Smart Meetings | Page 331 of 602 | Corporate Event Planning: Business Events, Meetings, Conferences

Mobile Apps for Business Travel It’s no secret that technology—especially apps for our precious mobile devices—have changed the way we travel. But all mobile apps are not created equal. While some work for business and pleasure, many that are great for leisure travel have little value for those traveling on business.

Business travelers need not fret, as app developers know you’re out there and have created near countless apps designed to make business flow just as easily on the road as in the office.

Naturally, some mobile apps do more to make them near-essentials for business travel. (All are available for iOS and Android devices unless noted.)

Stay Organized

TripIt is by far the got-to app for keeping your travel itinerary organized. It keeps info about your flights, hotels, rental cars and other bookings all in one convenient place—and you can even forward confirmation emails to TripIt to have them automatically added.

Paperless Entry

Apple’s native PassBook and Google’s PassWallet are oft-overlooked mobile apps that actually have great use for travel. I experimented with PassBook (soon to be renamed Wallet) on a couple recent trips and found it incredibly convenient for security checkpoints and boarding—allowing me to skip check-in lines and avoid printing paper boarding passes I previously had to hurriedly stuff into a pocket while taking off my shoes for the TSA.

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Expense This

The days of trying to keep track of myriad paper receipts (and often losing a few) and losing track of cash tips are over. Expensify scans receipts—and parses the information from them to save your thumbs from seemingly endless tedious typing. You can also input cash expenses and track billable hours. To top it off, Expensify takes all the info and exports it into a printable expense report for you.

Stay Productive

Many professionals are familiar with Google’s the web-based document service, and the Google Docs mobile apps transitions to smartphones with ease. Edit any document and the changes appear across the board. As a bonus, the app works offline as well as online.

Meet on the Fly

Just because you’re on the road doesn’t mean you get out of the big company meeting. With GoToMeeting you can join meetings in one click. You can also initiate meetings and join webinars with ease.

Get to the Points

Business travelers often fly on a wide variety airlines and book several different hotel brands over the course of a year. All those loyalty programs can be hard to keep track of, but AwardWallet does it for you in one convenient location. Plus, the app alerts you when your points are nearing their expiration date.

Mobile event technology and event-performance company DoubleDutch just got a big boost in its drive to create a mobile app and performance analytics for the meetings and events industry. The company announced this morning a $45 million round of growth financing from investment firm KKR and other investors. That’s the highest total ever in the meeting space, according to Russ Hearl, DoubleDutch’s VP of mid-market sales.

The company’s app provides a mobile platform for attendees on the front end, and near real-time event performance data for event organizers on the back end—complete with benchmarks to measure engagement and sentiment regarding events.

“We are thrilled to team up with KKR to tackle this next stage of growth,” says CEO Lawrence Coburn. “The $565 billion spent annually on events and conferences—the biggest marketing spend in the world—is running blind. We believe that DoubleDutch can help.”

The company primarily serves event organizers and planners, but plans are in place to deliver more to the event industry’s sponsors and exhibitors, unlocking new revenue streams for organizers in the process.

“It’s an exciting time to be in software,” says Nicholas Clark, DoubleDutch’s CTO. “For the first time, we have the ability to instrument the physical world like we would a website, a phenomenon that has the potential to completely reinvent how events and conferences are run, managed, and measured. Marketers no longer need to run blind when it comes to events.”

DoubleDutch aims to increase the app’s value to all sides of events, including attendees, exhibitors and organizers. Going beyond mobile event programs, DoubleDutch sees opportunity to leverage data coming off the show floor and help attendees enjoy a personalized and curated experience, assist organizers in benchmarking and optimizing event performance, and ensuring exhibitors don’t leave leads on the table.

And, of course, there’s also a focus on social media.

“DoubleDutch is designing for the next stage of social as well as data to drive smarter decision making for marketers,” said Annie Tsai, Chief Customer Officer at DoubleDutch. “The future of event tech is marketing driven innovation, not logistics, and I think our customers appreciate this.”

DoubleDutch offers a SaaS-like pricing model in which customers gain year-round access to mobile apps and event analytics, giving them the ability to run, manage, and evaluate all of the events within their portfolio.

The company cites global expansion, sales and marketing, and targeted acquisitions as the primary use of proceeds.

Low Cost Tech Tools Planners: do you want to know which low-cost tech tool can instantly transform company data into a professional quality infographic, or what free app can help schedule a virtual meeting time convenient for workers scattered across the globe? Beth Ziesenis, a technology guru and self-described “nerdy BFF,” can tell you.

Informative and humorous, Ziesenis is a popular public speaker who presented at the recent ASAE15 in Detroit. She is author of Nerd Know-How: The 27+ Best Apps For Work and Release Your Inner Nerd: Apps, Tech Tools and Tips to Get Organized, Get Creative and Get Ahead. Endearing, engaging and chock full of practical tips and suggestions, Ziesenis shares 14 of her favorite low-cost tech tools for event planners below.

14 Low-Cost Tech Tools

Microsoft Sway

Microsoft has created an alternative to its own PowerPoint program. The free presentation app is a more engaging way to tell a story than its flagship product. In Sway, users can build sliding web pages that contain not only text, but videos, links and pictures. The program allows individuals working on a group project to collaborate online, and changes are saved instantly. The intuitive search engine will suggest free Internet content that can be added. Two other great alternatives to PowerPoint are Haiku Duck, which has a clean and simple interface and Prezi, which offers zooming navigation.

Fiverr

Let’s say you need a new logo or want an animation for a company video. Log onto fiverr.com and you can gain access to thousands of sellers of creative and professional services. Fiverr is probably the world’s largest freelance marketplace, offering three million services in more than 100 different categories. In addition to graphic design, writing, translation, voice over and proofreading, sellers on the site can provide offbeat services such as a celebrity impersonation of Barack Obama or an image of your logo stenciled into coffee foam. The best news is that all services start at just $5.

Easel.ly

Infographics are a more visually appealing way to share mathematical data or statistics. In the past, making an infographic took considerable time, money and graphic design skill. Easel.ly, a free program, makes it possible for anyone to design a dazzling infographic in just minutes. The site features thousands of templates and design objects that users can customize to create and share their ideas online. Users can upload their own mages and do a considerable amount of tweaking to the templates.

Wordle

This fun, word-analyzing tool creates word clouds from text you import, giving greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text. The size of a word in the finished product is proportional to the number of times it appears in the input text. Users can alter their clouds with different fonts, layouts and color schemes.

Timeanddate.com

Time and Date AS is a private company in Norway that manages timeanddate.com. The site gives people free time and date-related information and services. This can help planners looking to arrange a video conference with workers located around the globe in different time zones. It can calculate the best time to schedule the call so that the least number of participants are inconvenienced. In addition, the comprehensive site has a sunrise and sunset calculator, moon phases, weather and astronomical data and a listing of holidays worldwide. Users can also set digital calculators and timers that will count down to any date or time.

Google Docs

This free program allows individuals to write, edit and collaborate on the same document, at the same time. Individuals can access documents anywhere and at any time from their smartphones, tablets or computers. They can edit in real-time, with chat and comment features. All changes are automatically saved. The program works with Microsoft Word, providing editing and styling tools for formatting text and paragraphs. Users can choose from thousands of fonts, and can add links, images, drawings and tables.

Google Translate

Next time you need to translate something from Armenian into Zulu, this handy app can help. Google Translate can translate 90 languages, in any configuration. The free website translator tool is straight-forward. It allows users to paste text, input audio, hear pronunciations and get definitions. For a more nuanced tool, the low-cost Translate API can be used to power web apps and translate website content.

IQPolls

This free product is a godsend for planners that want to create more interactivity during conferences. It allows them create real-time polling or voting using attendees’ smartphones. Attendees can also use the tech tool to ask the presenter questions. The app is available for all mobile devices, as well as laptops. It can be personalized to include company branding or logos. In addition to driving audience engagement during an event, all poll results can be uploaded to the company’s Facebook or Twitter profile.

GroupMe

GroupMe is a free mobile messaging app that planners can use to coordinate private chats among coworkers. It works on all device platforms. Users can chat on the go, or from their office computers or from tablets at home. It can incorporate pictures, emojis and videos, and has other features such as location sharing and direct messaging.

Speedtest

This free service from Ookla allows individuals to test the performance of their Internet connection. It can be helpful for planners arranging a conference in a remote locale. Planners can browse top bandwidth speed by country, or narrow down statistics to very specific locations. Performing more than 50 million tests every month, Ookla Speedtest is the global standard in Internet connection testing. It is available on the web and for iPhone and Android mobile platforms.

LookFor

This deceptively simple app is available for iOS and Android. It allows users to instantly spot others in a crowded bar, festival or packed meeting room. The user simply chooses a color or color pattern, and holds up their phone, which will blink with the color or pattern. No need to shout, “I’m over here!”

Periscope

Periscope is a live streaming app for iOS and Android that allows participants to explore the world through someone else’s eyes. Users broadcast live video from their phones, in real time. While it could be used to watch a demonstration through the eyes of a protester in Ukraine, planners could use it for a live interview that is then streamed to Twitter. During a conference, the planner could give those who could not attend a taste of what they missed.

Postagram

Postcards are a nostalgic way to share a leisure vacation. Planners can use the Postagram tech tool to share memories from an event, or thank people for attending. The free app translates photos taken from iPhones or Androids into postcards that can be sent through the mail for $1 each. Users can also import photos from Instagram or FaceBook. By scanning the bar code on the postcard, the recipient can send an instant thank you or save the photo to his or her own phone.

PicPlayPost

PicPlayPost is a cool video collage tool combining video, photos and music that planners can use to tell a story about their event. The free app can be used on all platforms, including Instagram and Vine. Users choose the ratio and frame layout they want, or can easily customize any layout. They then choose the photos or videos to fill each frame, adding music if they like.

UberEats San Francisco Entering the competitive food-delivery market in San Francisco, Uber rolls out its on-demand service that delivers hot menu items from participating local restaurants and eateries throughout the city.

UberEats began food-delivery services this week in the South of Market (SoMa) area and the financial district of San Francisco with plans to expand operations in the near future. For a flat $3 service charge, expect to receive warm food from some of San Francisco’s trendiest restaurants including Mr. Holmes Backhouse and Blue Bottle Coffee in 10 minutes or less. For the launch, celebrity chefs Michael Mina and Ken Tominaga will be featured and lucky eaters might have their meals delivered by the chefs themselves.

The company currently offers UberEats in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Barcelona and Toronto, but has been experimenting with delivering goods in major cities including suits, toothpaste and ice cream in the past year.

The service enters an aggressive food-delivery sector with an abundance of players such as GrubHub, Sprig, Munchery and Spoonrocket that have established user-bases in San Francisco. UberEats centralizes drivers in downtown areas so when people leave work during rush hour they can pick up riders nearby. With a network of more than 200,000 Uber drivers, UberEats intends to keep more drivers on the road during lunch hours, a time of the day when users drop off.

UberEats appears directly on the app and is triggered when users are in an area covered by the service. Users can order items from a curated daily menu from participating restaurants and food can range from $7 to $15.

Wondering if your area is covered by UberEats, take a look at this map below:

Shorter flights and lower fuel consumption could soon be on the airline industry’s itinerary. NASA is testing software it has designed help aircrafts reduce flying time and carbon emissions. Over the next three years, Virgin America and Alaska Airlines will run a trial on the Traffic Aware Planner (TAP) application developed under the Traffic Aware Strategic Aircrew Requests (TASAR) project.

The new technology has potential to advance the aviation industry in a major way. NASA researchers believe that it will drastically reduce delays and environmental impacts while improving passenger comfort and safety, even with the growing demand for air travel.

TAP attaches to the aircraft’s information hub, reading current position, altitude, flight route and current information, explains David Wing, TASAR project lead at NASA’s Langley Research Center. Based on real-time feedback, the app discovers alternate routes and altitude changes that could save fuel or flying time—all displayed on a tablet for the flight crew to access. Researchers say that even four minutes less time on a single trip could provide substantial cost and time reductions. The benefits are even greater for long-haul flights.

“Up until now there has been no way to deliver comprehensive wind and congestion data to pilots in near-real time,” said Tom Kemp, Alaska Airlines’ vice president of operations. “TASAR is a ‘super app’ that will give our pilots better visibility to what’s happening now versus three hours earlier when the flight plan was prepared.”

The innovative app is also built with safety in mind. By accessing the airplane’s surveillance receiver, it analyzes nearby air traffic in order to avoid potential conflicts by offering substitute flight paths. As a result, air traffic controllers could more easily approve route change requests. If Wi-Fi is available in the cockpit, TAP can also detect current weather conditions, wind forecast updates and restricted airspace status for increased efficiency.

“This should help pilots and controllers work more effectively together and reduce workload on both sides from un-approvable requests. TASAR takes advantage of NASA’s state-of-the-art TAP software with flight information directly from the aircraft and the emerging infrastructure to help pilots get approved to fly the most efficient or time-saving trajectory possible,” said Wing.

The TASAR technology was already successfully tested twice during a flight from Virginia to Kentucky aboard a Piaggio P180 Avanti aircraft. Around a dozen pilots provided feedback on a simulated trial conducted at the University of Iowa Operator Performance Laboratory. TAP has been determined safe and ready for Federal Aviation Administration certification.

Although live video is nothing new, live-streaming platforms are having a major moment, especially in the meetings sphere. Using video apps, such as Periscope to promote events is becoming a viable method of connecting with attendees in a more personal way.

Last week at IMEX 2015, there was lots of user-generated content on Periscope from audience members at educational sessions. Other attendees were also able to comment and ask questions, even if they were not in attendance themselves. But real-time footage is not just for conference-goers. Event planners can also live stream content to connect with their audience, if done in an authentic way.

Here are 6 tips for using Periscope to promote events:

1. Tell a story: Think about the event from an attendee’s perspective. What would they want to see, before, during and after events that they couldn’t otherwise experience on their own? Take your audience along with you for a behind-the-scenes look at event facilities, finishing touches on decor or even a sneak peak backstage. Attendees will have their interest piqued and feel like they’re involved in the process.

2. Crowdsource ideas: Not sure what kind of theme your attendees will like? What about choosing activities for your group? Crowdsourcing ideas and suggestions are more interactive when accompanied by video. Show your group a 360 degree view of venue options and decorations, or a live example of a team build you have in mind. Not only can users leave real-time feedback with comments and hearts, but they will also feel considered and excited about what to anticipate.

3. Exclusive interviews: A short video clip is the perfect opportunity to showcase event speakers. Conduct a mini-interview right from your phone and receive instant feedback. Speakers could also use the time to field questions from commenters and briefly cover information that might not be included in their keynote. A live-streamed Q&A session is also a great opportunity for speakers to fine-tune content for the audience.

4. Keep it real: Periscope videos are not the time for a carefully crafted corporate message. A staged video lacks the spontaneity that users want to see. Embrace imperfections and show a human side to your organization or conference and see the hearts float up.

5. Things to remember: It is helpful to give the title of your video some thought. A great title with relevant hashtags will draw more viewers to your content. You can also be selective about your audience by making videos private; otherwise they will automatically broadcast to everyone who follows you on Twitter.

6. Cover the bases: Tell people around you that you’re live streaming before pressing the record button. Although you don’t want to appear scripted, take this precaution to avoid accidental curse words or private conversations being included in the background. Plus, some people may not like to be filmed, so always ask first.

consumer-electronics-show Meeting Professionals International (MPI) will take advantage of two major showcases as part of its Experiential Event Series next year. The MPI learning events will allow participants to experience CES, the largest international consumer technology tradeshow presented by the Consumer Technology Association, and South by Southwest Conferences & Festivals (SXSW), the annual music, film and emerging technologies conference and festival.

When the Experiential Event Series was announced last summer during World Education Congress in San Francisco, CEO and President Paul Van Deventer said the MPI learning events had two purposes: Not only is the series geared toward meeting planners, but MPI also hopes to mesh with people putting on mega-events who consider themselves event producers.

CES will take place Jan. 6-9 in Las Vegas, with three separate campuses for exhibitions, presentations and keynote addresses. As the world’s melting pot for business of consumer technology, CES has served as platform for innovators and breakthrough technologies for nearly 50 years. The MPI Certificate Program will take place Jan. 4-7 and will focus on experiential marketing.

SXSW 2016 is March 11-20 in Austin, Texas. This mega-event provides a gathering destination for those in music, film and emerging technologies. It is regarded as an epicenter that fosters creativity and discovery, generating $317.6 million in 2015. The MPI Certificate Program will be offered March 17-19 and will specialize in festival production.

MPI debuted its Experiential Event Series in Atlantic City in September, partnering with Meet Atlantic City, Caesars Entertainment and the Miss America Organization.

Last month, MPI announced that it was continuing to build its education portfolio with the acquisition of Plan Your Meetings, an Atlanta-based company that produces a variety of digital resources and tools for event planners.

“MPI is very excited about this acquisition, which further extends our reach and influence within the U.S. meeting and event community,” Van Deventer said. “We look forward to connecting with more of the non-traditional planner market and helping this segment grow professionally, supporting MPI’s ongoing efforts to elevate our great industry.”

most-important-uber-announcements Uber had a very big year in 2015. Not only did it become an undisputed household name; despite its legal battles, the ride-sharing service doubled its number of drivers. The company, currently valued at $51 billion, has carved out a large stake in the sharing economy and rumors suggest that it may be one of the hottest IPOs in 2016.

In addition to announcing its purchase of the 330,000-square-foot, seven-story Uptown Station, the former Sears building in downtown Oakland, Uber made some headway into the meetings and events industry by announcing that UberEvents‘ beta program would allow hosts and planners to arrange guest passes that set up rides for attendees to and from events.

1. Uber Teams Up with Starwood

Uber passengers can earn one Starwood Preferred Guest reward point for each dollar they spend on the service, thereby boosting app use in big cities such as New York, San Paulo and Bangalore. Read more.

2. UberEvents Services Event Attendees with Prepaid Rides

UberEvents The new service is handy for planners of all types, making it easy for attendees to get to a conference location or ensure they make it home safe for a holiday party or networking event. Read more.

3. Hilton Partners with Uber

Hotel guests can bypass the Uber app by booking their transportation directly through the HHonors app, which is already used to book, check into and unlock guest rooms. Read more.

4. UberEats Service Expands to San Francisco

uber-eats-2 The company also currently offers UberEats in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago and Barcelona, Spain. Read more.

5. Uber Introduces Bus-Like Service

uber-smart-routes A new service, “Smart Routes,” is the latest addition to UberPool. It eliminates time-wasting and gas-wasting detours while providing faster rides. Read more.

6. Uber Makes Pivotal Move to East Bay

uber-makes-pivotal-east-bay-move Uber is expected to move by 2017, joining the ranks of other tech companies that have offices in Oakland. Read more.

Crave tablets are available in all 4,004 ARIA guestrooms Aria Resort & Casino is starting 2016 with a bang, partnering with guests services software company Crave Interactive to roll out tablet computers in all 4,004 guest rooms of their AAA Five Diamond resort on the Las Vegas Strip.

The tablets, which are already available in each guest room, aim to provide guests and groups with an array of services with the tap of a touch screen. Designed specifically for Aria, the tablets allow guests to order room service, spa appointments, schedule breakfast delivery and book reservations for restaurants.

In-room packages that were previously only available by calling the concierge and customizing in-person can now be ordered and tailored to meet guests’ specific needs directly through the tablet.

Hate crawling out of your warm, cozy bed to shut off the lights and draw the shades? The tablet allows you to control all of that and more. You can even set a personalized wake-up call.

Aria Tablets Keep Groups Connected

These Aria tablets are also changing the game for planners and groups, who can share itineraries and exchange multimedia messaging, graphics, and video using the devices. Customized accommodations let group planners and leaders send welcome messages, place meeting agendas and locations, update team members on location changes, and offer special discounts to spas and restaurants.

Each tablet is available in a variety of languages, including English, Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Italian and German.

In-room tablets have become a growing trend in small boutique hotels, but never before has a hotel this size offered the technology.

“This installation is the industry’s largest and together, Crave and Aria are setting new standards in world-class guest service,” said Gareth Hughes, CEO of Crave Interactive. “We are extremely proud to be part of a project that raises the bar for the world’s most technologically-advanced hotel.”

Aria aims to add housekeeping integration capabilities this April that will allow guests to request turndown service, extra towels, pillows, and more.

Further customized services will be available for Deluxe Rooms, Tower Suites and Sky Suites’ guests.

ARIA.com

shanghai-disney It seemed like only yesterday that Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando introduced its electronic MagicBand bracelets to facilitate customer access to its parks and purchase ride tickets, food and souvenirs, among other things.

Disney is now set to take another technological leap by opting to not use the bracelets and instead enable mobile devices to perform the same functions at its $5.5 billion Shanghai Disney Resort, slated to open in the spring.

The company’s MagicBand initiative began around the time the iPhone debuted in 2007, and six years later, the bracelets were unveiled at Disney World’s four theme parks and 26,000 hotel rooms. Disney claims that the bracelets have expedited the admissions process and merchandise sales. This in turn, has substantially contributed to the resort’s high scores on customer satisfaction surveys and boosted attendance, thereby contributing to the Orlando resort’s 7 percent revenue rise, to $16.2 billion, in 2015.

Disney views its switch to smartphones at its Shanghai property as a more seamless technological advancement that will eliminate the expenses of making the bracelet and sending them to season-pass buyers and guests at the company’s 18 Orlando hotels.

“What you’ll see in Shanghai is a park that from a technological perspective is more advanced than anything we’ve ever built,” said Robert A. Iger, chairman and CEO of Walt Disney Company, in an interview on Bloomberg TV. He added that consumers will be able to “use their mobile devices in far more advanced, compelling ways than in any other places, from a theme park perspective,” than they are today.