TECH EXTRA Penton Media May 14, 2009 Volume 1, Number 1 If you want to view this on the web go to: http://enews.penton.com/enews/meetingsnet/v/629 PERSPECTIVES --The Evolution of the Techno Planner By Sue Hatch (mailto:shatch@meetingsnet.com) Welcome to Tech Extra, the newest e-newsletter in the MeetingsNet family of media brands. In the past six months the drumbeat has reached a crescendo: Meeting professionals must become fluent in the virtual options available to supplement their face-to-face meetings in order to lower costs and improve efficiency. How fast are things changing? Chris Gaia, vice president of marketing at Maritz Travel, told me that 15 percent to 20 percent of his company's proposals last month included some virtual element, compared to only about 5 percent in April 2008. Ken Molay, president of Webinar Success (see his blog post below), says attendance rates at webinars about webinars "are higher than they have ever been for basic information and education about getting started with Web conferencing." Molay points to an interesting statistic reported by Maureen O'Gara in the Cloud Computing Journal last week. Cisco's financial results for the quarter showed a drop in revenue across the board except in one area: "All Cisco products were down except its anti-travel WebEx, up 18 percent, and its telepresence widgetry, up 138 percent." And virtual event tools aren't the only hot meeting technologies. Every other week, we'll deliver news and insights from technology experts inside and outside the meetings industry on the full range of technologies of most interest to you, from attendee management and registration to audience-response tools and social media options. Read it. Pass it on. Tell us what tools you want to know more about. (mailto:shatch@meetingsnet.com) ---------------------------------------- ADVERTISEMENT It takes more than handouts and overheads to keep the attention of modern attendees. Turning Technologies' portfolio of audience response solutions creates powerful presentations. Connect speaker to participant with the most intuitive polling software and response devices - without the expense. Ask about multi-site broadcasts. http://www.TurningTechnologies.com or (866) 746-3015. ---------------------------------------- SOCIAL MEDIA --What I Really Think about Twitter By Ken Molay (mailto:kmolay@wsuccess.com), The Webinar Blog (http://wsuccess.typepad.com/webinarblog), and owner, Webinar Success (http://www.wsuccess.com) In my seminar "Webinar Production and Management," I was asked: "How helpful are Twitter and LinkedIn to your webinar promotions?" I'm almost afraid to answer this, as my view runs counter to the public zeitgeist and is likely to inflame passions among the true believers. But faint heart ne'er won fair maiden, so here goes ... (http://wsuccess.typepad.com/webinarblog/2009/04/promoting-webinars-with-twitter.html) ---------------------------------------- ADVERTISEMENT Deal or No Deal? Best Practices for Booking Meetings in a Tough Economy Attend this webinar to: * Reduce the time involved finding event space that meets your needs * Get the best pricing proposals from hotels and meeting venues * Show management the value a planner brings to negotiating meeting costs * Generate reports on price quotes received from suppliers * Lower your meeting costs Register Now! http://w.on24.com/r.htm?e=144781&s=1&k=5B1C8631A12C05D3E589E1650792D9A0&partnerref=mnnews ---------------------------------------- VIRTUAL MEETINGS --Maritz Building e-Meeting Partners Program By Sue Hatch (mailto:shatch@meetingsnet.com) Maritz is developing partnerships on four e-meeting platforms -- satellite broadcasting, telepresence videoconferencing, Web collaboration, and what they term totally virtual environments -- in an effort to build a suite of technology services called Maritz LIVE (Local Interactive Virtual Events). The first reseller alliance has been announced, and we've got the news as well as some of Maritz's trend statistics (http://meetingsnet.com/technology/0513-martiz-emeeting-partners-program) behind its push for e-meeting partners. ---------------------------------------- ADVERTISEMENT Performedia helps meeting planners reach 100% of their audience, extending your event online with a unique combination of television-quality video of presenters and synchronized screen content including slides, video clips and software demonstrations. We come to you and deliver the webcast directly to your audience with a web link. Click here for more information. http://www.performedia.com ---------------------------------------- SMMP TOOLS --Cvent Announces 18 Months of Upgrades By Betsy Bair (mailto:bbair@meetingsnet.com) Meetings technology provider Cvent has made a flurry of announcements recently that include major partnerships that enhance its supplier network of more than 75,000 hotels and venues, budget-friendly tools for organizations building a strategic meetings management program, and an integration with Cisco's WebEx webinar technology. Long known for its expertise in online registration for meetings and events, Cvent has upped the ante with more than 100 feature upgrades. Here's the story. (http://meetingsnet.com/technology/cvent-suite-upgrades-0514/) MEETING MANAGEMENT --Podcast: Upgrade Your Event's Web Strategy By Sue Pelletier (mailto:spelletier@meetingsnet.com) I was fortunate to have the chance to speak with Web guru C. David Gammel about what organizations can do to make their event Web sites really get the results they want. He has lots of ideas that you can use to increase the likelihood that potential attendees will register and that exhibitors will sign up for booths -- and to heighten the buzz around your meeting. Here's a podcast of our conversation. (http://blog.meetingsnet.com/face2face/2009/05/09/event-web-site-tips-from-c-david-gammel/) PRODUCTIVITY --Manage the Flood of Online News By Jim Spellos (mailto:jspellos@meeting-u.com), CMP Keeping up with news -- whether it's about the meetings and conventions industry, your organization's market segment, or world events -- has become both easier and more difficult because of the tremendous number of online sources available. Your job is to manage the onslaught, using RSS feeds, RSS readers, and other tools. Whether you're a beginner or just need a refresher, we've got the scoop on the tools for online news management. (http://meetingsnet.com/technology/0514-online-news-feeds) Advertisement ---------------------------------------- (http://meetingscollaborative.com/) ---------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------   Best Practices for Booking Meetings in a Tough Economy (https://event.on24.com/eventRegistration/EventLobbyServlet?target=registration.jsp&eventid=144781&sessionid=1&key=5B1C8631A12C05D3E589E1650792D9A0&partnerref=proof&sourcepage=register), May 20   On Demand: Green Meeting Standards (http://meetingsnet.com/webinars/green_meetings_standards_1008/) More (#) ---------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------   Turning Technologies (#)   Cvent (#)  Performedia (#) ---------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------   Best Practices for Booking Meetings in a Tough Economy (https://event.on24.com/eventRegistration/EventLobbyServlet?target=registration.jsp&eventid=144781&sessionid=1&key=5B1C8631A12C05D3E589E1650792D9A0&partnerref=proof&sourcepage=register), May 20   On Demand: Green Meeting Standards (http://meetingsnet.com/webinars/green_meetings_standards_1008/) More (#) ---------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------   PCMA Leadership Conference (http://www.pcma.org/Education/MeetingsEvents/Leadership_Conference.htm), June 7-9   MPI World Education Conference (http://www.mpiweb.org/cms/mpiweb/wec2009/wechome.aspx), July 11-14 More (#) ---------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------   MeetingsNet's Meetings Technology Special Report (http://meetingsnet.com/technology) ---------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------   Visit the MeetingsNet Deal Finder (http://meetingsnet.com/discounts_deals/), with news about promotions and discounts. More (#) ---------------------------------------- ABOUT THIS NEWSLETTER You are subscribed to this newsletter as #email# To unsubscribe from this newsletter, go to: http://subscribe-cmi.meetingsnet.com/subscribe.cfm?tc=NLSUB&cid=#message_id#&lid=#list_id#&email=#email# To subscribe to this newsletter, go to: http://subscribe-cmi.meetingsnet.com/subscribe.cfm?tc=NLSUB For advertising information, visit http://meetingsnet.com/advertisers or e-mail Melissa Fromento, mailto:mfromento@meetingsnet.com; (212) 204-4237 To get this newsletter in a different format (Text or HTML), or to change your e-mail address, please visit your http://subscribe-cmi.meetingsnet.com/subscribe.cfm?tc=NLSUB&email=#email# to change your delivery preferences. For questions concerning delivery of this newsletter, please contact our Customer Service Department at:
Customer Service Department MeetingsNet, A Penton Media publication U.S. Toll Free: (866) 505-7173 International: (847) 763-9504 Email: mailto:meetingsnet@pbinews.com Penton Media | 249 W. 17th Street | New York, NY 10011 Copyright 2009, Penton Media. All rights reserved. This article is protected by United States copyright and other intellectual property laws and may not be reproduced, rewritten, distributed, re-disseminated, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast, directly or indirectly, in any medium without the prior written permission of Penton Media.