Posts Categorized: Meetings Technology

kchopson

Tech Tuesday: Put Your Contracts in the Cloud!

Nobody writes contracts like meeting planners. For any given conference, there can be dozen of contracts. These contracts are usually lengthy and quite detailed. Often these contracts are emailed or even faxed(!) to the signing party. This party then signs, copies and then scans or faxes back to the other party for countersigning – and the process repeats. This simple signing process consumes many hours for any given show. Given that meeting planners are usually strapped for time, doesn’t this seem like an easy area to improve? Fortunately, there is great software in the marketplace for making the contracts process... Read more »

Please Disrupt: Part 1

The events and meeting industry is begging to be disrupted. There are too many antiquated processes and too little tech solutions out there. Sure we’ve got event apps to replace paper programs, but the skeleton of a conference remains the same. Attendees register. Attendees book travel arrangements. Attendees arrive. Attendees attend education sessions. Attendees attend receptions. Attendees go home. Lather. Rinse. Repeat. Although attendance appears to be on the rise as companies begin to understand the benefits of face to face meetings, the experience is stale. With that in mind, here’s a list of tech and processes that could use... Read more »

kchopson

How to Use Online Trade Show and Exhibitor Management Software

Trade Show & Exhibitor Management Software

Did you know there is an easy way to drive trade show revenue, dramatically cut labor and paper costs, while at the same time marketing your exhibitors to your attendees? This great technology uses an interactive trade show floor map to achieve all these amazing results. Here are some of the features of such software. For the Exhibitor The software produces a floor map of your show online with all the tables and booths. For booths that are available for purchase, exhibitors can simply click on the booth and buy on the spot. Anybody can see the list of current... Read more »

Best Practices: Live Tweeting at a Conference

Have you ever sat in an education session listening contently to the speaker, but you watch out of the corner of your eye a colleague with his face in his phone? Chances are he’s either responding to a work email or he’s live tweeting. Live tweeting education sessions at a conference has steadily increased with the availability of smartphone’s and free conference wi-fi. Live tweeting can be a great way to keep notes during a session, share information with your peers and colleagues, favorite other live-tweeters for information you may have missed, and network with other live tweeters at the conference.... Read more »

Rebel Roundup: Millenial Travel, Government Conferences, CIC Hall of Leaders

This week’s rebel round-up includes articles about Millenial travelers, Government conferences, James Beard winner,and CIC Hall of Leaders Inductees!  Enjoy! The Rise of the Millennial All-Inclusive Traveler – Greg Oates for Skift (@GregOates) Feds Ease Up on Conference Restrictions for Government Employees – Successful Meetings (@SuccessfulMtgs) 2015 James Beard Award Winners: New York’s Bâtard Named Best New Restaurant – Forbes Life (@ForbesLife) Convention Industry Council Names 2015 Hall of Leaders Inductees, Pacesetter Award Winners – TSNN (@TSNN_com_US) How to Track the Mood of Your Meeting – PCMA (@pcmahq) Study says event planners downplay the destination – Travel Weekly (@TravelWeekly) See you next week with more interesting articles for the event... Read more »

Tech Tuesday: The Future of Event Websites – No Coding Necessary

Event Rebels Tech Tuesday

Your event website can make or break your event registration. As the first line of offense when attracting attendance, your website is necessary to provide up to date information on your event, answers to frequently asked questions, and all the minor details one needs to know when deciding to attend your event like hotel, transportation, and the schedule of events. One of the biggest issues I encountered when working for an association was creating and editing our website. We just didn’t have the level of coding skill necessary. Even making basic changes required sending a request to our IT department.... Read more »

Tech Tuesday: Online Event Staffing Solution – Werkly

Event Rebels Tech Tuesday

Why isn’t there an easy way to staff your events using your network of friends, family, and peers? Well, it turns out, there is. Werkly was launched in December 2014 in New Orleans and is currently utilizing partnerships with event and catering companies to hire workers. Werkly operates completely online as a marketplace to hire local workers. As a worker you can sign up for the site and post your specific set of skills, focusing on events, concerts, and hospitality. You can post your availability and accept jobs as they come. “I have been a freelancer working in production since I... Read more »

Rebel Roundup: Hotel Brand Boom, Skype for Business, Cyber Security Threats

This week’s rebel round-up includes articles about CEIR and SISO research, new hotel brand boom, Skype for business, and cyber security threats!  Enjoy! Behind the Boom of New Hotel Brands From Major Chains -Scott Mayerowitz for Skift (@Skift) Skype For Business Begins Rolling Out Publicly – Sarah Perez for TechCrunch (@sarahintampa) Travel gadgets of the past that could have revolutionized travel, but didn’t – Mashable (@Mashable) CEIR, SISO Unveil 2015 Young Professional Exhibitor Needs and Preferences Study – TSNN (@TSNN_com_US) Finally, the business meeting gets some respect – Bill McDermott for CNBC (@BillRMcDermott) The Serious Cyber Security Threat That Could Hurt Hotels – PCMA (@pcmahq) See you next week with more interesting articles for... Read more »

kchopson

A Better Way to Manage Conference Certifications

Event Rebels Tech Tuesday

Have you seen this way of tracking CEUs at a conference before? The first step is to print out sign in sheets, possibly pre-populated with attendee names. The next step is throughout the conference placing the sheets in the appropriate rooms before the workshop and then picking them up after each session. After the show the show organizers get to back to the office and collate the signatures with the registration, membership, and CEU systems. This should only take a few days if you are lucky. Finally, you have to pull this data together and somehow get the certificates to... Read more »

Rebel Roundup: DMAI DestinationNEXT, TSA Pre-Check, RNC

This week’s rebel round-up includes articles about DMAI’s DestinationNEXT research, customizing the event experience, TSA Pre-Check, Delta Airlines, RNC, and F&B Trends!  Enjoy! The Impact of DMAI’s DestinationNEXT Research on the Meetings Industry – Greg Oates (@GregOates) 4 Ways to Customize the Event Experience – BizBash (@BizBash) TSA tightens Pre-Check rules. Here’s how to stay on the list – Road Warrior Voices (@USATODAYtravel) Delta Makes Its ‘20 Minutes or Less’ Luggage Guarantee Permanent – Yahoo Travel (@YahooTravel) RNC to leave Cleveland better Internet and wi-fi links – Tom Beres for WKYC-TV (@TomBeres) Will These F&B Trends Take Over Conferences In 2015? – PCMA (@pcmahq) See you next week with more interesting articles for the event and meeting industry! Follow... Read more »

Tech Tuesday: Is your event ready for Primetime?

Event Rebels Tech Tuesday

Blue Jeans Primetime is a new interactive online events service that connects thousands of participants through large-scale broadcasting and video collaboration. Blue Jeans Primetime is the only large event platform that gives multiple presenters the power to engage with thousands of viewers, and promote any of these viewers to active participants in real time. “The way online events and broadcasts are done today, you have a massive barrier separating viewers and presenters, making the thousands of people who aren’t part of the conversation essentially invisible,” said Stu Aaron, CCO at Blue Jeans Network. “When we met with our customers, we... Read more »

kchopson

Mobile Monday: ORI and EventRebels Announce Partnership to Provide New Seamless Event Analytics Solution

Event Rebels Mobile Monday

Herndon, Va. – April 9, 2015 – ORI, a market research and strategic business intelligence firm, and EventRebels, a leading provider of online registration, mobile and web software for conferences and trade shows, today announced a partnership that will enable them to offer meeting and event planners a new seamless event analytics solution to mine smarter and more actionable insights from attendee registration data and post-event evaluations. On the front end of this solution, EventRebels’ ER Online registration product for conferences and trade shows aggregates and breaks down demographics and other important data on attendees to help event organizers better... Read more »

Rebel Roundup: Event App Trends, Trade Show Big Data, Event Tech Evolution

This week’s rebel round-up includes articles about Flight-Booking Hacks, Event Tech Evolution, Killer Presentations, Event Mobile App Trends, and Big Data for Trade Shows!  Enjoy! 12 Flight-Booking Hacks to Save You a Ton of Money On Airfare – Thrillist via Sophie-Claire Hoeller (@SoHoStyle) The Evolution of Event Technology: What Has Changed Since 2000? – BizBash (@BizBash) How To Give a Killer Presentation Your Audience Won’t Forget – Sli.do via Juraj Holub (@Juraj_Holub) Society of Government Meeting Professionals Moves to Virtual HQ – Successful Meetings (@SuccessfulMtgs) 5 Trends in Event Mobile Apps [Infographic] – Event Manager Blog (@EventMB) 3 Facts About Big Data That Every Trade Show Organizer Should Know – PCMA (@pcmahq) See... Read more »

Improving Your Events with Technology and Nostalgia

Event Rebels Tech Tuesday

Marketers have been using nostalgia for generations, utilizing old commercials and logos to help connect multi-generational fans and buyers. As most people experience nostalgia at least once a week (and nearly half experience it at three to four times that amount), modern marketers have quickly learned to harness the power of social media to accelerate the impact of nostalgia to drive their event campaigns. One application of nostalgia in our daily lives is Throwback Thursday, a campaign which began on various social media platforms in 2006. To put this trend into perspective, as of May 2014, the hashtag #TBT had... Read more »

Rebel Roundup: Amazon, Airbnb, AIPAC, American/US Airways Merger

This week’s rebel round-up includes articles about Amazon, AIPAC, Productivity Hacks, American/US Airways Merger, Airbnb, and Waste Audits!  Enjoy! Is Amazon About To Disrupt The Hotel Industry? – PCMA (@PCMAhq) How a Conference Used Innovative Design to Serve Delegates – BizBash (@BizBash) 7 Productivity Hacks for Event Planners – Event Manager Blog (@EventMB) 9 things frequent fliers need to know about upcoming American/US Airways merger – Road Warrior Voices (@USATODAYtravel) 8 Steps to Improve Your Event With a Waste Audit – Event Manager Blog (@EventMB) Airbnb’s Revenues Will Cross Half Billion Mark in 2015, Analysts Estimate – Skift via Rafat Ali (@rafat) See you next week with more interesting articles for the event and... Read more »

kchopson

Mobile Monday: Google Will Rate Your Mobile Friendly Website Higher

Event Rebels Mobile Monday

In one of the biggest changes ever to happen to Google’s search ranking algorithm, the behemoth announced that websites that are “mobile friendly” will rate higher than those that are not designed for mobile devices. This change is sure to cause much consternation in organizations that have spent much time “optimizing” their web site for Google. The good news is this change only effects people who are searching via a mobile device, and certainly does not mean that the current ranking system is altogether obsolete. It’s more of a tweak to make sure mobile searchers will be lead to a... Read more »

Mobile Monday: Lessons From TED

Event Rebels Mobile Monday

Last week, in Vancouver, was TED’s annual conference; aptly themed “Truth and Dare” this year. I read a great article this morning from BizBash called “TED Conference Photos: 18 Steal-Worthy Ideas to Inspire Attendees,” which got me thinking. It’s one thing to steal an idea to use at your conference, but what about stealing an idea from TED that could be used year round? TED does something really well in the mobile world that I’m surprised has not yet been adopted by other conferences. With their TED talks app they share their education year round to inspire their users on... Read more »

Rebel Roundup: Apple, TED, Wi-Fi, Disney Magic Bands, and Marriott

This week’s rebel round-up includes articles about Apple, TED, Wi-Fi, Disney Magic Bands, and Marriott’s new digital travel magazine!  Enjoy! How Apple Is Changing The Attendee Hotel Experience – PCMA (@PCMAhq) TED Conference Photos: 18 Steal-Worthy Ideas to Inspire Attendees – BizBash (@BizBash) New Attendee Acquisition Benchmarks and Practices Study Released – TSNN (@TSNN_com_US) We can finally figure out real Wi-Fi speeds of hotels before we decide where to stay – Road Warrior Voices (@USATODAYtravel) Disney’s $1 Billion Bet On A Magical Wristband – Wired (@Wired) Behind Today’s Launch of Marriott’s New Digital Travel Magazine – Skift via Greg Oates (@gregoates) See you next week with more interesting articles for the event... Read more »

Tech Tuesday: Meerkat Explodes At SXSW

Event Rebels Tech Tuesday

“We’ve seen a lot of people taking it to conferences, streaming to more than 1200 people. Have you ever held your phone with 1200 people watching?” said Ben Rubin, CEO of Meerkat, the live video tweet app that has taken SXSW by storm. Meerkat lets users live-stream video over Twitter and interact with followers who are watching. “The mission of the app is to get live video to travel in the speed of tweets,” Meerkat CEO Ben Rubin said in an interview with USA TODAY broadcast over the app. Meerkat’s popularity is more proof that attendees of events and conferences... Read more »

Rebel Roundup: Great Ideas, Event Design, Hotel Perks & Fees

This week’s rebel round-up includes articles about Great Ideas, Event Design, Hotel Perks, and Hotel Fees!  Enjoy! 4 Great Meeting Ideas From Great Ideas – Associations Now (@AssociationsNow) What Event Pros Don’t Know About Event Design – BizBash (@BizBash) Catersource and Event Solutions Announces Winners of Prestigious Industry Awards – Event Solutions (@EventSolutions) The best new hotel perks for 2015 – Road Warrior Voices (@USATODAYtravel) Marketers’ Tastes In Social Media Are Changing – Forbes (@Forbes) Top Hotel CEOs Say the Industry Won’t Copy Airlines With Fee Frenzy – Skift via Samantha Shankman (@samshankman) See you next week with more interesting articles for the event and meeting industry! Follow us on twitter for more... Read more »

Design Rebel: Industrial Cool

Design Rebel Square Logo

At EventRebels, we believe in the power of event design and its ability to transform attendees’ minds, as well as achieve our event goals and objectives. One of the hottest design trends is “Industrial Cool.” Although you may not have heard that term before, we’ve all seen it. Rustic materials, industrial accents and simplicity are all design trends that have burst onto the scene in 2015, and it’s no surprise that events, trade show booths, and conferences  have begun to incorporate them as well. A lot of popular new venues have taken advantage of their clean industrial look and have kept... Read more »

Rebel Roundup: Location Tech, CMPs, Content Marketing, Exhibition Industry Growth

This week’s rebel round-up includes articles about Location Tech, New CMPs, Exhibition Industry Growth, and Content Marketing!  Enjoy! This Year’s SXSW Will Be A Staging Ground For Location Technology – BuzzFeed News (@BuzzFeedNews) CIC Announces First Quarter 2015 CMP Class – Convention Industry Council (@convindustry) Overall Exhibition Industry Grew 1.7% Marking the 18th Quarter of Consecutive Growth – Center for Exhibition Industry Research The incredible consolidating travel industry – USA Today (@USATODAY) Is Your Event Data Secure? – Trade Show News Network (@TSNN_com_US) The Meetings Industry Turns to Content Marketing to Get Ahead – Skift via Greg Oates (@gregoates) See you next week with more interesting articles for the event and... Read more »

kchopson

Tech Tuesday: What 3D Projection Mapping Can Do For Your Event

Event Rebels Tech Tuesday

One of the most amazing technologies to hit the world of events and entertainment the last few years is that of 3D projection mapping. In short, this technology can take anything and turn it into a surface for video. What makes 3D projection unique is that those backgrounds are not your classic movie screens, but can be irregularly shaped objects like buildings or even bridges. The general technique is to take the target image and create a “virtual map” of the object. Projectors and specialized software can then take this map and create an object with a new identity. A... Read more »

Mobile Monday: Attendees as Participants

Event Rebels Mobile Monday

As we continue to explore new engagement offerings for our attendees, it’s important to begin making a distinction between what an attendee and a participant is. While attendees in the past may have had a passive role at an event or conference, participants want to be involved and they consider themselves stakeholders. Crowdsourcing is a buzzword that is thrown around often when discussing participants in the event and meeting process. It will be interesting to see when an industry association like PCMA or MPI is willing to take the bullet and attempt a crowdsourced conference. The combination of social media and... Read more »

Rebel Roundup: AV Trends, Biz Traveler Apps, Beacons, and Fingerprinting

This week’s rebel round-up includes articles about AV trends, Business Traveler Apps, Beacons, and Fingerprinting!  Enjoy! Audio Visual Trends to Watch in 2015 – Global Experience Specialists (@GESGlobal) 5 Mobile Spas to Book For Meetings and Events – BizBash (@bizbash) 5 Amazing Apps for Business Travelers – Fox News (@kimkomando) Beacons Guide the Way for Event Organizers and Attendees – Trade Show News Network (@TSNN_com_US) Is Fingerprinting The Next Step In Travel Security? – Travel Pulse (@travelpulse) Behind the Surging Comeback of the Detroit Meetings Market – Greg Oates (@gregoates) See you next week with more interesting articles for the event and meeting industry! Follow us on twitter for more articles... Read more »