Column: Tech Support

Making information systems work for you

12 Meeting Tech Trends

By Corbin Ball, CMP, CSP

Technology continues to advance at exponential rates and is changing the face of the events industry in astonishing ways. We will see many developments in the next few years, including the following.

    1. Web 2.0 (the participatory Web) will change the events industry in several seemingly subtle ways, but with an overall profound impact. Elements of Web 2.0 include wikis, RSS newsfeeds, blogs and virtual meeting tools.

2. Wireless broadband Internet access is becoming more widespread with Wi-Fi hotspots, WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access—coming this year), ED-VO (mobile phone broadband), Edge (mobile phone broadband), UWB (ultra-wide band) wireless networks, mesh networks and others. Hundreds of cities worldwide are developing municipal wireless broadband networks. Meeting planners, exhibitors and attendees are business travelers and will be comparative early adopters of these technologies.

3. With wireless broadband enabling them, many mobile applications are being developed using mobile phones and other handheld devices which will have direct meeting and travel applications. Log-On (www.log-on.nl) uses mobile phones to provide a range of trade show and event applications for attendees including the conference agenda, exhibit product directories, event feedback and surveys, SMS audience polling, group announcements, networking capabilities, travel information and more. FoneKey (www.fonekey.net) will allow travelers to use mobile phones for hotel checkin/checkout and as the guest room key. Nokia and other mobile providers are developing Mobile Augmented Reality Applications (MARA - http://research.nokia.com/research/projects/mara/index.html) for advanced geo-position guidance, location finding, sales and more. MARA has enormous potential for destinations to guide convention goers, business travelers and leisure visitors in their cities.

4. VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) uses the Internet to make phone calls around the world at little or no cost and will assist business travelers and meeting professionals. VoIP calls can be more easily linked with data management and customer relationship management systems to better serve client needs. This change will happen for both wired and mobile phones. You will be able to send and receive VoIP calls on your mobile phone, and your notebook computer will be able to emulate and serve as your office phone on the road simply by connecting to a broadband network.

5. HDTV (high-definition television) is scheduled to become the U.S. broadcast standard in 2009 with significant global impact. This is pushing the technology limits in many ways for processing, storage, bandwidth, video recording/editing and more. One of the impacts will be the improvement of the quality of videoconferencing. Telepresence companies, such as Teleportec (www.teleportec.com), will have the potential to develop a substantially more lifelike face-to-face virtual meeting experience.

6. In related developments, as flat-panel screen prices continue to plummet, electronic signage will be used much more broadly for venues, eliminating much of the sign-clutter seen at many large meetings. Also, multipurpose kiosks using wireless broadband and flat-panel screens will expand their capabilities as virtual concierges. Check into a hotel at the airport, check into the airport at a hotel/convention center, book restaurant seating, buy museum/attraction tickets—these are just a few examples of the capabilities.

7. RFID (radio frequency identification), the barcode of the future, will provide many events-related applications including lead retrieval, access verification, attendance tracking, catering count verification, automated cyber cafe login, exhibit hall flow analysis and more in the next few years, despite privacy concerns (see www.boycottgillette.com as an example of the case against “spy chips”).

8. Continued progress will be made toward APEX standards moving to electronic data interchange in 2007 and 2008. This ultimately will have a very significant impact on the events industry. Although this is a North American initiative, the global need for industry standards is vast, and the work toward APEX could be a good framework to build this. The reduction of the rote tasks of entering, re-entering and proofing re-entries of meeting specifications data promises increased planning efficiencies.

9. Online booking of meeting space and group travel will continue to evolve, especially for small, corporate meetings. Products such as OnVantage/StarCite’s EasyBook (http://onvantage.entercomm.com) and offerings from the major hotel chains will push procurement to new levels, speed the booking time, cut costs and drive the need for pre-arranged contract standardization.

10. Procurement and strategic meetings management programs will drive more purchasing decisions, especially for large corporations. Combined meetings consolidation/attendee management software will save large companies millions of dollars annually due to increased efficiency, reduced liability exposure and better buying leverage, all due to more accurate knowledge of actual meeting spend from previous years. Meetings consolidation products include StarCite/OnVantage (www.starcite.com), Arcaneo (www.arcaneo.com) and several third-party events companies.

11. Matchmaking programs, popular in the singles scene, will continue to work their way into the meetings arena to bring people of like interests together. This includes Web-based products such as IntroNetworks (www.intronetworks.com), Leverage Software (www.leveragesoftware.com), BDMetrics (www.bdmetrics.com) and NetworkingMatch (www.networkingmatch.com); proprietary handheld products such as SpotMe (www.spotme.com) and nTAG (www.ntag.com); and mobile devices. One good contact at a meeting can often pay for the price of the entire trip. Using these technologies to help people connect can increase the value of an event significantly.

12. Although face-to-face meetings will remain vital as a means of education, networking and relationship building, virtual meetings will play a role. Web casts for mobile devices will be available via video podcasts. Web conferences and advanced videoconferencing will serve to connect people at low cost regardless of their physical locations. In general, they are ideally suited for short (30 minutes or less), concise information exchanges and training.
    
    We are living in exciting times. These technological developments are just a few in the digital revolution that will help meeting professionals work faster, better and cheaper, while aiding personalization in the interactions between planners, suppliers and attendees.

CORBIN BALL, CMP, CSP, is a professional speaker and consultant focusing on meetings industry technology. He can be contacted through his Web site at www.corbinball.com.