Stephen Nold

Defining Digital Dashboards
July 12, 2007

In one of my earlier posts, I spoke about a digital dashboard and the value of creating a single interface from which meeting professionals could access metrics relevant to the tools that they utilize to manage events.  This post had the greatest number of comments.  I realized that a working definition of a dashboard might benefit some of our readers.

According to Wikipedia, a digital dashboard, also known as an enterprise dashboard or executive dashboard, is a business management tool used to visually ascertain the status (or "health") of a business enterprise via key business indicators.  Digital dashboards use graphic, at-a-glance displays of data pulled from disparate business systems to provide warnings, action notices, next steps, and summaries of business conditions.

Applying this definition to event systems, a show organizer would utilize a dashboard to see results across events or combine progress reports from a variety of other tools.  Historical data enriches this view and allows the end user to compare current results to past performances.  Dashboards can summarize implicit, previously unknown, and potentially useful information from data in an extraction process known as data mining.  Data mining offers the chance to identify key trends and patterns.  Dashboards enable executives the chance to measure the health of operations and fine-tune business processes to enhance results or reduce inefficiencies.  Because of the “one click” access to this information, resources are focused on interpreting and acting on the data, NOT gathering the data.

a2zInc. has recently announced the release of a2zExecutiveDashboard, a digital dashboard for senior executives.  The real time view of information along with the visually smart presentation of the data provides key performance indicators for multiple shows by date, dollar amount and net square feet.  I suspect that this is the first of several new tools that will place key metrics at the fingertips of associations, show organizers and corporate planners. 

AllianceTech is another supplier that has designed some very powerful analytic tools with their at.analytics reports.  As a provider of solutions focused on measuring the value of conferences, tradeshows and events, they have introduced new tools that deliver complete and integrated solutions to track attendee behavior and preferences at conferences. 

WingateWeb has developed the Event Console for a consistent event management software platform that provides event consolidation and meeting management across all events.  Incorporating online registration, an array of administrative tools and data mining capabilities demonstrates their depth of understanding of event management needs.

Posted by Stephen Nold on July 12, 2007 | Comments (0)