How the Right Digital Technology Elevates Your Facilities to Make a Lasting Impact

Colleges and universities building or renovating their athletic facilities might be tempted to toss in a screen here, throw up some lighting there. But leaning on technology just for technology’s sake won’t deliver the results you’re looking for.

Instead, it’s the thoughtful, deliberate and meaningful application of technology that will determine whether your new space is a success. Intentionally leveraging technology will enhance the visitor experience and be a differentiator in the competitive landscape of college athletics

Done properly, the right technology in your facility will attract, engage, and inspire users and visitors. Let’s explain what we mean and take a closer look at each of those elements.

You know the saying, “you never get a second chance to make a first impression”? The same applies to your spaces. And technology is a powerful tool you can use to make a strong first impression.

Anyone entering your space for the first time should immediately get the impression you want them to have. Technology can help you attract their attention and convey critical information.

You can make the most of that moment with digital technology in the lobbies and entry points of your facilities by:

• Customizing information, images and video for specific events and audiences
• Tapping into social media feeds for a timely and involving presentation
• Serving visitors compelling purpose-built video content or dynamic digital art and data visualization

Technology makes that initial impression fresh and relevant by allowing you to provide something new and different to repeat visitors — something unexpected or a personalized welcome message, which is a powerful persuader for potential recruits.

As visitors, recruits, alumni, and donors tour your facilities, you can use technology to surprise and delight them with unexpected encounters along the way.

For example, motion-activated displays can sense when someone is near and automatically trigger lighting effects or begin presenting engaging video content for a uniquely responsive environment.

You can also create unique interactive features that invite visitors to engage and develop a new appreciation for or understanding of your program. Share your history, tell your story, help them to see how they fit into the bigger picture.

Creating a custom photo-op might be the ultimate engagement technology. Visitors can design and select their own backdrops, make selections for lighting modes, and even synchronize them with a favorite song. The experience can be completely tailored to them, another potent recruiting draw that can be shared and spread on social media.

One of the most impressive applications of technology in these spaces is the full immersive experience: multimedia experience rooms that saturate the senses, get adrenaline pumping or tug at visitors’ heartstrings.

These areas are designed to elicit a powerful emotional reaction from anyone who enters them, including:

• Hyping players up on game day
• Inspire supporters to make a generous donation
• Encouraging recruits to make a commitment

These spaces leverage technology to tell your brand story, inflame passions and push people toward action. They cannot help but be moved.

Technology use in facility design has reached a level of sophistication and customization that it can no longer be viewed as a “nice-to-have.” The careful, curated and creative application of technology in modern collegiate spaces is now a “must-have.”

If you want to learn more about how Jack Porter can use technology to set your program apart, let’s talk.