Typically in this column I discuss several apps that can assist in your event planning and management, but unprecedented times call for an unprecedented column focusing on a single app.
Azzumi is a new app designed to help meeting professionals digitize a lot of event management, and assist event staff with attendee outreach, social media marketing and compliance with CDC guidelines.
Obviously the inspiration for the app is the devastating events of 2020 which have adversely affected any business that includes gathering people in groups and virtually shut down the convention industry. Ironically, there has been some success with virtual events, but it’s impossible for those to truly replace the face-to-face interaction and interpersonal relationships that drive the convention and exhibition industry. All the fancy booths, flashy displays and branded swag can’t replace the human interaction that is at the core of the business.
As convention centers tentatively dip a toe back into the unsettled waters of meetings, Azzumi has stepped up to smooth the process out a bit. In addition to assisting event planners, Azzumi is designed to provide users with the ability to chat with event attendees, post updates, leave reviews and more.
Among the functions of the app is updating ticket purchases, creating a platform in which subscribers can purchase tickets for either local or international events 100 percent digitally. Beyond ticket sales, event planners can also plan, manage, control and promote all through the convenience of the Azzumi app.
For the time being, one of the primary concerns for event managers today is adhering to CDC guidelines while planning an event. This can be a challenge, as many details of an event are mercurial and dynamic during the planning process. Azzumi app allows event planners to review a variety of venues and stay on top of their current headcount with updates from the app.
The subscriber platform allows planners to connect more easily to potential attendees, functioning in some ways like a social media app, but one without being cluttered with funny cat videos, memes featuring Leonardo DeCaprio and endless political fighting, which are all swell in their own way, but distract from the actual business of conducting business.
Time will tell if Azzumi will become a new industry standard or the pandemic era’s “Ask Jeeves” but it seems likely that it will be more of the former than the latter. The app tries to make things work better and smoother and these days, we could all use a little more of that.
P.S. Astoundingly, Ask Jeeves has been resurrected, at least in England. Strange days indeed.
F. Andrew Taylor is an award-winning journalist, artist, photographer, cartoonist and illustrator working for alt-weeklies, tourism publications, hyper-local papers and others for the last 23 years. He is also the illustrator for “Christmapus,” the tale of the Christmas Octopus. His first fiction prose story was published in 2018 and was featured at the Vegas Valley Book Fair. He also works in film production, does local historical research and has been an amateur stunt driver and rodeo participant. Contact him at fandrewt@exhibitcitynews.com.
This story originally appeared in the Nov./Dec. 2020 issue of Exhibit City News, p. 14. For original layout, visit https://issuu.com/exhibitcitynews/docs/ecn_nov-dec_2020
