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PC and Pocket PC Lead Retrieval with Integration into Sales Management Systems

BY Corbin Ball

This is the fifth in this week’s blog series on new and interesting meetings technologies. I am covering the winner and the four finalists of the EIBTM 2006 Worldwide Watch for Technology Innovation (WWTW --see the first blog for this week – September 24 - for more details).

On average only 20% of tradeshow leads are followed up on.  After all of the investment in booth rental/setup, in shipping, in time away from the office, in promotion… and only 20% of the leads collected at a show are contacted after the show!!!

The problem here lies not with the exhibitor. I believe the key problem is with the inconsistent methods used for data collection. There are about six major tradeshow registration companies that provide lead retrieval for about 90% of all the tradeshows in the U.S. – most with different methods of lead retrieval – bar codes of different types, magnetic stripes, RFID (radio frequency identification) systems and more.

Although there have been efforts to be able to export the lead data collected from these different systems into exhibitors databases, the reality is that there is not a consistent method to do so.

When lead data management becomes a difficult task, it doesn’t get done. That is the reason why there is such a low percentage of follow up.

Validar Corporation ( www.modernmindsoftware.com ), a finalist in the WWTW’06 award focuses on this issue.

Validar has mapped many of the tradeshow lead systems in use today so that they can be consistently scanned using their system. The benefit is that the same system can be used from show to show regardless of the registration providers. They have integrated the system into a suite of PC and Pocket PC tools to help exhibitors rank and categorize leads.

Although there are other companies providing these services, Validar stands out in that it has automated many of the steps. Leads can be loaded directly into salesforce.com or other CRM application directly from the show floor, and several return on investment (ROI) tools have been added to analyze and improve tradeshow sales effectiveness.

This application helps to digitize the business process and saves time/effort for tradeshow lead management.

When the huge investment in the tradeshow is considered, a small additional investment to manage and improve the lead response is probably well worth it.

Advanced Teleconferencing

By Corbin Ball

This is the fourth in this week's blog series on new and interesting meetings technologies. I am covering the winner and the four finalists of the EIBTM 2006 Worldwide Watch for Technology Innovation (WWTW --see the first blog for this week – September 24 - for more details).

Videoconferencing has not really hit the mark over the years. Yes, the costs have plummeted by using the internet instead of satellites. Yes, the reliability, quality and access have vastly improved. Yes, you can take a $40 webcam and be up and running on your computer in a few minutes.

But why isn't everyone using videoconference technology?

Part of the reason, I believe, is that it is such a pale match to face-to-face meetings. We look at each other on postage stamp sized images simultaneously watching disembodied heads on a TV. There is not eye-contact; there is not sense of really being there.

This is where telepresence can help. Telepresence is the virtual recreation of a person's image, full size, full color, full motion, eye-to-eye as if the person were sitting across the table from you or standing behind a lectern on the dais before a group.

Teleportec ( www.teleportec.com ) a finalist in this WWTW'06 award is a telepresence application.  Teleportec enables a speaker from anywhere in the world to appear before an audience anywhere else in the world--life-size, life-like, real-time, face-to-face and totally natural in apparent 3-D. The speaker and the audience see each other as if the speaker were physically present at the event.

It uses standard high-end videoconference equipment and high-speed data lines. The speaker is in a darkened booth with a "teleprompter" like viewing screen and can see the audience in many ways better that if he or she were on the stage live. If a person asks a question from the audience, a camera providing the feed to the teleprompter can be zoomed in providing a much better view than in a live situation.

This product takes teleconferencing to a new level using a novel way to use existing technology. As broadband, Internet 2, and high-definition television work their way into mainstream society, the video conference experience will improve dramatically. Teleportec provides and interface to make the experience even more realistic.

Innovative Conference Content Capture and Distribution

By Corbin Ball

This is the third in this week’s blog series on new and interesting meetings technologies. I am covering the winner and the four finalists of the EIBTM 2006 Worldwide Watch for Technology Innovation (WWTW --see the first blog for this week – September 24 - for more details).

Meetings are the most important educators of adults in the industrialized world. Colleges and universities are only the start in this quickly changing world. It is through association meetings, corporate meetings and other events where people receive updates on their professions and other interests.

The challenge with meetings is that they are like a three-ring circus. The tent is thrown up, there is an overload of activity, and then it is gone. With large meetings with many simultaneous sessions, it is physically impossible to experience it all. The ability to record the events and playback at a later time can benefit the attendee, others who have a chance to view the recordings, and the show manager as a promotional tool for future events.

In the “olden days” (meaning a couple of years ago) this was done with conference cassettes. These had limited benefit as they did not include visuals and they were difficult to distribute broadly.

Recent advances in advanced digital audio files (MP3 with visuals), improvements in collection methods or large events, and web-based distribution techniques have changed all of this to provide a rich conference archive of the event.

Conference Archives (www.conferencearchives.com) was selected as a finalist for the EIBTM WWTW 2006 award due to its innovated and proven means of advancing capabilities in this area.

Their ConferenceOnDemand (CoD) platform provides a means to capture and deposit in an online library media (audio, video, visual, text) later production and publication. The resulting online library also facilitates e-commerce transactions, instant access to purchased content, and an ability to choose between complete sets (e.g., content of an entire event) or a la carte offerings (e.g., individual presentations). This can be done quickly and for very large meetings.

Conference recording extends the life of the meeting, broadens its impact, and is useful for building attendance at future conferences. The Conference Archives platform does this in a quick, cost effective and easy-to-use manner and for this was acknowledged by the WWTW judging committee.

What’s New with Meetings Technology? Request for Proposal (RFP) Automation.

By Corbin Ball

This is the second in this week’s blog series on new and interesting meetings technologies. I am covering the winner and the four finalists of the EIBTM 2006 Worldwide Watch for Technology Innovation (WWTW --see the first blog for this week for more details). EIBTM WWTW Finalist: MeetingBroker--www.meetingbroker.com).

When planners and suppliers can be on the same page electronically, very significant efficiencies will result.

MeetingBroker is an information service that receives electronic Requests For Proposals (eRFPs) sent by meeting planners through online channels and provides hotels with the online tools to more quickly respond to these eRFPs. MeetingBroker provides consistency in the way all leads are handled – regardless of the channel of origin and the format of the eRFP – assuring that meeting professionals receive prompt, comprehensive responses to their requests and empowering them to create the best events possible.

In a case study, Carlson Hotels Worldwide recently rolled out MeetingBroker to 933 properties around the world, resulting in a reduction in their average response time to leads from 56 hours to 4 hours – a savings of 90% in time!

Although this product integrates only with Delphi (one of the largest hotel sales management programs available), it is another example of how technology can reduce costs and improve services through digitizing the business process. When hotel sales staff receives an eRFP from a site selection/sourcing website that is formatted in the same way as if it were generated from the hotel national sales office, the sales staff can respond and follow up in a much easier and quicker manner. This standardization of how leads are transmitted to sales leads to a much more efficient system.

MeetingBroker.com working with NewMarket has done this in a novel way that improves the hotel sales and sourcing process. Although not directly affiliated, it also points the way toward more standardization efficiencies that are to come through APEX(www.conventionindustry.org/apex/)

What’s New with Meetings Technology? Mobile phone-based meetings and tradeshow tools

By Corbin Ball

Innovation is alive and well in the events industry.

I have just returned from the UK for my fourth year of chairing the judging committee for the EIBTM Worldwide Technology Watch ( www.eibtm.com ) – the world’s most significant award for meetings technology innovation. We reviewed 27 entries this year and the finalists and winner highlight some very interesting trends. This week’s blog will highlight these finalists and trends that they point out.

This year’s winner is LOG ON Mobile Event Assistant ( www.log-on.nl ).

LOG ON uses mobile phones to provide a range of tradeshow and event applications to attendees including: the conference agenda, exhibit product directories, event feedback and surveys, SMS audience polling, group announcements, networking capabilities, travel information and more.

Mobile technology is a trend that holds great promise for the events industry. LOG ON represents a novel and creative way to use an existing technology that is nearly ubiquitous – mobile phones -- in a novel and creative way. We are all carrying them around and in an increasing numbers, most are web-enabled and SMS (short messaging service) enabled.

Meeting planners will not have to rent relatively expensive audience polling devices – audience members will be able to pull out their phones to vote. A change in the agenda? Broadcast messages can be sent. Networking technology needed? Mobile phones can be used to help bring people together during a meeting. A exhibit product directory needed? Look up the exhibitors via your phone.

As phones roughly double in processing speed and capabilities every two years, attendees, meeting planners and exhibitors will increasingly rely on mobile technology for a wide variety of onsite applications.