Blockchain technology has everyone talking – and with good reason. The undoubtedly ingenious technology that was initially invented for its currency, Bitcoin, creates a decentralized ledger of secure, traceable, and transparent transactions. This way, digital information can be distributed without the fear of being copied or hacked into.
Blockchain, like any other breakthrough technology, is gradually finding application in other industries. Here, we look at a few ways in which Blockchain technology can revolutionize the event industry.
Unethical ticket purchases
One of the biggest objectives that event professionals have is to maximize footfall. And many event organizers price their tickets at lower rates to ensure a higher attendance. Due to the lowered prices, automated bots buy tickets in large batches and essentially create a ‘sold-out’ scenario. This can not only throw projections off but can incentivize primary sellers to not prevent this from happening, since they depend on maximizing ticket sales. With Blockchain technology, each transaction is kept in check and verified, therefore, this can go a long way in disrupting the online ticket exchanges for secondary markets.
Cryptocurrency and ticket sales
The most obvious use of Blockchain technology in the event industry is linking cryptocurrency and ticket sales. There are many companies that have started accepting cryptocurrency as a default method of payment. To understand why this is not just a passing fad, it is important to get around the advantages of using cryptocurrency as a payment method.
Firstly, Blockchain technology uses the ‘push’ mechanism that, unlike credit card transactions (that uses the pull mechanism), limits the information passed on to receivers. Secondly, the system is managed by its network on a peer-to-peer basis and not a centralized body. The transactions cannot be reversed or counterfeited. These characteristics can prove invaluable for event planners that want to implement cryptocurrency transactions in their ticketing systems.
Security and preventing fraud
If there is one aspect that has everyone impressed with blockchain technology, it is the fact that it has managed to address the most important aspect of financial and informational transactions – security. There are many technologies that help secure tasks like registration and payment support that adhere to General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
The implementation of the GDPR’s directive leads straight to the betterment of identity security and management protocol. Using a Distributed Leger cryptographic technique creates an instance to exchange information in a secure manner. This way the ledger cannot be tampered with or duplicated.
Identity management
Identity management is a crucial part of security protocol at trade shows. Employing blockchain technology keeps track of the transactions made by a user. Applying this to events, repeat attendees can skim through the security and badge scanning process since their information is already in the system. This helps event organizers focus on first-time attendees without the need to worry too much about security. Moreover, the use of such technology can also help step up security at the venue by tracing the digital signature of the ticket against who it was issued to and verifying who holds the ticket at the venue.
These are just a few applications of Blockchain technology in the event industry. With event technology evolving at an alarming rate, implementing leading-edge technology like Blockchain can help bridge the gap between creating memorable event experiences and environments where information can be traded without having to worry about security. We are very excited about the application of Blockchain technology at events and believe that it can take trade show experiences to a whole new level. Let us know what you think in the comments section.
