Strength in numbers
Strength in numbers Leonora Valvo, founder of Swoogo, talks to EN about bringing together five tech companies to create the Event Tech Tribe
T
he Event Tech Tribe has caused quite a stir in the events industry over the course of its short lifespan. Created by etouches and Swoogo founder Leonora Valvo, the Tribe is a consortium of tech providers cooperating to provide a complete service for customers. It was born out of Valvo’s belief that a collection of companies, each focused solely on their own specific offering, could provide a higher quality overall service that one enterprise trying to cover all the bases. “One of the things that we thought about, philosophically, when we launched Swoogo was that in a previous life we tried to do everything,” she explains. “We tried to create modules and capabilities all along the event lifecycle. With Swoogo we said, ‘This is what we’re good at, this is what we want to keep perfecting.’” The Swoogo team focused on perfecting their registration software, but Valvo still wanted to find a way to offer customers a more complete event management service. “We decided that we could serve our customers better by going out and finding best-in-craft solutions who are doing what they do really, really well, integrating with them and working closely together at a senior level,” she says. And so, the Event Tech Tribe was born. When Valvo first floated the idea, there was a mixed reaction from the companies she approached. “There was some scepticism at first,” she admits. “One or two of them said, ‘Wow, this is incredible’, and a couple were like, ‘That kind of makes sense’. But then things would happen like incredible lead sharing, or instead of tribe members individually taking 10x10 booths at a show they could have a much bigger footprint, like we’re doing at International Confex, and it started to make sense.” Valvo describes the moment when she realised the Tribe was starting to come together. She hosted a meeting in Connecticut, USA where she was joined by the CEOs of Hubb, Glisser, Showgizmo and TRC, coming from all over the world, as far afield as New Zealand. They spent a day and a half talking through the Tribe’s manifesto. “For me that was awesome,” she says. “We had so much commitment. We all came together because we felt it was such an important initiative. We have the same value systems, and we understand that for customers it’s a lot of work and can sometimes be overwhelming.” The Tribe made its first tradeshow appearance at IMEX America in October 2016, and Valvo recalls how one passing exhibitor was particularly interested in the Tribe’s shared stand. “We have a brilliant marketing person at Swoogo,” she says. “She designed our whole brand, and created the Tribe
manifesto, which we had on our wall at IMEX. “Somebody came up to the booth from another company and tried to take a picture of the manifesto. They had also come together with other companies to share a booth. They thought what we were doing was really cool, but I said, ‘It’s ours, you need to back off !” Looking to the future, the Event Tech Tribe may well continue to grow. “We have other companies that we’re reviewing,” says Valvo. “But it’s an exclusive club. When other products want to come in they can’t be competitive, and we all vet them. We all do a demo of their product, talk about it and discuss whether any of us feel that customers are asking for that particular thing and, if they are, is it the best-in-craft solution for that need?” What, asks EN, is Valvo’s opinion of tech like virtual reality and the Internet of Things? “Are we going to see more virtual reality at events? Sure,” she says. “If I were coming to Confex talking about why people should run their events in Malaysia, then virtual reality would be really cool. But I don’t think it’s going to be universal. “What I would like to see in terms of the Internet of Things is show organisers thinking about how to equalise trade show floors, and use that technology to make it easier for exhibitors to be there and a better experience for attendees.” It’s all about making everyone’s journey easier and richer, says Valvo, and cooperating with other companies through schemes like the Event Tech Tribe is the best way to ensure that happens. “You can tell I’m passionate about this,” she concludes. “I think it’s the future.” EN
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“You can tell I’m passionate about this; I think it’s the future”
exhibitionnews.co.uk | February 2017
EN_02.17_039_tech_swoogo 39
24/01/2017 16:41
T
he Event Tech Tribe has caused quite a stir in the events industry over the course of its short lifespan. Created by etouches and Swoogo founder Leonora Valvo, the Tribe is a consortium of tech providers cooperating to provide a complete service for customers. It was born out of Valvo’s belief that a collection of companies, each focused solely on their own specific offering, could provide a higher quality overall service that one enterprise trying to cover all the bases. “One of the things that we thought about, philosophically, when we launched Swoogo was that in a previous life we tried to do everything,” she explains. “We tried to create modules and capabilities all along the event lifecycle. With Swoogo we said, ‘This is what we’re good at, this is what we want to keep perfecting.’” The Swoogo team focused on perfecting their registration software, but Valvo still wanted to find a way to offer customers a more complete event management service. “We decided that we could serve our customers better by going out and finding best-in-craft solutions who are doing what they do really, really well, integrating with them and working closely together at a senior level,” she says. And so, the Event Tech Tribe was born. When Valvo first floated the idea, there was a mixed reaction from the companies she approached. “There was some scepticism at first,” she admits. “One or two of them said, ‘Wow, this is incredible’, and a couple were like, ‘That kind of makes sense’. But then things would happen like incredible lead sharing, or instead of tribe members individually taking 10x10 booths at a show they could have a much bigger footprint, like we’re doing at International Confex, and it started to make sense.” Valvo describes the moment when she realised the Tribe was starting to come together. She hosted a meeting in Connecticut, USA where she was joined by the CEOs of Hubb, Glisser, Showgizmo and TRC, coming from all over the world, as far afield as New Zealand. They spent a day and a half talking through the Tribe’s manifesto. “For me that was awesome,” she says. “We had so much commitment. We all came together because we felt it was such an important initiative. We have the same value systems, and we understand that for customers it’s a lot of work and can sometimes be overwhelming.” The Tribe made its first tradeshow appearance at IMEX America in October 2016, and Valvo recalls how one passing exhibitor was particularly interested in the Tribe’s shared stand. “We have a brilliant marketing person at Swoogo,” she says. “She designed our whole brand, and created the Tribe
manifesto, which we had on our wall at IMEX. “Somebody came up to the booth from another company and tried to take a picture of the manifesto. They had also come together with other companies to share a booth. They thought what we were doing was really cool, but I said, ‘It’s ours, you need to back off !” Looking to the future, the Event Tech Tribe may well continue to grow. “We have other companies that we’re reviewing,” says Valvo. “But it’s an exclusive club. When other products want to come in they can’t be competitive, and we all vet them. We all do a demo of their product, talk about it and discuss whether any of us feel that customers are asking for that particular thing and, if they are, is it the best-in-craft solution for that need?” What, asks EN, is Valvo’s opinion of tech like virtual reality and the Internet of Things? “Are we going to see more virtual reality at events? Sure,” she says. “If I were coming to Confex talking about why people should run their events in Malaysia, then virtual reality would be really cool. But I don’t think it’s going to be universal. “What I would like to see in terms of the Internet of Things is show organisers thinking about how to equalise trade show floors, and use that technology to make it easier for exhibitors to be there and a better experience for attendees.” It’s all about making everyone’s journey easier and richer, says Valvo, and cooperating with other companies through schemes like the Event Tech Tribe is the best way to ensure that happens. “You can tell I’m passionate about this,” she concludes. “I think it’s the future.” EN
39
“You can tell I’m passionate about this; I think it’s the future”
exhibitionnews.co.uk | February 2017
EN_02.17_039_tech_swoogo 39
24/01/2017 16:41
