iPads on ICTM

In 2010 Apple iPad took the world by storm. Always keen to improve our service offering by utilising new technology, Aztec initially invested in a few iPads and began researching ways in which they might enhance exhibitions and other live events. 

In mid 2010 we were approached by a specialist live marketing agency representing a major multi-national finance house who was exhibiting at the International Cash and Treasury Management event in Geneva. They wanted to do something content-driven and interactive, and were looking for creative technological input. Having completed extensive research and testing on iPads, we felt that we could provide a fantastic solution using iPads as the primary display medium. Within a few days of receiving the brief, a team from Aztec Digital (our creative services arm) set up a demonstration. This involved setting up a mini network environment for the iPads in the client's office and demonstrating the ways it could be used to showcase their services.

Following that meeting, it was agreed that the 15 members of the onsite sales team would utilise the iPad as a presentation tool, with content uploaded onto them to demonstrate to visitors to their stand. We also offered the client the option of using the iPads as remote controls, with the touch screen replacing the mouse and controlling what was displayed on a Christie MicroTiles™ wall (also provided by Aztec) that we had built on their stand.

The solution had several advantages over traditional PowerPoint laptop presentations. It saved precious space on the stand and allowed the sales team to move around more freely with the visitors. The team were able to present more easily, elegantly flicking through the presentations - which looked stunning on iPad’s dazzling screen. And by using the iPads in this way it helped to position the client as a tech-savvy company quick to react to the latest trends.

A week before the show we organised a training session for the stand staff. The client presentations were forwarded to us to upload - but as they kept changing right up until the exhibition day, we actually completed the final upload on site at the exhibition. This was not an easy task as we had more than 20 presentations, each of which had to be converted from PowerPoint to Keynote, and then uploaded onto each of the iPads.

Clearly doing this sort of thing on site is risky in that different iPads could have different versions of presentations. In order to remove this possibility, we created a mini Wi-Fi network and utilised a file sharing technology to share and sync the presentations quickly across all the iPads. This gave us the additional advantage that if we needed to amend, add or delete any presentations during the show, by simply updating one of the iPads, all  iPads were automatically updated so we could guarantee all stand staff were using the most up to date versions.

In addition to loading the presentations, we also loaded various image files and promotional documents for the client. This allowed the stand staff to access a wide variety of information at the touch of a button. Furthermore, we configured each iPad with an email account so that whilst talking to a visitor to their stand about their requirements, they could also email relevant documents right there and then. In this instance, although the iPads were on a WiFi network, the network itself was not connected to the Internet and so all the emails were queued until the iPads were docked at the end of each day, at which point emails flooded out!

This solution worked completely flawlessly and is a great example of how when complementary technologies are combined in a live environment the results can be spectacular.

“As well as being very pleased with the technology, our client was also extremely pleased that their environmental credentials were enhanced by not handing out lots of brochures and other paper literature at the exhibition.”

 

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