Meetings in Your Hand
Planning and connecting at your fingertips
Compassion International’s Dan Wooley found himself covered by the rubble of the Hotel Montana in Port-au-Prince following the devastating Haiti earthquake in January. Wooley was rescued 65 hours later. He stayed alive by using apps on his iPhone.
While they may not save your life, mobile applications could save your event. From the passive — a hashtag on Twitter for attendees already engaging in the social network — to creating a custom app for your event, applications are redefining how events are planned, the attendee experience and the ongoing conversation.
Not everyone at your event has a smartphone, but connecting with those who do has become a must. Take advantage of the fact that attendees bring their own device to events: Use them to implement audience response technology or other communication and engagement tools.
Custom applications have become an affordable option for conventions. You can have a custom app created by one of hundreds of mobile application developers, or use applications already created with meetings and tradeshows in mind, and then customized to your event. ChirpE by a2z, one such example, won a Trade Show Executive 2009 Innovation Award. The application has event maps, floor plans, program schedules and an exhibitor list, and integrates social media into one place. “Buzz” text messages can be sent through the app to alert attendees of schedule updates, promotions or important reminders.
FollowMe, created by Core-Apps, was used at the 2010 International CES, the world’s largest consumer technology tradeshow. It integrates with Twitter, sends notifications and alerts, and allows attendees to add sessions and events to a personal schedule, read speaker and exhibitor profiles, star who they want to see on the tradeshow floor and download brochures from exhibitors. The GPS exhibit hall mapping tool allows exhibitors to offer promotions to attendees as they walk by.
Macro View Labs Custom App
VisionTree Conference is accessible through a personal mobile device or one provided by the developer. VisionTree has much of the same functionality as other apps — exhibitor listings, floor plans, messages and agendas — and adds mobile surveys, the ability to ask questions during a session and business card exchange.
MacroViewLabs creates custom apps for hotels, airports, cities and attractions, so its custom event app incorporates area and hotel information, as well as the custom content needed for the event, including GPS maps, ratings and reviews, meetings schedules, speaker information and PDF downloads.
“We host the content but give you access,” explains Keith Michel, co-founder and CTO. “It is a loose and dynamic app. It can be updated every hour to provide content specific to the event.”
Current mobile technology enhances the attendee experience a great deal. Programs, handouts and other paperwork have become almost unnecessary; the conversation surrounding the event can be ongoing; and this is just the beginning. As Wooley (@webguydan) tweeted on Jan. 29, “Used iPhone 2 help poor children around world & 2 stay alive in Haiti earthquake. What could I do w/ iPad?” Meeting and event techies have the same question.
— Jennifer Garrett
Websites worth visiting:
[...] Rejuvenate Meetings » Meetings in your hand [...]