Event Tech Blog   

Recently, one of our more verbose community commentators, DevilsAdvocate, offered his thoughts on a recent post: Here Comes The Next Great Technology Thing for Exhibitions and Events.  While mixing in a little humor, his criticism had some valid observations.

I predict that in the year 2015 our industry will still not have standards, and as a result, the hodgepodge of solutions being brought to this industry every year will continue to be laughed at by the real world. Without standards every important innovation that could make a difference in this market will be DOA.

Sadly, I think DevilsAdvocate may be right.  His point hits on one of my biggest soapbox topics – o...Read More

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With a large number of speaking requests for social media, a hot topic of great interest is the enigma of Twitter.  Is it a viable business tool or a passing fad?  Should show management ignore or embrace it?  Can corporate event marketers harness it to promote their brand? 

There are plenty of examples where the use of Twitter, combined with other social media solutions, can benefit an organization.

But dark clouds are beginning to appear on the digital horizon.  I have lined out six trends with Twitter that may signal serious challenges in moving to mainstream adoption.

The Choir isn’t all happy anymore
Some of the advocates of Twitter, the...Read More

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If you are in London this morning, stop by Earl's Court #2 and join Arran Coole of ASPEvents, Todd Turbo Watson with IBM, Heidi Williams of Tarsus and me for a fun morning of discussions regarding social media and the use of these tools for the recruitment of audience members and exhibitors.

If you can't be there in person, we will also have a Tweet Chat room for #mto that will allow Twitters to particiate in the conversation and ask questions.

Cheers

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I arrived Saturday, June 20th, in London for the preparations for the MTO Summit UK.  I have it on best authority that there are still some seats available, so if you are reading this post and have a desire to attend, and happen to be in London, send me a quick email to stephen@advontech.com and I can provide some passes.  Can't promise it will be free, but can probably get a decent discount off the 50 GBP.  

I am staying at Think apartments that include a kitchen and washer/dryer.  While my room is very clean and efficient, it is quite small and does not have Internet access.  I am considering another hotel to stay connected.

Last night I went to a local grocery store – Tesco, and purchased a mea...Read More

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The Convention Industry Council 2009 CMP Conclave hosted "The State of the Meetings Industry Power Panel" this morning in San Antonio, Texas and generated some exciting, almost heated, dialogue.  The All-Star list of industry panelists included

Moderator: 

Eric Allen, Executive Director, Healthcare Convention and Exhibitors Association and 2009 Chair CIC Board of Directors

...Read More

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Anyone who has engaged in a face-to-face interchange on a show floor or in a conference hall will admit that no technology can replicate the relationship building power of those exchanges.  Yet social media does have a place in complimenting and enhancing these introductions.  How powerful is the opportunity to receive concise feedback, questions and observations from over 100 webinar participants as I bantered back and forth with my host, Mark Sylvester of introNetworks.  My presentation began to take on a new direction as I adjusted to the Twitterchat stream.   I was able to address specific, important issues that were not on my original outline.  I talked about the concerns raised during the discussion and I even corrected a statement that I had made erroneously.

Beyond the intimate connec...Read More

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In response to my invitaton, Nicole Buraglio provides her thoughts on social marketing for our industry.  I have enjoyed working with her over the past couple of years.  Nicole is the Sales Director for Hanley Wood Exhibitions. In addition to managing the sales teams for seven of the company’s events, she has full P&L responsibility for CONNECT, Hanley Wood’s new online networking tool, and oversees the direction of exhibitor marketing for the division. Nicole has been in the trade show industry for more than 11 years, 9 of which have been with Hanley Wood.

Everyone wants to be connected, find old friends, join groups, tell the world their stories (even those we ...Read More

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I was humbled by the number of webinar attendees yesterday that gave up an hour of their day to listen to my advice on the adoption of social media tools.  Couldn't believe the expertise in the audience, which speaks volumes on the suppliers and entrepreneurs who are launching some exciting solutions.  The Twitterchat room was blazing with comments, questions and introductions.  It seemed to be an excellent audience, appreciated content, great conversations and some new friendships.

Just exactly what we defined as the value of social media to the event and exhibition industry.

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Tomorrow, Wednesday, May 27th, 9am Pacific, I am hosting a live webinar regarding the use of social media and the ways to harness these tools to enhance audience and attendee recruitment.  It is a free webinar, so join me and learn what your organization could or should be doing with these solutions.

For more information and to register visit http://www.intronetworks.com/webinars.aspx

If you have recently participated in the comments of feedback that I have asked for through LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter, you may find your comments as part of my presentation.

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A content delivery network or content distribution network (CDN) is a system of computers networked  across the Internet that cooperate to deliver content to end users, most often for the purpose of improving performance, scalability, and cost efficiency. Content is served from the server closest to the website visitor.

Content Distribution Networks have emerged over the last decade in order to distribute media content on behalf of content owners efficiently and cost-effectively. Such networks are especially valuable due to the often burst nature of demands and the fact that content owners require their contents with good quality to be highly available in a timely manner.

Cloud computing is a style of computing in which dynamically scalable and often virtualized resources are provided as a service over the Internet.  Users need not have kno...Read More

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Wednesday, May 13th will be an enjoyable day for my calendar.  I have the chance to steal away from the office for a short time and attend an interesting event right here in Austin, Texas.  The Video Marketing Expo will feature organizations involved in the creation of compelling and entertaining online video.   Educational sessions cover cutting-edge methods for producing online videos for marketing, blogging, lead generation, and social media.

Since these topics are high on my priority list, I am always seeking new input and new ideas.  I have also become acquainted with the ev...Read More

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Continuing with my invitation to our industry leaders to participate in a guest post, Steven Hacker, CAE, President of International Association of Exhibitions and Events (IAEE) has provided an excellent article.    I have considered Mr. Hacker a great leader and wonderful personal advisor.  I am excited to share his thoughts with you.


We have a long-standing fundamental rule governing the adoption of new technology at IAEE (The International Association of Exhibitions and Events): no matter how breathtakingly awesome, fascinating, or fun it may be, we will not touch new technology unless its function substantially dominates its...Read More

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