system. You can have custom question flows, tier ticketing, allow group registration to send to companies, make it easier for them. Then we also have a built-in campaign tool. Keeping people up to date once they have registered, we're 10 weeks out, we just introduced this speaker, or we just put this in there, keep an eye out for this in the gamification.

Max:
Fantastic. Then when it comes to the actual platform itself, we have a genuine 24/7 customer support team. So around the clock, training, one-to-one calls, getting your events set up, technical rehearsals, obviously make sure that's key, and then take it from there. But our main goal is we want to create a long-lasting partnership, and it's also something that we want you to be self-sufficient on. After we help you for the first year, when it comes to year two, 2025, you'll go, Okay, great, we want to do the same thing, give you the software, and then we don't really have to be part of the team and go on that basis.

Lee:
So for the event next year, I'm considering making it hybrids. One of the issues with my event, not an issue, it's a great thing, is that people listen to the podcast from all around the world, but I can't reasonably do pop-up events all around the world. The UK is the best for me. It's good for sustainability with regards to there's a huge UK audience that can come to it, which is great. But a few people do fly a lot more can't actually get to the event because of the cost of flights, etc. I am considering doing a hybrid event, and I believe you guys do a lot more. Could you describe how you might be able to help me in that?

Max:
Yeah, exactly. So hybrid events can be quite tricky. That's why we have gone down the route of AI translation. You can translate the entire site into up to 72 languages. This is for live transcription and captioning. For your attendees who can't make the flight, like you said, they're global all around the world, they can tune in, they can understand what's going on. We also have live streaming built in, and you can use an RTMP Stream key. You can stream that straight to the platform from your AV company. The virtual attendees can still take part in live Q&A, in live polling. They can still connect with speakers and attendees in person as well. And so you connect.

Lee:
The bridge. And how would that happen then? Especially that the in-person, so the people who are at the event and the people who are digital, how could you make that happen? Because that's a big disconnect that I.

Max:
Can't work out how to solve. Yeah, of course. So the people in person, obviously, through the mobile app, they'll take part in the Q&A and the polling there. And then outside of sessions, we have built-in networking and matchmaking. You can force pairs together. Based on what you gave in registration, we recommend you reach out to this person. When it comes to actual meetings, you can actually have a video link. The person there in person can be on FaceTime on the phone, connect with someone virtually, and all of that's logged into the platform. The video link, the transcription, the translation. If you send someone a message, say, I'm sending someone a message and they're Japanese, then it will come through automatically translated if they've set their language there.

Lee:
So you're hooking into AI and.

Max:
Doing the -Yes. I think AI is a massive conversation as well with everything, isn't it? It's probably going to steal our jobs soon, let's be honest.

Lee:
Well, you'd think, wouldn't you?

Max:
I don't think an AI could do a podcast as well as you, to be honest.

Lee:
Well, now you're just flirting.

Max:
You've got to try it. I appreciate it. You've got to try on.

Lee:
Well, I mean, yes, I think you're right. Ai will take a lot, but nothing beats in-person, does it? Like you said earlier, you're having important conversations. Virtual is good, but it's often hard to have those real good heart-to-heart conversations virtually. Although it really sounds well thought out what you're doing here with the app. This is not an advertorial, folks. I didn't know anything about Canapii. I just want to learn. I'm interested secretly for my own event for next year. I'm a potential customer right now. We're just making this an interview. Oh, I know, I get it. But it's clearly well thought out because having that centralised app and meaning that people who aren't physically there still feel like they're there because they can still see everything that's going on. Because right now we're physically at EventTech Live. We all have the same app. We can scan each other's badges. That's visitors and exhibitors, etc. We can also message each other on the app. We all feel like we're all part of the same event physically, and we feel like that via the app itself, which I believe we'll have access to for a little while after the event as well.

Lee:
That gives the people what you guys are offering, that gives people the feeling of even if they are sat at their office in Chicago or wherever they are, they still feel like they're a part of the event because they can interact with other people, network, do their facetime calls, etc.

Max:
And engagements is everything. I mean, virtual events aren't ideal, but they are needed for that exact example. I think having stuff like a community gallery so everyone can share photos and videos and like and comment them, having a social or we see hashtags, gamification, where you can earn points for doing activities, the meetings that we just discussed.

Lee:
Could you describe some of that gamification? Because how do you do it and how do you blend the two?

Max:
Of course, yeah. So gamification are our platform. So basically anything you can do on the platform, whether that's a click, whether that's viewing a profile, viewing a session, scanning a QR code, reaching out to someone, you can gain points. You can also create custom fields. Quite a common one is they'll hide a QR code in a venue, say the first person to find the hidden QR code gets 1,000 points, something like that. You can do it with the community gallery. The best selfie gets 100 points. You as the organiser can set a prize. You can have it on a big screen and a live leaderboard. You can have a team leaderboard, which is quite fun as well as... I mean, our company, especially, it's very competitive. You have single, you have teams, you can filter it down to attendee types. You might have a separate scoring for partners or vendors. No, that's really good.

Lee:
Again, that encourages people, doesn't it? To interact, to have conversations, etc. It's funny, isn't it? What we'll do for a few points. I know. What do points make?

Max:
I know.

Lee:
Prizes. Do they make prizes? They do.

Max:
They make prizes. They make prizes. They do the prizes. The new prizes, yeah. So as an example-By.

Lee:
The way, you are probably... You feel like just then you were too young for that reference.

Max:
Which instantly makes you feel old. Hopefully the camera.

Lee:
Didn't pick it up. There's a few people will know what I'm talking about, but let's move on and.

Max:
I'll sweep internally. Yeah, quickly getting back to it. The event we've just done, we've done in Barcelona. You can see the prizes, what's there. They then announced them on the stage, got a nice photo, posted it to the community gallery.

Lee:
Do you guys, for me, one of the issues as well is just getting staff to... Finding the right people to help me at the event, especially with regards to the ticketing. I'll admit, especially on my first ever event, just to save a bit of money, I ended up getting my wife and a colleague at the door with just a bunch of man yards all spread out across the table and people just said their names and it was a bit of a mess and there was a bit of a queue. Do you guys handle anything like that and support of it?

Max:
I think we're part of our support packages is we offer onsite support. You can have onsite support whether it's remote, whether it's in person. But we also work with quite a lot of partners that can help out with that thing, like brand ambassadors on site. When you are going international, whether it's in Barcelona or Bangkok or Palm Springs, you have the same response there. These are people that they know Canapii, they know how it works, and we can put you in touch with them.

Lee:
All right, but I mean, staffing on site as well.

Max:
Staffing on site as well. Yeah, we do.

Lee:
That as well. People who can... Like we've got here, there's a company there, just off camera, obviously, for the folks on YouTube. But just over there, we're out pointing. There are some ticketing booze and there are staff on that. You would provide that.

Max:
Those sorts of thing? If needed, yes.

Lee:
Although like you said, a lot of.

Max:
It's very intuitive anyway. Our check-in process is you don't necessarily need people except to hand out lanyards. You would get to the venue, you would scan a QR code, and this is all done through the app. The QR codes, every attendee has their own QR code, so they talk to each other. You scan a QR code, it knows that, okay, Max has just checked in. I get a confirmation message on my app, starts to automatically print off my badge, and that's connected via USB.

Lee:
Then do you send the printer out to folks for their event?

Max:
That's a great question. Canapii doesn't provide hardware, but again, we work with partners that do.

Lee:
That do? I assume you support multiple printers?

Max:
Yeah, of course. The ones we've just used, Xenox, I think we've used HP printers before. But as well as part of the Custom Success support, we give you recommendations on what we've used, printer paper, lanyards. We give you all the tools.

Lee:
That's helpful then. Again, you've got partners. I could come to you as... I'm not a newb, when it comes nowadays to organising an event, but I certainly am when it comes to all of the different suppliers and the technology that I could use. I literally, for several events, had to just, like I said, get them all printed out and laid.

Max:
Out on a table, which was a nightmare. Yeah, nightmare. Check-in list.

Lee:
Especially because everyone all seems to arrive at the same time as well.

Max:
They got a big long list of people.

Lee:
Putting in, Oh, that's my name there. I can see me, and grabbing. It was a bit of a free-for-all. Well, mate, this has been wonderful. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Just for giving us a bit of an insight into the company. We'll have to have a call.

Max:
Afterwards and talk about the 2024 event. Absolutely, yeah, please do. Thank you for having me.

Lee:
Mate, what's the best way.

Max:
For people to get in touch with you? Drop me a message on LinkedIn. And that's probably the easiest place and we can go from there and hopefully speak to some of you very, very soon. Brilliant.

Lee:
Mate, thanks very much for that.

Max:
Take care. Thanks.

Lee:
Cheers.