Telepresence

The increase numbers of user preferring to attend virtual meeting nowadays is reasonably high. According to MPI Hybrid meeting Survey, three mains reasons behind the preferences regarding typical meeting and event organising lay on travel budget, cannot be out of the office and cost of event. Several choices of virtual tools are in trend such as webcasting, webinar, web conference, video Conference and most interesting and complex one here is telepresence.

Telepresence is perceived as useful tool not only for the business industry but environmentally friendly (decreasing carbon footprint and air pollution). Moreover, it creates human experience of being fully present, enabling all parties to connect to one another on demand, enhancing more channels of communication as well as facial expressions and other body language.

Digital Video Enterprise (DVE) is global company which presently provide telepresence targeting wide range of users as followed:

Ø  University Education

Ø  Healthcare

Ø  Judicial and legal

Ø  Government

Ø  Corporate training

Ø  Manufacturing and Industry

Ø  Business Communication

Ø  Public access

Ø  Events and Conferences

Ø  The total telepresence corporation

Ø  File and Television Studios

Innovative and potential products offered are such as Immersion room/podium, Transparent Augmented Reality Telepresence, 3D Transparent Display, Telepresence Array Room, and Eye Contact Silhouette.

This transition is extraordinary. New experience is ready to be created with this high technology that will connect the world together as one. No more wasting time on the plane and same style of meeting, global reach, less lead time to organize the event, higher flexibility on time management, and records provided. Using high technology for your meeting/event is claimed to also increase your professional, reputation and prestige in the eye of the world. On one hand, undeniably it seems to be more profitable than the lost for all parties. It is yet thinkable as well that with this high technology, the cost of service is still quiet high. For example, DVE: $150,000 / Rental Rooms: $299-$899/hour and up. Other related companies are such as Cisco Telepresence: $300,000, HP Halo: $349,000, and Teleportec: $30,000 per installation.

According to the prices and target markets mentioned above, it demonstrates the main users to be in top level of management and international type of company where the price is not their sensitivity. Price reduction in order to reach lower level of management as well as increase number of users could be possible eventually. The question here is that what percentage of usage that actually use this complex tool and guarantee that they increase their profits and revenues after all. Apart from that sort of downside, it is agreeable that soon enough in the meeting and event industry, this great assistance will gradually take over human roles, no matter how important face to face interaction is.

Marion and Rosie

 

 

 

Sources: cisco.com/telepresence

dvetelepresence.com

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telepresence

www.corbinball.com/assets/skema-2.pdf

http://www.itbusinessedge.com/cm/community/features/articles/blog/telepresence-makes-its-presence-felt/?cs=32843

Trends in the Event App Industry: Multi-Event Apps

 According to Nielson, in America alone, smart phone ownership reached 54.9% in mid 2012.  Today, 2 out of 3 Americans who buy a new phone purchase a smart phone.    These technology trends are playing a major role in the ever evolving nature of events.  Apps that are used by either planners or attendees (or both) have become a common element in event planning and execution.  Sometimes, attendees may even expect an event to integrate apps.  Event apps are still relatively new, however, so planners are discovering how to include them in an effective and efficient way.  

An article in Event Industry News reports GenieMobile’s predictions for the event app industry in 2013.  Michaels Douglas, Operations Director at Genie Mobile, says they believe that apps will become a normal event element.  They also see trends towards multi-event apps and increased demand for ROI.  Below is a summary of the entire list of predictions for 2013:

1.Platforms will need to be compatible with web and tablets

2.Apps will become a normal event element

3.Greater focus on ROI

4.Rise in use of multi-event apps

5.App vendors will have to deliver higher quality products

6.Customers will use information collected from apps to plan future events

7.Customers will look for one supplier for apps services instead of multiple

8.Customers will need to create content with differences between smart phones and tablets

9.Augmented reality will replace QR codes

10.Show floor tracking for understanding participant movement

Obviously, staying updated on trends in the event app industry will be crucial for planners this year.  It will help them keep up with the rest of the industry and provide a better product to all involved.  It is important that event planners and their clients are aware of attendees’ demand for more technology integration during events in order to ensure ease and satisfaction.  They also need to know what kinds of devices their attendees prefer and how they are using them.  In addition, planners must be aware of new tools that are being developed to make app creation, use, and measurement of ROI easier.

Quickmobile makes this possible with the development of SnapApp.  This application allows planners to manage event content and supply attendees with a down-loadable app- all within one platform.  First, Quickmobile designs a master app for the client, with all of their needs in mind.  Next, the client and their staff are given access to the content management system and are able to customize apps for particular events.  Finally, event attendees download the master app and log in in for access to their event’s app.

This multi-event technology helps companies save time and money that would otherwise be spent on creating individual apps for each event from scratch.  It’s easy to use (perfect for companies without programming expertise or money to pay for it)  and attendees can even use it to create content.  Possible interactive content include photo contests, polls, sweepstakes, and personality contests.  

Apps may reduce attendee confusion during the event as well.   It is difficult for attendees to navigate the official event website on their smart phones through normal search engines.  Providing a well-designed app with all of the important information they might need for the event provides convenience and will, in effect, increase attendee satisfaction.  

Then, there’s the common concern of ROI.  With SnapApp, attendees are able to share content through the app on various social media sites.  The app then allows the company to view their performance analytics based on these activities.  There are still doubts about the accuracy of measuring ROI from apps.  At the moment, implementing best practices for measurement is necessary.  Observing the amount of attendee activity and use of the app, along with the amount of “likes” and “shares” will give the planner or client an idea of the effectiveness its effectiveness.


Contributed by Ludell Maggard and Yumeng Xie

           Article: Parry, A.  (2013).  Top ten predictions for the event app industry in 2012.  Retrieved from http://www.eventindustrynews.co.uk/2013/01/top-10-predictions-for-the-event-app-industry-in-2013/?doing_wp_cron=1359627817.1960639953613281250000#sthash.M2rVTY2j.JdNAbRbd.dpbs

          Other sources:

http://www.quickmobile.com/snapapp

http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/online_mobile/two-thirds-of-new-mobile-buyers-now-opting-for-smartphones/

http://www.hubspot.com/blog/bid/33644/SnapApp-Helps-You-Launch-Interactive-Promotions-now-in-the-HubSpot-Marketplace

Key words: event apps, event IT trends, multi-event apps, event industry

How new technology revolutionizes the MICE industry 2: BlackBerry to overcome the deficit?

A short follow- up to our last month´s blog about the usefulness of the iPad for the event industry...

Despite the crisis RIM (BlackBerry manufacturer) has been facing in the last year it came up with a new tablet computer- the BlackBerry PlayBook. It is the company´s equivalent to the iPad but offers some additional features which could make it a serious competitor for the iPad in the Event industry.

You can not only create and edit presentations on your PlayBook but you can also plug it in to a monitor and remote control it from your Blackberry phone. This allows you to add slides to the presentation directly from your phone. In the same way you can change the colour and the theme of the presentation… and everything within only a few minutes, but find out yourself:

BlackBerry also developed an innovative concept to share documents in meetings. The PlayBook is able to sense where other PlayBooks are in the room and makes it possible to share files between different PlayBooks. With the PlayBook paper hand-outs will be a thing of the past. Check it out:

Another feature that could be very useful to event planners is the PlayBook calendar. It gives users a very clear overview of their day. It shows them when they have a meeting and with whom. As event planners are usually quite busy people who meet a lot of other people they tend to forget what they once knew about these people. Therefore the BlackBerry PlayBook does not only show the contact details of the person you are meeting with but also links you to the person´s latest updates on twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. Check it out:

As others have already blogged about the opportunities coming up with the Near Field communication (NFC) we only want to say that BlackBerry has already integrated several functions into their devices. You can for example hold your phone to a touch point or advert and it will link you directly to a website or a voucher for a free coffee. It could be used for conventions and exhibitions for example. RIM (Blackberry) is developing it further every day so it is worth keeping up with the news.

And here comes the best thing about it:

It is a lot cheaper than the iPhone. In our opinion iPads are more a fashion device that everyone wants and it probably offers more applications (including games etc.) than the Playbook, but for a business person or a company a Playbook can make more sense concerning both price and functionality. What is your opinion on that?

We think it´s worth signing up for a YouTube account and keeping an eye on the further development…

Source: http://uk.blackberry.com/playbook-tablet/features-work.jsp

http://tydwy.wordpress.com/2012/03/02/playbook-concepts-presentations-on-the-go/

http://tydwy.wordpress.com/2012/03/02/playbook-concepts-document-sharing-in-meetings/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7jQmhzEsTk&feature=youtu.be

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTb0niSSGDI&feature=youtu.be

The iPad and other tablets- how new technology revolutionizes the event industry

The mobile industry has changed the way how people are communicating, trading and doing businesses with each other. This industry constantly adapts to or triggers new trends in the market. It brought many innovations that (amongst others) facilitated traditional operations at Events and Trade shows. The time where attendees and exhibitors brought notepads and pens to the event has long gone. Even heavy notebooks have been left behind at offices in the last years as more convenient solutions appeared on the market.

The company Apple with it´ s innovative products such as the iPhone, the iPod and the iPad has contributed to the fast development of this industry.

The iPad for example enjoys great popularity in the event industry since its release in April 2010. A new version of it, the iPad3, is going to be released in only a week (March 7). Therefore we dedicate this month´s blog to the iPad and discuss its usefulness for the events industry.

As commonly known the iPad is a small tablet computer with a touch screen (24.5 cm). Compared to the iPhone no phone calls can be made with it but it has a larger screen with a high resolution (even double as high for the iPad3!) and thus offers great opportunities for event planners, speakers, visitors and other members of the industry. Its lightness invites users to take it with them wherever they go. The examples listed below explain in which way the iPad can facilitate operations in the events industry:

The problem	The solution
The conference program is being updated regularly. So it happens quite often that people print out the program on one day and have to throw it away the next day when it is already outdated. Considering the fact that it is a big document and will be thrown away after the event at latest one might consider it a waste of natural resources (wood, paper) and money. Besides, the conference program is quite heavy so that no one is keen on carrying it round during the event.	Attempts to solve this problem via the use of smart phones have been successful: Nowadays the conference program can be downloaded with the help of applications. However, the small screen of the iPhone limits its usefulness. With the iPad you can not only get access to the conference program but you can also benefit from links (to handouts or  information about the speakers, issues, other events) and videos (of speeches and slides) (www.quickmobile.com)
Handouts and course notes help attendees to remember what they learned during the event. To preserve the environment, however, they are no longer used for events or are only distributed in form of a pdf.	With the iPad participants can download these handouts to their iPads before the event starts. During the events they can take notes with it and store or share the files. The annotation tool iAnnotate enables this function (http://www.ajidev.com/iannotate).
Those of you who have already conducted a survey know that it can be quite annoying to run around with a clipboard and a pen hunting for people who are willing to give their opinion. Usually a large pile of questionnaires has to be completed and some papers fall off your hand when you´re busy. Besides, it takes for ages until you put all the data onto your computer where it is finally processed and interpreted.	Clipboards and questionnaires can be replaced by the iPad. The screen is almost as big as an ordinary page of a questionnaire and you can conduct as many surveys as you want without having to deal with a large pile of paper. The data will be stored at the same time it is entered. With the appropriate software it can be analyzed right after the survey was conducted. (http://surveyanalytics.com)
In former times attendees were bound to the booth of the exhibitor to get information and see demonstrations no matter how crowded or uncomfortable it was. Apart from that lead tracking (getting information about other participants) was less convenient. You had to queue up to get the barcode equipment and the barcode scanner was also bound to the relevant booth.	Using the iPad the attendees can profit from self- service information demos no matter where they are at the exhibition. As the light iPad can be carried around easily exhibitors can show their presentations to prospects independent of where they meet. An app can be downloaded to get further information independent of the location of the attendee. The same appears for the lead tracking: The exhibitors can download an app and type the badge number of the relevant prospect into the tablet to receive information about him/her. The screen of the iPad has an optimal size for this purpose and it can be used anywhere at the exhibition.
Exhibition guides are heavy and expensive documents that are often updated after they have been print out.	With the iPad and a relevant application people are able to find a certain exhibitor or a product category at the event just by entering a keyword into their iPad. Via the GPS function of the iPad they can find out where they are at the event and where they want to go next- to another booth or even to the neighborhood around the venue.

Another benefit of the iPad is (as we already know from the iPhone) that it can be used by delegates to post questions to speakers during their presentations. Using the iPad delegates can benefit from several applications of Web 2.0 as for example blogging, tweeting or other social networking.

In our opinion the iPad can indeed facilitate the work of event planners and attendees but there are also other alternatives on the market that should be considered. A tablet from another brand could be just as useful and might have other features but cost less. A tablet of the brand Samsung (Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1) for example allows the user to take notes with a special pen and thus might seem more appealing to some industry professionals. Besides, despite the many qualities of the iPad people still may prefer to use their smart phone for events as it is smaller and lighter. Other people may wish technology had never progressed and wish themselves back to former times where no system error could delete all their work in only one second.

What do you think?

Sources:

http://www.corbinball.com/articles_technology/index.cfm?fuseaction=cor_av&artID=8502

http://www.macwelt.de/artikel/_News/380433/das_kann_mit_ipad_3_kommen/1

Pictures: http://www.ipadshouse.com/apple-media-event-in-february-expected-to-introduce-the-ipad-3/

http://strobefun.blogspot.com/2010_10_01_archive.html