How to Learn Quick: Tech for the Non-Tech Types

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Event Tech Live Day Two broadcast an interesting session aimed at non-techy types. Hosted by Megan Anstee of Intrepid Collective, the panel, Lottie Somers from Action for Children, Madolyn Grove, Hearst’s event programmer, and Matt Wrigglesworth from wallacespace, quickly revealed how they fitted with this session subject.

Lockdown came just two weeks from a big event for Madolyn Grove so she and the Hearst team had to pivot fast, which meant going in largely blind to the virtual world. Thick with those learnings, she has gone on to deliver six digital events this year.

Similarly inexperienced in the wants of this ‘new normal’, Lottie Somers was faced with rethinking Action for Children’s Byte Night sleepout fundraiser, turning it into a stay at home Boycott Your Bed experience – a 4,236 participant, £310,000 for the charity dream of an event.

Matt Wrigglesworth from venue finder wallacespace, struggling topically with the mute button, highlighted some of the challenges, getting to grips with the tech and hitting the target with it. 

The challenge, he said, has been doing the learning virtually, without the observations of a physical group. Digital is a part solution at least, Matt accepts, but the gap in knowledge inevitably grows when everyone is working/learning from home.

Among the conclusions of this fast moving, good humoured session, the volume of events has to keep on going up – charities’ thinking accepts lower ticket prices and smaller donations work if there are more occasions for both, replete with the necessary celebrity endorsement/allure. At Hearst too, reaction has come in the shape of a higher event volume with shorter lead time – all of which requires an unblinking focus on upskilling.

The advice for digital novices? Play it safe at first, find a platform you feel comfortable with and build from there.

Event Tech Live continues 2-6th November, register here

Adam Parry
Author: Adam Parry

Adam is the co-founder and editor of www.eventindustrynews.com Adam, a technology evangelist also organises Event Tech Live, Europe’s only show dedicated to event technology and the Event Technology Awards. Both events take place in November, London.