Ballooning event apps

Balloons need ideal weather conditions to launch, and your attendees need to know what the plans are. Share launch plans, locations and visitor information quickly when ever-changing weather makes the programme difficult to confirm in advance.

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Why VIKIN works for ballooning events

Whilst you might set an ideal schedule for your ballooning event, the weather will have other ideas.

Wind, visibility, temperature and other weather conditions can’t be scheduled in advance, and you’ll only know the true picture shortly before the flights are due to begin. Your visitors will have traveled to see the flights, so they’ll want to know if a launch is going ahead - and if so, where the launch site is, and when the balloons are going up.

Information might be able to be sent via social media groups, local news, or even by using megaphones around town - but this isn’t guaranteed to reach everyone in time for the launch. Instead: organiser teams may, at their busiest moments of their event, be met with increased demand for answers from the attendees, distracting them from running the event and consuming valuable resources within the team.

Ballooning events can also be a major tourism draw for rural communities, meaning there is a big potential for local businesses to benefit from the event too, but this can remain locked away if the businesses aren’t visible to visitors.

With VIKIN, ballooning events can, even when the phone reception is poor:

Rapidly get updates out to attendees, via push notifications and in-app content posts
Update attendee apps with the right schedule, even before they’ve been opened the app, using VIKIN’s notification-based update infrastructure
Help attendees get around, with interactive maps
Surface local businesses to attendees to encourage visit
Provide a space for local businesses to show special offers and daily deals

Why VIKIN is great for organisers

VIKIN makes it simple for your to manage your event: keep information up-to-date, work efficiently, and communicate directly with your attendees.

Rapid Attendee Communication

Communicate directly with attendees via instant push notifications & in-app content posts to share event updates, safety alerts, marketing content and scheduled sponsor messaging.

Event notificationsSend setlist changes, safety alerts, and important updates directly to your attendees.
In-app content postsPublish articles and longer-form content when a short notification is not enough.
Marketing communicationsSend out promotional notifications for your own marketing, vendors, or sponsors; only to attendees who have explicitly consented to receive them.

Operate from the field

Update information, and send push notifications from your phone while you're moving around the site with Backstage, our app for organisers.

Mobile content managementTake current event data into the field and update it from Backstage, even when phone signal is patchy.
On-site location editingIt is almost guaranteed that things will move around during the site build. Check and adjust map locations on the go, using GPS to confirm the final position.
Mobile notificationsSend important updates directly to attendees from your phone, without returning to the production office.

Keep your systems connected

With VIKIN, you don't need to duplicate your data. Use the existing tools your team already relies on to keep your app in sync.

Event-platform integrationsSynchronise your existing content from event-management platforms such as Crescat, and maintain your single source of truth.
Content exportYou can host your data in VIKIN, and use our built-in export features to sync content from VIKIN to your website, accessibility tooling and more.
Tailored connectionsIf an integration doesn't already exist between VIKIN and other tools in your event ecosystem, our in-house tech team can work with you to get one built.

Create commercial value

Give sponsors, partners and vendors useful visibility within the attendee experience; in ways that are helpful and relevant for attendees, and deliver real value for you and your partners.

Proper partner profilesShow detailed descriptions, high-quality imagery, links, menus and offers.
Visibility, in the right momentSurface content alongside relevant searches, locations and app content, so it relates more to attendees and delivers a higher value to you.
All-year engagementYour app isn't just for your event days. Continue promoting tickets, partners, sponsors, and event news throughout the whole year.

Why attendees love apps from VIKIN

Help your attendees discover, plan, and find their way around your event; with a helpful experience that is personalised for each attendee.

Everything available offline

Keep essential event information in the hands of your attendees, even when phone signal is poor.

Event content, kept on-deviceVIKIN apps keep all event information - artists, schedules, vendors, sponsors, maps and more - available on-device so it remains available without needing a network connection.
Reliable low-bandwidth updatesOur bespoke content distribution infrastructure distributes only the content that's changed since the last time the app was opened by an attendee - reducing network usage.
Offline experiencesEven if your site Wi-Fi goes down, or the local phone mast struggles with demand, attendees can still discover and plan, when a normal website would struggle.

Find your way around

Combine interactive maps and offline way-finding to make an unfamiliar site easier to explore.

Interactive location detailsDiscover stages, vendors, facilities and other useful places with detailed supporting information.
Offline way-findingSometimes an event site can be daunting. In-app way-finding makes it easy to navigate to a location, even if it's all the way across the site.
Find MySave a tent, vehicle, meeting point, your friend's tent, or anything else, and find the way back later. Find My surfaces naturally in the app when it's most relevant.

Stay informed in one place

Bring current schedules, announcements, practical guidance and event content into one branded experience.

Fully branded appYour event is a carefully curated experience. Your app will match your branding and vibes, and feel distinctly yours.
Dynamic dashboardThe VIKIN home tab highlights timely and relevant content, depending on where the attendee is and when they look.
Everything: in one place.Bring schedules, FAQs, directions, profiles, locations and announcements together in a single location, so attendees don't need to go elsewhere to see what's on.

Discover what matters

Help attendees find relevant artists, activities, locations, and vendors at the right moment.

Intelligent searchFind artists, vendors, locations, FAQs and other in-app content from one search, without needing an internet connection.
Contextual discoverySurface content that attendees will find useful, according to where there are and when they are looking.
Detailed profilesGive artists, workshops, vendors and partners enough detail to encourage attendees to discover and learn more about what's on at your event.

Integrations and event data

Having an app doesn't need to mean you've got more on your plate. Bring in your programme and event data from spreadsheets, connect your Crescat account to VIKIN, or speak with us about a custom integration for the systems your ballooning event relies on.

Crescat synchronisation for teams already managing event information in Crescat. Manage your data in one place, and effortlessly sync it into your VIKIN app with our official integration.
Spreadsheet imports for structured schedules, people, places and other event data that you currently manage in spreadsheets.
Custom integrations are also possible, if you're using another content management platform or if you're using custom tools internally.

Ticketing, payment, and other event ecosystem integrations are on our roadmap. Need one? Let us know when you speak with us and we can plan it in.

Prepared for remote launch sites and the early starts

We've seen ballooning events operating in some of the most remote locations, where the phone signal is guaranteed to be poor. When using a VIKIN app all event information is available on-device, so a lack of connectivity doesn't stop attendees seeing what's happening. Our bespoke content distribution system, paired with our industry-leading notification-based data distribution tools, push out small updates to attendees that remain reliable even when connectivity is poor.

An app team that you can rely on

Ballooning events rely on VIKIN so they can have a smoothly run event. We help throughout the year to support your onboarding, app release, marketing efforts, and post-event wrapup. Our on-site support service is available too, so you've got an extra pair of experienced hands to keep everything rolling. Our team has been at the early morning launches, sat through the safety briefings, pushed out launch notifications, and even rolled up their sleeves and helped prepare balloons for launch.

What organisers say

Canowindra International Balloon Challenge had hundreds of attendees in previous years each day asking the same questions, "Where are the balloons launching? When are they launching?". They'd tried using social media posts, whiteboards around town, and megaphones around the campsites, but this wasn't enough. With VIKIN, the organisers could send notifications to attendees as soon as the launches were confirmed, reducing pressure on Balloon HQ. Local businesses were added to the app, alongside special offers and daily deals, to encourage attendees to spend money in the town.

"We engaged VIKIN Event Apps to build the Canowindra Live App, and to say the process was seamless would be a massive understatement. The team is absolutely amazing - they even joined us on-site for all nine days of the event to ensure everything ran perfectly. The app completely revolutionised our event communications. The most noticeable impact? A significant decrease in the number of people wandering into Balloon HQ at 5:00 AM looking for info! By pushing out real-time notifications and directing guests to launch sites, the app did the heavy lifting for us. We were also able to support the local economy by loading businesses onto the app, offering specials that visitors could redeem in-store. 'Wow' just doesn’t cut it - VIKIN Event Apps delivered a world-class solution."
Debra Clarke - Event Organiser

Read the full testimonial

Frequently Asked Questions

A few of our most frequent queries from organisers like you. Got a question not answered here? Get in touch and we'll be happy to help.

Can we change a launch time or location at short notice?

Yes! Balloon launches can be changed up to the last minute via our organiser web portal or Backstage, our attendee app. Once the information is updated, a push notification can be sent immediately to the attendees. The change reaches attendee devices when they have an opportunity to connect.

What happens when there is poor signal at a launch site?

Previously downloaded schedules, maps and practical information remain available. VIKIN apps remain reliable even when connectivity is poor, and small changes to times & locations are compact enough to regularly reach attendees in these cases. As attendees are typically camping or staying somewhere, notifications can be sent before they've even set out for the launch site.

Can the app support a multi-day ballooning programme?

Yes! For our work with the Canowindra International Balloon Challenge, we supported a whole week of ballooning! A VIKIN app can show launches, displays, entertainment and practical information across several days, with current and upcoming activities being easy to discover.

Can local businesses appear in the app?

Yes. Local businesses and vendors can be added to the app, including descriptions, locations, links, images, and special offers; helping the event support the surrounding economy.

Can visitors navigate to different launch sites?

Yes! In-app interactive maps can show launch locations, facilities and useful destinations. If a new location is decided on for a specific launch, this can easily be pushed to the app using our notification-based content distribution tools. For navigation, we recommend adding links to the Google Maps / Apple Maps location so attendees are able to make their way there.

Can VIKIN support us on site?

Happily! We can provide on-site support, including early starts where they are part of the delivery plan. We've even travelled out to Aus to help out with sending notifications, keeping content updated, and providing an extra pair of hands to help keep the event running smoothly.