Meerkat or Periscope for Your Next Event?

As an event planner, you should always be looking for new ways to bring fresh ideas to your audience. In today’s day and age, this often means the implementation the newest forms of social media.

Meerkat and Periscope don’t receive nearly as much attention as they should in the event space. Both these services have been proven effective in an event environment, prompting more and more planners to take a closer look.

What is Meerkat?

As a live video streaming app, it is easy to see why Meerkat has become so popular with the event crowd. It gained initial popularity on Twitter, and has since picked up steam among a variety of users.

Note: Twitter recently cut off Meerkat by not letting it import your followers, making discovery of people you know more difficult. This was due to Twitter purchasing Periscope (more on this service to come).

Imagine this: you are attending a keynote speech that somebody back at your office really needs to view. Sure, you could record video and share with them at a later date. Or, you could use Meerkat to stream live video from your mobile device to that person.

In terms of quality, Meerkat is as good as any other available service. There are times when you may run into trouble, such as pausing, but overall it performs quite nicely.

What about Periscope?

Earlier this year, Periscope was acquired by Twitter for a reported $100 million. This was a big move in the live video streaming space, as it meant the social media giant was getting involved. Furthermore, it moved Meerkat out of the way, making Periscope the official application for streaming video to Twitter followers.

The primary benefits of Periscope, at least from an event perspective, is its ability to connect seamlessly with Twitter. It ties directly into your followers, meaning you don’t have to do any additional work on your own.

Which is Best?

There is no way of saying which service, Meerkat or Periscope, is better. Some prefer one, some prefer the other. In an overall sense, the premise is the same: you have the ability to share live video with others.

From a pure social media standpoint, Periscope may take the cake, thanks to the fact that Twitter is the proud new owner.

Do you have any experience with Meerkat or Periscope? What are your thoughts?