Philadelphia CVB Goes Mobile
-- Tradeshow Week, 7/28/2008
If you plan to attend a tradeshow in Philadelphia soon and haven't upgraded to a smart phone yet, now is the time.
The Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau launched the city's official travel and hospitality Web site on the dotMobi platform, making all its online information available on cell phones at www.PhiladelphiaUSA.mobi.
Eric Barnard, manager of Web services for Weaver Multimedia Group, said the service already is being used in a number of smaller cities – for instance, Valley Forge, Pa.; Pismo Beach, Calif.; Omaha, Neb.; and Ocean City, Md. – but the Philadelphia bureau is one of the first larger CVBs to adopt the cellular Web site service.
Weaver Multimedia Group and the PCVB built the dotMobi Web site.
“I know we were one of the first, if not the first,” said Danielle Cohn, vice president for marketing and communication at the PCVB.
According to the PCVB, mobile wireless connectivity is beneficial to convention attendees needing real-time information and updates. It also helps with the ever-present challenge convention-goers have: limited free time.
“Just about every attendee has some kind of mobile device that they're working from,” Cohn said. “So, while they're sitting in a meeting or one of the sessions at a convention, they can also find out (where there is) a great place right around the convention center to have lunch or dinner.”
Cohn added the dotMobi site is helpful to attendees wanting to pack their free time with sightseeing around the city. “We have so much to do right around the convention center,” she said. “It gives people great options.”
The dotMobi site adheres to mobile-compatibility style guidelines, ensuring optimal text content for all cell phone viewing.
“It's very text-driven,” Cohn said, “So, it's very quick to find information, and it's searchable.”
In 2007, the PCVB adopted the dotMobi domain and configuration. After setup and testing, promotion for the site began in June. Cohn said the site already has seen a lot of traffic, and the PCVB is promoting it to all conventions coming through the city.
“You can search our 1,000 member businesses,” she said. “It's almost like a Philadelphia Yellow Pages right at your fingertips. (It is) very easy one-stop shopping.”
