Just three months ago, event profs were wondering whether it was too soon to lift restrictions and go back to in-person events. While they were skeptical back then, we are glad to say that the era of post-COVID events is officially here! That being said, some safety concerns absolutely need to be addressed. Since this is the Event Tech Podcast, we are going to talk about how technology can ensure better safety at in-person events. One such technology is CrowdPass!
What is CrowdPass, you might be wondering? You’ll find out in today’s episode from Brandt’s two guests! Some of you might know Lawrence Helfant as the co-founder of CrowdSync technology and Crowd Health. Half a year ago, he co-founded the CrowdPass software. It just might be a gamechanger in bringing in-person events faster and more efficiently! He is joined by Quinn Zsid, the marketing director of all three projects. Let’s get to it, shall we?
First, Lawrence explains what his three companies do. “CrowdSync Technology is an event technology company, specializing in enhancing experiences and efficiencies through LED and RFID wearables. Our bread and butter is everything from music festivals to corporate events. We’ve work with great partners throughout the years, including iHeart, Live Nation and the Dallas Cowboys. Surprisingly enough, March 2020 changed everything. We saw it happening overseas with our suppliers ahead of time. Our entire event calendar was dismantled, postponed, and canceled.”
And that’s when Lawrence’s leadership skills truly shined. “We were at a pivotal point where we had to make a decision on what to do next. We decided to keep everyone on board and create Crowd Health. Crowd Health is a healthcare medical supply company. We helped many organizations, state governments, hospitals, and others who were in need for those supplies. That’s still ongoing.”
But his vision didn’t stop there. “Leveraging our previous CrowdSync technology experience with our Crowd Health medical expertise, we’ve created a software solution that brings in-person events back safely. That’s what’s called CrowdPass.”
Quinn elaborates on Lawrence’s pitch. “The through line is event facilitation. We’ve got these three brands that each stand up events in some capacity. The question at the top of everybody’s mind is how do we return to in-person events safely. It’s never been a question of if, but when. And it feels like when is now. We’ve developed a technology that can open the door safely with a peace of mind for everybody involved.”
“CrowdPass exists for the event organizer and the attendee,” he explains. “On the attendee side, they scan into the event through a mobile web application. They’re cleared through in one of three ways. The first being, compliant negative test results. The second one is vaccination documentation uploading.”
And the third one? “The company is vertically integrated, which gives us a competitive advantage. You have the software, but you also have the supplies in Crowd Health that allow for the third option: on-site rapid testing. You don’t have proof, but you can elect to onsite rapid test and be cleared. We keep the organizers separated from all the data, such as vaccination documentation. We have an internal team that’s checking it on the back end.”
Brandt wants to learn more about how CrowdPass can make post-COVID events safe. “How do you provide the testing capabilities?”
“You can run free demos anytime you want with us,” says Quinn. “There’s a commercial there that tells you all about it and shows it in action. Every event is different. The amount of attendees, where it’s happening, how it’s happening, but we’re completely flexible. What’s most encouraging to our clients is that we can meet the needs of your events specifically.”
“We have internal team on the backend that’s certifying everybody’s input, whatever that is. So we want to separate the event organizer from that. There’s a multitude of reasons for that. They shouldn’t be looking at those documents. But rest assured we have a compliance team on the backend that is certified. Right now, it’s completely manual. Who knows, maybe it moves towards MLAI solution in the future.”
“The ideal scenario is to have all the attendees upload the results ahead of time,” says Lawrence. “That simplifies the process for event organizers and alleviates pressure for the onsite testing. We distribute reminders and updates to upload either your test results or upload your vaccination card. Ideally, every attendee shows up with their approved QR code. But if the attendee arrives without, they get the rapid test, which our Crowd Health company supports along with the testing as a service model. In conjunction with that, once the CLIA administered nurse takes that test result, it’s a manual upload right into the system, and now they are administered and allowed to go into the event safely.”
Since cybersecurity is an important aspect of planning a safe event, Brandt asks whether they are HIPAA compliant. “What are you doing about data regulations to make sure that that sensitive data is being taken care of?”
Lawrence assures him that yes, they are HIPAA compliant. “Personal health information is our highest priority. We have great partners that support that infrastructure for us. None of the personal health information is accessible to our clients,” he says.
“It currently is in manual process of screening the test results and the vaccination status. What will be interesting is the evolution from a majority being test results to the majority being vaccination statuses. We could transition into a vaccination passport ID platform and a universal application.”
“Right now, there is a strong pair between CrowdPass and Crowd Health, they work hand in hand,” explains Lawrence. “With CrowdPass, our current core capability is this digital health clearance aspect. But a lot more is to come. We see this just as the start of being able to help clients. We’re excited to unravel new features and functionalities that our clients will see on the CrowdPass application.”
“We give a lot of credit to event organizers and the events industry for hanging on after a tough 2020. Even more so now, taking on all the responsibilities. Being an event organizer already means having a million things to do. Now, it also means being responsible for organizing a safe environment for events,” Lawrence elaborates. “We want to just come in with CrowdPass and Crowd Health and help alleviate all of that stress and that pressure, just like we did with organizations with Crowd Health. Our goal is not just creating a great product and great platform. We are on a purposeful mission, solving problems that the world is facing.”
Brandt wants to know how CrowdPass is looking to potentially expand its usage in the future. Hopefully, we won’t need to worry about COVID forever.
“A major thing with CrowdPass right now is that it’s a communication tool, informing clients or attendees that they need to upload their test results or vaccination cards,” says Lawrence. “You get an email about the update. So that process of being able to mass message attendees per event is something that we’re going to take into an bigger picture. So when an event organizer is hosting their event and after they just cleared everyone, and everyone went through the digital health platform, there are other things that the event organizer might want to communicate with their attendees.”
The conversation then starts to slowly circle back to pure creative tech talk. “One of the things that might be great is being able to share this data from event to event and creating a CrowdPass ecosystem. Is there any possibilities like that on the horizon?” Brandt asks.
“Word is going to come in from every state and regulation. When it does, I think we’re prepared every which way that I can think of,” says Quinn. “How nice would it be to streamline everything like that!”
Lawrence’s vision for the future is marrying CrowdPass to CrowdSync. “That’s where the evolution of CrowdPass pairs more with CrowdSync than it currently does with Crowd Health. CrowdPass and Crowd Health are in tandem of ensuring safe environments for events. As we evolve through this, we’re well positioned to restructure CrowdPass to work even closer with CrowdSync.”
“What I mean by that is taking our existing RFID wearable technology where you go to an event and you have an RFID wristband or an RFID tag in your lanyard. That’s your ticket, your access control, your cashless wearable, it’s your social activation tool. So tying in this RFID wearable from CrowdSync to all live on the CrowdPest software. Now, the organizers have access to all that data. They can learn from it. So that’s really where it all comes back full circle to the event technology space.”
“If I’m not mistaken, you guys have actually incorporated some LED technology into masks too,” says Brandt.
“Absolutely. Our team is getting creative with taking existing LED technology and then throwing it into Crowd Health products. We’re seeing a lot of popularity in CrowdSync LED face masks,” says Lawrence.
Brandt takes a chance to nerd out with Lawrence and Quinn and does some brainstorming. “Something that you could do is contact tracing. Because you’ve got the ability to see those RFID locators in the wristbands or in the masks. Is that something that you can currently do to say: ‘We had an exposure at this event. Here’s the 15 people that we know were within 20 feet of the virus’ and then be able to notify them?”
“Definitely could potentially do at scale,” replies Lawrence. “That’s definitely the goal with this is really making it a full service product for any type of needs.”
“A shallow end of that that we already provide are safe bands,” adds Quinn. “We actually already provided technology. It’s not quite that integrated, but it tells you how far you are away from another person.”
Brandt explains the concept to the listeners. “You’ve got your LED wristband on. If you get within six feet of someone else, it starts to glow red to let you know that you’re getting a little too close to people.”
Lawrence mentions another utilization of the LED visuals. “A lot of clients are utilizing them to represent a stoplight. Green means you’re uncomfortable, yellow means let’s keep our distance, and red means stay away, masks on.”
Wrapping the episode about post-COVID events with CrowdPass up, Lawrence explains that his company is on a mission. “It’s not just our company we’re looking to revive. Every event company, whether it’s a production company, a marketing agency, the staff of those companies, CrowdPass is a big solution to really reignite what’s needed.”
And what a mission it all is! Hopefully, we will run into the CrowdPass technology in our next in-person event. It’s safe and efficient, which is just what this industry needs right now! Tune in for our next Event Tech Podcast episode where we talk about the most exciting news from the event tech world. Until then, stay safe!
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