Spotlights*
March 12, 2015  •  by Sean Burke

Let's Talk The "Leaked" Google Event App

here. I’ll give you a Cliff notes version of the article but more importantly I’d like to talk about the potential this app has not only for Google but the effect it could have on the event industry. Cliff Notes of the App

  • 2 days ago, Google “accidentally” releases its Event App
  • The app allows you to sync with Google Calendar and can notify you of upcoming events
  • The app provides other granted functionalities such as QR code scanning, details about the event, the time it starts, et al.
  • The description of the app reads: ““The Google Events App will allow guests, attending events run by Google, to interact with speakers on stage, take notes, participate in Q&A, connect to social media, and request further follow up information. The app is not available at events not organized by Google.”
The app is not available at events not organized by Google, emphasis mine. Now this wouldn’t be the first time that Google would have standalone apps, such as their I/O 2014 app. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="237"]Google Play Store App Picture Syncing with Google Calendar and Notify Me? Yes please![/caption]   Consequence and Innovation Personally, I was excited to read about the app and already see potential for our ticket scanning app in the upcoming year. The ability to sync with Google Calendar is amazing, and notifying the user of upcoming events is just downright simple. If there’s one thing that Google is awesome at, it’s integrating their products with each other. Try telling me with a straight face that you’d drop your Gmail account when it’s already synced to calendars, spreadsheets, Chrome, and your Youtube account. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="229"]Google Interactive Events App Photo With that many sessions, we’re gonna need more than one coffee break. And where’s second breakfast?[/caption] Now, that being said, I can’t see Google moving into the event registration industry wholesale. But if it does- how could it innovate? No more database for events like there is on Ticketbud or any other event registration site. Instead, you’ll use the knowledge graph to search for “concerts in Austin, TX” and you’ll get a laundry list of upcoming events geolocated to your location. This list would also take into account previous searches, Youtube listens/subscribes, and Google music downloads amongst other factors. Hopefully I didn’t just kill the event industry in one fell swoop, but there you go! The event registration and ticketing industry would do very well to pay attention to what Google does with this event app, and at the same time be propelled to innovate more than ever before. That’s the real consequence, which really isn’t a consequence at all – event organizers and eventgoers win in the end when we innovate, and that’s the important thing. Note: All images are owned by Google and taken from the Google Play Store]]]]> ]]>