ABCey Presents: 5 Ways to Use Instagram Stories for Your Next Event

Instagram Stories has opened the door to a new range of possibilities for both users and marketers, making it a great space to promote events. Thus, ABCey has created a list of our top 5 ways that you can use Instagram Stories for your next event!

1. Instagram Live Video

Record and show in real-time! You can shoot live video using Instagram Stories before, during, and after your event. This way, you can showcase your venue and promote event transparency. Backstage content is a great way to drive viewership and keep your audience interested. Filming behind the scenes will give users a sense of involvement/understanding of how event planning actaully works.

2. Q&As

Having a Q&A session is a good way to engage your audience. Your followers might have common questions about your event or are interested in knowing more about the event planning process. In this case, you can collect the most popular questions and answer them in a picture or video format on your stories.

3. Advertisement

There are so many ways you can advertise your event using Instagram Stories. You can promote your brand or upcoming event using appropriate hashtags; you can also place your event page link in your stories. There’s also Instagram Stories ads, which allow you to insert a short advert in between users stories. You can target your ads by reach, video views, traffic, conversions, app installs, and brand awareness.

4. Start A Poll

The good thing about Instagram Stories is that it lets you run quick surveys and take your audience’s pulse. Thus, if you have a dilemma while in the midst of planning an event, you can always ask your audience for their thoughts. This is a nice way to engage with your followers and make them feel that you value their opinion!

5. Influencer Takeover

It’s always good to change things up. Consider letting your event speaker, a performer, a sponsor or an influencer take over your account and engage with your audience. By providing a platform for others to push some of their own content, you’ll also be able to leverage the speaker’s own audience and marketing power, and drive impressions for your event.

What do you think of these ideas? Did we miss any? Let us know in the comments below or on Facebook and Twitter!

If you’re interested in learning more about events we’ve done for other San Francisco startups or Fortune 500 companies, click here.

ABCey’s Tech Tuesday: 2019 Bay Area Tech Events and Conferences

Can you believe we’re already half way through the year? For today’s #TechTuesday, ABCey features our top five Bay Area tech events and conferences to attend in 2019.

1. Y-Combinator Demo Days

Twice a year, Y-Combinator Demo Day gathers it’s latest batch of YC-funded founders to present their companies to a room of selected investors and press. Over the course of two days, founders hope for investors to take a chance and invest in their companies. Because of this selection process, this event is invitation only.

When: August 19th-20th, 2019 | Location: Pier 48 |

2. Oracle OpenWorld

Oracle OpenWorld, the tech giant’s deep dive into all things cloud, offers more than 2,200 educational sessions, hundreds of demos and hands-on labs, and exhibitions from more than 400 partners. Over a course of four days, you’ll engage in free-flowing ideas that will help you and your business do tomorrow’s business goals, today! You won’t want to miss out on today’s première business and technology event.

When: September 16th-19th, 2019 | Location: Moscone Center |

3. TechCrunch Disrupt

This large conference allows startups to sign up and present their business ideas on the stage in front of investors, media for exposure and win prize money. In addition, the featured guests this year include Heather Adkins, Michael Rogers, and Evan Spiegel. You sure do not want to miss out on an opportunity like this!

When: October 2nd-4th, 2019 | Location: Moscone North |

4. Open Data Science Conference West

ODSC West 2019 is one of the largest applied data science conferences in the world. It’s the conference to engage, to build, to develop, and to learn from the data science community. At ODSC, their goal is to host those looking to accelerate their skills and knowledge by offering programs of varying difficulty levels, from beginner to advanced and in between. No matter what skill level you are, there is a program for you!

When: October 29th- Nov 1st, 2019 | Location: Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport |

5. Dreamforce 19′

Dreamforce is an annual conference hosted by Salesforce in San Francisco. Each year, Dreamforce attracts tens of thousands of professionals and provides thousands of workshops. Because of this, attendees will be able to learn how Salesforce can help take their business to the next level.

When: November 19-22, 2019 | Location: Moscone Center |

What tech events and conferences are you planning to attend? Let us know what you think in the comments below or onFacebook and Twitter!

Want to plan a conference after-party? Look no futher, as ABCey is here to help. Click here to learn more about events we’ve done for other San Francisco startups and Fortune 500 companies,

ABCey’s Tech Tuesday: Top 10 Event Tech Trends of 2019

It’s Tuesday! ABCey presents #TechTuesday as we highlight the best and brightest ideas in the event tech industry. For today’s #TechTuesday, we feature ten event tech trends to look for in 2019.

1) Mobile Charging Stations

Full charge ahead! Having a convenient and reliable way to charge mobile devices is one of the top amenities event attendees crave. By incorporating charging outlets into themed décor to your next event will not only satisfy their craving but also make it more trendy. goCharge is a great source to rent or buy a charging station for your next event!

2) 5G

Verizon and AT&T have both launched preliminary 5G services, but neither one is broadly available yet. With 5G, it’s fast, more responsive and able to connect a lot more devices at once. The speed and reliability of your venue’s Wi-Fi will become less important, as attendees will already have high-speed internet available to them on their devices, allowing for more opportunities.

3) Event Diagramming

Event diagramming tools are constantly improving. With the ability to lay out your event in any way you want, it allows for better planning and better control. Additionally, it helps planners and venue management save time. Forbes has used the software since 2013 to improve the efficiency of their events by visually verifying the placement of every piece as well as the viability of venues. We recommend MagicPlan or SocialTables Check in to make your planning a breeze!

4) Facial Recognition

Identifying and verifying an individual by using their faces has never been easier. With facial recognition, we can easily check in and register guests, reach new audience members and most of all, improve on site security. Apple and theme parks, like Disneyland have already take on facial recognition and have integrated into their systems with the IPhone and tickets respectively.

5) Beacons

A great companion for your event app- Beacon’s bluetooth technology send signals to other smart devices nearby using small, wireless transmitters. . One of the most useful benefits of beacon technology is that it has the capability to help attendees navigate from point A to point B. AppAtlas, powered by the mobile event app provider MeetingPlay, recently launched indoor wayfinding throughout enourmous ropms. By downloading an app, venue guests can easily navigate throughout these mega complexes with turn-by-turn directions right from their mobile or smart devices..

6) Event Applications

Event applications are a great tool for listing your event info, schedules, performer information, and more all in ONE place. Their flexibility makes them a perfect fit for almost any type of event. Pathable and Guidebook are just a few! Built with ease of use and design in mind, both event apps are great at being simple and convenient!

7) Event Automation

Event automation gives event planners the ability to create personalized experiences for all attendees. By sending out information tailored to each person to their own interests, it could also help prevent attendees from getting slammed with information overload. GEVME, Silverpop and HubSpot are some trending event automation platforms that will get you started!

8) Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)

Waiting in line for an event? Say no more! With RFID, you can set up a faster entry process and store payment, all in one with this tool. Furthermore, you can significantly cut down on your day-of staff or reallocate your staff into more engaging roles at your event venue. Xylobands, made popular by Coldplay is a great source of RFID coming into play. During the concert, it lights up during the musical acts and is a beautiful sight. Not only is it mesmerizing, but it will be a factor in getting people to come back.

9) Artificial Intelligence (Chatbots)

If you had questions about an event, don’t fear! With chatbots, you are able to get your question answered in a few seconds, relieving overwhelmed staff. In addition, chatbots are virtual meaning they could be on different social media platforms anytime and anywhere. There are numerous chatbots all over the internet including Spotify, Uber, Nike and more!

10) Augmented Reality

In simple words, augmented reality is a combination of our real and computer-generated worlds in the form of live video imagery. With this technology, events planners can utilize the capabilities of computer-generated display text, sound and effects to enhance attendees’ real world experience. Attendees can experience AR through headsets or through displays on mobile devices. When Apple announced the ar feature at Apple’s annual conference, Worldwide Developers Conference, it changed everything for years to come!

Have you tried any of these event tech trends? Which one is your favorite? Let us know what you think in the comments below or on Facebook and Twitter!

If you’re interested in learning more about events we’ve done for otherSan Francisco startups or other fortune 500 companies, click here.

ABCey’s #TechTuesday: Top 5 Apps for Event Engagement

#TechTuesday highlights the best and brightest ideas in the tech world. Today’s #TechTuesday features the top 5 apps to engage your attendees.

1. Attendify

Attendify is an event management app that includes great features, such as creating a private social network for your event. In the network, you are able to share photos, messages, and quick polls on the event timeline. Also, with this, introductions are easy! People are notified once you join the network, so everyone will know you made it.

2. CrowdCompass

CrowdCompass enables you to create an app for your event with cool features that prompt your attendees to engage with each other and your event! For example, guests can message each other one-on-one, participate in live Q&As, and take notes all in one app! Furthermore, attendees are able to create personalized schedules with an option to push notifications for reminders. Also, the event planners are able to track guest engagement and the event’s impact in easy-to-read charts and graphs.

3. Grupio

Grupio is an event app that allows you to link your social media channels, like Facebook or Twitter, to your customized app! With this feature, you and your guests are able to share their experiences through your favorite social media platform! Other features include being able to create advertisements for your sponsors to feature on the app and gamification to encourage attendee engagement.

4. Whova

Whova is an event app that gives event planners the ability to customize their own app with their brand. Some of their features include document sharing among attendees to limit paper handouts and interactive maps. Also, Whova pushes the guests to create more buzz and excitement with a convenient Twitter outlet built into the app!

5. Eventbase

Eventbase is a mobile event technology platform that allows its users to create an app for their event. Depending on the type of event, the company has a specially curated app for your event app needs! This app has a large variety of fonts and themes to cater to your preferences. Eventbase also has features such as “Around Me” that suggests people nearby and small descriptors to allow for better connections.

Which of these apps are your favorite? We’d love to hear from you! Let us know in the comments below or on Facebook and Twitter!

Tech Tuesday: Stand Out Technologies for Meeting Planning

Tech Tuesday highlights the best and brightest ideas in the tech world. ABCey would like to recognize these up and coming companies for their innovative ideas and ability to think outside the box!

Meetings can be a daunting task when trying to get everyone engaged and on the same page. Meetings are vital for management and communication, and properly run meetings save time, increase motivation and productivity, and create new initiatives. Getting a group together diffuses information much faster than an office email. Here are our top three meeting organization technologies that will make your next meeting or conference run much more smoothly!

1. Catchbox: This genius invention is used for bigger meetings and eliminates the tedium of a wired microphone and creates audience engagement. Catchbox is a throwable, cordless microphone that can be used by the speaker at the front of the room, and then thrown to participating audience members when they want to contribute. A Catchbox can be employed in so many situations, and not only is it useful, but audience members are going to want to talk just because it’s so much fun! I would go to a meeting specifically to be able to speak up through this fun, catchable microphone!

2. MeetingPulse: Encouraging cooperation while fostering different ideas can be tricky, but MeetingPulse allows you to poll meeting members to get a wide array of opinions. The application gives a visual representation of audience feedback, charting information sent between the speaker and the audience, and at the end of the meeting, provides a way to follow up with the company. We are excited about this app because it streamlines communication between the audience and the speaker!

3. Stormz: This awesome collaboration software creates workshops for large groups, facilitating development, creation and innovation. The feedback shows that the application is easy to use and makes group meetings move much faster. This app sounds dynamic and seems helpful for corporate meeting demands.

Have you tried any of these meeting technologies? Is CatchBox as fun as it looks?! We would love to hear from you in the comments below or on Facebook & Twitter!

Tech Tuesday: The Interactive Wall

Tech Tuesday highlights some of the best and brightest ideas in the tech world. ABCey would like to recognize these up and coming companies for their innovative ideas and ability to think outside the box!

Being an event planner, we’ve attended conferences and presentations of all kinds. Some of the least memorable include lots of talking, little visuals and minimal audience engagement. Well, there’s a groundbreaking technology that utilizes an Interactive Wall that is changing the way speakers communicate with their audiences.

You may have first seen this type of interactive video wall during the election coverage and now it’s available for events! One company providing this service is PSAV, a leading audiovisual provider that has services all over the world, and even right here in San Francisco. These interactive walls have 46-inch square screens configured in either a two-by-two or three-by-three format. If that is not sufficient enough, custom screens of any size can be created. The wall essentially operates like a large iPad with over two dozen apps that create maps, presentations, and games.

An interactive wall can also be used for many purposes, being educational or for digital signage. If used for a trade show, the wall can display logos and information specific to a certain vendor. What we love most is that it enables planners to present their ideas in a digital way specific to their themes, while also providing sponsorship and advertising opportunities. To learn more about how this interactive wall works, check out the video below!

Would you try an interactive wall at your next event? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below or on Facebook or Twitter!