As attendees and exhibitors become increasingly dependent on digital mediums, it is the obligation of event organizers to evolve and meet individuals in a multiplatform way. Event consultant Corbin Ball reveals to EXPO five reasons why the new HTML5 platform, which is a programming format compatible for almost every device, is a valuable technology feature the event industry should be watching.

1. Improved Performance
"There are so many benefits for meetings and trade shows," says Ball. One HTML5 benefit is that it's one of the fastest platforms that currently exists, cutting page load times for individuals—attendees and exhibitors will load information quickly when accessing an event’s HTML5 enabled Web site on a mobile phone or tablet.

2. Flexibility
"Being able to change content on the fly, HTML5 lends itself to being able to do that when compared to native apps," says Ball. By integrating an individual's Web site with an HTML5 platform, an event would not have to go through an app provider for changing and updating content that is relevant to the show.

3. Simplicity
The individuals currently working to maintain and update an event’s Web site will not have to learn something entirely new to be able to implement this. "It's essentially the latest version of HTML," says Ball. "It's a programming language and there are changes with that. It's just a matter of learning those changes. These standards are widely published so programmers just need to continue learning. With every version of HTML that has come out there has been an improvement. It just happens to be that this improvement gives a lot of benefits—it’s just the latest version of Web browser design."

4. Streamlining Content
Many events are integrating video footage on their Web sites—Ball says that by implementing an HTML5 format, an event's Web site will no longer have to rely on video platforms like Quick Time or Flash animation. In fact, Adobe announced it will no longer be developing Flash for mobile experiences.

5. Device Consolidation 
Show organizers often identify the most popular mobile phones used by attendees, which allows the majority of an event's attendees to download and access an event’s app. HTML5 takes a non-discriminatory device stance.

"If you’re developing a native app you'll generally have to develop multiple apps—for Apple, Android and even BlackBerry," he says. "This can take a one size fits all approach with one programming route, which is a much less expensive process to go through in addition to being much faster—you can just go onto the Web and access it."