Event Mobile Apps Part II – Advice & Trends from Mobile Technology Experts
In my last post, I recommended seven points show organizers should consider before they launch a mobile app for their next event. In this post, I’ve interviewed several leaders in the mobile industry to get their insights on pitfalls to avoid and trends to watch.
I. Advice from the Experts
Look at the performance metrics of apps and providers…
According to Kathleen Gilroy, Entrepreneur and Owner of SWIFT Mobile, the options available right now to event planners can make it difficult to select an app that really matches the needs of the event. “There are so many options now that it is very hard to differentiate the app providers. Meeting planners need to look carefully under the hood to make sure that the apps can support the show data.” The larger the show, with more sessions, events and attendees, the more critical this is. Read more
Event Mobile Apps – 7 Strategies to Apply Before You Launch
We’ve likely all heard the statistics about the acceleration of smart phone usage. By 2014, everyone over the age of 4 will have one, and most of the people over the age of 12 will have built an app for one.
OK, maybe that’s a slight exaggeration but there is no question that smartphones are on the rise and changing the way people interact with the world. Pretty soon everyone, including conference attendees, will expect a mobile app that provides the information they need, when they need it. Mobile apps for events offer an alternative to printed programs, add new media channels for advertising and sponsorship, and offer new ways to facilitate communication and engagement between attendees.
There is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to mobile apps. Consider the following strategies before you make the mobile app investment: Read more 
The Year Ahead – A Return to Excellence
Travis Stanton’s Editorial in the November issue of EXHIBITOR magazine hit home with me as I thought about our company this past year and where I want to take it in the year to come. He talked about how the last few years of economic recession and hiring freezes has squelched innovation as organizations have struggled to get things done with fewer resources. Out of necessity, the focus has been on managing costs and making things work, not on considering the new ideas that will that will drive future success. “Good became good enough and excellent became an aspiration, rather than an expectation.”
The New Year offers an opportunity for fresh perspective and new ideas. Like EXHIBITOR magazine, MRA Services has welcomed some new talent to our company. We, too, have attempted to change the conversation within our organization over the last few months to focus on how things could and should be done, even if it’s not how we’re currently doing them. We, too, will challenge ourselves to tap into fresh perspectives, while attempting to manage change initiatives to maintain stability and superior service.
In the year ahead, MRA Services will center our priorities on the following: Read more
Evaluating Sponsorship? What Event Sponsors Need to Know
I was recently asked to contribute to an article for the Fox Business – Small Business Center on what small businesses need to know about sponsorship.
Since sponsorship is a topic dear to the hearts of many of our readers, I thought I’d elaborate on the subject here.
The target audience of the Fox Business article, I was told, is owners of very small businesses selling to consumers and evaluating community-based sponsorships in range of $1-2K. Readers of this blog are likely more familiar with business-to-business event sponsorships that often require a significantly higher financial commitment. Although the fundamentals of sponsorship are the same in both cases, this post is geared more toward our readers who represent B2C companies evaluating event sponsorships. Read more
Creative Collaboration to Combat Attrition
When the economy took a hit in 2008, and the ensuing AIG Effect was wreaking havoc on the meeting and travel industry, a lot of event organizers felt the pain close to home. Attendance at many events plummeted, leaving event organizers with contractual obligations for filling sleeping rooms that they could not meet.
Although it’s a familiar story, one MRA client shared a happy ending borne from collaboration among peers.
Doreen Murner, the Executive Director for the National Association of Education Procurement (NAEP), is a member of CHEMA , the Council of Higher Education Management Associations. CHEMA members represent the executive leadership of associations that serve higher education. The purpose of CHEMA is to support members in fulfilling their individual missions.
Doreen became aware of a fellow CHEMA member in need. ACUI, the Association of College Unions International, faced a sizable attrition penalty with the Anaheim Marriott. ACUI had two choices, pay the penalty or book another meeting at the same property within a set time frame. Since they were not able to bring the meeting back to the property, they reached out to their CHEMA peers for help.
NAEP was in the process of selecting west coast sites for their 2012 annual meeting. Although Anaheim was not on their short list, the property did meet their needs. Doreen made the decision to book their event at the Anaheim Marriott to free ACUI of their financial penalty.
Doreen believes in the power of collaboration and she was willing to put her money where her mouth was in order to encourage other organizations to do the same. Even within a community of peers, such as CHEMA, “Collaboration doesn’t just happen on its own, you have to work at it.” Doreen’s hard work paid off for ACUI, and while there is no immediate benefit for NAEP, her commitment will hopefully inspire future collaborative efforts among CHEMA and the broader community of event industry professionals.
Do you know of other examples where two organization came together to solve an attrition problem? Please share! Are you facing a similar attrition situation at your organization? Send me a note and I’ll poll our network of show organizers to see if a similar solution is viable.
Welcome!
The summer of 2011 marked the 30 year anniversary of MRA Services. So, we figured it was about time to share that history and experience with the world and launch a blog. And, with 30 years of planning conferences and trade shows under our belts, we certainly have a lot of good stories. What about that time when the riverboat venue for our board dinner burned down the night before the event? Or the time the mirrored ceiling panels came crashing down in the middle of our banquet dinner? Or when the group in-house just prior to ours refused to vacate the hotel?!
But rehashing old war stories and entertaining our clients isn’t the primary objective of our new blog. Every story gives us the opportunity to share what we we’ve learned and to help you, the reader, make better decisions for planning your next conference, meeting or event. The best stories are those where everything went right. How were our clients successful in accomplishing their objectives? Working collaboratively, how were we able to create The Ultimate Conference Experience™? Sharing these stories here, gives us the opportunity to inspire new ideas and creative solutions among our broader network of clients and event professionals.
“What are your other clients doing?”
That’s the question I get asked most often when meeting with clients.*
“What trends are you seeing in the industry that will have the most impact on our shows?” Read more
