MPISCC & meetsmart mobile: A Conference Navigation App Success Story

Posted by: Elizabeth Glau

Monday, April 4th, 2011

At the 30th Anniversary Educational Conference & MarketPlace, MPISCC used a conference navigation app for the first time. meetsmart mobile stepped up as a sponsor of the event and made it possible to cut last year’s printed program by 50%.

We saw an attempt at MPI’s World Education Congress last year to eliminate the printed program and rely on a mobile app for conference navigation. It seemed that many attendees were not quite ready to make the leap.

The MarketPlace committee decided to try a step in that direction and decrease the program size without eliminating it all together. The committee was eager to integrate this technology so that members could experience it from the perspective of an attendee. From all of the positive feedback we received, it seems that it was a success!
Paul Henning and his team made the process easy for our committee. He had the spreadsheets ready to go. All we had to do was copy and paste the information from our own databases of information. Because some of the exhibitors’ information changed at the last minute, meetsmart mobile took the extra step of double-checking everything from our database to make sure it was all correct. We really appreciated the attention to detail and it made us comfortable utilizing one of the newest technology trends in our industry.

Typically, our printed program would have an addendum because there will always be last minute changes. However, the mobile app can be changed at any time, giving attendees the most up-to-date information in the palms of their hands.
If you missed the event, you can still view the app from your smart phone or personal computer at: http://www.meetsmartmobile.com/Meeting/Details/10.

There are many advantages to creating an app for your event. A mobile app can provide seamless access to your agenda, personalized scheduling, social media integration, and the online exhibitor marketplace, all easily available via attendees’ mobile phones. The site should go live prior to the event so attendees can look at the educational options and exhibitors. Then, they can create their own personalized schedules from their smart phone or personal computer and either save it in the app or e-mail it to themselves.

Event apps can include links to the social networks you are using which provides exposure of this type of engagement to attendees who
have not yet jumped on the social media bandwagon.

meetsmart mobile is an innovative cross-platform conference navigation and information app –
designed by meeting planners – for all smart phones and other mobile devices. meetsmart mobile, a Conference & Logistics Consultants product, combines revenue creation opportunities with real- time attendee access to information and a flexible suite of tools for meeting organizers. For more information, visit http://www.meetsmartmobile.com.