Ambassadors
This full-service meeting management, housing and incentive travel firm purchased BlueDot (a pioneering event and exhibition technology firm) this past year. The result is a high-level tool set with a range of attendee management products. A differentiator from the others, however, is that there is a strong focus on tracking and reporting meeting goals and objectives (a strategic approach). Procurement is provided by Ambassadors staff.
Arcaneo: Metron
A relatively new entry in the field, this attendee management/procurement tool is built using easily updateable .NET architecture. High marks for ease of use. Also, uses balanced score cards to track and measure meeting goals and objectives.
Carlson Marketing Group: Expanded Meetings Management
Built from the travel management perspective, the full service company offers are range of online tools including EXpanded Meetings Management (procurement and consolidation), EXL (web-based event registration), and MeetingsLogic — A Web-based meeting planning and management tool designed to assist meeting planners to optimize their total travel spend.
Conferon
This full service meetings management company (the largest in the world) uses PlanSoft’s Meeting Management Solution and other tools to manage procurement, attendees and events, and just about anything else that is needed.
GetThere DirectMeetings
Owned by Sabre, and built primarily for GetThere DirectCorporate clients, this meeting and travel procurement solution offers sourcing, budget estimation, attendee management, and reporting.
PlanSoft: Meeting Management Solution (MMS)
Provides a centralized system to plan and track all of your meeting-related activities, including site research, sourcing, budgeting, session planning, resource and task management as well as powerful reporting from a single location
SeeUThere: MeetingView
A range of data consolidation tools including a meeting calendar, sourcing, budget/cost tracking, event marketing, registration, housing and travel management. This company started out in the online registration field, but has very significantly expanded its offerings over the past three years.
StarCite: Integrated Meetings Platform
This product was the first meetings consolidation product on the web, emerging from work done by McGettigan, the originators of the concept. They purchased RegWeb last year (one of the top attendee management products) and recently purchased b-there (a significant competitor in the area of meetings consolidation. Their tool set includes: strategic sourcing, budgeting, attendee management/registration, group air booking, analytics, and best practices management.
Ungerboeck Systems International: Event Business Management System
This industrial-strength product is used to run convention centers and arenas around the world. However, their modules include event management, attendance management, exhibition management, calendars, accounting analysis and more.
WorldTravel Partners: Plan2Attend
Newly released, this product provides attendee management, a strong 2-way travel interface, integrated company meeting calendars, tracks meeting spend and provides financial analysis.
Other Meeting Industry Sites of Note:
Virtual Visit Presentations
This company provides interactive maps and 360 degree hotel tours using easy and intuitive navigation. An interesting feature that you won’t see at the web site, is and collaborative “WebEx-like” collaborative viewing function allowing a hotel sales person to remotely show a meeting planner around the property virtually. In the map example of the Vancouver Crowne Plaza Hotel Georgia, one can use the interactive map to move around the public space. For example, the Lobby area allows one to explore (with pictures and capacities) all the space. Look for the 360 degree panorama view using a link in the upper left-hand corners. The product is also available in a no-software-download CD for hotel sales as well.
Turning Technologies
This site integrates audience response systems directly into PowerPoint. A variety of hardware options are available including the standard wireless keypads to Wi-Fi-enabled PDAs.
EMeetingsOnline
EMeetingsOnline, an online attendee management solution has recently expanded its online housing capabilities allowing meeting planners and attendees to book contracted block reservations, negotiated rates, net rates and overflow or above block internet hotel choices directly with the hotel and receive instant hotel confirmations in real-time. They also recently announced integration with Pegasus Solutions’ Online Distribution Database, which feeds more than 75,000 images and detailed property information to Pegasus’ Online Distribution Network.
3 Favorite Utility Sites:
CutePDF Printer
CutePDF Printer allows you to quickly and easily create compact PDF documents from ANY Windows application (must be able to print) for free.
Test Your E-mail Defenses
This site allows you to test your computer’s settings against .VBS viruses for free.
Hackerwatch.com
Perform a free security test and learn how to protect your PC from Internet attackers.
3 Sites for Fun:
Unique Web Clock
Thanks Anne-Marie Laderoute for this site suggestion!
Cool Optical Illusion
The Flash Mind Reader
Did this site from the last newsletter stump you?
Here is the solution:
Mathematically, when you do this calculation, it will always end up as a multiple of 9 (so as you look at the screen, the 9, 19, 27, etc all have the same symbol).
Each time you do the mind reading, the system changes this symbol of “choice “ so it appears that you have made a new selection.
NEW ARTICLE: Recent Internet Viruses -- What Can You Do?
August 2003 was the worst month in Internet history for viruses with two major outbreaks that are still wreaking havoc.
SoBig: This mass-mailing worm has probably landed in your inbox several times in the past month with the following subject lines:
- Your details
- Thank you!
- Re: Thank you!
- Re: Details
- Re: Re: My details
|
- Re: Approved
- Re: Your application
- Re: Wicked screensaver
- Re: That movie
- Re: That movie
|
and the following attachments:
- your_document.pif
- document_all.pif
- thank_you.pif
- your_details.pif
- details.pif
|
- document_9446.pif
- application.pif
- wicked_scr.scr
- movie0045.pif
|
If you open the attachments, your computer will become infected and pass it on to everyone in you Outlook Address Book!
Blaster/Lovsan: The worm took advantage of a flaw in Windows NT, 2000 and XP operating systems to drop a malicious program. Unlike typical computer viruses, which usually arrive as email attachments, this attacked open communication ports on vulnerable systems, often without the operator's knowledge. By taking advantage of a vulnerability in Windows, the worm was able to spread without requiring any action on the part of the user. It spread like wildfire through networks that had not uploaded the free patch. The result caused infected computers to reboot every few minutes.
These two outbreaks again highlight my 4 rules to keep your computer virus free:
-
Do not open file attachments with the following extensions: .exe .scr .vbs .pif .com .bat -- they are very commonly viruses.
-
-
Use anti-virus software and update it weekly.
-
Back-up regularly. Fortunately, the above two viruses, although a hassle, did not destroy files. They could have just as easily been written to erase all of the data on your hard drive. These types of viruses will likely increase, and regular backups are the only sure way to guard your data.
NEW ARTICLE:
Enterprise Meetings Management – Using Technology Strategically
There has been a trend in recent years to move meetings into the realm of procurement. The thought is that meetings space and services can be purchased in a manner similar to paperclips. The problem, however, is that meetings are far too important to be relegated to “accountants wearing green eyeshades.” Meetings should be central to a corporation’s marketing strategy. Meetings should strategically advance corporate goals. They can educate, motivate and stimulate your customers!
Fortunately, one of the hottest meetings technology trends is development of technology products that go beyond meetings consolidation. These “enterprise meeting management” solutions can save a company 20 to 30% of its meeting spend, but, as importantly, can help to keep corporate goals and objectives in the meetings pipeline as well.
CURRENT SPEAKING CALENDAR
My speaking and consulting schedule for September and October will be bring me to: Toronto, Salt Lake City, Albuquerque, Pasadena and Busan, Korea.
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CONTACT INFO::
Corbin Ball, CMP
Corbin Ball Associates
506 14th Street, Bellingham, WA 98225-6107
Phone: 360-734-8756, Fax: 508-632-7730
Email Corbin
Web: www.corbinball.com
© Copyright 2003 Corbin Ball Associates.
This letter and its content are proprietary products. All rights reserved. You are welcome to forward the entire letter to anyone you feel may be interested.
