Posts in category: Blog

Flat and passive trade shows are boring enough to put their own organizers to sleep! If your own crews can’t stay focused throughout the entire presentation, then how can you expect your potential clients to show any interest? Attention-grabbing unique gizmos can keep your customers engaged with the material that you’re trying to present.

Optimize Your Event Technology

Generating action and loyalty is always the name of the game when planning these events. You want to put together something that can help people genuinely experience new technologies or solutions to their business problems. As a result, you want to take every single chance there is to get your message out there and make things memorable.

Flex charging kiosks from InCharged can help, especially if you’ve taken the time to plan an excellent enhancement event. Putting together a strategy doesn’t have to be difficult at all.

Just consider the following tips:

• Set a clear, measurable goal

Many well-meaning people put together a trade show and then realize that they never were entirely aware of the reasons for doing so. Others are familiar with what they want to accomplish but not how to check if they’ve effectively achieved them. Make sure that you have both of these two concepts worked out before you try to do any further planning.

• Look into your target market

Always be sure that you actually understand the target demographic of people you’re trying to share your message with. Experiential marketing thrives on the ability to connect with others on a level that isn’t deemed silly or phony. You’ll be better prepared to connect with people when you understand their feelings and concerns better.

• Create an exciting and impactful presentation

Perhaps no other step is more important when developing an experiential marketing strategy. No matter what kind of presentation you planned to put together, you need to make sure that it excites people enough to keep them engaged the whole entire time. It’s doubtful that you’ll have to organize dozens of keynote speakers the way that you’d need to if you were giving a different kind of show. However, you still need to make sure that whatever way you select to get your message across works.

• Find Ways to Leverage Social Media Channels

Perhaps one of the more phony aspects of most marketing campaigns lies in the synthetic way it tries to leverage social media channels. Make sure you do this organically. Engage with people during the trade show both in-person and online. You’ll then be able to organically drive people to comment on your posts. However, you need to focus on the fact that the sheer experience here isn’t the end goal. It’s instead to make people believe in your message.

• Give your potential customers something of real value

Don’t just beat people over the proverbial head with sales pitch after sales pitch while they’re there. You need to share something of real value that people can walk away with even if they don’t buy anything.

Before diving into Aviator, take the time to understand how the game works. Aviator is a game of chance, where a multiplier increases steadily as a plane ascends, until the player decides to cash out or risks it all for a higher multiplier. Study the rules, different strategies of the game Aviator, learn about the payout structure, and familiarize yourself with the game’s dynamics to make informed decisions.

Use InCharged To Energize Your Event Planning

InCharged focuses on the ability to turn any piece of furniture or any object into an unobtrusive charging station for your client’s mobile devices. Think about how many clients going to your trade shows are bringing all their favorite tech with them. They’re certainly going to grab their phones and they’ll probably also drag a tablet, 2-in-1 or other devices too. Since they’re going to use a ton of power in the process, this is an excellent opportunity to share your message with them by incorporating it into your charging stations.

Contact us online today for more information on how we can turn almost anything imaginable into a mobile device charging station that works with almost any model.

Not long after the late Steve Jobs introduced the first iPhone in June 2007, analysts started to ponder how advanced mobile devices would change business meetings. At one point, futurists believed that the convention and trade show industry would take a hit because of increased connectivity; the crux of this conjecture was that the ease of two-way video conferencing would do away with the need for business meetings and face-to-face interaction, but we know that never happened.

The reality in 2019 is that the convention, expo, and trade show sectors are booming, and it almost seems as if their growth is being driven by mobile devices. In 2017, conventions in the United States generated more than $13 billion in annual revenue, and 36% of business owners that are also exhibitors expect to increase their trade show budgets in 2019. 

We know that smartphones, tablets and ultra-portable laptops work wonders in terms of promoting gatherings. Think about major consumer conventions that have developed their own mobile apps for the convenience of booking admissions and providing event information. 

Mobile devices make it easier for organizers, exhibitors, and attendees to connect prior to the event. Furthermore, we also know that these devices are brought to the events for the purpose of networking, sharing updates, and staying in touch with the office.

Smartphone charging stations can be strategically placed at conventions for various reasons, the two most common being providing a value-added service and branding. Incharged offers various charging stations for many situations; the three below are the most ideal for conventions, conferences, and trade shows.

Flex

As its name suggests, this charging station kiosk provides lots of flexibility. If you need to get and up running quickly, you can choose the free-standing Flex model equipped with a 20-inch HD screen, a nice audio speaker, LED illumination, and 12 charging tips that support modern and legacy ports. Depending on the floor and space layout, the Flex can also be configured as a table-top, wall-mounted, or double-sided station.

PowerMethod

Similar to the Flex, this model can be configured as a pedestal, table-top, or wall-mounted station, but it provides more power thanks to a connector array that can support up to 18 devices. A nice feature of the PowerMethod is that it offers more square footage for branding in case you want to wrap the entire unit.

InBox

Nice, simple and discreet: the InBox station by Incharge keeps the event organizer in charge at all times. Let’s say your event features conference tables or shared workspaces; in this case, the InBox can sit on a tabletop surface, but it can also be mounted on a wall should you need to maximize space. If you prefer to provide a charging solution that is not visible or obtrusive at all, the small and lightweight InBox can be easily tucked away.

Find Out More From InCharged

At Incharge, we want our convention clients to feel free to create the right experience for exhibitors and attendees without having to worry about charging technology. Our clients include established brands that really care about branding; we are talking about MTV, Starbucks, Verizon, and others. Get in touch with us today to learn how you can really charge up your events.

Ever since the file-sharing network once known as Napster made its debut at the turn of the century, musicians knew that the era of relying on album sales had come to an end, thus underscoring the importance of live performances and concerts in terms of revenue generation. What is interesting about the Spotify era we live in is that concert and music festival attendance has gone through the roof, and this trend shows no signs of slowing down.

Concert promoters and organizers are certainly happy with fans and their ongoing enthusiasm for live performances. This is something that brand managers and marketing professionals have been following with great interest. Sponsor activation is the technical term for branding strategies. That makes sense in the context of events; for example, at the new Railbird Music Festival in Kentucky, one of the coolest features, so to speak, was a tent equipped with large and powerful fans for attendees to relax and cool off. This tent was sponsored by the manufacturers of industrial fans, for the benefit of music fans.

With the right sponsor activation at concerts and sporting events, your brand can go a long way in terms of being recognized by attendees; the key is to provide value and convenience. It doesn’t matter if your products and services do not align directly with music or sports marketing. In the case of the aforementioned cooling tent, you wouldn’t normally associate industrial fans with rock and hip-hop, but the positive experience of getting a blast of cool air during a hot summer day in Kentucky is certainly something to remember.

The Value of Experiential Marketing

At Incharged, we know all about the importance of branding as a memorable experience. It’s called experiential marketing, and it is extremely effective. Our smartphone charging stations are designed with convenience and positive experience in mind. Imagine being able to promote your brand for 10 to 15 minutes while your audiences wait for their mobile devices to complete charging. At concerts and, sporting events for example, music and sports fans need a full charge that can enable them to share Facebook and Instagram. They need to have enough battery power to order an Uber ride at the end of the event. They also need to let their loved ones know that they are on their way home.

You know that feeling of relief you get when your smartphone or tablet has a full charge? This is something that attendees of concerts and sporting events are likely to remember and associate with your brand. The possibilities are endless: think about a law firm providing mobile charging kiosks at a real estate seminar. How about a saxophone teacher featured on one of our kiosks at a jazz club? Mobile recharging sponsored by a local cell phone repair shop at a farmers market? You get the idea: It is all about providing value to prospective customers at a time when they are enjoying themselves.

Incharge lets your brand be in charge at sporting events and concerts. Our kiosks are made in the USA, thus making them ideal for all types of events nationwide. Get in touch today so that we can discuss your experiential sports marketing options.

While planning for events, consider your booth design for your company and what you will offer. Potential customers need to see your brand and engage with the products and services you sell. If you provide value at an event, then your brand will project it as well, encouraging more engagement. Charging stations are one such means of providing memorable value.

At InCharged, we offer three types of charging stations for events. We know that you want to customize your booth and offer value. You may have varying budgets and differing goals. These stations can assist with your event return-on-investment.

Charging Locker Kiosks

Charging kiosks provide a highly-effective platform for both exhibitors and event organizers. Lure in your audience with outlets, and keep them interested after they plug in their phones. As they wait for their battery percentage to increase, converse with your prospects. Take advantage of the extra time.

What if you want to do more than talk? Customize the kiosk with your company graphics. Design a unique logo that can go on a panel or an eye-grabbing message that people will read. You want them to stop in their tracks, and marvel at your work.

Do you need to keep confidential data and equipment safe? Our lockers, made of aluminum, will prevent attempted theft on the floor. 

PowerMethod Floor Stand Charging Stations

Our PowerMethod S charges up to 18 devices. Ten USB charger ports and eight surge-protected outlets lend ample support and provide room for your prospects. The standing model features two units on top of a sturdy base. Don’t break your back with the light structure. Your interns will thank you. 

The PowerMethod charges cell phones, laptops, tablets, cameras, and other devices. There is also the USB option, for iPods and smartwatches. Use the freestanding model, install a tabletop station, or mount USB chargers on the wall. We love offering versatility to serve your branding. 

Flex Charging Stations

Do you want to have the option for audio-visual advertising? This model comes with 20-inch HD screens, for any commercials or infomercials you bring. Monitor the volume with external control, to factor in the noise from the crowd. Adjust your LED lights as needed, especially if attendees are photosensitive.

Implement custom-shrink wrap into each Flex Booth. Reflect your branding, with some eye-catching designs. You can discreetly offer Wi-Fi to your target audience, and adjust the displays accordingly with the twelve outlets. When you offer more than one connection, people will notice. 

Fast Assembly, No Tools Required

At InCharged, delivering convenience is our priority. Set up and disassemble your charging stations easily. They’re also fully capable of driving and increasing traffic to your business. 

Charging stations can thus represent any industry. These include education, entertainment, healthcare, hospitality, and retail. Rent the stations with a customizable billboard, so that attendees know you and your brand. Display your company’s marketing message, and add some unique flairs.

Contact Us Today

At InCharged, we will usher clients into the twenty-first century. Our customer service is eager to assist with promoting your brand and infusing it with value. We can make recommendations on which station rentals will suit particular events. 

Contact us at InCharged and reach out to our staff for a free consultation. We’ll be happy to answer your questions and help you to plan your use of charging stations for upcoming events. 

It’s no secret that budgeting is one of the tasks event planners dread the most.  Crunching the numbers may not be fun, but it’s a crucial step towards understanding how you spend trade show booth budget and where you might be spending too much or too little. 

Think about it, if you blow your budget on entertainment but have no money left to promote the event, you’ll end up with fewer attendees than expected turning up for the entertainment you paid top dollar to book. Allocating your event budget shouldn’t be a guessing game based on feel and intuition. A good trade show booth budget is based on real spending habits and previous event performance.

 Tracking each and every penny you spend is crucial to improving your event’s return on investment (ROI) and managing your overall event cost. Here are a few simple steps you can take to master your event budget for 2019.

Know What You’re Budgeting For

To create a beautiful budget, you need to know what you’re budgeting for. Focusing on specific event areas can help you categorize and prioritize your event spending. Try breaking out your major spending items into categories. Typical event categories include venue, décor, staffing, entertainment, marketing, technology, and travel costs, but your budget might include more categories depending on the type of events you run. Once you know how many categories you’re working with, it’s easier to figure out how far your budget will need to stretch.

Look to Past Event Budgets

The best way to improve your budget is to reference your spending habits for past events. Try to pinpoint line items that you overspent or underspent on and see if these items are a trend for your events. If you find yourself consistently overspending in the same categories or on the same items, it’ll be much easier to change the way you allocate your funds for your next event.

Reference Other Event Budgets

If you’re hosting your first event or facing budget constraints, a good place to start is to compare how other event planners spend their money. Knowing how other successful events spend the biggest chunk of their budget might give you the inspiration you need to make a change. The top costs for event planners tend to be marketing and promotion, entertainment, printed materials, and venue costs. If you find yourself spending very little in any of these categories, ask yourself if that works for your event or if you might be underspending.

Have Specific Goals

Budgeting just for the sake of budgeting is great, but planning with a specific goal in mind can really set you up for success. What do you want to accomplish for your next event? Are you looking to increase sponsor revenue, lower your total spending on your event, rework your budget so you have a more to spend on a specific category, or just increase your overall ROI? Knowing what you’re trying to accomplish can affect the ways you allocate your expenditures.

Include Technology Costs

Many event planners forget to add room for event technology expenditures into their budget. We’re not just talking A/V equipment or customized charging booths, but your ticketing platform, event apps, and anything you may use to enhance your event’s online presence. For example, you were always planning on live-streaming your event, but you didn’t budget for the camera rental or interface needed to actually get the stream up and running. 

Ticketing platforms and online credit card processors have varying fee rates. If you don’t pass these fees along to your customers or adjust your ticket prices to cover these fees, you may find yourself spending more on your software solutions that you originally anticipated. 

Leave an Emergency Fund

For some event planners, putting aside extra money for emergency expenditures can feel impossible, especially on a tight budget. Having a bit of wiggle room in your budget allows you to absorb unexpected or hidden costs that might creep up right before your event. You could show up to your venue only to find you need to invest in more A/V gear, or the price for your entertainment has gone up. Whatever it may be, you always want to leave a bit of financial room so you can handle the unexpected.

Avoid Simple Mistakes

There are two big budgeting mistakes many event planners make:

1. Misplacing receipts/quotes
2. Waiting until the last minute to draft their budget
3. Not proofreading

If you get into the habit of keeping every single receipt and quote in an organized way, it’ll save you heaps of time later on. Similarly, try to work on your event budget gradually rather than doing it all in a time crunch. If you take 10-15 minutes a day and work on specific items, or try to tackle your budget one category at a time, you’ll be much less stressed when it comes time to implement your event strategy.

Also, this goes without saying, but make sure you proofread your budget. Online budgeting tools and Excel spreadsheets work wonders, but they won’t check your work if you plug the wrong information into the wrong places. Having a second set of eyes check your work is a great way to rule out any careless mistakes, and it also promotes financial transparency among your event planning team!

Are you struggling to find sponsors and Sponsorship level ideas for your events?  Key partnerships can boost your ability to manage and promote your event, but securing them isn’t always easy.  Whether you’re looking to grow your exposure or just increase your bottom line, a stellar lineup of sponsors can make planning easier and add value for your attendees.

Securing a great lineup of sponsors starts with you!  Your pitch needs to stand out from others but also needs to be accessible, easy to understand, and captivating for each sponsor you approach.  Here are just a few things you can do to help perfect your pitch:

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If you attend or organize events, you know that phones seem to die quicker at events than in everyday use. You’ll find event attendees using any spare outlet they can find to keep their phone charged, but it’s very likely that only a handful of these people showed up to the event with their battery at 50% or lower.  If attendees are showing up with a decent amount of battery life left, why are they leaving with a dead battery?

Screen Brightness

This may not be on event attendees’ minds, but a bright screen can drain their battery very quickly. If you’re hosting an outdoor event, many attendees turn up their brightness so they can scan a mobile ticket off of their phone and then never turn their brightness back down. They also might turn up their brightness the first time they try to check their phone or, if they have auto brightness turned on, their phone might boost them up to 100% brightness so they can see their screen. 

Battery-Draining Apps

People are more likely to use social apps like Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat while attending events. In addition, if your event uses an in-event app, the constant checking of this app combined with the battery usage of location services can eat away at battery life. Many event planners and marketers encourage the use of social media or event apps before, during, and after their event. Unfortunately, these apps tend to be battery hogs and can kill battery life, especially if they’re being used simultaneously.

Background App Refresh

If you host conferences, trade shows, or any type of event that pushes real-time event information to attendees’ phones, this can chip away at your attendee’s battery. Even if your event-specific polling app isn’t open on their phone for the duration of the event, these apps tend to refresh frequently and use location data, taking a chunk of your battery with them.

Frequent Usage

This may sound obvious, but people tend to be on their phones more frequently at events than in their daily lives (think about it- if you were on your phone for 3-6 hours straight at your job, you probably wouldn’t have a job for very long). From taking pictures to taking notes and even checking the time, this constant, frequent usage does add up in the end.

High Usage Before and After Your Event

Attendees have to get to your event somehow, right? If they used GPS at all to get themselves to your venue, connected their phone to their car speakers via Bluetooth, listed to Spotify on the way over, used a rideshare app like Uber or Lyft, or spent their commute to your event scrolling through social media, they’ll likely arrive at your event with less battery life than when they started.  

These are just a few reasons why smartphones die faster at events. While events themselves aren’t a Bermuda Triangle of battery life, they do promote smartphone usage that tends to be battery-draining. To help your attendees avoid having low-battery anxiety and navigate to and from your event safely, invest in charging stations! That way, your attendees can enjoy the event knowing that they’ll be able to walk out with enough battery life to keep them going well after your event has ended!

It’s no secret- saving money is crucial at every point of the event planning process. That’s why InCharged focuses on providing eye-catching, state of the art, budget friendly charging solutions.

Want to make an impact on your audience but want something affordable? If your budget is tight but you still want to enhance your user experience, the InBox is for you!

The InBox charging solution can turn just about anything you own into a custom cell phone charging station. It’s the perfect option for events where you want to offer cell phone charging without interfering with your ambient space. Its compact design also saves you significantly on shipping fees compared to larger, heavier models and makes it much easier to transport to and from your venue.

With the InBox, there’s no need to find purpose-built charging furniture that could cost you thousands of dollars. The InBox can be mounted on a wall or tabletop, inside a lamp or sculpture, on the bottom of a table- the only limitation is your imagination! Its cutting-edge technology is so small and lightweight that it can be integrated into your environment for an unobtrusive yet fully functional effect. 

Here are just a few ways you can integrate an InBox into your next event:

• Have an area where your attendees tend to dwell? Add an InBox to the bottom of tables, lamps, or to the edges of couches and chairs to provide them with an amenity while they relax.
• If you have a set dining area or large banquet rounds, consider incorporating an InBox into the centerpiece of your tables.
• Are you a casino or hosting a casino/poker night? Add some InBoxes to the bottom of your poker or blackjack tables to keep attendees charged and betting!
• If you’re hosting a trade show or conference where your attendees break out into sessions, consider adding InBoxes to the bottom of chairs in the back row or to the rear or side walls to keep attendees charged so they can remain engaged.
• If you’re a bar or restaurant, adding an InBox to a specific section of your bar seating or to large tables typically reserved for large groups will let your guests stay InCharged and will only boost your web presence (after all, the more battery life they have, the more time they ‘ll have to post about your business online).
• Do you want to keep your outlets free and prevent guests from sitting on the floor? Adding charging units to your pre-existing furniture keeps your guests from hanging out against the wall, makes them feel encouraged to interact with the areas YOU want them in, and frees up your outlets.

If you’d rather make the InBox the star of the show, no problem! Take advantage of our 360-degree custom wrap, so your branding is front and center.

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The InBox has been used by Starbucks, Allstate Insurance, Uber, and Bonaroo Music Festival, but you don’t need to be a large corporation to take advantage of one of this tiny and dynamic charging option. As one of the most affordable charging stations on the market, the InBox can help even the smallest of events provide an affordable charging option your attendees won’t forget.

Ready to get set up with an InBox? Get in touch with us for a free consultation today!

One of the main reasons to use a mobile charging station at your event or place of business is to spread awareness of your brand.  With custom wrap and HD display options, a customized charging station is a great way to promote your cause. That being said, you may find yourself left with too many options if you don’t know what specific message you’re trying to spread or what goal you’re trying to accomplish. If you’re looking for a unique way to market your brand but don’t know the best way to customize your mobile charging station, the following points may help you find the right design. Continue Reading

If you’re not sending out a post event survey, you’re missing out on valuable feedback that could shape the way you plan your next event with new trade show booth ideas. If you’re already sending out surveys, you may not be getting the most useful feedback due to the questions you’re asking.

Asking the right questions can help you make the right type of changes so you can better fulfill your guests’ needs. Asking the wrong type of questions or, asking the right questions in a poor way, can lead to a low response rate and unusable feedback.

If you want to gather great feedback with trade Show Booth Ideas about your event and turn it into actionable items, you should be asking these five questions.

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When making a large purchase, do you buy the first product that fits the general description of what you want, or do you spend time researching before making your decision? Consumers shop around to find the best price or highest quality product available, so why invest in a specific charging station if it might not be the best deal? Continue Reading

For some event planners, promoting their event can be more stressful and difficult than actually planning the event itself. Creating an event has tangible goals that need to be met and timeframes that need to be followed, whereas promoting the event is much more nebulous.

It’s easy to spend too much time or money on event promotion in an attempt to spread the word. Raising awareness of your event doesn’t have to be hard or expensive if you know the right tools and techniques to use. If you’re stressed about promoting your event, consider using some of these free tools.

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