Tony Lorenz wants to do for business events what broadcast television did for sports: take them to a worldwide audience both live and on demand. In late 2011, Lorenz, 50, created Chicago-based bXb Online, an event marketing agency that announced the online network BOBtv in early 2012. The network invites associations, corporations, and media companies to provide content from their events that can be shared online. Those content-owners determine whether the information is available for free or for a fee, and they receive a portion of those fees.
“This has the opportunity to really redefine B-to-B event marketing,” Lorenz says. “Right now the every industry is highly fragmented. They are all, by virtue of that fragmentation, compromised. To the extent they can come in to relevant industry networks and more people participate in the content of face-to-face events, it will help grow those events. It will provide new revenue streams for the content owners, and the resulting platform can be very solidifying for these industries.”
