The latest article posted by Corbin Ball Associates, “12+ Meetings Technology Trends to Watch for 2012,” provides an long list of up and coming technology trends for meeting planners and attendees. Here are some of our favorites.
One trend for smartphones that will be very useful in 2012 are the free and low cost phone applications for meetings, conferences, and events. Smartphone applications now have the ability to assist in your event planning through the distribution of event information, venue location finding, improving your green business through reducing paper needs and many more options. There are hundreds of mobile applications targeting meeting professionals and the event business, the possibilities are endless!
Like the idea of a meeting application for your phone? The second trend and most popular area of smartphone development for meeting planning is the “Do It Yourself” phone applications. You can create a customized app specifically for your meeting or event using services such as BiznessApps.com which allows you to customize information, logos and more for a monthly fee. BiznessApps.com is not the only site with an “events” option for creating your personalized event app. There are many other similar services or you can hire a designer per app.
The third smartphone trend for meeting and event planners in 2012 is “Near Field Communication” (NFC). NFC allows devices to communicate when they are touched together. There are many applications for this technology but we love it for its ability to trade business cards and contact information at meetings.
The fourth trend for smartphones in meeting planning business are the “Indoor Positioning Systems” to help attendees find their way around an event, meeting, or trade show. The standard GPS on smartphones stops working for attendees once they walk through the venue door, but what if they can’t find their way around once inside? The “Indoor Positioning System” allows precise positioning, personal navigation through a venue/exhibit hall with optimized routing, friend/contact finding, networking (with permission) and much, much more.
The fifth and final smartphone trend in 2012 most useful to planning professionals is the recent movement towards free and easy access to Wi-Fi. Wi-Fi makes all the smartphone trends possible. It is becoming a more standard contract addition. While some hotels and venues still charge for Wi-Fi many are offering it for free in meeting spaces and common areas.
Smartphone applications are the future of the event industry so be one of the first to utilize these resources and surprise your clients and attendees with your tech-savvy business!
For more information on the 2012 meeting technology trends, visit: http://www.corbinball.com/articles_technology/index.cfm?fuseaction=cor_av&artID=8756
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