To stay with people means an event should keep mattering to them before they arrive and long after the venue closes. That is the idea behind the line we use for Sociana: let’s not just host events, let’s stay with people. I am Praveen Kumar Bahety, founder and Managing Director of Alien Brains Private Limited, the company behind Sociana. This is my opinion about how event technology should behave, not a product announcement.
We have run 300+ events over the past six years. The most useful thing that experience has given us is a bias: the day of the event is the shortest part of it.
What is wrong with “hosting”?
To host is to open the door, serve the food and say goodbye at the end. It is a generous word, and it describes the visible hours. The trouble is that almost everything that decides whether an event worked happens outside them.
Before: did the guest know what to expect, where to be and what to wear? Did the hotel and the pickup reach the right person? Did the partner who nearly did not come feel expected?
During: could the guest find their way, take part in the room without installing three things, be seen when they won something and be helped when they were stuck?
After: did the photos find their people? Did the feedback reach someone who could act? Did the report arrive while the memory was fresh? Did the guest hear from you again, or did the relationship end at the venue gate?
Most event technology is built for the middle. We try to build for all three, because the guest lives in all three.
What does staying with people look like in practice?
It looks like small, specific things, none of them glamorous.
- A personal itinerary. At a conclave, the first screen was each delegate’s stay and journey, because that is what they cared about. See my note on what a hospitality-heavy conclave really needs.
- An invitation that does work. A wedding app begins with travel and ID collection months ahead and keeps guests involved through a calendar of small moments, so the celebration starts early. I have argued that wedding apps are hospitality apps.
- A second door. Anyone in the room can vote on a QR without installing anything, as in no-login polls.
- A fair game. One leaderboard that people trust, with staff excluded and corrections visible.
- Photos that find their owner. With consent, and with the organiser deciding what is published.
- A record that survives. Exports, an outcome report and reusable configuration for the next occasion.
None of these is a reason to buy software. Together they describe a way of working: the app is where the relationship lives while the occasion is active, and the team around it is there before, during and after.
Why does this matter now?
Because people are tired, and because organisations know it. Gallup’s measurement found that only 23% of Indian employees were engaged at work in 2025, the lowest in four years (Gallup, 2026). I do not claim an app fixes that. I do claim that an offsite, an annual conference or a partner meet is one of the few moments a company has a room full of people who have chosen, or been asked, to give it their attention. Wasting that attention on logistics failures is the worst outcome.
I also think the mood of event buyers in India is changing. They no longer ask only “can you build an app”. They ask what happened to the registration list, who saw the data, how many people took part, and whether the thing was worth the money. Those are fair questions. We try to answer them with definitions and denominators, which is why we publish exactly how we compute activation and participation.
What staying with people does not mean
It does not mean pestering people. It does not mean a growth funnel dressed as hospitality. I am wary of apps that notify people daily because a dashboard says engagement is falling. If a guest has nothing to do, say nothing.
It does not mean claiming more than we do. Where a capability is rolling out, we say so on the product pages and in the changelog. Where a feature is built per occasion, we say that too. Our voice rule is to be candid about what is live, what is scheduled and what we do not do, because trust is the thing you are asking guests and clients to give you.
And it does not mean taking data we do not need. If we collect a PNR, a document or a face, the organiser decides what, for how long and who sees it, and the guest should be able to understand it in a sentence. Legal and regulatory requirements vary, so take counsel’s advice on your own occasion.
How does this change how we work?
Three habits, which I will hold myself to.
We start with the guest list. Not the logo, not the feature wishlist. Who is coming, from where, speaking which language, expecting what? The shape of the list decides the shape of the app.
We plan the after before the before. Before we configure the first screen, we agree what the outcome report should say. That discipline keeps the exports, the photos and the feedback from becoming an afterthought.
We write down the definition. Every number that appears in a report has a definition, a denominator and a date. If we cannot supply them, we do not publish the number.
Where to go next
If you want to see what this looks like, read the case studies for the configuration and the operations behind them, and the glossary for how we measure. If you are planning an occasion, a short conversation on WhatsApp is the fastest route: bring your guest list shape, your dates and your worry, and we will show you what the first screen should be.
I would rather you were a little sceptical and then well looked after than impressed and then left alone. That, in the end, is all the line means.