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Welcome to Corbin's TechTalk Newsletter, in its seventh year of providing the latest in technology for meetings, hospitality and travel professionals in more than 60 countries.
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In this issue:
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New Article: EIBTM Worldwide Technology Watch Highlights Several Meetings Technology Trends
A winner and six finalists were announced for this year' World Wide Watch for Technology Innovation pointing to interesting technology developments for the meetings industry.
New Article: Hotel Pet Peeves and Needs from a Road Warrior My key pet peeves from hotel stays around the world. Please send me yours to include as well.
New Article: I Want My Leads and I Want Them Now! – Real Time Lead Management
This article by by Carmen Long, Product Manager for American Exposition Technologies, covers new lead retrieval developments helping exhibitors to use mobile devices to capture leads at tradeshows.
New Article: Supporting Evolving Standards (PDF file)
http://www.mpiweb.org/news/tmp/2005/10/tech.pdf
The article is one I wrote for MPI's Meeting Professional Magazine covering the recent developments in APEX and the need to take templates to the next step -- electronic data exchange.
News
CIC Release Latest Economic Impact Study
http://www.conventionindustry.org/aboutcic/pr/pr_091305.htm
It has been ten years since the CIC has conducted this report. The 2005 study, just released, reveals interesting facts and figures:
"The meetings, conventions, exhibitions, and incentive travel industry is a 365-day-a-year business that operates in communities, large and small, across the country. Taken as a whole, it generated $122.31billion in total direct spending in 2004, making it the 29th largest contributor to the gross national product. That is more than the “pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing” industry.
Direct Employment Impact, the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) jobs supported by the direct spending of the industry, is 1,710,000 jobs. Direct Tax Impact rose to $21.40 billion.
Association-sponsored events accounted for two thirds, or $81.94 billion, of the direct spending industry total. Corporate-sponsored events (including incentive travel) accounted for the remaining one third, or $40.37 billion."
MPI's Technology Village at EIBTM
http://tinyurl.com/c3vnd
One of the industry's largest tradeshows... A specific location for technology companies in the center of the hall along the center walkway... A superb meeting venue...
EIBTM, Barcelona, 29 November- 1 December 2005.
New Speaking Programs from Corbin Available
http://www.corbinball.com/presentations/
I am always in the process of updating my existing programs. In addition, I have developed two new programs as well:
Tutorial: Online Site Selection/RFPs
Tutorial: Choosing the Best Meeting Spend and Consolidation System.
CardioReady® and OnVantage Highlight Meeting Facilities with Certified Cardiac Emergency Readiness Programs
http://www.mpoint.com/cardioready/cardioReady_about.asp
Interesting alliance to put defibrillators in hotels
31 Web Site Favorites for Business and Fun
3 Favorite Meeting Industry Related Sites:
Gaylords iConnect
http://www.redrocketinc.net/html/gaylord/demo2.html
A web computer in every room? Improved service and great upsell opportunities for the hotel.
WinPlan - Inexpensive Meeting Planning Software
http://www.winplan.biz
A recent entry in the the event planning software product line (no web interface yet but it will be coming) at $495.
ExpoDial - Voice-enabled Trade Show Guide using your cell phone
http://www.expodial.com/
Interesting use of mobile technology to assist finding your way on the show floor.
9 Favorite Meetings Networking/Matchmaking Sites (mobile products):
One good contact at a meeting and be worth the entire price of the event. The last issue of TechTalk provided a view of the major web-based players in this space. This issue addresses the PDA/mobile-based networking products.
nTAG
http://www.ntag.com NTAG is the leader in the US with their electronic name badge with and extensive tool set including RFID, audience polling, lead capture and retrieval, marketing analysis, and more. Look for future developments on their current product line.
ShockFish SpotMe
http://www.shockfish.com/
This propriety wireless networking device (based on technology similar to Bluetooth) is one of the best technologies I have seen with built in “radar” to identify people within 10 meters (with pictures). One can search through the attendee list on the device (sorted by name, company or country in case I used it) and highlight the names for you to be notified (via vibration) when they come within range. Other features include voting, polling, email messaging, agendas, group/individual announcements, and more.
Closer
http://www.closer.com
Closer Communication focuses on the tradeshow floor. This system promises to pop up a photo on your wireless PDA of the attendee standing in your exhibit booth with contact information and a predictive score (A through F) of the likelihood of a business match. The system includes a variety of analytic tools, such has measuring how long attendees stay at specific booths, capture of lead interest areas/requests, and predictive scoring of matches. The data collection is focused on enhancing the interaction between buyer and exhibitor.
Charmed Badge
http://www.charmed.com The Charmed Badge is simple, relatively inexpensive add-on to a standard badge. Designed specifically for networking, the next generation of this device, scheduled for release in the next few months, will be postage stamp in size with 4 “affinity” lights. As attendees meet, the badges will sense each other, and, based demographic information captured during registration, one or more of the lights will illumine - the more lights on, the great the potential match.
Channel:1
http://www.channel1corp.com/
Channel:1’s mhip device uses the Blackberry RIM interface to provide audience polling, dynamic scheduling, group and individual messaging, conference/tradeshow maps and product location, exhibitor information requests, and personal schedules, calendaring, surveys, lead retrieval, agenda builders.
Venue Maitre’D
http://www.venuemaitred.com
Venue Maitre'D provides an interactive suite of wireless services through smart phones and Wi-Fi enabled PDAs. Among the features are: attendee email, messaging, chat, calendar, floor plans, and venue information and links.
Jambo Networks
http://www.jambo.net/
This web-based/Wi-FI mobile device with geo-positioning enabled system stands to have a strong future in network software.
Nokia Sensor
http://www.nokia.com/nokia/0,,73651,00.html
Although this is a social networking phone application, the possibilities for using this in a business setting could be significant.
Dodgeball
http://www.dodgeball.com/
A cell phone, geoposition-based social networking tool available in 22 cities in North America . Also has potential application in the business matchmaking space.
10 Favorite Utility/Reference Sites:
Phish Fighting
http://www.phishfighting.com
Fight back against Phishing (online identity theft) attacks.
Telework Management Guide
http://www.viack.com/telework
Good white paper on the steps to use collaboration technologies to improve collaboration among tele-workers, their managers, partners and/or clients. Registration required.
How does your website rank on the internet?
http://irankcheck.com/
How popular is your site? Find out quickly here.
Google Zip Code Mapper
http://maps.huge.info/
Cool tool with reverse zip code look up as well.
Google Traffic Maps
http://traffic.poly9.com/
Another great tool from Google.
CopyScape
http://www.copyscape.com
Someone copying your website content? Try this website plagiarism searcher.
BlinkxTV
http://www.blinkx.tv/
Very cool video headlines search engine
Technorati
http://www.technorati.com/
A Google for blogs (web logs) with more than 20.6 million bogs included.
Wikipedia
http://www.wikipedia.org/
A open-source encyclopedia with more than 750,000 articles. Excellent resource but check articles against other sources.
Top 10 Web Design Mistakes of 2005
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/designmistakes.html
Good ideas for website improvement.
9 Sites for Fun:
Oxymoron List
http://www.oxymoronlist.com/
Very extensive list.
Stomp
http://uploads.ungrounded.net/221000/221483_Play.swf
Online animated version of "Stomp"
Riddles Galore
http://www.riddlenut.com/show.php
Super Chalk Art
http://www.saturn9.ws/gallery/v/sidewalk/
10 Worst High Tech Products
http://www.cnet.com/4520-11136_1-6313439-1.html?tag=nl.e501
Nostalgic look at tech ideas that failed from CNet
Gadgets Galore
http://www.engadget.com/
For you gadget lovers, this site is regularly updated with the latest ones.
Skip Intros
http://www.skipintro.nl/skipintro/skipintro98.htm
I dislike web splash pages -- they separate the visitor from the content the want to see. This site states the point eloquently.
59 Optical Illusions & Visual Phenomena
http://www.michaelbach.de/ot/index.html
Nicely displayed series with explanations.
American Society of Magazine Editors' Top 40 Magazine Covers for the Past 40 Years
http://nile.doceus.com/editorial/top40covers.htm
4 + 1 Recent Articles with "Quotes from Corbin" or from Tech3 Partners
Remote Conferencing Use Climbs Despite Travel Rebound (Business Travel News)
http://www.btnmag.com/businesstravelnews/headlines/meetings_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001138305
Corrie Dosh's article covering developments in virtual conferencing and meetings.
How to Incorporate Technology without Spending a Lot On It (IAEM's Expositions and Events Magazine - PDF document - Page 9)
http://www.iaem.org/content/e2/10-2005E2.pdf
MIchelle Bruno's review of low-cost meeting planning software options.
Software Shopping (M&C Magazine)
http://www.mcmag.com/IndividualFeature.aspx?page=1&pageid=52358
Sarah Braley's meeting planning software review.
Corps. Slow To Embrace Onsite Attendee Mgmt. Tools (Business Travel News)
http://www.btnmag.com/businesstravelnews/headlines/meetings_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001306444
Corrie Dosh covers onsite attendee management issues with quotes from Jeff Rasco.
Also a recommended article without a quote from Corbin: Emerging Technologies for Teleconferencing and Telepresence (PDF file)
http://www.wrplatinum.com/bestanden/4382-WP-Emerging%20Technologies2.pdf
This excellent white paper from Wainhouse Research covers tech advances in teleconferencing.
QUOTE OF THE MONTH:
"In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. But, in practice, there is."
-- Jan L.A. van de Snepscheut
SHORT-SIGHTED TECHNOLOGY QUOTE OF THE MONTH:
"The world potential market for copying machines is 5000 at most."
--IBM to the founders of Xerox as it turned down their proposal (1959)
SUGGESTION BOX
Please send along any questions, ideas, or suggestions on how to make this newsletter more useful for you:
contactcorbin@corbinball.com
CORBIN'S SPEAKING CALENDAR
My speaking and consulting schedule for November and December will be bringing me to Montevideo, Uruguay, Boston (2 times), St. Louis, Barcelona, Vietnam and likely a few other places as well. Click the link above for specific details. I would love to make your city one of my destinations as well, so please contact me and let's set a date.
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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 2005 Corbin Ball Associates.
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Thanks to our sponsors who make TechTalk possible:
a2z Inc: a2zFloorPlan - a2aShowEZ - a2zShow
NEW – Take a look at why so many show organizers are switching to a2z's dependable web-based, real-time floor plan management, booth sales and expo software to increase booth sales and cut their work and headaches in half. Visit our website (www.a2zinc.net) for details about our new purchase and lease options, FREE demos and estimates - 410-740-9200.
Mira
Mira delivers technology - and the people to back it up - to streamline the publications process for scholarly meetings. Our miraSMART(tm) suite of online submission, review, and scheduling tools handles all aspects of the meeting publications process. It's powerful technology made even more powerful with dedicated, experienced project managers.
Ungerboeck Systems Intl.
Ungerboeck Systems INternational offers
aspire™ a subset of the world-leading EBMS® software, to provide world-class, integrated conference management and registration software to organizations specializing in conference management. USI is the premier provider of Internet-enabled and fully integrated management software used by associations, conferences, exhibitions, and venues on six continents. Visit us at www.ungerboeck.com.
Conferon
Trying to wade through the swamp of attrition and "rooms outside the block"? Let Conferon's experts help. To benefit from the industry's best buying power, contracts and practices, contact Conferon at info@conferon.com or call 330-425-8333.
RFiD Trade Show Technology, will provide a complete attendee management system for your trade show or event. Convention Strategy delivers a suite of RFiD solutions for show management, including exhibit lead management, real-time exhibit hall entrance monitoring, and education session attendance (ceu) tracking. New reporting capabilities allow increased booth sales and higher attendance! Call today - (866) 353-7521.
PCNameTag
The online/offline registration solution more planners are choosing! Introducing PRO X™ Software…easy, fast, full-featured software for registration management from PC/NAMETAG, the meeting people you know and trust. Visit www.pcnametag.com/prox today to download a free trial, register for a preview webinar, or view an on-line demo. Call toll-free at 1-800-369-8622.
DotCom Your Event
Searching for an affordable and secure Event Registration Solution?DotCom Your Event specializes in pre-show, online and onsite registration solutions. From our fully customizable Conference, Gala and Proposal Management Systems to our inexpensive, feature-rich, "event ready" software the Event Wizard, our web-based solutions are guaranteed to maximize your time. Visit our website today to learn more about our free trial, free checklist and our free lanyard offer.
nTAG
nTAG Interactive provides a complete system for on-site event management built around our break-through interactive name badge – the nTAG. The nTAG system improves attendee networking and automates polls/surveys, agenda management, card exchange, taking attendance, and messaging. Customers include GE, MasterCard, IBM, WellPoint, Lucent, Accenture and many others.
Travel Planners, Inc.
Innovative housing programs for 25 years. Travel Planners covers every base from integrated marketing messages that boost bookings and registrations to contract negotiations. Our team works as your fulltime housing staff. Standard features of our Master Plan include best-in-class booking technology and a suite of attrition-reduction services.
 EIBTM -- 29 November-1 December 2005 -- Barcelona Spain
EIBTM Is The Premier International Event Dedicated To The Global Meetings And Incentive Industry. EIBTM attracts 5,000 industry buyers and 2,000 exhibitors from over 100 countries. Over 2,500 buyers at EIBTM are top-level decision-makers bought to the event as part its Hosted Buyer Programme®.
ConferZone
ConferZone is the first objective e-conferencing resource that tracks the latest technology and trends in the marketplace. ConferZone provides information on Web conferencing, video conferencing, voice/audio conferencing, collaborative conferencing as well as expertise on hardware, equipment and consulting services.
Attendee Management Inc. (AMi)
AMi breaks down the barriers to online registration, housing, travel and e-marketing. No license fees, no software to manage, just dedicated, experienced service. Pay only for what you need, and provide the solutions your attendees and clients expect. Contact info@attendeenet.com, or call 512.842.1612
CardinalWare
CardinalWare is a 4th Generation Content Management System that fully integrates management of information, personal profiles and distribution. Whether you need a new or better Website, online marketing and communications tools, integration with other data, or anything in between, CardinalWare may be right for you. Visit our Website or call us at 888-755-7075. |
