Apps to enhance concert and event experience

LOS ANGELES - Imagine buying concert merchandise without leaving your seat, or using an app to figure out where the rest room is and the best route for exiting.

Scott Carlis, a vice-president with event firm AEG, spends his time helping create apps for concerts and events. What are they all about?

"You have to start by working with the logic that everyone who comes to one of our events has a smartphone," he says on the Talking Tech podcast. (Listen below, and click the links to subscribe to the show on iTunes.) "They want to share the experiences. So whatever we can do to offer better experiences through mobile technology, the better off all of our key constituencies will be."

AEG has apps for Staples Center, L.A. Live, the Los Angeles Kings as well as a recent app for attendees of the Grammy awards. The Grammy app offered updates on parties, menus, maps and push notifications, while the Staples app tours schedules, chat, alert and mapping information.

Follow Paste BN tech columnist and #Talking Tech host Jefferson Graham on Twitter, @jeffersongraham