IBTM World Virtual has announced the five finalists for this year’s Tech Watch Live Award. The overall winner will be announced on the last day of the event, December 10, 2020.
The finalists were selected based on a wide range of criteria, including their level of innovation, how different the product is in the market, concept and business model, how far along the product is in development, and how much value it brings to the MICE industry. They are:
- Pubsphere Exhibits, which is developing small wearable devices with built-in light detection and ranging technology to discretely inform people nearby to respect and maintain their physical distances;
- Troop, a company which uses Big Data analysis to help planners compare different event locations based on various factors including Covid-19 incidence, to help re-start safe in-person meetings;
- Socio, an event management platform and end-to-end solution for virtual, hybrid and in-person events;
- ConsenseIQ, a polling tool that allows for deeper dialogue and more effective exploration of dilemmas, problems and challenges between groups;
- and CLIPr, a viewing platform for the events industry which empowers organizers to get more mileage out of their content.
According to Dahlia El Gazzar, tech evangelist and chief collaborator for IBTM World TechWatch Live 2020, this year’s panel of TechWatch judges were looking for technology solutions that would help the MICE industry and event professionals in the next decade, not just in 2021. “Event profs need to look at technology differently and see how it can help them become more resilient, no matter what comes their way next, and continue to deliver to all stakesholders,” she explained.
The finalists were selected by a panel of well-known experts from The Technology Advisory Group. Judges from the group include:
- Dave Lorenzini, founder and CEO of EventFX;
- Liz King Caruso, CEO of Liz King Events and Techsytalk and Founder of IGNITE consulting program;
- Keith Johnston, managing partner of i3 Events and publisher of event industry blog Plannerwire;
- and Jason Allan Scott, an award-winning entrepreneur, podcaster and bestselling author/
“We had an amazing response to TechWatch Live this year, and an outstanding caliber of entries with really inventive solutions to help the meetings and events industry, particularly when it comes to navigating the current pandemic,” said David Thompson, event director, IBTM World Virtual. “Thank you to our judges and to everyone who entered, and congratulations to our five finalists. We look forward to discovering who our ultimate TechWatch Live winner will be during IBTM World Virtual.”
For more information and to register to attend IBTM World Virtual, visit: https://www.ibtmworld.com/visit/register/