We spoke with Allie Magyar, President of Hubb and Founder of Dynamic Events, to learn about the platform she has built to overhaul the way events are managed.

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Silver Fox Productions: Hubb plays a prominent role in the event ecosystem. Can you share what Hubb specializes in and how you have embraced technology to lead the way into this new era of event services?

Allie Magyar: At Hubb we give event professionals a better way to manage meetings and tame the chaos of event content management. Our platform automates the complex workflows & tasks required to collect, manage, and market event content, and results in huge time savings, far less stress, and the ability to get event content to market a lot faster. Hubb can deliver these benefits because we’ve really embraced the API economy. Our software acts as a centralized hub (hence the name!) for your event content, and we connect and integrate your other event technology tools, such as on-site PowerPoint management, digital signage, mobile apps, association management platform, website, registration, and so on. This allows event profs to build best-in-breed solutions with seamless integrations, customized for the specific needs of their events.

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SFP: Can you share an example of an outdated practice that is still being used today?

AM: Relying on spreadsheets and email to manage event content. For many, it’s the default approach to event management but they require an incredible amount of effort and time to manage. Instead of helping you stay organized and save time, using spreadsheets and email contributes to disorganization and costs you time. Relying on spreadsheets and email also presents a lot of opportunities for things to fall through the cracks, version control issues to pop up, and last-minute change nightmares to disrupt your planning. Event content management software like Hubb solves all those issues and really streamlines the entire management process.

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SFP: Event services largely operate behind the scenes. What are some of Hubb's best practices that are often overlooked?

AM: Being behind the scenes, you’re often just so inundated with work and keeping things on track that you become very tactical and reactive in your work; you become a task manager. This leads to missed opportunities and time wasted for event profs. Instead, you want to be a strategic planner, not a task manager. What’s the difference? A task manager knows the “what” of an event but a strategic planner knows the “what” AND the “why”. A task manager works hard but a strategic planner works smart. A task manager may use technology for their event but a strategic planner uses it with strategic purpose, freeing themselves to focus on the most important items on their to-do list.

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SFP: The expectations of the attendee experience are rapidly evolving with new technologies being infused into event production. What do you see happening out there and how are you addressing the changes to the way people consume information?

AM: I see—and this is a change I welcome—more thought being put into content consumption and how we can create content that reaches every kind of attendee. Instead of breakout session after breakout session—which becomes monotonous and ignores people who may be a different type of learner—event managers are increasingly putting more thought into accessibility and how to create events that really “wow” all types of attendees. This translates into different session types, such as hands-on-labs and birds-of-a-feather (brainstorms), but also really leveraging technology, such as VR / AR or chatbots to reach everybody.

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SFP: Looking into the future, what are you most excited about as the event experience evolves?

AM: I’m really excited to watch the continued blossoming of best-in-breed event technology and other tools that allow event managers to use seamless integrations to build an API economy for their events. Event managers who do this will save so much time with planning and managing their events, and they’ll be able spend that time on the strategic things that help move their events and businesses forward, instead of chasing down bios and headshots!

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SFP: Thank you for speaking with us and congratulations on winning so many rewards, particularly your big win at the Seattle Angel Conference.

AM: Thank you!

SF: And good luck at the CEMA Summit this summer in San Diego. I look forward to hearing you speak at the Innovation Shoot Out session.

AM: Thanks, it should be a lot of fun!