MEEC

1
MEEC

• Chapter Thirteen
• Directing the Future of Convention and Meeting
  Technology

2
Impact of the Internet

• Uses of Technology
• Site selection
• Online registration and application practices,
• E-marketing
• Housing and bookings
• Logistics management
• Connectivity throughout buildings
• Virtual trade shows, video conferencing, virtual
  meetings
• Hand held devices, and
• Other

3
Site Selection VIA the Web

• Site selection is the biggest use of the Internet
  
• Websites that invite and reward are the next wave
• Website design has matured from brochure ware
  to websites that sell
• Twenty first-century Internet principals are more
  disciplined, demanding that a site make money by
  helping visitors find what they want.

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Site Selection VIA the Web

• What to look for in a Site Selection Tool
• Ease of navigation
• Robust search criteria, including location,
  brand, price, meeting space
• The total number of venues/properties listed on
  the site. Amenities and services available at a
  site
• An active link to a facilitys Web site
• Ability to download a brochure or fact sheet
• Access to floor plans, menus, meeting space
  capacities, meeting space calculator, virtual
  tours
• Reporting options.

5
Site Selection VIA the Web

• What to look for in a Request for Proposal (RFP)
  tool
• Criteria that provides for
• Meeting pattern options
• Preferred and alternative date options
• Sleeping room block information
• Event and function requirements
• Option to note response and decision dates
  regarding the RFP.
• Ability to store and save specific search
  queries, save RFPs, and modify or update an RFP

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Site Selection VIA the Web

• What to should look for in a Diagramming tool
• Free software!
• Scalable space and equipment (feet and metrics)
• Are the rules of the industry industry
  standards coded within the program?
• Are accurate line-of-sight angles available?
• Can you label items inside and outside of a room?
• Can you place equipment outside of a meeting room
  or in public spaces?

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Site Selection VIA the Web

• What to should look for in a Diagramming tool
• Can you print an inventory report listing all
  equipment required?
• Can the software plan a variety of seating
  layouts?
• Can create customized setups?
• Can you number banquet seating and produce
  seating lists?
• Are online diagrams available at the facilitys
  Web site?

8
Online Registration

• Four categories of technology-based options
• The over the counter or OTC application
• Meeting management software PC solutions
• Web-based e-marketing and front-end registration
  applications.
• Enterprise-wide applications.

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Online Registration

• What to look for in Registration Technology
• Flexible-pricing options for setting and tracking
  registration fees
• Options for branding marketing messages and event
  sites
• Ease of importing and updating your marketing
  list
• Knowing which version and Web browser will work
  with an online application
• Annual support policy

10
Online Registration

• What to look for in Registration Technology
• How many simultaneous users can the site handle?
• Does the system trap for errant or duplicate
  entries,
• Can you integrate the solution with your internal
  databases?
• How long does it take to get up and running?
• Can you create sessions and combined event
  packages?
• Can multiple pricing levels be set?

11
Online Registration

• What to look for in Registration Technology
• Can you print name badges in the format and for
  the hardware you utilize?
• How does the system manage vendor information?
• Will the budgeting interface support your needs?
• How are hotel blocks managed?
• Is there sub-block management?
• How are cancellations and changes processed?
• Can the system be integrated with third-party
  services?

12
Online Registration

• What to look for in Registration Technology
• Can you check out a meeting to manage while on
  site, or will you need ongoing Internet
  connectivity when using a system on site?
• Protection of your data
• Ability to segment and re-sort your marketing
  list or list of registrants
• Ability to analyze return rates, bounce rates,
  and conversion rates
• How the cost is set and calculated by user, by
  transaction?

13
Online Registration

• What to look for in Registration Technology
• Availability of support when you need it
• Cost for customization
• Wait list management
• How registrations acquired through offline
  channels are to be processed
• Ability to personalize e-mail messages
• Ability to process multiple credit card accounts

14
E-Marketing

• Three questions used to begin outlining a
  marketing map are
• Who develops and maintains meeting and event
  copy?
• Who develops the events marketing plan?
• How do you deploy information on your Web site,
  and how is your Web site used?

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E-Marketing

• What to ask
• In what delivery channel formats do messages need
  to be readied?
• How is information edited for each channel?
• Are there items requiring secured transfer of
  personal data?
• Where are the bottlenecks?
• Will print response forms be personalized with
  unique identifiers?

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Housing via the Internet

• Three basic categories
• Systems designed for real-time processing with
  integration into data warehouses.
• Vendors that have carved out strategic
  relationships with industry-wide housing
  switches.
• A database, often with front-end Web access, for
  holding attendee housing information.

17
Business Intelligent Software

• BIS is software designed to create databases, and
  offer processes for manipulation and presentation
  of data in a manner most effective for managers
  and other users.

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Business Intelligent Software

• Must have the following characteristics and/or
  capabilities
• Full capability to sort, analyze and present data
  to reveal trends within a business.
• The ability to integrate corporate data in order
  to support decision-making.
• Capacity to gather and store all relevant
  information needed to make informed business
  decisions.

19
Business Intelligent Software

• Must have the following characteristics and/or
  capabilities
• BIS must integrate and transform raw data into
  organized knowledge.
• The data must be easy to interpret allowing for
  more rapid decision-making processes.
• BIS also highlights trends associated with past
  operating procedures and experiences in order to
  discover opportunities, and uncover weaknesses

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Business Intelligent Software
21
Business Intelligent Software

• Example PowerCubes
• Passkey
• Market Player
• Hotel Direct
• b-there.com

22
Convention Center Technology

• First generation (G1)
• box with a dock
• Second generation (G2)
• pretty boxes
• Third generation (G3)
• boxes like very large hotel rooms
• Fourth Generation (G4)
• are designed today with the surrounding culture
  in mind as well as a abundance of integrated high
  technology

23
Convention Center Technology

• Technology Impact
• High speed and wireless Internet
• Meeting spaces (rooms, hotels, centers)
• Marketing by cities, convention and visitors
  bureaus, and convention centers to prospective
  clients.
• On-line
• Conferencing tools
• Registration and web sites for capturing credit
  card information.

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Convention Center Technology

• Technology Impact
• "Smart Card," a data-storage device providing
  centers and associations with valuable attendee
  information
• Registration and contact information
• Session attendance
• Product purchases
• Evaluation
• Fiber-optic and broadband data and voice and
  video transmissions, allowing exchange of
  information with outside parties.

25
Convention Center Technology

• Connectivity Options
• High-speed connectivity. to Virtual Private
  Networks (VPNs)
• Design flexibilities. wired or wireless network
  flexible bandwidth
• Dedicated recording facilities. to facilitate
  both audio recording and session duplication
• Videoconferencing functionality is an essential
  need for Web conferencing or Web casting.

26
Convention Center Technology

• Connectivity Options
• Availability of dark fiber cabling allows
  companies to establish private networks outside
  of the convention center network.
• Event boards. Plasma or LED event boards promote
  sponsors and communicate information to
  attendees.
• Guest room connectivity linking back to the
  convention center.
• Wireless LAN network access.

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Convention Center Technology

• Connectivity Options
• Cyber cafes and information kiosks provide
  meeting information, sponsor messages, industry
  news, product locators, e-mailing, message
  centers, on-site surveying, PDA download
  stations, and hand-held computing
  synchronization.
• Audience response systems
• Wireless lead retrieval and tracking systems.
• Fully equipped business center with extended
  operating hours.

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Virtual Trade Shows

• Guidelines to virtual reality
• Note services provided by other trade shows
  (physical and virtual) and offer these features
  online
• Consider simple and easy design with useful and
  intuitive site navigation.
• Keep the site simple and attractive.
• Capture and qualify users

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Virtual Trade Shows

• Guidelines to virtual reality
• Offer exhibitors a range of value-added services
• Stream audio and video
• On-site demonstrations and training
• Preferred locations on the show floor
• Provide attendees with value-added features
• e-mail
• chat rooms.
• Apply basic marketing concepts and cross-promote
  your virtual site

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Virtual Trade Shows

• Guidelines to virtual reality
• Provide online giveaways or discounted
  promotions.
• Offer online credit card processing.
• Clearly state your privacy policy
• Make absolutely certain you secure all
  transactions.
• Provide a database of vendors who are exhibiting
  online.

31
Video Conferencing

• Bandwidth falls into one of three categories
• Broadband
• Greater than a Pentium III and a 128K modem
• Sophisticated services - full-motion video/audio
  streaming.
• Medium band
• Pentium II with a 56K or better modem
• Streaming video and audio is less reliable than
  broadband
• Low band
• Pentium I with a 28K or less modem
• Need to be supported by audio conferencing
  services.
• Referred to a Web-enhanced audio conferencing
  services.

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Video Conferencing

• One-way session
• No interaction, or delayed interaction through a
  call-in line for taking questions from remote
  participants
• The Webcast presentation can be live or taped.
• Two-way session
• a high degree of interaction among a smaller team
• Microsofts Net Meeting or Symantecs PC
  Anywhere.
• Applications require technical know-how

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Video Conferencing

• Two-way, with high-end media
• Two-way communications and higher-end media
• Broadcast-quality lighting, sound, and production
• An interactive web cast event
• Point-to-point or point-to-multipoint
• Broadcast to service centers where an audience
  can gather, or to other corporate locations
• Broadcast via satellite or push through the
  Internet

34
Video Conferencing

• Third-party Service Providers
• Offer technical, moderating, and scheduling
  services
• Provide control and quality assurance
• Offer useful utilities to validate that both
  hardware and connectivity are appropriate
• Provide online technical assistance

35
Green Technology An Example

• David L. Lawrence Convention Center Pittsburgh,
  PA
• 30 to 50 percent obtained in energy savings
• Water Conservation
• Water taken from an under water aquifer
• Used to reduce energy consumption for
  heating/cooling
• All plants and landscape are native
• No need for water sprinklers around the facility

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Green Technology An Example

• Energy conservation
• the design of the sloped roof pulls up cool
  breezes
• creates a naturally ventilated exhibit hall
• Natural lighting will be used throughout the
  building
• Blackout shades are available to darken rooms or
  to control temperatures.
• Use materials that emit fewer toxins
• 25 of the building is constructed with recycled
  material
• Local materials used in order to cut down
  transportation costs.

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Review

• Impact of the Internet
• Online Registration
• E-Marketing
• Housing via the Internet
• Business Intelligent Software
• Convention Center Technology
• Connectivity Options
• Virtual Trade Shows, Video Conferencing
• Green Technology