Resources / Technology

January 27, 2014

'Into the Heart of Meetings: Basic Principles of Meeting Design' by Eric de Groot and Mike van der Vijver

"This provides a wonderful introduction to meeting design," says Adrian Segar of Vermont's Conferences That Work. "Unlike the many books on the profession that emphasize logistics, Eric and Mike's book delves into core questions about meeting design, such as uncovering desired outcomes, working with meeting owners, and what to do to create truly innovative meetings that deliver results. In addition, the wealth of real-life examples included make this a fascinating and thought-provoking read."

Photo: Courtesy of MindMeeting.org

'Who Moved My Cheese: An Amazing Way to Deal With Change In Your Work and In Your Life' by Spencer Johnson

Howard Givner, executive director of the Event Leadership Institute, says that this book is "broadly applicable, and short and easy to read. It provides a great parable for learning how to take curve balls in stride and not dwelling or complaining about what's happened to you. The proactive, 'let's move forward' approach is one that every planner should adopt, as things rarely go as planned in live events, and it's important to be able to roll with the punches. It helps you go into an event with the mindset that unexpected changes will happen, so when they do you're not thrown off guard."

Photo: Courtesy of G.P. Putnam's Sons

'Marketing Your Event Planning Business: A Creative Approach to Gaining the Competitive Edge' by Judy Allen

"I enjoyed reading this book by Judy Allen," says Eva Gouldbourne, a wedding and event planner at Chicago's Diamond Events. "This book has many specific examples of how to get the kind of business you want and avoid doing things that will make you stand out negatively."

Photo: Courtesy of John Wiley & Sons Canada Ltd

'Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking' by Susan Cain

A self-proclaimed introvert, Adam Sloyer is the managing director of New York's Sequence Events and president-elect of ISES New York's Metro Chapter. Of this Susan Cain book, he says: "I found this to be a fascinating read, regardless of whether you consider yourself to be an introvert or an extrovert—and after reading this, you may have a different opinion. Quiet dispels many of the standard biases against introverts and also showcases some of the competitive advantages. Yes, events is a 'people business,' but I found this book to reinforce how introverts can be just as successful."

Photo: Courtesy of Broadway Paperbacks

'Setting the Table: The Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business' by Danny Meyer

David Beahm of New York's David Beahm Design recommends Setting the Table by Danny Meyer. "I was having problems justifying one of my managers' style of management. He wasn't very nice and I didn't like it," Beahm says. "I found Mr. Meyer's concept of fear-based versus trust-based control very validating as to how I want to run my business. If you trust and empower people to do a good job, they will."

Photo: Courtesy of HarperCollins Publishers

'Corporate Excellence: How to Maximize Long-term Productivity & Profits by Aligning Purpose, Culture & People' by Jim Harris

France Langan, sales director of Chicago's Holiday Inn Mart Plaza, recommends checking out this title. "It's an easy read, designed for the busy executive," says Langan. "I think for me, it validated how I try to motivate and work. It also reminded me of how easy business can be if you focus on the individual goals at hand. And, get the right people involved to help. Never do it alone."

Photo: Courtesy of AGR Press

'The Wedding Book: The Big Book for Your Big Day' by Mindy Weiss

Susan Berg Gladstone, director of the Miami Wine and Food Festival, says: "I am not even a social event planner. But this book covers numerous crucial elements of event planning for any type of event."

Photo: Courtesy of Workman Publishing Company

'How To Think Like Leonardo da Vinci: Seven Steps to Genius Every Day' by Michael Gelb

Tahira Endean, the director of creative and production at Cantrav Services Inc. in Vancouver, says that all of Michael Gelb's books are must-reads, including this one about Leonardo da Vinci, which "includes a great story about catering in that century." Gelb, she says "truly is a Renaissance man, and I am always inspired by these books. I've read each more than once, and I've given them out to friends between 14 and 70 years of age. I consider these mandatory reading if you want to consider how to live and create better."

Photo: Courtesy of Dell

'Think and Grow Rich: Your Key to Financial Wealth and Power' by Napoleon Hill

Junou Bernadin, a projects administrator at Food for the Poor in Florida, says that this book by Napoleon Hill is a "must-read for any professional." The lessons it contains are more complex than the title suggests, she says, explaining that it covers the process of overcoming limitations and "striving for the very best. This is what all event planners do. We strive for the best the overall 'wow' factor."

Photo: Courtesy of Success Co.

'Rework' by Jason Fried and David Heinemeir Hansson

Kristen Kaza, principal at No Small Plans Productions in Chicago, says that this "is a brilliant book from Chicago's 37Signals that gave me the encouragement to start my own company. It has chapters like 'Meetings are Toxic,' 'Fire the Workaholics,' and 'Planning is Guessing.' It's a great, short read with messages that make sense and stick. Everyone should read it."

Photo: Courtesy of Crown Business

'The Wiley Event Management Series' Special Events: A New Generation and the Next Frontier' by Joe Goldblatt

Julie Ramirez, a production intern at Jonny Stax Presents in Chicago, recommends this title for her peers just getting started in the industry. "The author takes you step-by-step through every process of event managing," she says. "I found this book so helpful when I took my first classes for event management during college, and I still use it as reference from time to time."

Photo: Courtesy of Wiley

'The Accidental Creative: How to be Brilliant at a Moment's Notice' by Todd Henry

The book "provides guidance on how to make adjustments in your daily routines to facilitate and increase your creativity, which is a vital asset when your profession requires creativity on demand," says Christina Mihalek, corporate events and meeting planner at Western & Southern Financial Group in Cincinnati.

Photo: Courtesy of Portfolio Hardcover

'The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology That Fuel Success and Performance at Work' by Shawn Achor

"This book should be titled Want Your Staff to Make Better Impressions on Your Clients, and Get a Free 15% Productivity Boost?" says Jason Harmer, who works in sales and development at Vancouver's GetWorkers. "Even if your boss is only concerned with the bottom line, this will give you a compelling argument to improve the happiness of your support staff."

Photo: Courtesy of Crown Business

'Meeting Architecture, a Manifesto (Volume 1)' by Maarten Vanneste

"This is where meeting planning is headed, I believe," says Dan Cormany, a faculty member at Florida International University. "I use it in my graduate class on convention management.

Photo: Courtesy of Meeting Support Institute

'StrengthsFinder 2.0' by Tom Rath

Every staffer from Reiventing Events in San Francisco is required to read this book to learn more about teamwork. "It's so important to know each person's strengths when working together" to execute a flawless event, says a company rep.

Photo: Courtesy of Gallup Press

'Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity' by David Allen

Taylor McQuiston, the marketing manager at San Diego's Portable Bar Company, says that this book provides "the best organization and productivity system I've found to date."

Photo: Courtesy of Penguin Books

'Reflections of a Successful Wallflower: Lessons in Business; Lessons in Life' by Andrea Michaels

"You probably know who she is, but just in case, Michaels is a legendary event producer who's won too many awards to even start on, and she was the first inductee into the Event Industry Hall of Fame," says Sandy Allen, executive producer at the Water Coolers in New York. "Her book takes the tone of a tell-all and covers both personal and professional experiences and perspectives on the industry. I think it's a gem."

Photo: Courtesy of Outskirts Press

'The Discipline of Market Leaders: Choose Your Customers, Narrow Your Focus, Dominate Your Market' by Michael Treacy and Fred Wiersema

Sean Leo, the director of sales at Delicate Products in Los Angeles, says that this book "helped me understand how to focus my products and services to the event production community."

Photo: Courtesy of Basic Books

'Boring Meetings Suck: Get More Out of Your Meetings, Or Get Out of More Meetings' by Jon Petz

Rosemary Vaughan, senior national account manager at Event Technology Services in Ottawa, says that the lighthearted tome "is a very engaging book and reads like it preaches: not boring! It totally resonates with anyone who has ever attended a conference or meeting, and it is quite funny in places. It might compare to Diary of a Wimpy Kid and The Little Prince in writing and content style."

Photo: Courtesy of Wiley

'Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose' by Tony Hsieh

Guirlaine Belizaire, donor relations manager at Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding in New York, says that this book is a crash course in "hospitality at its finest."

Photo: Courtesy of Business Plus

Bizzabo

Bizzabo launched in June, making it one of the newest products in this arena. Co-founder Alon Alroy said Bizzabo is intended to become “the standard app for networking at events” because it aggregates information from multiple events on one mobile platform, available for free on iOS and Android. Planners add an event to the app by inputting the event’s name, address, date, hashtag, and description on the Bizzabo Web site, free of charge (they can also import information from Eventbrite). Once added, anyone using the app can find the event, unless the planner opts to make it a private community. Attendees join by connecting their LinkedIn account, and they can also connect their Twitter account and add other professional information. Then users can browse the list of attendees to find people with common interests, send messages in real time, and find future events that like-minded people will be attending.

Planners can also use the app to communicate with attendees and get real-time analytics on usage, while exhibitors can send Groupon-style offers through Bizzabo, such as providing a gift to the first 20 people who click on an offer in the app. Alroy said in the future planners will be able to use the platform to generate revenue from sponsors and exhibitors by providing them with more targeted leads.

Photo: Courtesy of Bizzabo

Shhmooze

Shhmooze does not require buy-in from the planner or company organizing an event. "We designed this around the needs of the attendee more than the organizer," said Michelle Gallen, co-founder of Shhmooze. An attendee can download the free app (currently only available for iOS, but coming soon for Android) and create a profile by linking to LinkedIn, Twitter, Foursquare, and Meetup accounts. That profile can be used for any event the user attends. Shhmooze is integrated with Meetup and Eventbrite, so events from those platforms are automatically listed. Shhmooze tells the user which of their connections are also at the event, and also suggests new connections by analyzing Foursquare check-ins, tweets with the event hashtag, LinkedIn profiles, and other social network activity, even from people not using the Shhmooze app. Users can search for people by skill or company name to identify attendees who meet their needs or interests.

Gallen said they are working on an algorithm that will provide what it calls “smart recommendations” of whom to meet based on the user’s social graph and interests. Shhmooze will also add tools to allow planners to add schedules, speaker profiles, logos, and other elements, possibly for a fee.

Photo: Courtesy of Shhmooze

Shpare adds an extra layer of networking assistance by offering a personalized list of the 20 people each attendee should meet at an event. The process begins when the planner imports attendee information into the online system. Shpare then pulls public information from each person’s Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook accounts to create a profile for each attendee. A few days before the event, each attendee receives an email explaining the service and inviting them to edit their profile—for example, by adding keywords of specific products or services they are interested in. The system analyzes tweets going back three months prior to the event, as well as likes on Facebook and LinkedIn information (including prior work experience) to generate a list of the 20 best matches. The system does not share personal contact information; instead, attendees click on the “matches” they want to meet, and the system sends a meeting request to that person.Shpare is intended primarily for events with exhibitors and sponsors, who each pay a fee (typically 10 percent of their booth cost) to receive leads generated by the system. That revenue is shared by the planner and Shpare. The matching between attendees is included free of charge as long there are a minimum number of exhibitors and sponsors participating.

Photo: Courtesy of Shpare

Presdo Match

Presdo Match creates an invitation-only social network for an event. Organizers pay for the service based on the number of attendees; rates start at $1,499 for events with as many as 300 people. The system creates profiles on attendees, exhibitors, and sponsors using data from the event registration profile and LinkedIn. “A couple months prior to the event, the network is launched and the attendees have a chance to interact with people before they get there,” said Presdo C.E.O. Eric Ly. Users receive recommendations on other attendees with matching interests, and they can use the network to communicate and schedule meetings.

Attendees can also share the event through social networks, creating “attendee marketing,” said Ly. Planners can use the network to display session information and share speakers’ LinkedIn profiles, and they also receive reports on confirmed and requested meetings. The network is accessible as a Web site and mobile application, and planners can customize it with the event name, logo, and color scheme.

Photo: Courtesy of Presdo

Hooked Up

Dallas-based Good Guy Mobile Internet offers portable Web connectivity kits. For $250 a day, each hub provides wireless Internet for as many as eight devices.

Photo: Courtesy of Good Guy Mobile Internet

Red Coat Direct

Marriott Hotels is rolling out the free Red Coat Direct app in all of its properties during the next several months. The hotel sends a personalized version of the app to planners three days before their meetings. They can use it to edit their meeting requests and preferences just before the event or while on site, for example to request an adjustment in room temperature or to change a meal time. The app remains available for several months after the meeting so planners can also use it to reconcile their bills. The app will be available in all hotels in the United States and Canada by the end of this year and in international properties in 2014.

Photo: Courtesy of Marriott

Retrace

Retrace is a free app that launched at TechCrunch Disrupt Startup Battlefield in late April. The app integrates with Google Calendar for seamless scheduling and also records the meeting’s GPS location. Hosts add attendees via email and the app pulls in contact information that can include data from their LinkedIn and Facebook profiles. The app is a hub for all the information generated at a meeting, including notes, tasks, summaries, and photos. In addition to being accessible through the app, the information can be shared via email and is saved for reference before future meetings.

Photo: Courtesy of Retrace

EXMO

EXMO launched in early October and is targeted at events with fewer than 1,000 attendees. The app is self-service: Planners log into a Web site, input information regarding location, schedules, speakers, exhibitors, and sponsors, and the system creates the app and a simple Web page that planners can promote in emails and through social media. For ticket sales, EXMO has a partnership with EventBrite so attendees can purchase tickets and planners can track sales through the app.

The system offers interactive features including real-time polls, feedback forms, push notifications, and integration with social networks. During an event, organizers have the option to share content on an “Activity Wall,” a large screen display of information such as announcements, polls, tweets, and photos. The app is free for attendees, and planners pay nothing to use the system if their events have 50 people or fewer. For larger events, planners pay $2 per person (and less as numbers increase) using a credit system that can be rolled over to future events.

Photo: Courtesy of EXMO

E-proDirect's EventAccess

EventAccess launched in early October and is the newest app from E-proDirect, a marketing and technology company focused on the meetings and convention industry. For $2,500, EventAccess provides a multiplatform native app and a Web app in as few as three days. Planners provide content to customize the app, for example: a welcome message or video, venue information, links to registration and surveys, maps, schedules, and as many as 12 social media links. The app can become a source of revenue through the sale of banner ads or by charging exhibitors a fee to have an enhanced listing that could include a product video and contact information for a company representative. E-proDirect provides a revenue calculator to help planners estimate the earnings potential.

EventAccess also includes information about dining, attractions, and transportation within a five-mile radius of the event, using information from Yelp. Once the app is created, planners use a dashboard to update content and track data such as downloads and ad click-through rate. Clients also receive marketing support that includes templates for press releases and tweets, screenshots, QR codes, and a mobile-optimized landing page that can be shared in emails and on social networks.

Photo: Courtesy of E-proDirect

SignUp4

SignUp4 purchased RapidApp last year and has integrated it into its event management system. As planners build their event Web sites in SignUp4, the system automatically creates the identical elements in the mobile app. When attendees register on the Web site, the attendee list updates in the app. The app also provides location services integrated with Google Maps and allows attendees to share photos with one another. SignUp4 plans to link the app with its travel management system so planners can see attendees’ itineraries and attendees can receive real-time updates on flight delays or other changes on their mobile devices.

Photo: Courtesy of SignUp4

Photo: Courtesy of TicketLeap

Photo: Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Samsung

3. Postano

Postano is a tool used to display social media feeds online or at an event. The system aggregates content from Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Tumblr, Pinterest, and more based on specific account names or hashtags. Hosts can monitor the content before it is shared through the system or have it instantly displayed. The Postano display can be designed with custom colors, logos, and animations, and it can be shared through Facebook, a Lightbox widget, on a large screen, or on a touch-screen monitor. At Dell World in December the company used Postano to display a live feed of content from several conference hashtags during remarks from C.E.O. Michael Dell and elsewhere at the event. Additional Postano clients include Tiffany & Company, Microsoft, and Nine West. Pricing starts at $5,000.

Photo: Courtesy of Postano

5. EventMobi

When EventMobi launched in 2009 as one of the first do-it-yourself app creators, it was primarily a digital show guide. Since then it has been updated with interactive features. The latest updates, which begin rolling out in February, will give planners the ability to communicate with subsets of attendees—for example, to invite V.I.P.s to a private dinner or send an alert to all exhibitors. EventMobi is also adding a private real-time chat function for attendees so they can use the app to initiate meetings or networking.

Photo: Courtesy of EventMobi

At its Worldwide Convention, McDonald’s sent out a “What’s Hot” message every morning through its mobile app, which provided a preview of the day ahead and replaced the email blasts that were used in the past. The message received about 16,000 views each day.

Photo: Courtesy of McDonald's

At Engage!13, a luxury-wedding summit that took place in Scottsdale, Arizona, in December, designers from Gifts for the Good Life crafted birdcage lanterns to use as escort cards. The lanterns, which had guests' names and table numbers written in calligraphy, were hung on a wall of hydrangea.

Photo: Chelisse Michaels Photography for Elan Artists