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Top iPad apps for the meetings industry

Events are no longer planned with pen and paper, but rather typed and communicated electronically. Sarah O’Donnell selects the top meeting apps, which should be on every organiser’s tablet.
Tablets such as Apple’s iPad, and its android alternatives, are changing the way people think and play. Not only full of the latest addictive games, videos and eBooks, these devices are making their mark on the meetings industry in a big way, and showing a real return on investment.
In the first four months of the launch of the iPad in April 2010, the product was the fastest ever consumer device to achieve a US$1bn in sales. “People are loving the iPad as it becomes a part of their daily lives,” said Apple CEO, Steve Jobs. Read More:

Mobile Device Charging Kiosks Keep Conference Attendees Charged Up

goCharge, a provider of mobile device charging solutions with built-in connector tips, has introduced an expanded line of Mobile Device Charging Kiosks to cater to a rapidly growing demand in the conference and expo industry. Already popular and in use in bars, college campuses, coffee shops, and many other public gathering spots, goCharge has expanded its lineup of mobile charging models to meet the specific needs of the conference and expo industry. Full story...

Vizibility Offers Free Mobile-Ready Event Badges With Personal QR Codes for Attendees

Vizibility Inc. announced the availability of a new attendee badge creation tool for the tradeshow, exhibition and business event industry. The hosted tool, which is available for free on the company’s website, automatically creates name badges with personalized QR codes for each attendee. Full story...

Eved to Expand and Scale Internet Marketplace for Meetings Industry

Eved, an online marketplace for the meeting and event industry, today announced it has raised $9.5 million in a series B round led by New World Ventures and MK Capital. The funding will enable the Chicago-area company to scale and expand its proprietary online platform, which has been adopted and championed by leaders in the meetings community. Full story...

Top Ten IT Tips for Meeting Planners

Etherlive, a company specializing in event IT, has published its list of the top 10 ways to maximize face time at meetings using information technology, it announced this month. "The purpose of meetings and events is to get people to engage face-to-face," said Etherlive Director Tom McInerney. "We are in a transition period whereby conference organizers can benefit from IT to maximize both delegate retention and also engage with extended audiences across the globe. It is imperative to remember that IT should enhance the event and not take it over. Full story...

QuickMobile and American Meetings Join Forces to Market Mobile Event Solutions

QuickMobile and American Meetings Inc. (AMI) announced that they have entered into a strategic partnership to jointly market and support mobile event solutions for meetings and conferences. The partnership brings together QuickMobile’s mobile application development and technology with AMI’s event marketing and meeting management solutions to promote mobile meeting apps as tools to improve the overall event experience for attendees, exhibitors and sponsors. Full story...

The Top 10 Tech Trends for 2012

From the continuing rise of tablet devices to the daily-deals craze and the return of the Internet IPO, 2011 has been a transformative year for technology. The pace of change has become blisteringly fast, with traditional industries - bookstores, video-rental chains, newspapers - crumbling more quickly than we could have imagined. Predicting what will happen in 2012, therefore, is a shot in the dark: a year is virtually a lifetime in the digital era. Full story...

Nine Ways Your Venue Can Help Promote Your Next Event for Free

Working at a conference venue for over four years, I helped to host more than 1,500 events. My main responsibility was delivery of the venue’s digital marketing strategy, which meant managing the website, email marketing and social media activity amongst many other things. But despite having a wide range of effective marketing tools at my fingertips, and so many events coming through our doors, no client ever asked me to help promote an event.

At this point you may well be thinking, “Why would you have wanted to help them?” or “Why would they have wanted your help?” and maybe those questions are what stopped most of those 1,500 or so event organizers getting in touch. Full story...

Top Five BlackBerry Apps for Meeting Planners

Accessing your email, messaging with BBM, and updating your every move via Facebook or Twitter are all incredibly convenient. But the smartphone got its name for a reason. Blackberry has long been considered the phone for business. Bedouk’s top five apps for Blackberry reflect this smartphone’s professional demeanor while considering the specific technological demands of the average meeting planner. Full story...

QuickMobile White Paper Focuses on Evolution of Mobile Event Applications

Yesterday, QuickMobile released “The Rise of Mobile Event 2.0,” a new white paper that analyzes the evolution of mobile event applications and the benefits they provide for meeting planners, organizers, marketers and attendees. The concept of Mobile Event 2.0 is associated with smartphone and tablet applications that facilitate greater overall participation, information sharing, branded user-centered design, and collaboration at conferences, trade shows and events. Full story...

Google Maps Goes Indoors: Is Your Hotel, Convention Indoor Map on There?

We have all been waiting for this, haven’t we? Google has already mapped every street, store and corner of the globe and now indoor maps are the next logical step. Just imagine, Google men with giant 360 degree cameras on their shoulders will soon be running through your hotel or convention centre to map your indoor space Well not quite! Full story...

The Top 5 Must-Have Apps for the Busy Meeting Planner

These top applications will make any meeting planners’ life much easier! Below are our recommendations for the Top 5 Apps of 2011. 1) Super Planner is just the app for the professional event planner, with a variety of planning tools, including calculators for venue capacity, staffing, catering, staging, projection and dance floor! MPs no longer need to "guestimate" the amount of drinks since this nifty app does that role for them! Full story...

EIBTM Delivers First Full Show Event App

EIBTM has launched its first full show EIBTM Event APP, which has been designed to meet the individual needs of all EIBTM attendees. The app will contain all exhibitor and show information, venue maps and floor plan, a guide to the city of Barcelona and direct links to all social media portals. Full story...

Apps for Conferences and Tradeshows: Vendors and Best Practices

Most of the major conferences and tradeshows have their own iPhone/iPad or Android apps. Those apps are used to give orientation onsite (exhibitor catalogue and interactive maps, seminar and conference overview, MySchedule functionalities), but they are also great to facilitate interaction between exhibitors and attendees as well as among attendees themselves. Some offer games, digital handouts and the ability to exchange contact information. Full story...

How Trade Shows Are Adapting to the Digital Age

Physical trade shows, held over a few days in large exhibition halls, have long been the most effective and efficient way for suppliers to showcase and sell their products to customers. But today, the internet is making it increasingly easy to exchange information and conduct business regardless of physical location. Full story...

Corbin Ball Talks Tech, Trends, and the Future of Meetings

7 Virtual Event Best Practices Every Company Needs to Know

One of the things that I appreciate most about working in the virtual events industry is the level of customization that the technology provides. From profiling and listening tools to game dynamics and user-generated content, virtual events provide more flexibility than event managers could have dreamed of just a decade ago. Full story...

SignUp4 Announces Updated Functionality for Core Meeting Management Products

SignUp4, LLC announced updated functionality for two of their core product lines, the SignUp4 Event Management System (EMS) and Spend Management System (SMS). SignUp4's release highlights for their Spend Management System (SMS) product include: new external approver functionality, new set external approver header page, a new dashboard, a typy search box, new workflow rules and stages page and a budget estimator. Full story...

Hotel Communication Network Introduces New In-Room Technology

Hotel Communication Network (HCN) has introduced newly patented in-room technology for hotels and convention planners. HCN's technology is the first interactive cross-platform information network that interconnects multiple hotels in one city, creating a city-wide communication network for use by the convention community. Full story...

How Google Analytics Can Make You Smarter When Promoting Your Next Event

You spend time and money promoting your events.
But are you sure which channels are actually driving attendance to those events?
Do you know how effective your online marketing efforts are in delivering traffic to your event site?

Get Out of Your Office Chair in 2012: How New Media Adds Value to Business Meetings

Catching up to talk business... during a New Year’s drink, during a meetup at Starbucks, or during a professionally organized business event. Thanks to a strong influence of social media and an increasing workload, the ways in which we connect have changed tremendously. Full story...

EventMobi Launches Mobile Games to Energize, Educate, and Engage

Think events and conferences are no place for fun and games? EventMobi’s GamifyApp™ – the world’s first smartphone-based platform designed for event professionals – challenges that notion by injecting entertainment and healthy competition into events. The GamifyApp allows event planners to build and customize games to enhance the overall attendee experience and solve the common problems they are typically faced with. Full story...

Active Network Launches Business Solutions Division, Announces StarCite Acquisition

Active Network, the leading provider of organization-based cloud computing applications, today announced the launch of its Business Solutions division, creating an end-to-end global ecosystem for the events industry. Powered by a comprehensive suite of technology solutions that meets the needs of events and meetings, the new division connects event suppliers, organizations and attendees. Full story...

Global Planner Sees Technology Driving Top 5 Meeting Trends

Strategic planning, procurement, virtual technology and green issues are reshaping meetings globally. Alise Long, CMM, manager of corporate events and meetings, spoke on how new trends are having an impact. Full story...

Insufficient Bandwidth Can Ruin a Meeting

Nothing derails a meeting faster than inadequate bandwidth that slows the data being sent through a network or modem connection, a tech expert warns. Everything from delayed audio in virtual presentations to the inability to upload conference photographs can occur when planners neglect to ensure that hotels have the necessary bandwidth, said Gregory Van Dyke, senior vice president, global sales and marketing for PSAV, a meetings technology company. Full story...

Trade Show Displays Get Elegant iPad Holders With New Skyline® Tablet Mount

Skyline Exhibits, North America’s leading custom modular trade show exhibit and portable display provider, announces the launch of the Skyline Tablet Mount, a new accessory for trade show displays. Skyline’s Tablet Mount harnesses the amazing new tool for trade show exhibitors – tablet computers - exemplified by the innovative iPad. Full story...

Near Field Communication Continues to Move Into the Meetings Arena

NFC provides simplified wireless data exchange and transactions using mobile devices in proximity to each other, usually no more than a few centimeters apart. It is expected to become a widely used system for payments by smartphone in the U.S. The applications for events are significant. Full story...

Turn Outings Into Professional Networking Opportunities With Sonar

Recently, I took the family out to a pumpkin patch. As my daughter rode off on a guided pony tour, I had some free time on my hands. As I looked around, I saw a few other dads with wandering glances. Because I’m quite “networking oriented,” I wondered what these other dads did for a living and whether we shared any common interests. Full story...

Defining the Term “Hybrid Event”

What is in a name? Unfortunately, when it comes to hybrid events many are not sure yet. A hybrid event occurs when a face-to-face event and a virtual event happen simultaneously to enable two audiences to participate as one. Make sense? Unfortunately, what I see too often is people planning two completely separate events and calling these two completely separate events a hybrid event because they happen on the same dates. Full story...

Event Planning Tools Megalist: All at Your Fingertips…

Lara McCulloch-Carter

Planners are being challenged to work faster, harder, and more efficiently. The past few years have seen a cumulative number of tools created to help us accomplish more. I take great delight when I find a tool that helps my clients and me, so I thought I’d share some of my favorites to make your job easier. Full story...

8 Tips for a Great QR Code Campaign

The QR code, perhaps the most over-hyped, misunderstood, and potentially impactful technology available to marketers today. To help guide your QR campaign, we have pulled together eight tips for a great QR campaign. We see them everywhere. And hear about them constantly. Hype is followed by confusion, leading most to a lifeless campaign, barely worthy for the consumer's ever shrinking attention. Full story...

8 Tips to Enhance the Impact of Using QR Codes at Your Next Event

Recently I’ve been doing a lot of research regarding QR codes. I am really excited about this technology tool, as in my opinion, the possibilities for its use are endless. Last week I published a blog article introducing my first ideas on how to utilize QR (quick response) codes for meetings and events. Interestingly, this article received the greatest number of hits of any blog post I have written since I started my blog in 2009. Full story...

VisitMobile Launches Mobile Concierge

VisitMobile, Inc. is bringing the world of destination travel smartphone apps to a whole new level with the introduction of their Mobile ConciergeTM solution. Mimicking a real destination concierge, Mobile Concierge provides CVBs, DMOs, and BIDs with a customized smartphone app that delivers real-time trusted advice and insider knowledge at the in-destination visitor's point of need. Full story...

Cvent Unveils New Features For Global Strategic Meetings Management Programs

Cvent announced the addition of new globalization features to its Strategic Meetings Management (SMM) technology. With these new features, meeting managers will have the flexible, adaptable technology they need to effectively manage meetings and events across borders and meet the demands of a diverse global marketplace. Full story...

CVB Apps to Help You Plan Your Next Event

CVBs for cities great and small are releasing mobile apps to let visitors easily search for hotels, restaurants, local attractions, and upcoming events. Download any one of these free apps to get started planning. Full story...

NanoLumens' Flex Display Technology Named 2011 Breakthrough Technology of the Year

Following on the heels of the market introduction of an expanded line of its NanoLumens Flex LED displays, NanoLumens today announced that it has received the 2011 American Technology Award in the category of Breakthrough Technology from the TechAmerica Foundation, handily defeating Microsoft’s Kinect device. The awards were presented in June at the ninth annual TechAmerica Foundation Technology and Government Dinner. Full story...

Smartphones at Meetings: The Way to Engage Attendees Now

Interactive technology at events is changing by the minute, so writing an article about the latest and greatest is risky at best. But we’ll give it a go, with the help of André Mika, senior vice president, digital creative, at event marketing agency TBA Global. Hot at the moment? Location-based services and QR codes. Full story...

Four Things All Event Planners Could Learn From TED

TED has a well-deserved reputation not only as a home for big ideas and great networking, but as an exceptional production. Everything from the stage lighting to the program guide is carefully crafted to optimize the experience they want to provide attendees. While much of the magic is in the arrangement of elements, there are some strategies that they’ve employed over the years that any conference or event planner can learn from. Full story...

Experient Introduces Registration Solution for Limited Budgets

Experient, the source for integrated meeting and event solutions, announces Essential™, a full-service, turn-key registration system that offers events of all sizes a quick and affordable registration solution. Built on the Experient EventXL™ system that powers the largest events in the country, Essential provides configurability and the unparalleled DecisionPoint™ reporting dashboard. Full story...

New Note-taking Tool Changes How Audio is Viewed

Just released: version 2.4 of Audio Notetaker, the note-taking tool with a difference. Audio Notetaker’s alternative approach to note taking makes creating comprehensive notes a simple and time-efficient process, requiring very little user input. Full story...

Meeting Planners Can “Remember Everything” With Evernote

On the go and forgot that brilliant idea you just had about your upcoming meeting or event? Read a great online article the other day about how to calculate the value of your meeting and now can’t recall that informative website? Take note meeting planners or should we say, take Evernote everywhere your life takes you and never forget anything again. Full story...

New SwankDraw iPad App Is Loaded With Exciting Meeting Room Design Capabilities

The days of sketching the layout for a meeting or event on the back of a notepad or cocktail napkin are over with the debut of SwankDraw by Swank Audio Visuals. SwankDraw is a proprietary, innovative iPad-based application that allows room designs to be created and “built” on the fly by Swank’s teams. Swank’s customers and hotel partners will get an immediate visual of optional looks and layouts for upcoming events. Full story...