How to Embrace Your Next Event Technology Snafu

Every event seems to feature its own unique, totally unexpected, hilarious tech snafus (or the events that I host anyway). A few hours ago, 30-ish people were in Jamboard co-creating, and POOF, the slide went blank. No undoing could bring it back. I think I’ve run into just about every tech-related problem during keynotes, workshops, and presentations, and it doesn’t matter if these events are in-person or online. Tech issues abound!

Online there’s no end to the things that can go wrong. Apps behave strangely, Zoom misfires, and attendees cannot hear, see, be seen, be heard, or access documents. I know exactly how this feels for event hosts. In-person events are not immune because microphones squeal, projectors fail, and even power cords are out to trip the unsuspecting speaker. Every time it happens to me, my heart skips a beat, BUT-

More engaging apps, platforms, and technologies are launching. Each with its own quirky little set of bugs. Should we minimize technology in our events and play it safe? Nope! Not at all. I say Go for It!

I say Go for It! because the upside is too significant, and the downside is so slight. The upside is you experiment with creating a super engaging event, something your attendees have never experienced, or a way for participants to connect they might not have otherwise had. The downside is everyone gets to experience a tech issue, and 99% of your attendees are okay with that because they understand. They experience tech issues nearly daily, and they know you are experimenting on their behalf.

So go for it and keep experimenting