Smart Meetings

Interview with Gigi Gleason, National Account Manager, Conferon Global Services

February 2006

Give Me 5

Gigi Gleason, National Account Manager, Conferon Global Services

What new technologies do you expect to see a demand for in the coming year?

The first are radio frequency identification (RFID) tags. When used at trade shows, they’re able to tell you who goes into a hall, what session they attend, what booths they visit and how long they spent there. The tags can provide that information in very fine detail, and that’s very important to certain people.

The other item that’s getting a lot of interest is matchmaking technology. It can match attendees with other attendees who have similar interests, depending on what particular vendors, products or sessions they’re interested in. It sees who’s available at a conference or meeting, sees what types of products they’re interested in, sees that there’s another attendee with similar interests, and suggests they meet up and start a dialogue. You can go to a meeting, a show or a conference and come away with some great contacts.
 
What existing technologies should planners look for when choosing a venue?

Number one is reliable Internet access. It’s not good enough just to have it. It must work, and if it goes down, a hotel should be accountable either for fixing it or providing a business center where clients can use e-mail without an additional charge. My preference is for wireless Internet, because it’s easier to use and more mobile. But some clients prefer hard-wired access for security reasons. Internet access isn’t something that it’s nice to have—it’s an absolute requirement for every single one of my clients.

What should a good hotel business center provide?

One requirement is that clients should be able to go online, check their flight information, and print their boarding passes. The best business centers have card-key access so that they’re available 24 hours.


So many venues offer so many different kinds of audiovisual technology. What do clients actually need?

Every individual’s needs are going to be different. Some kind of Internet access is always important, and a screen that can be raised or lowered into the ceiling is standard. Some clients value, and are willing to pay for, the ability to say “I need X, Y and Z” and have it all set up when they arrive on site. Others place a high premium on being able to use their own equipment and set it up without a surcharge. It really depends.