Victoria launches events app for Android and iPhone

Since the introduction of the Smartphone, the way in which people organize and gather information on the go has drastically changed. The people who remember things by pure memory and hand written notes on calendars are few and far between. We now remember birthdays by means of Facebook; learn about events, not by a news paper, but instead by event invitations on social media networks. The way in which we make plans has taken a new step in the direction of technology.
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia and in an attempt to increase revenue and attendance at events around their state, the Victorian government, has created the app, VicEvents. This app will allow the users to access government data that will inform them of events including “sports, community events, and food fairs”. Additionally it allows the users to sort events by location, date, and has even integrated with Google Maps to help people navigate to the events. The application is running on the concept of expanding by means of its tremendous tourism market. Victoria will benefit greatly from the increase in tourism revenue if people are able to access the public information more easily.
The introduction of this app will allow the Victorian government to track the habits of tourists in terms of what events they attend. When people make a search on the application, knowledge workers will be able to track what events and regions of the state they are more interested in (be it near the coast, or a particular city within the state) , as well as during the time of the year—creating a trend chart of seasonality for the most popular events that occur in the state. This chart will help them prepare security, concessions, admission prices, etc. that can generate revenue for the state. This would work equally well for those events which the state finds to be less popular. The Victorian government would be able to research why the event is so undesirable and potentially tweak the event, or simply increase advertising for to improve attendance.
The article makes an attempt to discuss the potential this app could make in terms of social networking. The app is designed to inform people of events that are going on, so I would offer this idea; create an even greater incentive for people to use the app—offer discounts at some of these events. This will push the customer to look at numerous events to be able to use the discount, which will encourage them to attend even more events in the state because of the lower prices they would be offered by the coupon/discount. The users of the app would not only inform their friends or family or peers of the application but also encourage them to use the app as well—and they would tell others, and so on. This app being paired with social media such as Facebook, and twitter can make informing an entire community is as easy as a keystroke.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/australian-it/victoria-launches-events-phone-app-for-android-and-iphone/story-e6frgakx-1226162617280

http://www.visitvictoria.com/