©2005 Corbin Ball Associates

(London, September 2005) The winner and finalists of the 2005 EIBTM Worldwide Watch (WWTW) have been announced highlighting several paths of technology progress for the meetings and exhibition industries. 

Thirty applicants were reviewed for the 2005 award to be delivered at this year’s EIBTM meeting in Barcelona 29 November-1 December 2005. “There were many excellent applications” said the judging committee chair, Corbin Ball, “and the decision was a close one.”

The winner: Advanced Room Diagramming

Cast Group’s (www.castltg.com) advanced room diagramming software product called “Vivien” received the top award.  This product, originally an Emmy-award winning product developed for theatrical events, has been rewritten for events providing near photo-realistic “3-D” depictions of meeting rooms, special events and exhibit booths. Advanced room diagramming products such as this help “sell the dream” by creating realistic images of what the event will look like.

Finalists:

Six finalists highlighted a number of additional significant technology trends:

Meetings consolidation/sourcing:

Travent (a leading European meeting management software provider - www.travent.com) and American Express (www.americanexpress.com) have released a product called MeetingView Express. This solution combines both OnVantage (an advanced online planning and spend management product for events) and the American Express Corporate Meeting Card it assist in the spend tracking.  Estimates of savings in meeting spend are estimated at 10% or more.

Ambassadors, LLC (www.ambassadors.com) also received a finalist designation for their “Global Events Management” product. This sophisticated enterprise-wide workflow system helps planners manage meetings through a full life-cycle from initial planning through approval, scheduling and follow-up evaluation. The system captures meeting and performance objectives, plans and budgets and promises substantial savings.

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID):

RFID remains hot meetings technology topic. Laser Registration (www.laser-registration.com) was noted as a finalist through a number of innovative RFID developments for meetings. Using remotely read computer chips on name badges, a number of improvements in the meeting process have been developed. These include expedited continuing education credit tracking, exhibit hall attendance tracking, live displays of meeting room attendance, automated cyber-café log-in, individual welcome screens, and banquet seating notification (as attendees walk past the antenna at the banquet hall entrance, their name and table location is displayed on a large plasma screen assisting them to find their location).

Standards/Electronic Data Exchange

The Convention Industry Council (www.conventionindustry.org) has recently released APEX (Accepted Practices Exchange) meetings templates which are hoped to eventually lead to electronic standards. The goal is to greatly improve communication between meeting planners and suppliers. Ungerboeck Systems International (www.ungerboeck.com) has already released Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) software designed to do exactly that. Although the limitation with EDI is that both meeting planners and suppliers must use the same software (which will not be needed when APEX is fully developed), it was felt by the judging committee that the Ungerboeck actual deployment was sufficiently novel and interesting to make it to the finalist category.

Exhibit Hall On-Site Live Space Selection

Currently most on-site space selection for exhibits is done with markers and correction fluid. EXPOCAD (www.expocad.com) Smart Draw won a finalist position by combining web and database technology with smart board display technology to provide an interactive environment for on-site exhibit space selection. With EXPOCAD a booth can be selected and assigned electronically in real time. Financial and rate plan information are automatically calculated with each exhibitor’s selection for invoicing.  Back up files are created for show management and the general contractor at day’s end.

It was felt by the judging committee that this product works well to digitize the process in how exhibit space is allocated.

PDAs Showcasing Exhibit Products and Capturing Detailed Lead Information

Exhibit duty in large exhibits can be tough with “feast or famine” often experienced in crowd flow fluctuations. SpotlightMobile (www.spotlightmobile.com) has provided help with their “Mobile Presentation Platform” allowing exhibitor to showcase products and services on mobile devices while capturing detailed lead information.

This system was developed initially for the museum industry as self-service multi-media audio guides. These PocketPC PDAs are capable of displaying full-screen, full-motion video, stereo audio, and more. Every click that the exhibit visitor makes is captured indicating interests areas including relevant contact information. Content material, including surveys, is very easily updated. This system will provide “self-service” interactive information enhancing learning to the exhibitor visitor while providing a means for exhibitors to better capture leads, to create interest in products and to do “more with less” in terms of exhibit staff.

The WWTW Award will be presented Wednesday 30 November 2005 in Barcelona with the finalists given acknowledgements as well.

About the WWTW Judging Committee

Chair: Corbin Ball, President of Corbin Ball Associates (www.corbinball.com)

Martin Sirk, Executive Director, International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) (www.iccaworld.com)

Charles Robinson, former Executive Director, Incentive Travel & Meetings Association (ITMA)

Paul Hussey, Principal, Olive 360° (http://www.olive360.com/)

Didier Scaillet, Director for European Operations, MPI (www.mpiweb.org)

About EIBTM

EIBTM is the annual global exhibition for the incentive, business travel and meetings industry. With over 3,000 exhibitors and 3,500 hosted buyers it  takes place from 29th November – 1st December 2005, in Barcelona (venue: Fira Gran Via). www.eibtm.com