Event technology is nothing new, and neither are the AV providers and tech experts that help implement and run it. However, over the past few years, the role of event technologist has become more prominent as a specialization within the event industry, and following a year in which innovation and adoption of event tech has greatly accelerated, the position has further evolved.
Event producer and event technologist Heather Sharpe, Founder and CEO of Sherpa Group Events and instructor at the Event Leadership Institute, explains that the role of event technologist has changed as a result of the pandemic: “The position is constantly evolving – as any sort of creative position should be – in response to client demand and public demand, to always be creating and reacting and pushing the envelope, and just being more consultative and more strategic than we used to be. We’re no longer just taking orders but becoming more of an advisor or consultant on everything around event marketing.”
That said, event technologist remains a relatively vague term that can apply to anyone working with event tech, making it difficult to define or make sweeping generalizations about. “I won't necessarily even call ‘event technologist’ a title,” notes Sharpe. “The challenge that we've had as an industry is that formalization of things like titles – for example, are we event planners, managers, producers, directors, or coordinators?”
As Sharpe defines it, however, an event technologist is someone who “knows the best-in-class processes, platforms, procedures, tips, tricks, etc. involving event technology.” That can mean knowing how to leverage mobile apps and other event tech that you can incorporate into an in-person event, but, as mentioned earlier, it has become an even more important role in terms of being able to strategically advise clients on how to take their events into the digital world and how to best use the available platforms and the internet to deliver on the objectives of their event.
Essentially, event technologists now need to be familiar with the myriad virtual engagement and streaming tools to be able to help create robust event experiences in this new digital landscape.
While many planners have ended up somewhat taking on the role of event technologist over the past few months while learning the ropes of virtual and hybrid platforms, Sharpe shares some reassuring thoughts for those who would prefer not to deal with tech: “I don't believe that event planners have to be event technologists,” she says. “If tech is not your forte, that's okay. You can bring in an event technologist or an event director. Everybody's got their own strengths, and for what they don't do well, they bring other people in to help.”
In short, not everyone needs to be a tech expert – you just need to know one. That’s where the course that Sharpe currently teaches, the Event Leadership Institute’s Hybrid and Virtual Event Director Course, comes in. This course teaches planners how to be effective virtual and hybrid event directors, which involves working with event technologists if they don’t happen to be one themselves.
“An event director is the person that calls the show, that takes all those technology pieces and the creative design and the technical production, and marries it all together to come up with a cohesive show,” explains Sharpe. The course helps planners understand the moving parts and the technology required to execute virtual and hybrid events, even if they won’t – and in most cases, shouldn’t – be directly managing it all themselves.
As such, event technologists generally make up part of a more robust team and will be valuable resources for event directors and organizers as they navigate this new normal.
“It’s important that event professionals look to hybrid, and continue to have it as part of the portfolio that they offer,” advises Sharpe. “The virtual side of things is not going away, and it shouldn't, because of the accessibility it offers to new audiences. This technology that's been brought on so fast has opened up the world to us. And I think we would do a disservice to let that all go just because we’re back in person. It would be like going to your client with only half your toolbox. There's a whole new set of tools we've been handed. So let's embrace that and be strategic advisors for our clients, because that's why they hire an event professional.”