Event Solutions November 2009 : Page 30solutions | technology Caterease Caterease Software is proud to announce the release of its latest revolutionary update - Caterease v10. Packed with hundreds of state-of-the-art new features and enhancements, this update clearly demonstrates why Caterease is the leader in the catering and event management software industry. Visit caterease.com for a free tour of this remarkable program or call 800.863.1616. caterease.com Orion Software Sirius Pro, the award-winning Rental & Inventory Management Software, now offers a fully-integrated, add-on Web Shopping Module as well as a Logistics & Employee Scheduling System. And for those shops with less robust needs, Sirius Lite continues to prove that good things come in small packages! orion-soft.com EventPro Planner Software Suffering from Spreadsheetitis? EventPro Planner Software provides the cure! Everything you need, built into a single software solution. Manage attendees, budgets, travel and accommodations and a whole lot more. Our all-in-one tool was specifically designed for professional event planners just like you. Visit us at www.eventpro-planner.com to request your FREE TRIAL today! eventpro-planner.com 30 EVENT SOLUTIONS | NOVEMBER 2009 phone photos, and blog feeds. “It’s not just us pushing out information, it’s runners and fans and family contributing,” said event director David Gell. “It really gave the world a taste of what it’s like to be in Baltimore on that day.” The site also gave organizers a slew of numbers to benchmark— and sell sponsorships — against in coming years. Total web traffic increased on race day by almost a third, with 9,000 people logging onto the Smash site. Equally exciting for Gell was time on site: the average viewer stayed on the site for three minutes — about three times the norm. The festival will use this information to sell advertis- ing around the online component of next year’s event, boosting its online revenue stream. Hybrid Conferences and Trade Shows InXpo »inxpo.com With attendance for its annual convention tracking far below what organizers had hoped for, the American Institute of Architects (AIA) brought on virtual event provider InXpo to produce a virtual version of the show, including trade show booths, a networking lounge, a member services area manned byAIA staff, and live- streaming and on-demand content. Post-event results showed that in three days, 3,500 people attended virtually in some way.Over the following 60 days, 2,600 watched a class. Planner Chris Gribbs is also tracking downloads of conference handouts and how many people are buying audio recordings. “That data is incredibly valuable,” he says. “This online stuff gives so much more detail about the practice of the pedestrian and how she interacts with the experience overall. I wish I had that kind of data for the physical event!” The ability to monitor event metrics and shift tactics during the event is another key advantage of a virtual solution like InXpo. Event organizers are starting to create digital teams dedicated solely to this, reports InXpo chief marketing officer Bob Bahramipour.Using a select group of attendees and/or exhibitors, the team monitors what’s happening and its effectiveness. Looking at traffic, chat and content download patterns, the digital event planning team then uses this information to adjust the event experience in real time. “From an event planner’s standpoint, we’re shaking things up a little bit,” says Bahramipour. “It’s a little bit scary, but ultimately I think it’s very powerful.” Using Event Analytics: Vivu »vivu.tv The term“event analytics” may not roll off your tongue today, but it’s a language planners will increasingly need to become fluent in. It’s also somethingVivu— a relative newcomer to the virtual event scene — offers: after your event, you can access data such as each participant’s means of access, network domain, time spent in the session and overall quality of experience. Used for online meetings, sales presentations, training sessions and large online events (including live events with online compo- nents), the solution allows planners to create, publish and manage high-quality video-based events, with users able to participate via a PC, Mac or mobile device. “We used ViVu to power the live webcast of our AlwaysOn Publication List |
