With International Women’s Day taking place this weekend, we are celebrating the talented women in tech that make up part of the Giant iTab team. Event and Operation Assistant Holly Flintham is Giant iTab’s rising star. Holly joined the business in 2018 as part of a Government sponsored Digital Marketing apprenticeship and is looking forward to extending her training and career with the company.
We are proud to be partnering this week with our colleagues and friends at Hyve group for four days of stimulating conference and exhibition at BETT 2020 held at London’s Excel. The event sees the global education community come together to celebrate, find inspiration and discuss the future of education as well as how technology and innovation enables educators and learners to thrive.
Along with over 34,000 attendees and an exciting range of Edtech suppliers, Giant iTab will not only be supporting the organiser by using our Giant iTabs for wayfinding and accessing integral show information but also exhibiting and talking with educators and leaders from the sector on how Giant iTab solutions are already in place in universities and colleges across the country to help education departments with various applications. These universities include the University of Rotterdam, University of Loughborough, University of Herts, Nottingham Trent University, Middlesex University, Lambeth Academy to name a few.
In the education sector Giant iTabs are used to help navigate students during Fresher Weeks and open days, to help app developers when teaching and training students and even as live timetables and event schedulers. We’ve also helped with more broad applications such as providing an advertising and promotion technology for college and university commercial teams right the way through to the chosen technology for visitor experience centres.
Where technology and education cross over is often when usability and familiarity come together to make technology fun and engaging for the students. Learning in this environment only enhances the students’ experiences. Our client Magdalin Clancy, Assistant Principal, Business – United Learning from the Lambeth Academy says: “The Giant iTab is a really powerful way to engage this young generation. If anyone is hesitant about how to attract people on to a stand, then look no further. We had queues around the block – the content is what the students were interested in and the Giant iTab showcased it beautifully.”
The rise in mobile learning has fuelled a growing demand for technology to provide a ‘group learning experience’. Using the same individual mobile experience students would use for educational apps in their everyday student life, engaging a number of students and using the same apps and hardware but on a larger scale allows educators and students alike to go through that journey together. The Giant iTab truly facilitates that experience.
We think this beautifully sums up how technology and education can cross over and benefits all parties. As they say in show business: “I’m here all week”. So, if you’re attending BETT 2020 and would like to learn more or simply have a coffee and chat, come and visit us in Hall 8 on stand SB46. See you on the show floor!
We think this beautifully sums up how technology and education can cross over, as they say in show business, I’m here all week, so if you’re attending Bett and would like to learn more or simply have a coffee and chat come and visit us at Stand… See you on the show floor!
The world of digital has obvious benefits for online communities. The myriad of tools, apps and other technology available today allows for globally dispersed communities to communicate, present or simply conduct a meeting online. (internet permitting!) Yet this is only a small piece of the pie. The real pay-off for many sectors comes when these tools drive engagement and more face-to-face time with colleagues or clients.
It’s safe to say the events industry isn’t the greenest of industries. Events create a lot of waste and leave a significant carbon footprint. In fact, a recent ‘Meet Green’ survey found the average conference attendee produces 1.89kg of waste per day, 1.16kg of which ends up in landfill.
While many events have a long way to go to be greener, some are doing their bit to reduce their carbon footprint. We recently worked with MWC Barcelona, the largest mobile event in the world attracting 109,000 visitors. The event is recognised by the Guinness Book Of World Records, no less, as ‘The World’s Largest Carbon Neutral Trade Show’ and in 2019 its organiser GSMA decided to scrap the show’s printed event guide in place of an event app which could be accessed, viewed and downloaded via Giant iTabs strategically placed around the event venue. The project resulted in over a quarter of a million touches recorded on the giant smartphones across the four-day show. The smartphones helped to increase visibility of, and access to, key event information and to drive attendees to where they wanted to go, increasing event app adoption and eliminating the need for a printed event guide.
MWC Barcelona is just one example of an event making positive steps for the environment. As an event technology company, we too are increasingly aware of our carbon footprint. Flying our kit to events across the world has a big impact on the environment. To fly one member of staff along with our kit to Singapore from London has an estimated carbon footprint of 1.8 tonnes.
In the last couple of years, we have taken steps to decrease our carbon footprint by working with partners across the world. These like-minded AV technology companies deliver our Giant iTabs to customers at a local level in their own territories, saving the need to fly our team and kit back and forth to each event. The Giant iTab network currently covers four continents and 12 countries and by creating this network we are benefiting the environment as well as the customer. Working with a ‘local’ AV Rental company, operating in the same time zone, using the same language and currency with intimate knowledge of the culture and geographical landscape, has inevitably got its benefits.
The environmental impact of events isn’t going to go away but by working with suppliers with global partners and replacing printed materials with digital technology, there are plenty of ways we can all do our bit to be more sustainable.
