by Ronan Casey
A young Mullingar music and events professional is the toast of the rock and roll world after an app she created to assist young fans and their families at last summer’s One Direction concerts scooped a pair of top industry awards.
Kim O’Callaghan’s MyGigApp looks set to revolutionise the concert scene now that it’s been brought it to an international audience. The app allows concert-goers unprecedented levels of information about the event, before, during and even after the event it and can be tailor-made for specific concerts.
It scooped two of the top awards at the recent Event Technology Awards 2014, one of the top award shows for the event industry. There it picked up the Best New Technology Start-up and the Best New Tech Product beating off stiff competition from all over the world.
The app came about when Kim and an insurance professional had some discussions about improving customer service and safety at events.
Kim, a daughter of Brian and Dolores from Lynn Heights and sister to Tanya and Rory, has worked in the music and events industry for several years. Her father, Brian, was a noted concert promoter and Kim was immersed in gigs and events from a very young age. She told Topic the aim of the app was to improve the overall concert experience of attendees.
The app allowed attendees to find the venue even if they didn’t know the city –very well, with transport advice and times. With One Directioners from all over the world coming to Croke Park last summer, this could have caused problems outside and inside the stadium.
“When they got to the venue the app helped them get to their seats, to the bathrooms, to the bar without having to do three increasingly annoying loops of the venue,” remarked Kim, who works with concert and event promoters MCD in Dún Laoghaire, Dublin.
At the One Direction concerts, the app relieved stress for parents bringing young children to the stadium. It gave them a tool for getting assistance if required as it included special functions to get help for lost children and to reunite them with their accompanying adults promptly.
A key feature of the easy-to-use app was that it gave direct access to a customer services team before, during and after the event and enabled event attendees to report any issues they were experiencing live and even send photos of incidents. As opposed to reporting an incident to a steward who in turn reported it higher up the chain, and thus lost valuable time to address the situation, the queries were responded to by the relevant people almost immediately. The fast response centre and real-time feedback from the fans on their experience at the concert helped the promoters, MCD, out.
It also allowed fans to communicate before, during and after the concert and offered them a clear picture of what the venue was like and where the important facilities were, even seats. It also gave them every possible piece of information about the event, from what not to bring to where the nearest bus was.
There was even a bit of fun with the app as Directioners could enter a selfie competition to win a big prize.
An interesting aspect of the app is that it can also be used by staff and stewards at events to allow them instant access to maps and event information. They can also contact the event management team directly for any on-site reporting.
The app was available for Android and iPhone via Google Play and iTunes and was the perfect companion for everyone attending the shows. Overall, Kim says it enhanced the fan experience of the big One Direction shows, which saw Mullingar man Niall Horan perform at home to a hero’s welcome for each of the three concerts.
The Event Technology Awards took place in London’s Troxy venue just before Christmas and Kim was delighted with the win.
