It’s a wild, wild world of technology out there, and today’s smartphone applications allow the average user to rule the world single-handed. Since busy event planners rely more than ever on their mobile devices, Midwest Meetings asked many of you to share your favorite apps, what they do, and why you love them. Here’s what you told us…
“My absolute favorite is the Weather Channel app when it comes to events. If there is one thing I need to know at all times, no matter where our events are, it is weather. Using this app is much better than getting online or finding the city websites or newspapers. The Weather Channel [app] also comes in handy since we can see video and determine if the chance of bad weather is coming our way or going around us. It turns a 30% chance of bad weather into a 90% of knowing how it will effect us!”
-Gregorio Palomino, CEP, CWP, corporate event, celebrity, and wedding planner with CRE8AD8
“My absolute favorite is the Weather Channel app when it comes to events. If there is one thing I need to know at all times, no matter where our events are, it is weather. Using this app is much better than getting online or finding the city websites or newspapers. The Weather Channel [app] also comes in handy since we can see video and determine if the chance of bad weather is coming our way or going around us. It turns a 30% chance of bad weather into a 90% of knowing how it will effect us!”
-Gregorio Palomino, CEP, CWP, corporate event, celebrity, and wedding planner with CRE8AD8
Cara Kleinhaut, Caravents, Inc.
“When in the ideation and research, putting visual and pitch decks together, I love apps such as Instapaper, which instantly digitally bookmarks and makes a running list of all cool sites, articles, blogs, etc. that I am reading on my iPad or phone. This way, I can go back into an ‘ideas’ file and pull up all my great inspiration pages. Evernote makes a version called Web Clipper, where I can clip the article directly to my Evernote page. I get inspiration from forward thinking sites such as Fast Company, Mashable, Tech Crunch, Cool Hunting, etc., and now I have a great way of organizing and saving with a touch of a button. In an event we recently produced with Elle, we used iPads for check-in of approximately 700 guests over a two-hour period. We used a brand-new app called Eventfarm, which hosted all of our names and allowed us to use our iPads onsite, so updating of all lists was instantaneous. It also looked very sleek - no messy clipboards, lists, or crossed-out information.”
-Cara Kleinhaut, owner and founder of Caravents, Inc. Event Production & Design
“We operate a number of large events and, for the past three years, have been involved with QuickMobile. This year, at our Mountain Travel Symposium, we had a number of instances where the mobile application and especially the messaging function ‘saved’ us. We had heavy snow on Sunday, our opening registration day, [and] we were faced with snow slides, highways closed, mountain passes closed, attendees trickling in, and late scheduling for our Trade Exchange that late afternoon. We were fortunate that a significant number of our attendees had downloaded the application. We messaged that the late scheduling was going to move from Sunday p.m. to Monday a.m., and we could hear the sigh of relief. We also used the same messaging service a number of times during the week to advise attendees of location changes or other important information that could be transmitted instantaneously.
“At [another event called] Cruise3sixty, we were coming close to running out of attendee guides. Seems some boxes were lost. The mobile application we developed included a full schedule of events, speakers, locations, and times. So, as we were registering attendees, we asked if they had downloaded the application. If they had, we asked them to use it for the schedule of events, rather than the printed version. It worked, we didn’t run out, and life was good!”
-Michael J. Pierson, president of Michael J. Pierson Associates, Inc.
-Cara Kleinhaut, owner and founder of Caravents, Inc. Event Production & Design
“We operate a number of large events and, for the past three years, have been involved with QuickMobile. This year, at our Mountain Travel Symposium, we had a number of instances where the mobile application and especially the messaging function ‘saved’ us. We had heavy snow on Sunday, our opening registration day, [and] we were faced with snow slides, highways closed, mountain passes closed, attendees trickling in, and late scheduling for our Trade Exchange that late afternoon. We were fortunate that a significant number of our attendees had downloaded the application. We messaged that the late scheduling was going to move from Sunday p.m. to Monday a.m., and we could hear the sigh of relief. We also used the same messaging service a number of times during the week to advise attendees of location changes or other important information that could be transmitted instantaneously.
“At [another event called] Cruise3sixty, we were coming close to running out of attendee guides. Seems some boxes were lost. The mobile application we developed included a full schedule of events, speakers, locations, and times. So, as we were registering attendees, we asked if they had downloaded the application. If they had, we asked them to use it for the schedule of events, rather than the printed version. It worked, we didn’t run out, and life was good!”
-Michael J. Pierson, president of Michael J. Pierson Associates, Inc.
Candice Benson, MBC, The Finishing Touch
“As a busy wedding and event planner, I always have my smartphone with me. My Facebook app allows me to connect with our vendors quickly while planning an event, and we can also share details and images about these fantastic [occasions] before they even end. This ability to stay connected while keeping things moving has been terrific with just a touch of my screen.”
-Candice Benson, MBC™, president and founder of The Finishing Touch
“Mapquest saves my life when planning events. I say this because locally, when I need to meet with people to discuss services for the event or [I need to] find a venue, it gives immediate directions. When I plan an event out of state, it navigates me as well. Another app that is a great help is Trip Advisor. Not only does it give potential venue suggestions (hotels, restaurants, bars), but it also recommends things to do in the area that sometimes help contribute to themes and marketing ideas.”
-Alyssa Ramos, philanthropy planner with Whistle Marketing
“We’ve worked with QuickMobile and feel that, together, we have developed one of the best conference mobile apps in the industry. Our mobile app ties directly to our Salesforce.com database, enabling us to update - in real time - our attendee list, contact information, speaker roster, program information (including up-to-the-minute changes), sponsor information, city guides, and more. The key has been to create a very intuitive GUI for our users, which QuickMobile did very successfully, but especially the integration of our Salesforce database with the app. That took quite a bit of teamwork between our technical team and QuickMobile’s team, and it has been executed very successfully. In fact, due to the success of our mobile app, we are no longer printing out 100-page conference programs. [We] will be relying on our mobile app and a very small pocket guide for our main conference this coming November.”
-Bruce Rosard, vice president of sales and marketing with PhoCusWright Inc
-Candice Benson, MBC™, president and founder of The Finishing Touch
“Mapquest saves my life when planning events. I say this because locally, when I need to meet with people to discuss services for the event or [I need to] find a venue, it gives immediate directions. When I plan an event out of state, it navigates me as well. Another app that is a great help is Trip Advisor. Not only does it give potential venue suggestions (hotels, restaurants, bars), but it also recommends things to do in the area that sometimes help contribute to themes and marketing ideas.”
-Alyssa Ramos, philanthropy planner with Whistle Marketing
“We’ve worked with QuickMobile and feel that, together, we have developed one of the best conference mobile apps in the industry. Our mobile app ties directly to our Salesforce.com database, enabling us to update - in real time - our attendee list, contact information, speaker roster, program information (including up-to-the-minute changes), sponsor information, city guides, and more. The key has been to create a very intuitive GUI for our users, which QuickMobile did very successfully, but especially the integration of our Salesforce database with the app. That took quite a bit of teamwork between our technical team and QuickMobile’s team, and it has been executed very successfully. In fact, due to the success of our mobile app, we are no longer printing out 100-page conference programs. [We] will be relying on our mobile app and a very small pocket guide for our main conference this coming November.”
-Bruce Rosard, vice president of sales and marketing with PhoCusWright Inc
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