Screens. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, they’re a permanent fixture of today’s events.

If it’s not the screen on your attendees’ phones, it’s the screens on your stage, in your trade show hall and in your meeting rooms. Digital isn’t an option anymore, either; it’s a baseline attendee demand. As an event planner or marketer, you might still be tempted to view screens as an obstacle to attention. But what if you could tame the digital beast to enhance your attendees’ experience and actually keep them engaged?

Keeping up with the digital technologies may seem like futile, but don’t despair. That’s our job—and we love doing it. At LSAV POWERHOUSE we continually search out leading-edge technologies for every size event. And our latest results are in: for maximum engagement at an affordable cost point, digital signage is one of the simplest, most versatile options to leverage your screens.

Here are three relatively simple ways to use digital signage at your event:

#1 Invite Real-Time Conversation with Social Media Feeds

Is social media still relevant to sell and engage your attendees? #Absolutely.

Social media is about sharing and connecting. No matter how complex the market has gotten, or how many platforms come and go, the standbys still attract millions of daily interactions for one reason: people want to talk. Nowhere is this more true than at the in-person version of social media. (AKA, your next event.)

Thoughts, feelings, reactions, pictures, opinions: today’s conference attendees want to share them all. It’s not all their about phones, either. Consider a custom LED monitor wall, or kiosk stations within common areas that broadcast a live social media feed. Conference attendees’ posts can reinforce and extend the core message, helping you impact an even bigger audience.

Want something customized? Set up an event page on social media or assign custom hashtags to the event, or even create a custom snap chat filter. If these are beyond your event budget, there are still plenty of ways to leverage free tools already built into the various social media platforms.

A good event technology partner like LSAV can help you strategize and design an approach that fits your budget. #Ready #set #go.

#2 Create Dynamic Floor Maps And Room Layouts

Move over, paper maps. Save trees, hassles and your attendees’ valuable time by opting for digital wayfinding and signage.

This option is especially compelling if you hold your meeting in a large venue with many meeting spaces, or a convention hall with a complex floor plan. (Because who wants to wander around in in search of the bathroom or Room 2A? That’s sooooo last century.)

At baseline, install screens or use touch-enabled projection on large walls throughout the venue. Load all your maps, layouts and real-time conference info into that interface.

As long as your selected screens or projections are highly visible and easy to read, you will win your attendees over with up-to-the minute info. Alternatively, you could devote a portion of your event app budget to developing a hand-held wayfinding tool.

For a truly heightened experience, consider more thoughtful touches. Digital maps can be animated to highlight important spaces, used to guide guests to their destinations, or personalized with directions and queries. And don’t forget about the sheer relief your attendees will feel when they find out in advance that lunch lines are long, or that John Doe’s presentation has been moved to 2:45.

With digital signage, you can elevate the attendees’ experience while simultaneously saving many dollars on large-format signage reprints you no longer need.

(And hey, the trees will thank you.)

#3 Tweak Programs Live With Real-Time Polling

TRUE or FALSE: Nothing engages audiences like real-time polls, hashtags and Q&A that actually shift programming as it happens.

We hope you typed TRUE.

Standard presentations unfold exactly the speaker planned them—whether or not its design actually works for the audience. Dynamic presentations, by contrast, allow for audience interaction. Speakers can tweak, expand or contract their plans based on what real people are saying in real time.

A good presenter honors this level of interactivity, so plan in advance and select talent who will work with you happily to integrate technology. Also seek talent who welcome audience insights as a form of feedback at every step, not just on those old-fashioned eval slips.

Nothing will keep attendees on their toes quite like pulling out text message or pulling up an app to send in feedback. Possibilities are endless for serious and light-hearted interaction alike. And bonus: whenever conference-goers press the button or send the text, you get measurable insights on your event . . . just as the audience gets to watch results unfold digitally on eye-catching graphics on screen. 

Do you want your opinion heard? (We hope that’s a no-brainer TRUE.) So do your attendees. Prove that they truly matter by getting their input every step of the way.

Does all this sound great...

But you’re not sure where to start integrating digital signage at your next event?

At LSAV POWERHOUSE, we work hard to remain industry leaders for digital and interactive live-event technology solutions. Rather than following a cookie-cutter formula for event planning, we recognize that every event is different and that each company we work with has its own unique goals and message.

Check out our portfolio here for a sneak peek at the the level of dedication and creativity we put into every single event we plan. And then, let us help you put those digital signs to good use.