How Events Can Benefit From Proximity Analytics. How Events Can Benefit From. Proximity Analytics. Case: Arctic1 5. Share:

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "How Events Can Benefit From Proximity Analytics. How Events Can Benefit From. Proximity Analytics. Case: Arctic1 5. Share:"

Gervase Barber
5 years ago
Views:

1 How Events Can Benefit From Proximity Analytics Case: Arctic1 5

2 Table of contents Introduction...2 Beacons as a Rising Choice for Proximity...3 Arctic1 5: Finding the One...4 The Results...5 Users and Devices...6 Location Popularity...9 How To The App Integration The Planning The Beacon Setup The Geofence Set-up The Test...20 The Marketing...20 Conclusion

3 Introduction Proximity technology has had leaps and bounces recently in so many different industries. Event organizing is no exception: Google and Apple have been both already organizing enormous events embroidered with proximity technology. Music festivals, tech conferences, board meetings, etc. are all suitable venues for the deployment of this new tech, and the circle is quickly expanding. So yes, proximity technology is big. But what are the actual use cases for positioning in the event sector? How effective is it? How to set up an optimal proximity setup in an event venue? We are proud to present you answers to all those questions through this case study with Arctic1 5 - one of the key Nordic startup events analyzing how they incorporated the Proximi.io Proximity Platform into the official event application in order to gather detailed analytics on the people flow inside the venue. This paper walks through the case, their results and the step-by-step instructions for gaining similar outcomes from your event. 2

4 Beacons as a Rising Choice for Proximity Beacons are small Bluetooth transmitters, each with a unique ID. Their use previously focused on simple beacon-based actions (deciding if one thing is near or far from the beacon), but they are now increasingly used for positioning too, with further capabilities still growing. The signal that beacons transmit can be picked up by any Bluetooth 4.0-enabled device. However, these signals do not mean anything yet, and an application is needed for interpreting these signals into meaningful data and/or actions. Beacons are getting more attention because of their efficiency in proximity. Most beacons are cheap, packed with data-rich sensors, secured, and durable (both in terms of battery life and physical force endurance). They can be easily installed anywhere - the least you need is duct tape, but screws are perfectly fine too. The hardest part - as aforementioned - is transforming beacon signals into interaction with event-goers. This is where Proximi.io comes to play. With the platform, controlling the beacon fleet, delivering location-based messages and gaining detailed analytics can be achieved in a few hours from start to finish. After the integration of the SDKs into the app, all the rest of the changes can be controlled online. This means that changes can be done up until the last minute and also during the event. Realtime analytics can also be gained from the minute the first attendees download the app and arrive at the venue. 3

5 Arctic1 5: Finding the One Arctic1 5 is a two-day startup conference event, organized by ArcticStartup. The ArcticStartup mission since has been helping to build communities with uncapped opportunities. Ever since then, this vision has been their true North, and have extended through all their services and events. The Event With the team s true mission in mind, Arctic1 5 tailored perfectly to the needs of all stakeholders in the startup scene. They connected startups, investors and corporates together, creating real business value. During the two days - from June 2nd to 3rd 201 6, in Helsinki, the numbers from Arctic1 5 were amazing: more than attendees, with 75 speakers, more than 200 investors, 400 startups, 1 00 corporations and 3500 meetings. All that was contained in an innovative rendition of the Cable Factory, and thus the need to provide all attendees with the greatest networking experience was among the team s top priorities. The Problem The ArcticStartup team has always looked for ways to improve their event and application. They needed to know where optimization was possible in the event - the hard data and numbers, with soft and easy-to-digest visualizations, in order to better facilitate networking between attendees. And that was exactly what we set out to help the team with. The Solution The solution to the problem was to utilize Proximi.io proximity platform inside the official Arctic1 5 app to collect analytics about how the people moved inside the venue. The app allows users to get transportation guides, the full event schedule, speakers and startup booths info, updated social media, spontaneous check-in, match-making aid. The app is available for both ios and Android. The app is created by a Helsinki-based software development house Qvik. More information on Arctic1 5: 5.com/ 4

6 The Results After the two days, a pile of data had been collected. Here is a summary of the key findings. 5

That means that around 24% of the visitors were captured in the analytics, which can be well considered as a

7 Users and Devices A total of 360 unique visitors downloaded the application, and were counted in the analytics. A little over participants attended the event. That means that around 24% of the visitors were captured in the analytics, which can be well considered as a representative sample. The margin of error is 4.50%, and confidence 97%. Languages As expected, the dominant languages in the event are English and Finnish, accounting for 21 7 and 1 22 installs respectively. 6

8 Devices There were 360 unique installs in total, with 262 Android and 98 ios devices. Of all Android devices, Samsung is the most prominent brand name. iphone 6 dominated ios. 7

Times The first day was the more popular of the two days. Data shows that, quite unsurprisingly, the periods from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. (of both days in the event) held the most visitors.

9 Times The first day was the more popular of the two days. Data shows that, quite unsurprisingly, the periods from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. (of both days in the event) held the most visitors. The peak traffic was during the early afternoon hours on both days. Friday started a bit later, but then again people spent on average 1 3% longer at the event compared to Thursday. The numbers tail off gradually towards the end of the days. The peak at 5 p.m. of day two can be explained with the winner announcement of the Arctic1 5 pitching competition. The figure below shows the amount of new arriving visitors on an hourly level. From the data we can see that the amount of new visitors on Friday was low. In other words, most visitors visited the event both days. The number of new arriving visitors peaked at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday morning, and slows down towards the end of the day. 8

Location Popularity The visitors movement was follow through regular position updates to our cloud system. These updates represent the general flow of visitors throughout the venue.

10 Location Popularity The visitors movement was follow through regular position updates to our cloud system. These updates represent the general flow of visitors throughout the venue. As can be seen from the heatmap below, the flow was quite well evenly spread. The heatmap visualizes the relative popularity of the different areas - the most often visited areas are visible in red, whereas the less popular areas are in blue or white. To gain a better glimpse of the relative popularity of the different areas, we also tracked the amount of times visitors entered or left one of the areas Main Entrance and Side Entrance: these areas had their own geofence, in order to give visitors a welcome message, while allowing organizers to keep track of installs and visitors to the event. this was where a lot of the meetings and networking happened - the ArcticStartup team wanted to keep check on how many people utilized this space. Deal Room: Workshop: this was the registration desk for workshops at Arctic1 5. Stage 1 was the main stage, while Stage 2 was the secondary stage. Stage 1 & 2: Café Area: this was sponsored by Microsoft Flux - allowing people to have free drinks and enjoy the event at the same time. this large area was divided into three smaller areas each with its own geofence. This area consisted of individual startup booths. Expo Area: 9

11 Aquarium Lounge: and working. this area provided seats and tables for meals like its name, this area offered free meals to attendees. The meals were sponsored by local startups like Gold & Green, Epic Foods and Foodiac. Food Street: Here is a visual representation of the aforementioned areas. Note that Stage 1 is referred to in the material as "Stage". From the analysis of the separate areas, it is quite clear that the Dealroom and Stage were by far the most popular areas. The chart below displays only the top5 areas. Together they account for 55% of the visits during the event. This implies that the event was successful in terms of original intention: connecting and networking in the startup ecosystem. Also from the chart, presentations on stage 1 attracted a lot more audience than presentations on stage 2. 10

The figure below shows the most popular areas during different hours. The dealroom was popular during both days, even though the second day was slightly quieter than the first one.

12 The figure below shows the most popular areas during different hours. The dealroom was popular during both days, even though the second day was slightly quieter than the first one. From the lack of main entrance events during the early Thursday morning, we can see that the large part of visitors downloaded the app after they arrived to the venue. On Friday afternoon a peak can be noticed in the stage 1 area, where the pitch competition final and winner announcement were held. Also, from the map, we need to know that the three expo area combined make the whole exhibition and booth area. Their numbers of visitors make up only less than 1 0% of the total - which implies that this area may need some improvement to offer better attention to showcasing startups. Of the three exhibition areas, the one in the middle, expo area 2, was the most popular. Speaker Popularity We also drilled deeper and graphed the total events around the two stages by time - and checked how it correlates with the event schedule. From the data, we could clearly see a correlation with some key speakers and programme. Due to respect of the speakers, this data is not published. Notably, in Stage 1, Day 2, the Pitching Competition Final and Pitching Winner Announcement piqued the interests of startups, investors and corporations. 11

Dwell times Figure below shows the average dwell times at the different parts of the venue. It revelas that the average time spent in the different areas was in general quite long.

It is also interesting to note that, even though stage 2 had less visitors than stage, the dwell times were longer in the former.

13 Dwell times Figure below shows the average dwell times at the different parts of the venue. It revelas that the average time spent in the different areas was in general quite long. The longest dwell times were counted in the Food street, where visitors stayed nearly 40 minutes. It is also interesting to note that, even though stage 2 had less visitors than stage, the dwell times were longer in the former. The shortest dwell times were recorded from the VIP lounge, around 6 minutes on average. The Dealroom dwell time average was just under 20 minutes, which corresponds with the set meeting length. Stage s short dwell time reveals that people only sat in for a little while (averaging at 1 2 mins) to hear their favorite presenters, but were then off to see something else. 12

14 How To Let s go through step-by-step how the event setup was done, and how you can re-create the system at your event. 13

The App Integration This is actually the easiest part, and should be done first.

The ios library is in fact a CocoaPod that can be just dragged and dropped to your app project.

io libraries by hand to your app. Full instructions and libraries can be found on the Proximi.io website (https://proximi.

After the integration is done, the rest of the work can be done through the management portal.

15 The App Integration This is actually the easiest part, and should be done first. The app is connected to the platform with the Proximi.io SDKs. The ios library is in fact a CocoaPod that can be just dragged and dropped to your app project. Similarly, the Android library is a Gradle file. If your app does not use those tools, you can copy and paste the Proximi.io libraries by hand to your app. Full instructions and libraries can be found on the Proximi.io website ( and The integration will not take you more than half an hour in total. After the integration is done, the rest of the work can be done through the management portal. This is a huge benefit, as the positioning needs to be tested out and adjusted on-the-spot, and you often won t get access to the event venue earlier than a couple of days before the event. Therefore, you can safely do the integration well beforehand and submit the app to the stores. 14

16 The Planning The planning is the most important step in the process, and should be done with good care to avoid rework. In this step, you would need to consider the venue area and the analytics you want to collect. Try to get your hands on a floor plan that is as close to the truth as possible. In this case, the Arctic1 5 event was held at Kaapelitehdas (translates directly as Cable Factory, which the area has indeed functioned as one in the past). The total area in the venue equals to 2511 square meters ( square feet). With that information, we ve decided split the venue into 1 3 interest areas for clearer analytics. As the expo area was quite large, we split it into three areas, named expo Area 1, 2 and 3. The floorplan of the event with the interesting areas can be seen on the right. The setup on the Proximi.io management portal is best to do with a laptop. The preliminary work can even be done from the office, so that you can be as effective at the venue as possible. Start with uploading the portal to your preferred hosting service (we use Heroku in our own deployments), and login with your credentials. Create a place, add the floors (at least the ground floor is needed) and connect them with the floor plans. Position the floor plans as accurately on top of the map view as possible this is the key to precise positioning. Add departments for your key interest areas for improved analytics. Use names that you can easily remember. We used the ones marked in the map on the right. 15

The Beacon Setup The Beacons We entrust the hardware in this use case to Kontakt.io (https://kontakt.

17 The Beacon Setup The Beacons We entrust the hardware in this use case to Kontakt.io ( all 1 3 beacons were their new Smart Beacon Two, with the following features: Replaceable battery with up to 5-year lifespan Easy setup and cloud integration 1 00% secure software support Broadcasts both ibeacon and Eddystone We also used the Kontakt.io s beacon fleet management app to configure the beacons. Don't worry if you have bought some other vendor's beacons -Proximi.io supports all the beacons that are either transmitting ibeacon or Eddystone standard. The Beacon Installation The beacon positioning takes careful planning. There are four things to consider: Find good places, where beacons are hidden from the visitors (so that they are not tempted to take them along) Make sure the beacon signal is not obtruded. Make sure you can get a line-of-sight to at least three beacons to get the trilateration functioning Make sure the installation covers all of your interest areas 16

With these in mind, we decided on the following locations: One thing worth noting of the beacon positioning is that they should be always set on the very extreme of the area

In other parts of the venue, where the line-of-sight only exists to two or one beacon, positioning can be still done, but it is much rougher.

If one wanted to track the visitor amounts in each of the small booths, much more beacons should be deployed.

18 With these in mind, we decided on the following locations: One thing worth noting of the beacon positioning is that they should be always set on the very extreme of the area where people move. The purple area in the picture below corresponds with the area, where the trilateration functions. In other parts of the venue, where the line-of-sight only exists to two or one beacon, positioning can be still done, but it is much rougher. Our trilateration enables typically around 2m accuracy in positioning. If one wanted to track the visitor amounts in each of the small booths, much more beacons should be deployed. You can use anything to attach the beacons, so long as the beacons are stable in place. We used standard sturdy two-sided tape in attaching the beacons. In our case, most of them were hidden behind the curtains or in other unnoticeable places, which means that the temptation for visitors to take them along was low. The beacons should be placed at around 2 meters in height, facing towards the space, and not blocked by anything thicker than a curtain. 17

Some configuration of the beacons might be required, depending on the site and the use case. In this case, there was a thick black curtain on the wall marked with the grey block.

19 Some configuration of the beacons might be required, depending on the site and the use case. In this case, there was a thick black curtain on the wall marked with the grey block. The beacons on that wall were placed behind the curtain. Therefore, we set their signal settings one grade higher than the other beacons, in order to balance out the difference. In general, higher beacon signal setting is recommended where there is obstruction of signals. As we were using the new, more powerful Smart Beacon Two, we lowered the transmission power to level 3 for the beacons behind the curtain and level 2 elsewhere in the building. Make sure to take note of the individual beacons names - along with their positions on the floorplan in order to be able to place them correctly on the Proximi.io platform. A good solution is actually to do this while you are doing the installation. The quickest way to import your beacon fleet on the platform is through the Kontakt.io API integration on the portal. By typing in your API Key, you can automatically import all of the beacons that you have purchased that you are using in the project. If, for some reason you don't have access to your Kontakt.io API key (or are using hardware for some other beacon vendor for whose beacons we don't have the integration option yet available), you can either type in the beacon information manually or scan the beacons using the Proximi.io Management App. 18

The Geofence Set-up With the place, floor and departments already set-up, we now continue with the geofences. According to the plan, we have 1 3 hotspots corresponding to 1 3 geofences.

20 The Geofence Set-up With the place, floor and departments already set-up, we now continue with the geofences. According to the plan, we have 1 3 hotspots corresponding to 1 3 geofences. Creating the geofences is simple: through clicking-anddragging on a map UI. The size of the geofence can be determined as different for each of the geofences. Still, note that the more accurate your geofences are, the better the effects. The key about the trilateration and geofencing is that the events are not tied to the beacons per se. In our case, there is a beacon inside each of the geofences, but they are not in the centre. In fact, you would not need to have any beacons inside the geofence at all, as long as the area is covered by the trilateration area. We set up one geofence per department. You can also create multiple geofences is the same department. You can see from the illustration that the geofences cover almost all of the floor area in the venue. You can even make them overlap, but be careful about that, in case you are interested in using push notifications. The fact that the person is in two geofences simultaneously may cause the push engine to overload. Learn from our mistake, and add one last geofence around the entire area. This makes it much easier for you to assess afterwards, how many visitors were at the venue in total at any specific time. You will get the same data through summing up the geofences, but it is much more laborious. 19

The Test It is important to test out the positioning on site. It would of course be ideal to do the testing with the actual app, but in some cases it is not possible.

21 The Test It is important to test out the positioning on site. It would of course be ideal to do the testing with the actual app, but in some cases it is not possible. Sometimes the app is not ready for testing yet, or -like in this case, the app does not include a "you are here" feature. As the venue was relatively easy to navigate, we decided not to add a map view with the user's current position. However, this makes it really hard to test the positioning accuracy. Therefore, we used the Proximi.io Management App (available on Google Play Store and Apple App Store) for the testing purposes. You can simply login to the app with the same credentials you use for logging in to the portal, and you are good to go. Test out the positioning with at least one Android and one ios device (if applicable for the app). In this case, we used a LG phone and an ipad. However, the more devices you can use to test, the better. Using both of these devices, we started the app, then walked around the areas to see if our real world position in the venue matched with the blue dot on the map. The Marketing The last step - even though it has nothing to do with the technology itself - is way too often neglected. That is, marketing. Don t forget to advertise your application! In order to gain the analytics, you need to aim for the maximum download base. At Arctic1 5, marketing was done both via social media, and also with physical posters by the venue entrances and a few other important points in the venue. 20

22 The conclusion In short, the Arctic1 5 was success - and so was the analytics collection. With a 24% capture rate, 4,5% error margin was received. The detailed analytics about the flow of people in different parts of the venue and the information about different speaker's popularity ArcticStartup team can be better prepared next year, and provide all stakeholders with an even more fascinating experience. Beacons proved themselves to be a fast-to-setup, easy-to-manage solution for proximity analytics. With the trilateration, even a small amount of beacons can be used to gain detailed position updates. And what's more, the solution was very affordable. With a $25 / piece price, the whole hardware setup cost only $325 (plus postage). More information about the very affordable pricing for the Proximi.io software can be found here: "This helps us to plan even better people flow for 2017 Arctic15 event." Jan Ameri, Arctic1 5 Event Director 21

About Proximi.io Proximi.io is a unified API to all mobile positioning technologies With Proximi.io platform, you'll kick-start location-aware app development in minutes.

Third, gain real-time analytics about your app users' movements. Just connect your app to Proximi.io platform with our native Android and ios SDKs or Cordova plugin, and give it a go. I want this too!

23 About Proximi.io Proximi.io is a unified API to all mobile positioning technologies With Proximi.io platform, you'll kick-start location-aware app development in minutes. First, get access to all the major mobile positioning technologies through a simple API. Second, use the location data to trigger rich action flow chains. Third, gain real-time analytics about your app users' movements. Just connect your app to Proximi.io platform with our native Android and ios SDKs or Cordova plugin, and give it a go. I want this too! I m a developer I need some technical help Excellent. Just order the beacons, register an account at and get going! Contact us at sales@proximi.io and we ll be glad to help you find the best partner for your installation project. Proximi.io, Energiakuja 3, Helsinki, Finland Tel: +358 (0) sales@proximi.io

Beacons Proximity UUID, Major, Minor, Transmission Power, and Interval values made easy

Beacon Setup Guide 2 Beacons Proximity UUID, Major, Minor, Transmission Power, and Interval values made easy In this short guide, you ll learn which factors you need to take into account when planning