If your mobile phone is the hub of your digital life, it’s not much of a surprise that it can potentially have the capacity to have a big impact on how events operate.

Five reasons why mobile will be key in the future of events


For many events, wearables could end up at the forefront of the ‘on-the-day’ activities. Smartwatches are the most common wearable today and work well for small interactions that don’t require a lot of attention.

This is exactly the type of interaction that could be beneficial for events. The technology can enhance the events while not forming a distraction, which could annoy the performers!


Indoor venues that can be difficult to navigate and could benefit from mobiles devices. If the event is being held at a large venue, you may benefit from an interactive map to help find the stall or performance you want to see.

Devices could even detect helpful advice on the event they’re attending, or even special offers on the cafe’s lunch menu.


We already do the majority of our networking through our mobiles, so why don’t we do this through an event app? This could be a great way to meet new people who share the same interests. If you can speak to people before the event, you’re more likely to create conversation when you get there.

The event application could integrate with the registration system, displaying a public profile of people attending the event (only if the person wants to share, of course).


With the development of Google Pay and Apple Pay, why can’t we use our mobile as an actual ticket? You can already buy tickets through event apps, so what’s stopping companies fully streamlining the process (while cutting the costs of printing tickets!).

Instead of showing your paper ticket, you could show your e-ticket to the attendant, or even swipe your phone with the app running to register your arrival.


Apple, Microsoft and Google are all trying to build a wealth of products and services that are all integrated so we, the customers, become reliant upon them in our day-to-day lives. Each of these business giants also has a ‘lock-in effect’ – the more we use the products and services from a single provider, the more they bring to other areas of our lives.

Microsoft’s Cortana, Apple’s iOS and Google Now offer great possibilities that users will be able to take advantage of going forward.

Given the changes we have seen in the past 10 years, it’s exciting to see how things will change in the next 10, especially in the realm of events.

Read and comment on the original Real Business article.