Meetme discovers how The Active Network’s iPad-focussed technology solutions took the delegate experience at the 2011 Global Competitiveness Forum in Riyadh to the next level
THE CHALLENGE The Global Competitiveness Forum is staged annually in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and is regarded as one of the most important economic confer- ences in the world. The event attracted more than 100 globally-
renowned speakers including former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Bill Clinton and HE Dr. Ibra- him Abdulaziz Al-Assaf, Minister of Finance for Saudi Arabia. The event was attended by more than 3,000 VIPs from government, commerce and education. One of the core themes of the 2011 event was innovation, and further to the success of the tools Active developed for the 2010 GCF, there was a need to raise the bar by providing a com- pletely new set of technology solutions.
THE SOLUTION Working closely with the organiser (SAGIA), the team at Active was able to specify and develop the ultimate event technology solution. Starting with the premise that its mission was
to improve the delegate experience at every touch point, Active analysed the entire attendee journey to understand how technology could be used to add value. Active decided that a comprehensive, intuitive platform accessible via the iPad repre- sented the best solution and set about developing the GCF iPad app. Core to the success of this development was the
seamless integration with other systems in use includ- ing the registration and housing tools, also provided by Active, and easy-to-use, intuitively-designed inter- faces. The application integrated with social media channels including YouTube and Twitter to engage users and provide a real-time feedback channel. It was also ported into a web-based application
accessible via any Wi-Fi enabled phone to facilitate delegate networking before, during and after the event (see
www.gcfmobile.com). Active says the resultant app has set a new
benchmark in how technology can be used to improve the event experience and this was achieved by a complete focus on the attendees’ needs.
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WHAT THE CLIENT SAID Imad Abdul Samad, online marketing manager, SAGIA “Following the success of GCF 2010 we were extremely happy to be working with Active Net- work-Events again in 2011. The theme for 2011 was innovation. We turned
to the team at Active to develop a suite of technol- ogy to deliver the ultimate delegate experience and add tangible value for our attendees. Their work supported our theme of innova-
tion and also to be a completely ‘paper free’ event. One of the single largest innovations was the iPad app, which they developed. This tool was designed to provide delegates with a single powerful portal to access all information about the event dynami- cally and in real time. The app provided attendees with a mechanism
with which to network and interact with each other on site, view sponsor information and speaker pro- fi les, access video content, complete surveys and view the event map and programme via compli- mentary iPads.”
ABOUT THE ACTIVE NETWORK INC
LOCATION: Headquartered in San Diego, California, with more than 25 offi ces worldwide.
THE PRODUCTS/SERVICES: The Active Network, Inc is a provider of organisation- based cloud computing applications serving diverse market segments including business events, community activities, outdoors and sports.
Its technology platform, ActiveWorks, is designed to transform the way organisers manage their activities and events by automating online registrations and streamlining other critical management functions, while also driving consumer participation to their events.
Its fl agship media property,
Active.com, is an online community for people who want to discover, participate in, and share activities about which they are passionate.
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