Entertainment- Celebrities are everywhere! With the ever growing popularity of reality television shows, particularly those that showcase talent like America’s Got Talent and The Voice, acts that have been available for meetings and events for years have now become household names. Think of Olate Dogs, Puddles Pity Party, or Darci Lynn. Would your audience like to see and get up close to some of the popular performers? They are often available for VIP meet and greets in addition to their time on stage. Can you say “Great sponsor deliverable?”!
Lighting- LED lighting has been around for a while now. Even wireless fixtures have become pretty common. But here’s something you may not know… LED lighting can save you huge amounts of money! Have you noticed your power bill for the ballroom keeps creeping up higher and higher? With LED fixtures, you will see that bill decrease significantly because of the lower power consumption. As an added bonus, you can save on labor costs because your lighting crew will save time in the set up and design.
Video- Have you starting to use video in your organization’s online presence? Short videos have become the most effective way to reach your audience online. Here are a few interesting statistics-
Youtube is now the second largest search engine in the world, only trailing behind Google, it’s parent company.
85% of Facebook Video is watched with the sound off.
64% of consumers say that that watching a marketing video on Facebook has influenced a purchasing decision.
Consumers are most likely to, “Like” Behind-the-Scenes Videos, “Like and Share” Funny videos, and “Share” Educational Videos.
73% of Consumers are deciding in less than 30 seconds if they will watch to the end of the video
If you would like more engagement from members or customers, don’t ignore this trend!
Travel- In the American Express Global Travel predictions for 2018, they highlighted A focus on cybersecurity
“Duty of care” and “travel risk management” have been on the tip of TMs’ tongues for years. In 2018, we’ll be hearing a lot more about “cybersecurity” as well since it is expected to be an unprecedented year for data breaches, according to Forbes’ “60 Cybersecurity Predictions for 2018” report in which our very own Si-Yeon Kim, chief risk and compliance officer of American Express GBT, was quoted.
“Fraudsters are moving on from traditional transactional fraud towards the rich target of traveler profile and booking data, causing a renewed focus on industry solutions for privacy and security,” she said.
She warned that “profile data can give criminals access to passport and credit card numbers, home addresses and contact details, and even family and personal preferences,” while booking data potentially could disclose confidential business activities.
Tip for travel managers: Enlist the help of your IT department to train and educate travelers on how to protect their data while on the road.
