We’re sincerely honored and thrilled to have Echelon Design and Tradeshow Insight be nominated for “Best Coporate Blog” in this year’s Eventprofs Blog Awards. The nominations included over 40 event blog submissions and includes seven different categories. The winners will be announced live at EventCamp Twin Cities, on September 9.

While we’d LOVE to have your vote, the nomination alone is truly humbling.We’d like to thank everyone who has participated in our blog over the past year. The conversations that are started here are only as good as those who read, comment and share the information, to keep those conversations growing. This nomination is truly in part to having such an amazing community of individuals willing to share their ideas and opinions for continuing progression in the tradeshow and events industry.

So again,

Thank you!!

Earlier this year, I shared a few iPhone Apps that would be perfect for the tradeshow environment. With the introduction of the iPad, many immediately saw the value of this niche product for the event world. With a few months for a library of exclusively design apps to accumulate, I’ve decided to follow up with a list of my favorite applications.

Why the iPad is perfect for tradeshows:

The iPad goes where your laptop can’t and it’s size is advantageous over the iPhone. It’s the perfect “in-between” device for both attendees and exhibitors to be productive and share information with each other. The brilliant and beautiful screen display is perfect for demos and presentations and it’s speed and integration with other progressive products and software makes it an impossible display to ignore.

bCards Pro ($1.99)

Most business cards are thrown away within the first 24 hours of exchange. Many of those are due to the inconvenience of manual data transfer. Business cards scanners are great for obtaining your attendee info, but nearly as important is ensuring YOUR info lands in your attendee’s address book.

bCards Pro will send your contact info, in a vCard format, via email or Wifi transfer directly to your attendees smartphone – instantly. Be creative – leave a personalized note in your contact details or a friendly ‘thank you’ for the time they spent with you.

(also available for iPhone)

Simple Job Proposal ($4.99)

So you’re nearing that deal on the tradeshow floor. Using Simple Job Proposal, you can create a customized proposal for your customer, on the spot. Using an iPad stylus, you can even pull signatures into your proposal. No need to print documents. No need to fax a copy. Simply email the document to your customer and end the paper trail before they leave your exhibit.

Dropbox (Free)

One of my personal favorites, Dropbox is leading the way in cloud based storage and document management. With your free account, you can view and manage photos, videos, documents and presentations from your iPad. Furthermore, your Dropbox account allows you to synchronize between your computer and other mobile devices.

Developing a directory of tradeshow collateral with Dropbox makes sharing brochures, product specification sheets, presentations, photos, demos, videos, etc. extremely convenient. You’ll also free yourself from the expenses of printing and shipping materials, which can be easily shared with anyone right from within the app.

(also available for iPhone)

Conference Pad ($4.99)

A large advantage with the iPad is the high versatility with a fairly competitive cost. If you’re giving a presentation at a tradeshow, you can simultaneously control your demo on any number of iPads, iPhone or iPod touches. By passing out devices to attendees or strategically placing them throughout your exhibit or conference, you can deconstruct the projection screen and customize your presentation around your environment. All devices respond as you do – slide changing, pinching and zooming, even a laser pointer function – all adds a touch of user interaction.

Popplet ($8.99)

Add an interest and level of interaction with your attendees with creativity from Popplet. This app is a visual idea sharing organizer. Create an idea board based on a topic or question and let your attendees add their own responses to the board. Incorporate photos of attendees or their experiences throughout the event.

(a Lite version is also available)

Are you using the iPad at your tradeshow at events? What creative apps or uses have you come across to utilize this new piece of technology? How do you think it will effect the tradeshow industry in the future?

I recently had a chance to attend the worlds largest hospitality technology show, I had this opportunity thanks to two of Echelon’s newest clients Cetis, Inc. and Intelity who were exhibiting.  Cetis, Inc. is a leader in hospitality and enterprise phones, you can trace their roots back to 1983 (who doesnt love the 80′s).  Intelity is a fairly new technology company that gives guests of the hotel the capability to order any and all services offered by the property through the use of your iPad, iPhone and other devices.  Simply put, you can order room service, valet service, etc all with one touch on your favorite device.

The Cetis exhibit was a custom rental that we designed to be warm and inviting, a place that you might want to sit down and hang out in.  We accomplished this by including a raised conference/meeting area, using rich colors, large fabric identity sails, an architectural wall and a large product display area.

Intelity is also a custom rental, our goal was to attract attendees to the exhibit with the use large story board graphics and highly visible demo areas.  We provided a overhead hanging sign, a conference space on the interior, and six custom kiosks that were used for product demonstrations and provided excellent space for large graphic murals.

I enjoyed working with both teams and was pleased to hear great feedback about the show in general as attendance was up from the 2009 show.

Events are entering a new era, and social media is becoming an increasingly important and visible element in the transformation of events.  As events evolve away from fixed, didactic experiences to more collaborative, fluid, and participatory experiences, social media has become increasingly integral to the event experience.

As this white paper demonstrates, particularly through key case studies, evidence is mounting that social media is having a significant impact on a whole range of event functions.  In fact, social media has become central to the success of a growing number of events, and entire events have been developed around social media.

The experts interviewed for this white paper lend credence to the notion that social media is truly transforming events into more dynamic, enduring, and rewarding experiences for attendees, event producers, speakers, and exhibitors alike.  But they also stress the importance of judiciously applying social media in events to achieve the right impact, and caution against frittering away social media applications in events with haphazard implementation and underdeveloped strategies.

This white paper is designed to offer a broader perspective on the role of social media in events, and highlight key strategies for maximizing the impact of social media in events.

Simply fill out this form to download the nine-page report. Your information will not be used or distributed in any way.

cforms contact form by delicious:days

As marketers, we must embrace the task of also being educators to our clients. We must first give our customers what they expect; delivery of services and goods. But much of what ‘sells’ somebody is beyond your baseline of services. What you offer beyond expectations is what garnishes trust and establishment as an industry leader.

The Social Deficiency

It’s been interesting to watch the changing tone of Social Media conversations. “Isn’t this shiny object great?!” has changed to “Hey, this shiny object can help your business!” to now starting to identify ”here’s how you can use the shiny object.” Even still, I shutter to think that the majority of our customers are listening, let alone looking for us. The tone of the conversation is that of throwing darts in the dark.

Our customers and audiences need to be grown and harvested. We understand that attention is needed for this to happen, but have you found the right seeds? Are you laying the soil and preparing the area for these customers to grow? Without giving them a foundation, and understanding of the landscape of which they are to receive your messaging and nourishment, there’s nothing to establish roots.

Heidi Thorne, promotion products marketing expert, accurately points out that by staying “ahead of the curve” and running towards new strategies, we risk leaving our customers behind. What good does it do you to learn a new language that nobody speaks?

The emergence of Social Media has been a bit of a rat race. Much of its utilization from business has been to “stay ahead of the curve.” While there is certainly value in keeping an edge in your industry and establishing a thought leader role, who is aware of it if you’re alienating your customers in the process?

If a Social Media strategy grows in a forest and nobody is there to notice, does it ever make a sound?

Guidance = Maturation

Education goes beyond Social Media. Some customers know what they want and they simply want the fastest, most efficient and most economic way of getting it. But some simply think they know what they want. There are often opportunities of guidance for our customers that go beyond any immediate benefits of “upcharges” or added services. In fact, the quicker you can identify the problem and generate a solution, the faster you can incorporate its resolution into your baseline.

Nobody wants to be oversold on an idea beyond their original expectations. But providing a premium service when expectations are for a standard service is invaluable to your customer, and eventually, you.

You might be an Alienator….

If you incorporate a project strategy to benefit your needs and overshadow your customer needs….you might be an Alienator.

If your primary goals are to exceed competition….you might be an Alienator.

If your objectives differ from your customers…you might be an Alienator.

If your social audience consists of industry professionals, but little of your customers…you might be an Alienator.

If you listen more to the “next big trend” instead of listening to customer needs…you might be an Alienator.

What have you done to keep from alienating customers? What benefits have you seen from being an educator on top of your service to them?

(image by Phillie Casablanca via Flickr Creative Commons license)

So it’s been three plus weeks since my past writing. My Google reader has had nearly 2,000 undread alerts and my volume of tweets and Facebook posts has dropped. Call it a Social Media hiatus. Call it burnout. Call it whatever you wish. The simple fact is, I’m stuck.

Even more frustrating is the fact that I’m just a couple short weeks removed from the single greatest event I’ve ever been a part of in SOBCon 2010. My head was swimming with passion and inspiration but with no identification of the ideas in which they were to drive.

So what do you do when you’re stuck?? I’ve learned rather quickly, and by quicky I mean failed significantly, that the idea that insanity is represented by repeating the same thing over and over expecting different results is quite a truism. So I’m writing thought to keyboard, which is frightening. If you’re reading, I fear mainly for you.

I have also learned, however, that getting stuck is usually the predesessor to step taking. We go through life and our careers climbing an staircase to which there is no end. Each step is filled with uncertainty and often laced with fear. Like breaking through a ceiling, that next step has invisible barriers before you’re truly on top, assessing the new landscape.

Amongst this step taking I’ve been also struggling with understanding a marriage of confidence and caring. It might appear rudimentary, but the success I want needs both. However, I think often times the two are balanced with one give way to the other. The confident, driven individual who lets little get in the way of goals versus the pacifistic, caring individual who sacrifices his/her own ideals for others gain.

So smack me in the face, here comes SOBCon 2010. An event that exemplifies this proper marriage and emulates the very persona of one of its founders, Liz Strauss. I’ve been privy to conversations with Liz that have punched me in the gut with kindness, smacked me in the face with care and cut out my legs while raising me up. My weekend at SOBCon was no different. Surrounded by people who pump ideas and thoughts from a factory that daily changes the environment in which our livelihood and businesses survive, I was overwhelmed by 149 others who emulated this marriage to me. Was I wrong in assuming that ego and insensitivity was the dominant virtue in a model of success? In short – hell yes I was.

It’s all good to have a Kumbaya moment and have a proper ideal for character engrained in my being, but what does this do for my business? How does good feeling beget paying my bills? I understand it isn’t quite as black and white, but B2B, B2C, whatever you have, is always going to be Person2Person and nothing muddies that relationship better than overthinking each detail in a minutia pile of doubt and uncertainty. Now would be a good time to simply quit burying an identity in excuses. Time to quit the drivel. Time to quit defining it and BE IT.

If you lasted this long, you’re likely dizzied from incoherency. I apologize as this is really more for me than it is for you, it’s a needed therapy to get me un-stuck. I’m not going to scrutinize for a half hour over each word. I’m not going to spell check. I’m not even going to add a cute picture. Sometimes insanity needs to be killed with insanity.

This is the final part of a five part series discussing my recent takeaways for the Exhibitor 2010 Conference in Las Vegas, March 14-18, 2010. View Part 4 – Viva la Face to Face.

Recently, I had the chance to be a part of my first tweetup. A group of about ten individuals met after the welcome reception on the Monday evening that opened the Exhibitor 2010 Conference. Not only did I have a chance to meet for the first time a number of individuals that I had a virtual connection with, but I was conveniently sandwiched between another interesting set of people: Competitors.

The term alone conjures up such negativity. For a business using social media, competitors are one of the largest concerns when it comes to content sharing. The very transparency that builds valued relationships is the same channel that draws our opponents close by. At one point, I feared following a competitor on Twitter. Did I want my competitor to think I was ‘watching’ them? Would I act as a liaison for my followers to connect with them?

During the evening, what became refreshing was coming to accept the idea that my ‘competitors’ are no different than me. We’re simply quarterbacks playing for different teams. While we market on the field of business against one another, the fog of animosity is lifted when you can talk freely around the vast similarities in your makeup. We share passions, and I quickly found that we can learn from each other without taking from each other.

When I was able to strip away the minor, singular difference between me and those who surrounded, we were able to share our opinions on the trends in the tradeshow world, discuss our beliefs in strengthening face to face perceptions and refuel passion that comes from sharing time with like minds. Sharing ideas for changing the foundation of our industry can be done without padding up and knocking heads. Business is an ever changing environment and we can’t “proprietize” our solutions for improving it. While you can and should keep your products, services and strategies for day to day business internal, your competitors can be front line allies for furthering business across the industry.

Social media is powerful. And any bit of power can be utilized in multiple ways, good and bad included. Business is business and should be such without involving competitors. But rethink what the term ‘competitor’ means to you, and don’t shutout opportunities to collaborate with others. For us, Twitter acted as a intermediary between unlikely sources. It has allowed us to connect and communicate within guidelines to maintain our competitiveness while defining our similitude.

Last week, I had the pleasure of attending the 2nd International Association of Conference Centers session. The topic surrounding the event was “Incorporating Advancing Technology into the Meeting Experience.” The eight panel group included individuals ranging from meeting space planners, learning experts and technology professionals.

The discussions included an analysis of audiences, creating optimal meeting environments, social media integration and providing proper infrastructure for technology. But my biggest takeaway came from Andrea Sullivan, president of BrainStrength Systems, Inc. She illustrates that younger audiences are no longer learning in a similar parallel to generations before. With a focus on collaboration, this generation is bringing new tools for engagement, communication and education into the business world. Not only is the backdrop of events and meetings changing, the entire business landscape is as well.

With evolving technology, social tools and fresh learning behaviors, there is an increasing disconnect between existing generations and this new generation. This chasm will only continue to grow as this younger generation blends with these existing individuals.

“People don’t learn well when they don’t feel safe,” says Sullivan. As we continue to embrace technology to enhance the meeting space, how are we to implement tools and strategies that don’t alienate older audiences not incorporating these tools without distancing the younger groups who rely on them for development?

The unfortunate reality for event planners is that they are no longer tasked simply with creating an environment. Four walls, a podium and Power Point doesn’t work anymore. The value of your message is measured by audience retention, and retention is dictated by the methods, tools and the experience that surrounds it.

Education

Your audiences, by definition, are there too be educated, entertained and/or socialize. Your implementation takes planning and strategy beyond the event; creating backchannels, virtual audience awareness, etc. Use these as opportunities to show how they are used and give older audiences multiple situations to develop an understanding. Event if utilization comes secondary to existing learning tools, their apprehensions will subside and keep from being obstacle to prevent learning.

Unification

Give younger audiences systematic tools that may seem basic, but may not be familiar to their modern structure of learning. Most of them understand digital tools, but are they familiar with analog tools?

As described by Mark T. Grein, Senior V.P. & Chief Experience Officer, Steelcase, Inc., “Analog tools offer persistence of information and strengthening of ideas.” Create an environment that provides a platform of unified learning channels.

Participation

Face to face meetings are quite simply enhanced by its very nature. While education and messaging is a standard, encourage audience participation that yields no boundaries. Let your audience interact with you. Let them interact with a virtual audience. Most importantly, let them interact with each other. Ideas beget ideas when you allow audiences to interface and you’ll slowly bridge the gap that divides them.

(Image by dying_grotesque via Flickr Creative Commons License)

This is the fourth part of a five part series discussing my recent takeaways for the Exhibitor 2010 Conference in Las Vegas, March 14-18, 2010. View Part 3 – Virtual Dangers.

I like baseball.

If you know me, you’d also understand that’s easily the understatement of the decade. It’s an undefined sickness that forces me to re-channel childhood dreams of playing third base for the Chicago White Sox through summers of 12” softball, filled with pulled hamstrings and the fleeting hope that a MLB scout will witness my undiscovered “talent.”

Baseball is simple, perfect and pure…at least that’s what I believed well up until my adult years. While I don’t cherish baseball any less than I did when I was 12, I have come to understand that the sport is also a business, and unfortunately, the purity of the game is often tainted by the dictation of the dealings and dollars that drive it.

The formula for athletic success is relatively simple: performance = fortune. Mark McGuire was the epitome of baseball success during the 1990s. However, less than 7 years after breaking the single season homerun record, McGuire was strangely mum in 2005 during an infamous session in front of the House Government Reform Committee to discuss steroid usage in baseball. Suspicions were instant and unrelenting. The ‘good ole boy’ and man who brought baseball back from it’s damaging strike in 1994 suddenly undid a sixteen year, Hall of Fame career, without barely speaking a word.

I wasn’t as upset at the dishonestly of McGuire as much as I was disappointed with the revelation that he had lost the passion for purity and virtuousness that all baseball players have growing up. The authenticity of his love for the game was lost. I realized that his mixed messages were muddying up my own perspective on him, and the game of baseball.

Conversely, I have grown to value businesses that are driven by passion and have a genuine interest in their industry beyond their quarterly report. My experience at Exhibitor 2010 was eye-opening on a number of levels. Educationally, it was great. But witnessing like minded individuals, colleagues and friends who spoke with actions in place of words, was a far above encouraging sight for the future of events. As event organizers, how are we to sell our clients on the value of a face to face meeting yet substitute our own forums for communication?

The event landscape is being refined daily. Technology and new ways to communicate are simultaneously enhancing and threatening various face to face traditions. We need leadership. Leaders who will illustrate the right way and the wrong way to embrace new conventions. Leaders who can define the struggles of the common meeting planner and promptly offer solutions. Leaders who will discuss the situations surrounding face to face meetings…in a face to face setting (bizarre, huh?).

Social media has opened opportunities to extend our networks and develop communities that can support and enhance the value of the meeting place. But our trust in technologies needs to be evaluated on a consistent basis. As proponents of events, we need to be careful on what our virtual actions convey to our audiences. Are we enhancing the face to face environment with these tools, or inadvertently displaying methods that speak the opposite?

I was pleased to see relationships that were materialized in a virtual space, enhanced further at an event. We need this continued leadership to keep muddied messages from dictating perceptions. Quite simply, this is ground zero for our new landscape in developing and extending the importance of events.

Continue to Exhibitor 2010 Series: Part 5 – The Twittermediary

(image by Andrew Maycock via Wikipedia Creative Commons License)

I’ve been personally intrigued by the development of foursquare over recent months and it’s increasing potential for usage at events. Back in January, Intel partnered with foursquare during the CES event and offered unique badges for check-ins and special events. This took an effort from both parties to achieve. While it opened the possibilities for the future of foursquare and event marriages, it without little doubt requires the compliance from (and and open wallet) the developers at foursquare to make a campaign of similar correlation possible.

Nevertheless, I was inspired today by an article from Scott Bishop that gives new hope to event planners. There are some reasonable and relatively simple ways to incorporate foursquare and encourage audience participation at your next event.

The Setup

For current and new users, I recommend setting up a new profile that reflects the name and details of your event

Next, you’ll want to set up a venue. However, this “venue” is again going to be setup with event details. Be sure to include proper address, contact information and Twitter handle.

Add your event details and assign it a category. You’ll likely want to use the ‘Home/Work/Other‘ category, with the subcategory of ‘Event Space‘. You can also add tags and adjust the map pin to accurately reflect your event’s location.

The Incentive

While you won’t have the ability to create a custom badge unless you are able to partner with the foursquare folks, you can still offer benefits to your attendees for checking in to various locations or functions at your event. Give your mayor a treat. Offer a private gathering for your users. All of these bonuses can be managed as ‘Tips‘ and can be easily setup. Add these periodically throughout your event and give your users a basis for frequent check-ins and updates. Make your missions fun and tie them back to as many of the other meetings and events that surround.

From your venue, click ‘Add Tip’ and simply add the details.

The Participation

Not only will foursquare users be able to check in and follow the tips surrounding your event, but they now have a community to connect with other users. Furthermore, encourage your event participants to add their own tips. Allow exhibitors to offer their own incentives for a visit to their booth. Give speakers a chance to encourage new audiences.

The Before and After

Much like the Intel example, set up a private landing page weeks in advance of your event and offer a tease towards some of the tips and incentives for their participation. Offer early incentives for ‘friending’ the event profile and develop a community ahead of time to ensure an army of participants during the event.

Once your event concludes, be sure to clean up what you’ve created. While foursquare allows users to add tips and venues freely, removing unnecessary clutter is important to keep these features available to us. Simple delete your tips and ‘Flag your venue as closed‘.

Foursquare and geolocation services are one of the hottest social tools and the development and integration of businesses and events will be exciting to witness. Community and participation will continue to drive face-to-face meetings, so give your next event a shot in the arm for your members.