Partner Pivot: wearable technology and where it took PixMob in 2020
In November, we celebrated some outstanding partners that Grae’s teams have worked with over the years. As we all know, 2020 asked the events industry to reinvent itself. This January we are taking it a step further and sharing how our partners have evolved in response to these challenges - in their own words.
Pixmob creates mesmerizing experiences by encouraging human interactions. Their technology includes wearable LED devices that create live experiences at everything from concerts to halftime shows and wearable credentials that are able to track attendees, producing valuable metrics at major events. With this technology they developed klik, an event platform that seamlessly integrates with their credentials, and allows attendees to keep track of sessions they attend, who they meet, and to discover all the event has to offer.
True to their innovative roots, they didn’t let the events of 2020 slow them down. Without mass gatherings their team pivoted again to create Safeteams; technology that uses Pixmob’s wearable devices to keep teams safe as businesses reopen or maintain operations during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Below the PixMob team shares more on their products and pivots in 2020, and what they are most excited for in the year to come.
Q: Let's go way back to 2019 and early 2020.. in your words, what was PixMob up to then?
A: On PixMob, we were coming out of the halftime show of the Superbowl, starting to talk to sports teams about season finales, negotiating tours with some major names.... On klik, we were on pace to have our best year yet. We were considering 2020 a pivot year. We knew there was going to be a before 2020, and an after. Just not that one!
Q: How did that evolve in 2020?
A: We kinda anticipated that the situation would turn from an epidemic to a pandemic pretty early on since we saw major events we were supposed to do get cancelled. When it became official, we then broke down the whole company and restructured it into smaller "innovation teams". Each team had to come up with a solution to a problem caused by the pandemic, using our existing technology or not. The objective for all the teams was to trial, fail or succeed fast! We knew we had a very limited window to turn this around. Long story short, two things came out of those teams that helped us make it through the year. In the short term (April-June): we were able to import PPE material for the Government of Quebec because of our excellent relations with a lot of Chinese suppliers. On the longer-term perspective, Safeteams was created and now is the focus of the whole company.
Q: What were PixMob's thorn and rose of 2020?
A: Thorn... Since we were evolving in the event industry, whether it's corporate events or entertainment, the pandemic shut down all gatherings... So I would say we went through the whole rose garden running in 2020! We did manage to grab a few roses while running. First of all, witnessing the resilience of our team through this crisis is huge. Secondly, creating a whole new business line (Safeteams) that not only allows us to go through the pandemic and it also shows potential for a post-COVID world!
Q: What do you hope the future holds?
A: We don't believe that events are going to come back "like they were before" anytime soon. Although there's a clearer path with the vaccines, it's going to take a while to have a collective immunity to the virus. But, we hope that we're going to be able to get people together somehow. It's the whole mission of what we've been doing since the beginning. PixMob brings crowds together, klik allows you to be present at a corporate event without being on your phone 24/7 and Safeteams allows for people to work, together, in a safe environment... For us, it's all Creating Togetherness.
Q: What are you most looking forward to in 2021?
A: A concert with PixMob. ;) We're happy to hear clients say that Safeteams is actually helping at the moment and that is what we strive for... But, I cannot lie and say I don't miss concerts and corporate events.
Curious how wearable technology could support your next event? Drop us a line.