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PCMA@LinkedIn: Making Events More Interactive Nicolas Richard, president of travel and corporate events at Othentika, recently asked members of PCMA’s LinkedIn group for their suggestions on how to make events more interactive — while offering his own case study of a confer- ence that rented iPads for its 260 attend- ees to encourage them to interact at sessions (convn.org/othentika). Here are some of the responses that he received:

Doesn’t the profile of the attendees have an effect? For example, I can imagine that an event making use of iPads will be a great deal more successful if the attendees are all aged under 35.

Ken Clayton, Director, RefTech

We thought that attendee-age demo- graphics would factor significantly into our trade-show mobile solutions. However, we found that age was not a determining factor in adoption rates between iPads and smartphone usage when game mechanics were implemented. Everyone (especially participants over 40) felt a strong desire to engage with other attendees because the technology we implemented was fun, easy to use, and most importantly, gave them incentive to connect and network with other “like-minded” indi- viduals during the show.

James Vos, Business Development Manager, Boothtag.com

Actually, I used iPads for a meeting where the average age was 50–55. It worked wonderfully and attendees loved it.

Colleen Neubauer, Meetings Manager, National Council of State Boards of Nursing

Does the use of technology help engage people with the electronics or with the

other people? I have seen too many events where the tech takes over and the talking goes down.

Thom Singer, Speaker, NYP Speakers

Yay! Thom! I’ve been thinking the exact same thing. What has been funny to me about this thread is that it’s been about technology, not about interactivity of

From Convene’s blog For more on the meetings industry, visit our blog at pcmaconvene.com.

RAIN OR SHINE, SLEET OR SNOW PlannerTech, an event-technology showcase that is put on by Liz King Events and the online event- services resource imbookin, took place on Nov. 7 at the Hotel Penn- sylvania in Manhattan. Although the city had sufficiently recovered from Superstorm Sandy for event organizers to feel okay about going forward, another storm slammed into the East Coast that day, bring- ing several inches of snow and 50 mph winds. Convene Assistant Editor

Sarah Beauchamp had planned on attending PlannerTech, but thanks to the nor’easter couldn’t make the trek from Brooklyn to Midtown Manhattan. But, being the savvy event professionals they are, orga- nizers offered a tech-based alter- native to include those attendees who couldn’t make it. Sarah gave a rundown of her experience as well as some of the technology she learned about, thanks to a Ustream live stream: “Last night in New York, event

professionals proved their dedica- tion to this industry by trekking through nor’easter Athena to get to PlannerTech 2012 — a showcase for event-technology startups. Wet and snow-covered, attendees

people. For example, at breaks at meet- ings, I rarely see people talking with each other — they are all looking down at and working on some device. The ser- endipitous meeting of someone is such a delight. We seem to want to take that away. Isn’t technology just a tool?

Joan Eisenstodt, Hospitality & Meetings Industry Trainer, Facilitator & Consultant

At PlannerTech, the show must go on — and it did, despite a nor’easter.

gathered to learn about some of the latest up-and-coming apps in the industry. “The event’s organizer Liz King

set up a live stream for those of us unable to get to the Hotel Pennsyl- vania in Manhattan because of the storm. So I was able to — from the warmth of my living room — learn about some new cutting-edge event apps, and soak in the vibe of an enthusiastic, passionate (and slightly damp) group of event professionals.” Read the full post, including

Sarah’s wrap-up of some of the technology presented at Plan- nerTech, at convn.org/snow-sleet.

PCMA.ORG

DECEMBER 2012 PCMA CONVENE

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