The Real Importance of Visa Reform

Posted on October 20, 2011 by Experient

By: Terence Donnelly, Vice President, Experient

I recently sat on a webinar provided by the Power of Travel Coalition on the topic of Visa Reform.  I knew getting a Visa to visit the United States was a challenge, but never realized the impact it had on our economy and the opportunity that faces us and our industry in the future.

Currently, if you are not from one of the 36 countries that went through the rigorous Visa Waiver Program (VWP) qualification process, then you must apply for a Visa for travel into the United States through scarce number of U.S. Consulate offices within that country of origin.  Countries that are not part of the VWP are notably China, Brazil, and India.  These countries alone represent 17 percent of international travel into Western Europe.  If the U.S. can capture this same percentage from China, Brazil, India, plus the other non-VWP countries, this would attract 98 million more legitimate overseas visitors, create up to 1.3 million U.S. jobs by 2020, and produce $859 billion in cumulative additional economic output.

So, how are we going to do this?  Obviously, the current system is sluggish and impedes travel to the U.S. by non-VWP countries (see picture).   For example, some travelers in China and Brazil have to travel thousands of miles to the nearest U.S. Consulate office for a face-to-face interview.  The wait times in these countries are as much as 100 days and can cost thousands of dollars for businessmen and families.

Overview of U.S. Visa Process

Click image for larger view

Through the USTA (US Travel Association) including other international travel advocates like IAEE, the following bills have been put in front of Congress:

S. 1601 – This FY12 Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Bill was recently passed in the Senate and Needs House approval

H.R. 3039 – the Welcoming Business Travelers and Tourists to America Act of 2011

Both of these bills will address the Visa issue by:

  • Reducing the Visa Process to 12 days or less
  • Hire enough personnel to meet demand
  • Pilot use of videoconferencing technology for Consulate Visa interviews
  • Expansion of the Visa Waiver Program

 What Can You Do?

  1. Go to www.travelcoalition.org and click on the center of the page that says “Action Alert: Urge Congress to Support Visa Reform…” Follow the instructions on sending a message to your representatives from your state.
  2. On the same page (above) sign up to be added to the Power of Travel Coalition and get updates on how USTA and IAEE are doing on this important issue. 
  3. Send messages to your social networks utilizing the links above to get your colleagues and friends involved with this important issue.  It not only impacts the Travel & Exhibition industry, but all industries that rely on international visitors.

For more information on this important issue you can also visit www.smartervisapolicy.org

Posted in Event Trends, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

The recipe to avoid $16 muffins

Posted on October 11, 2011 by Mark Rechner

In August 2009, the Department of justice held a legal training conference at the Capital Hilton in Washington, D.C. More than two years later, on September 20, 2011, the Department of Justice Office of Inspector General issued an internal audit report, where they stated, “We found the Department spent $16 on each of the 250 muffins served at an August 2009 legal conference in Washington.” This drew an immediate response from Sen. Chuck Grassley, the senior Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which has oversight of the Justice Department. “Sixteen dollar muffins… are what make Americans cynical about government and why they are demanding change. People are outraged, and rightly so.”

If the muffins really did cost $16, then Sen. Grassley would be correct. But did they? Taken directly from the report, here is an excerpt from the paragraph that caused the controversy:
Considering the EOIR reported that at least 534 people received refreshments at its 2009 Legal Training Conference in Washington, D.C., it spent an average of $14.74 per attendee per day on food and beverages—just above the $14.72 JMD limit for refreshments. However, many individual food and beverage items listed on conference invoices and paid by the EOIR were very costly. The EOIR spent $4,200 on 250 muffins and $2,880 on 300 cookies and brownies. By itemizing these costs, we determined that, with service and gratuity, muffins cost over $16 each and cookies and brownies cost almost $10 each.

Butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda are common ingredients in most types of muffins. When adding up the cost of these ingredients, the total cost is far less than $16. What else contributed to the cost of these muffins?

Hilton Worldwide says the price included not only breakfast baked goods but also fresh fruit, coffee, tea, soft drinks, tax and tips – which the report says the conference received “for free.” Hilton also says the report misinterpreted their invoices, which often use shorthand and don’t reflect the full menu provided.

Of course, the invoices were the source of the problem. If they had been more complete and detailed, this whole issue would have been avoided. The auditors would have seen that the cost of the food service included many other items, such as labor costs.

Labor costs
Payroll costs can account for as much as one-third of a meal function’s total price. The actual price for muffins, coffee and whatever else includes the cost for making and serving them, setting up the tables, chairs, place settings, decorations and center pieces. It also includes the costs of dishwashers, banquet housepersons, supervisors and cleaning up, not to mention the fixed cost of the facility itself. In some cases, as in this one, food items are purchased from suppliers who specialize in producing mass quantities that they sell to numerous facilities. While this reduces the facility’s labor cost, it does increase the cost of the food.

What did the ‘muffin’ really include?
• Fresh fruit
• Coffee
• Tea
• Soft drinks
• Labor
And, of course, the muffins.

It’s the meeting planner who is responsible for ensuring that the invoices reflect the true costs of all items, whether each item is individually priced or the entire meal is priced collectively and includes all items listed in detail. That way, if any questions do arise regarding the cost of a meeting, the answers will be readily available.

What do you think should have been done to prevent this from happening? How else could it have been handled? I look forward to hearing your comments.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

What are you doing with QR Codes?

Posted on August 15, 2011 by Siobhan Connellan

Show organizers ask me this all the time. But what is really hotter right now — using QR codes or talking about them? In the trade show and event industry, I say it’s definitely the latter.

The use of barcodes has been prevalent at trade shows for years now (and don’t let that mystical display of pixels fool you, a QR code is just another type of barcode). We use barcodes in registration to quickly identify pre-registered attendees picking up their credentials, in sessions to track attendance, and in lead retrieval to share contact information between attendees and exhibitors. So why are QR codes not in this mix?

Here’s why. QR codes aren’t any better at doing these things than the 1D and 2D barcodes currently in use. In fact, in some ways they are worse.  Ok, sure… QR codes LOOK a lot cooler. But what is that ‘coolness’ worth to you? Seriously, put a dollar amount on it. Because changing from one type of barcode to another type of barcode will require some monetary investment. So what’s it worth to you to look cooler? Why do I suddenly feel like I’m back in high school?

The good news is that QR codes are exceptionally better at doing other things! They are a fantastic way to share media-rich content quickly and easily. QR codes excel at taking a flat, printed surface or piece of paper and making it come to life.  Heck, in Seattle, QR Codes are bringing the dead to life. There is a monument maker there putting QR Codes on headstones (Seattle Times). Creepy? Arguably, yes. But what a great way to share pictures, videos and memories of the deceased with Siobhan Connellan, Experient Expertgenerations to come.

Do you have a fancy new brochure you spent thousands of dollars producing but you can’t figure out a cost-effective and green distribution method? Maybe you have a video featuring some highlights from last year’s keynote address? Why not share these via a QR code placed on the printed ad you already are running in your industry magazines?

So, show organizers, my question to you is, “What are you doing with QR Codes?”

Posted in Attendance Building, Event Trends, Exhibitor Services, Social Media & Mobile Technology | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Tradeshow Apps Don’t Have to be Boring

Posted on May 6, 2011 by Experient

Post authored by Todd Belebczuk, Marketing Specialist at Experient

If you’re a tradeshow veteran, chances are you’ve probably read countless articles and blog posts telling you what apps you should be using at your tradeshows. You know the routine- the article starts out something like “In these challenging economic times, it is now more important than ever to get the most out of your tradeshows. Here are the top (insert random number here) apps that will help you to be more efficient, capture leads and make your tradeshows more profitable.” Bor-ing! Let’s consider this article the antithesis of the traditional tradeshow app blog post.

Now I’m not going to tell you to download a business card scanner app, checklist app, Bump, Ustream or Dragon Dictation. Loading up an iPad with customer testimonial videos, sales presentations and marketing collateral to share with attendees that visit your booth is a no-brainer. You probably already know that there are tradeshow apps that have everything from event schedules and maps to speaker bios and exhibitor contact information. And don’t even get me started on lead retrieval! This would be a great time to give a shameless plug for Experient’s new SWAP app, but I’m not going to do that either. Instead, I’d like to go with a timeless cliché and encourage you to “Think outside the box.” You already know how to conduct business with apps, but how can you use them to attract attendees and make a personal connection with them at the show? Remember, tradeshows apps don’t have to be boring!

So here’s something else that you probably already know- social media is important and should be used both in and around your events. There are apps for Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Facebook and countless other social media outlets available for free on many smartphones. If you’re a tech-savvy exhibitor, you’ve probably already used social media at an event to attract people to your booth with a special offer or limited time promotion. If so, you’re ahead of the curve, but let’s take it up a notch and really create a buzz at the show.

Remember flash mobs? Try this: drop hints on your social media sites a few weeks before your event and encourage attendees to meet at your booth for a special surprise at a time to be determined later. During the tradeshow, send out a tweet or Facebook update with your smartphone and announce the exact time for them to come to your booth. When they arrive and a small crowd forms, put on some kind of show or routine (preferably loud, funny and high-energy) that gets everyone involved. Not only will this directly drive attendance to your booth from your social media followers, but you will most likely bring in others who simply want to see what all of the fuss is about.

Another thing to consider is that often times, attendees have traveled long distances and spent several nights in a hotel room. After feeling jet lagged, walking up and down a long corridor of booths with similar signage and setups can get old quickly. So why not liven things up a bit? Before the show, purchase an iPod Touch or iPad and load it up with games or other entertainment apps. When someone walks by your booth looking tired or bored, introduce yourself and offer to take them on in a game of Air Hockey or Trivia Challenge. You can play a quick round or two, post your results on a leader board for everyone to see, and offer a prize for the overall winner. Playing games will help you break the ice and connect with attendees before you decide to get down to business and start your sales pitch. (Hint: iPods and iPads also make a great grand prize giveaway.)

Along these same lines, one of my favorite apps, FatBooth, lets you take a picture of someone and then morph their face to see what they’d look like with a few extra pounds. There are also PirateBooth, AgingBooth, ClownBooth and WigBooth apps, which are pretty self-explanatory and guaranteed to get a few laughs. Why not have some fun and take pictures of yourself and your fellow exhibitors, morph them and share them with attendees? You might even encourage attendees to do the same and post their pictures on Facebook. While this may seem like goofing off (and it definitely is), you’re building a connection and giving people something to remember you by long after the tradeshow is over.

Admittedly, these ideas may not be practical in all situations, but hopefully they’ve gotten you to start thinking about new ways to attract and connect with attendees using apps. Having a little fun can be a welcomed relief to tradeshow road warriors and you might be surprised with the results. And for those of you worried about what the boss might think, after you’ve made a connection with an attendee and had some fun, you can then break out the boring apps all you want and start sharing information, collecting leads and selling.

Posted in Social Media & Mobile Technology | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Going Global for all the Wrong Reasons

Posted on March 23, 2011 by Experient

Post authored by Marian R. Calvin, Vice President Communications for Experient

As event marketers, we hear all sorts of reasons why people need to boost attendance at their annual event. The event, along with its trade show, is the largest source of non-dues revenue for most non-profit associations and often their primary service delivery mechanism.  With attendance being down, flat or showing lackluster growth in recent years due to economic reasons, they want to expand their event marketing database to invite or grow international attendance.

The rationale includes:  The village needs to meet.  The internet is shrinking the world.  We want to be considered an international powerhouse, THE go-to source.  Similar organizations are going global and we need to do so as well.  We need to expand our community to professionals in other countries.

Agreed.  But it’s not so easy.  Along with logistical issues surrounding international attendance at events (such as currency exchange for registration, translation services for advance materials and on site, visa requirements and letters of invitation), there are the ongoing needs of an international participant (and new member) that need to be addressed to KEEP that attendee active, engaged and fulfilled.

Is the infrastructure in place within your organization to support international membership?

  • Does your website facilitate multi-lingual communication?
  • Is there a quick-response method for someone contacting you in the middle of the night (during their working hours)?
  • Are live online committee meetings or informational meetings/seminars taking the time zone issue into consideration?
  • Will you be planning meetings in other parts of the world?

How ready are you for global expansion in terms of membership support?

There are a number of experts out there with a thorough understanding of international markets who specialize in consulting with associations who want to enter the global arena.

One such expert is Steven Worth, author and President of Plexus Consulting Group.  His expertise centers on helping associations succeed in international business.

Worth has served as interim executive director of four international associations, designed and implemented strategies creating two world federations of nonprofit organizations, and created the Association International Market Development (AIMD)—a program designed to open opportunities within USAID and World Bank projects in developing nations for the education, training and standards development resources of U.S.-based associations.

In fact, you could say that Worth wrote the book on globalized operations.  Literally.  The Association Guide to Going Global is Worth’s comprehensive guide for associations coping with a global marketplace. Published last July, the book enlightens readers on key issues that have proven to be of concern to associations going global and unveils how to successfully navigate a global environment.

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Attendee Marketing That Doesn’t Suck

Posted on January 6, 2011 by Experient

Evan Shubin is President of Results.now, Inc. and Exhibitor Invites LLC.  To learn more about him, click here.

Every show manager would like to increase the number of qualified attendees that attend their events, but that is easier said than done.  Nowadays, with travel budgets tight and time out of the office scrutinized, you must make a compelling case to convince prospective attendees to spend the time and money to come to your event.

Here are some ideas that might help:

Create an Integrated Campaign with Uniform Messaging
Make sure that all the different channels you are using – e-mail, direct mail, advertising, your web site, social media, etc. – have the same visual “look and feel” and contain the same messaging.  Obviously different channels lend themselves to different approaches, but every outreach should feel like it is part of the same family.  This is the best way to strengthen your brand – by putting a uniform message out there every time you touch prospective attendees.

Track the Results of Every Single Outreach
Every marketing method is now trackable, if you are willing to put the time and effort into designing your campaigns accordingly.  Be sure to work with your registration company to create a set of source codes that will allow you to identify exactly which campaign prompted each attendee to register for your event.  However, keep in mind that getting someone to register is often a result of multiple touches over time and through different channels.

Test and Test Again!
We can’t always predict which campaign is going to be the most successful, but we can adjust afterwards.  Use the 10-10-80 method: send campaign A to 10% of your list, send campaign B to 10% of your list, and then send the one that gets the best results to the remaining 80% of your list.  This method takes more work and requires more advanced planning, but it has the potential to generate significantly better results.

Create Compelling Campaigns
It isn’t enough anymore just to list the conference sessions, the exhibitors, and dates in your attendee marketing pieces, and then sit back and wait for the registrations to come in.  You need to convince people that it will be worth their time and money to attend your event.  Remember that all attendees come to face-to-face events for three reasons: to see the exhibitors, to learn, and to network.  What is most important to your community?  What makes your show a “must attend” event?  Don’t be shy – spell out all the key benefits of attending in your messaging! 

Personalize Your Campaigns as Much as Possible
Different people have different reasons for choosing to attend your event.  You need to approach them with messaging and visuals that describe the features and benefits that are most important to them and impact them emotionally.  The more personalized your messaging, the better results you will get.

Get Your Exhibitors Involved
Your exhibitor community is busy year-round selling products and services to their customers and prospects.  Many of them keep extensive CRM databases, and those databases are full of excellent attendee prospects for your event.  Get them involved!  Give them an incentive to invite their customers and prospects to the show.  There are many different ways to do this, including our Exhibitor Invites.  Whatever method you choose, invest the time and money to make sure it is used extensively by your exhibitor community, and don’t forget to track the results.

Posted in Attendance Building | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

It’s Not About Badges Anymore

Posted on November 16, 2010 by Experient

Post authored by Terence Donnelly, CMP – Vice President, Sales & Account Management at Experient

First, it was about “who’s coming to the event” and whether you had a function room big enough (or small enough) to hold the number of persons attending.  Along with that was budgeting and if you were charging for this event, you needed to have funds in advance and create a mechanism to collect those funds to pay vendors to execute the event.  Up until the early 1990s, a lot of this was done through forms – paper forms that you filled out and either mailed or faxed back.  Today, this task is easily accomplished through hundreds of different online registration tools – proprietary and off-the-shelf – that facilitate this transaction.

For most tradeshow and conference organizers, it’s all about the data.  Particularly for larger events with sponsors and exhibitors with large budgets, the event organizer needs access to real-time data to make informed decisions and communicate effectively to their constituents.

So, it’s not about badges anymore.  If an event organizer just uses some system to credential their attendees and exhibitors, they really are missing the advantage that a more sophisticated registration solution can provide them – the advantage of accessing real-time information and transforming that data into information that drives business decisions… Insight.

DATA ====> INFORMATION  ====> INSIGHT

What should an event organizer be looking for? Not just a registration system that can provide data – but one that provides the data as real-time actionable information. The days of making decisions based upon intuition are over in this changing economy.

There are hundreds of data points and each show manager has various needs in this area.  For some show managers, it’s important that they can scrutinize attendee behavior over time to establish buyer levels.   By tracking their purchase behavior and activity on the exhibit floor, show management can up-sell packages and sessions, and provide them a custom experience based upon past activity and interests.

Lastly, what’s important is that you find a registration system that can adapt to the changing needs of show management and can deliver on its promise.  So tell us, which of these reporting features are important to you? Go ahead and rank them in your comments below!

1. At-a-glance, quick-click access to your most important reporting information

2. Easy-to-understand graphics right on your own computer

3. Ability to access information quickly and make strategic decisions based on accurate data

4. Graphs of key performance indicators for registration and reservation statistics

5. Top 10 reports configured per your needs and provided in one concise list for easy access

6. Access to year-over-year pacing reports for registration and room block penetration for housing to monitor performance against previous year

7. Customer search tool that allows you to review and edit registrant information, preview and send confirmations immediately

8. Charts that can be pulled directly from the system for easy transfer into Executive Level reports

9. Custom quick links for important event-related sites such as lead retrieval, attendee web page, exhibitor web page and more

10. Benchmarks against “like” industries, markets, and previous year’s statistics and performances.

Let’s get the conversation started!

Posted in Data Management | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Best Practices – What are Critical Factors to Success?

Posted on November 9, 2010 by Experient

Post authored by Susan Bennett, CASE, CEM - Vice President, Sales & Account Management at Experient and 2010 IAEE Washington D.C. Chapter Chair

The Victory Loop process allows critical factors for success to be identified and assessed.  This process has three stages: (1) Plan Well, (2) Execute Well, and (3) Learn Well which allows an immediate review of the outcome versus the goals, creates best practices, and reinforces continuous learning.   Actually, I envision it more like a staircase than a loop, with each step leading to the next.  The Learn Well stage should be the first step in Planning Well for the next event.

The time planning and executing can outweigh the time evaluating the outcome against the goals.  The lessons we learn are filed away in our memory banks and not captured in a structured after action review for use prior to the next event.  When the Victory Loop process is first introduced it highlights how often we “do it that way because we have always done it that way.”

The first stage is Planning Well.  In this stage, ask what the intent of the action being taken is and what is the desired goal?  Let’s apply the Victory Loop process to the planning of housing for an event.  For example, one of the goals in the planning stage is to improve usage of the room block from 85% to 87% for an event.  Our intent is to ensure we maximize the room blocks.  To accomplish this goal, we plan to target specific registrants in past years that have stayed outside the block.  Communication of the desired goals to the project team is critical as we move into the execution stage.  We have completed the first two stages….identified a goal or the intent of our actions, and executed our plan.

To begin the Learning Well stage, we asked what have we learned from what we tried and what actually happened?  We learned that by proactively contacting our target list of registrants that stayed outside the block in previous years, we were successful in converting a percentage of them to stay in the housing block.

What do we know now that we did not know before we started?  We identified factors not previously considered on why a percentage stays outside the block.

If someone where to start down the same path, what advice would I give this person?  We would recommend a survey to those that stayed outside the block to identify key factors in their decision.

To summarize our example of the three steps:

Step 1: Plan Well, Our intent was to maximize our room blocks and the goal was to increase usage from 85% to 87%.
Step 2: Execute Well, We contacted a target list of registrants that stayed outside the block in previous years.
Step 3: Learn Well, Proactive targeted marketing converted some to stay within the block.  We identified factors not previously considered for why they stayed outside the block in the past and will use those factors when planning the next event.  We reached our goal and increased the percentage from 85% to 87%.

Ready to take your first step?

Posted in Sourcing & Planning | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Connecting Social Media Tools to Event Goals

Posted on November 2, 2010 by Experient

Post authored by Jeremy T. Janszen, SSGB- Experient’s SocialMpact Service Designer.

It’s overwhelming how much our industry likes to talk about social media.  For the time and white space it commands in the conversations we have, in our general sessions and breakouts, and scribbled across thousands of pages of our industry’s print and online articles, you’d think we’d be better at it.  Heck, you’d think we were all experts!  But, as with many things, the breakdown is in the know-how of connecting tools to goals.  This takes thought, analysis, testing, and much, much more than knowing (or reading) that you can use social media to accomplish a “Top 10” list of things.  Of course you can.  But the tricky thing is how?  The articles always seem to leave that part out.

Over the past year, I’ve jumped into numerous meetings and onto dozens of phone calls with customers and industry peers discussing social media and how the event industry has been – and is planning to – embrace these tools to help execute first-rate meetings, events, and tradeshows.  The results of these discussions, and additional research efforts, have revealed some very reliable proofs:

Proof 1:  Event organizers understand that their audience (defined commonly as:  members, attendees, exhibitors, and prospects) is online, participating in social media and present on various platforms, and that they need to engage with them in these locations.  This is basic Marketing 101:  Go to where your people are.

Proof 2:  Event organizers, in large part, have tested the waters of social media by setting up Facebook and Twitter accounts for their organization or events, pushed out a variety of messages through those platforms, and have generated a small (and oftentimes described as “inactive”) online community connected to them.  These initial, water-testing efforts are almost universally conducted prior to the development of any formal social media strategy or plan as a way for the organization to, at minimum, just “get in the game.”  And, except for a minority, results have been generally disappointing or non-existent.

Proof 3:  Event organizers do, typically, have an idea of what they hope to achieve for their organizations by participating in social media.  Whether documented as part of a plan or not, common goals include:

• Recruiting new event attendees (by far the #1 goal) and extending event marketing;
• Creating additional networking opportunities for members and event attendees (Who hasn’t heard the statement, “We want to extend our week-long event into a year-round experience…”?);
• Increasing the organization’s online visibility and position as a subject matter authority

Proof 4:  Equipped with (essentially) free access to all of the necessary social media tools and armed with an idea of what they hope to accomplish with them, event organizers have an incredibly difficult time connecting the two sides.  This typically leads to a stalled-out effort or, at minimum, putting the effort “on the back burner” because the individual or organization can’t justify allocating resources to a task that isn’t showing any promising results.

Does this describe your organization?

Fear not.  You are not alone.

Building the bridge between accessible social media tools and the goals you hope to achieve with them doesn’t take an advanced engineering degree.  It takes time, attention, and commitment.  It also takes an understanding of your audience and their needs.  Why would they want to connect to you online?  What can you offer them that they can’t get anywhere else?  What are you doing to make them a raving (online) fan of your organization and brand?  Starting with their needs and working backward is how you’re going to build this bridge.  Sure, it would be easier to identify what your organization hopes to get out of the online connection and push, push, push (see your 100th Twitter post that reads:  “Click here to register for the conference.”) but that’s not working.  It takes a little more value creation before you can ask for the sale – or ask for anything, for that matter.

Successful bridge building also requires an understanding about your own organization’s environment.  How do you communicate and about what?  What knowledge and information assets do you have at your disposal – both as documented content and in the form of people?  How can you enlist them?  What do you have to give?  That’s right.  Social media is a “give before you get” game.

describe the image

Knowing your audience and knowing yourself are integral parts of the bridge-building blueprint.  Armed with this knowledge, you can begin to unleash the power of the social media tools you possess and adapt them to your social infrastructure.  The pieces start to easily fall into place because you empathize with your audience and their needs while at the same time can plot the course between what you offer them and what they bring back to you.  You might need someone to help you figure this out, or plan the course, or to bring new ideas to the table and help accelerate them, but little success will come unless you’re prepared to understand your audience and yourself first.  Then, all of a sudden, that “Top 10” blog post starts to make a lot more sense.

To discover how to build that bridge between social media tools and your event goals of driving attendance and mobilizing community participation, click to download Experient’s Social Media Playbook.

Posted in Social Media & Mobile Technology | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

There’s an App for That Event

Posted on October 27, 2010 by Experient

Post authored by Timothy J. La Fleur, CMP – Meeting and Event Manager at Experient.

With any new technology there are some basic questions to be asked:  What is it? What does it do? How can this benefit my event?

First, we’ll tackle the question of what it is; but before we get too far along, we should understand that there are two basic kinds of mobile conference apps: “Web-based” and “native-based.”

Web-based apps can be accessed by any Internet-ready phone.

To view an example of web-based app, click here

By using the web browser on your phone, you can access a conference app much like accessing a website.

Native-based apps are downloaded and installed to your smartphone and work like any other program feature (e.g. calculator, alarm clock, camera, etc.).

To view an example of native-based app, click here

These conference mobile apps are small programs that can be installed right to your Blackberry, iPhone, or Android platform phones.  They are typically created and designed by a third party company with your specific event in mind.

With each of these apps, there are very distinct advantages and disadvantages.  For the Web-based, the primary advantage is that you can access the app on any Internet-ready.  Of course, the major disadvantage is its reliance on a fast and uninterrupted cellular connection. If you are in a location that has a bad cell signal, your app will run slowly or not at all.  Native-based apps, once downloaded to your phone, run independently of any Internet connectivity.  No matter where you are, you can use your app.  The major disadvantage, however, is that native-based apps require attendees to have a Blackberry, iPhone, or Android platform phone – which, right now, isn’t always the case.  Ideally, you would like an app that can be simultaneously Web-based and native-based to reach the largest number of people.

The next piece of the puzzle is what do these conference apps do?  These apps can virtually serve many functions for your conference, but I will break them down into 4 major areas.

  1. Replace the conference program book.
  2. List exhibit hall floor plans and help attendees manage which exhibitors that they would like to visit.
  3. Act as a personal concierge for the attendee by helping them choose and locate local dining, entertainment, and attractions.
  4. Act as a conference message board, serve as the pulse and conference lifeline for your attendees, and used as platform for social media engagement.

A conference app can be used as an electronic program book by housing all of the relevant session information, including session abstracts, session times, meeting rooms, speaker bios and any handouts they wish to distribute as attachments.  In some apps, you can build your schedule as you go by clicking on “add” buttons while searching the list of sessions.  Additionally, you could link to web-forums right from the session description to engage with other people who are going to this session as well, and start the attendee engagement before the session even takes place.  You could also post surveys for attendees to complete about a session they just attended.

Not to be outdone by the program books, the exhibit hall is another place where conference apps can be very beneficial.  Conference apps have many ways to give exhibitors new and additional exposure.  Most conference apps will allow for the exhibit hall floor plan to be shown on the attendee’s phone to assist them in planning their time on the show floor.  In some apps, an attendee can add which booths they want to visit and the app will map out a best route based on flow of the exhibit hall.  Show managers can also provide exhibitors the opportunity to put a small bio together about their company for quick access by attendees.  The information medium can be anything from static text to a short informational video about themselves and their products, or a simple link to their website.

Conference apps also act as your personal and private meeting concierge.  You can either have a link to Google maps where you can plot and plan their trip, or you can have pre-determined restaurants and venues for your attendee to choose from based on experience and customer ratings.  Of course, be sure to include contact information and directions to the selected venues.

Lastly, these apps can serve as a conference message board.  Show managers can send text messages and alerts through the conference app to announce a change in schedule, session cancellations, or room changes.  Or, use the app to promote special evening activities and receptions, or remind attendees that the trade show floor is open encouraging them to visit.  Through the conference app, you can remind or alert your attendees of almost anything.

There are many benefits from using a conference app for your event.  First and foremost, it can be a cost savings for your event.  Since conference apps have the potential to replace large quantities of printed materials, you save printing and shipping costs.  Not mention if there are fewer printed materials you reduce your carbon footprint and therefore make your meeting greener.

By using a conference mobile app, you also open a new world of sponsorship opportunities where one or more official sponsor(s) could cover the cost of the conference app build out and therefore become a new revenue stream for your event.  Another sponsorship opportunity would be the conference alerts or possibly exhibitor alerts to announce happenings in their booth such as book signings, raffles, or sponsored food events.  Perhaps one of the biggest benefits is engaging attendees in a new way.  As a society, we have switched to consuming media and information “on demand” and this expectation is creeping into the way our attendees want to access conference information.

Don’t think that mobile apps are only for the benefit of attendees, sponsors, and exhibitors.  Meeting planners can utilize certain apps for their own use to improve the planning or onsite process.  One example is a “clicker” app to count the number of attendees at a catered event.  I found an app named “T-Counter” which not only allows you to collect data, but also allows you to e-mail the information for real time data collection.  This is just one example of what could go into a “Planner’s App Toolbox.”  The website www.meetingapps.com contains various types of apps that might be helpful, although currently they only provide apps for iPhones.

As media consumption continues to evolve into 24/7 access, the modern conference attendee will expect their conference information to do the same.  This emerging trend has tangible benefits for many events and as planners we should continue being ahead of the technology curve.

To take a walk through the mobile event app for CES, click here.

Posted in Social Media & Mobile Technology | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments