Originally published in Trade Show Week 02.15.10
By Rachel Wimberly
When attendees rolled into Boston for the American Library Assn.’s Midwinter Meeting, held Jan. 15-19 at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center, they were able to download an application to their mobile phones that helped them get around the show – and pick a restaurant nearby for dinner.
“We had a very positive response from ALA’s show attendees, where the app debuted,” said James E. Rooney, executive director of the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority, which oversees the BCEC and the John B. Hynes Veterans Memorial Convention Center, which also offers the apps.
Diedre Ross, ALA’s show director, said the app was helpful to the attendees, especially because it let people know what was available around the BCEC.
“I didn’t think there was anything near here,” she added. “This would be useful for attendees in other cities.”
Rooney said the launch of the app is in step with BCEC’s attempts to stay ahead of the technological curve
“We’ve long touted ourselves as the most technologically advanced convention center in North America,” he added, “… and with the addition of this unique app, we can continue to make that tout far into the future.”
ALA and Boston are not the only ones taking mobile phone apps for a test drive. The technology recently has popped up on several showfloors, including Intl. CES, the Winter Las Vegas Market and the American Society of Assn. Executives & The Center for Assn. Leaderships’ Annual Meeting & Expo.
“There have been apps at the show before, but this was the first official one offered by CES,” said Tara Dunion, senior public relations director for the Consumer Electronics Assn., which owns Intl. CES.
Last summer, she added, CEA started looking around for an app for the show, which was held Jan. 7-10 at the Las Vegas Convention Center, and found the technology provider they were looking for with Core-apps’ Follow Me offering.
“We announced (the app) at a press (event) in New York City in November,” Dunion said. “People were very interested. It’s a natural fit to combine a major tech show with a major app trend.”
Andrew Maiden, public relations manager for World Market Center, which owns Las Vegas Market, said his company, too, looked around for a mobile phone app that would make the showfloor an easier place for attendees to navigate.
Winter Las Vegas Market was held Feb. 1-5 at the World Market Center, and, he added, anyone who had an iPhone at the show was able to download an app for the first time that included, among other bells and whistles, the entire show directory and maps of the massive complex.
“With the growing importance of mobile technology and social media, especially for tradeshow attendees who want to stay connected at market, this first-of-its-kind application is a very exciting development and speaks to the ‘New World, New Way’ of attending market,” said Robert Maricich, president and CEO of World Market Center.
At ASAE’s annual meeting last August in Toronto, Reggie Henry, the association’s chief technology officer, said there was an app for mobile browsers and iPhones available, that 400 people downloaded.
“People said things like, ‘This is great. It allowed me to plan my meeting ahead of time,’” he added. “It really takes care of the stuff you’d normally need in a program.”
The mobile browser app was provided by Results Direct and the iPhone app was provided by Core-apps. Among other tools, each attendee could peruse the meeting’s session schedule, check out speaker biographies and make comments after attending sessions, Henry said.
He added the app’s launch at last year’s annual meeting was a “soft one” but, moving forward, they will be more aggressive about letting people know the app is available.
“We’re going to have one for every major meeting,” Henry said.
Boston also has plans to expand its app’s offerings. ALA was one of the first events to use the myBCEC app, but there are plenty more opportunities on tap, according to Rooney.
“Every show that comes to the facility is listed in the event section of the application,” he said. “At the very least, every show can use the Twitter client in the app to manage buzz around their shows. And, every show has the option to upgrade to add custom schedules, attendee profiles and customer interactive tradeshow floor maps.”
The Boston-centric app also offers other social media networking tools, such as Facebook and LinkedIn, in addition to transportation information, including the show’s shuttle schedules and flight info, according to Kathleen Gilroy, CEO of Swift Mobile – the Boston app’s creator.
“It makes sense,” Gilroy said. “You don’t have to log on your laptop. …. The main value proposition is to save time.”
For now, most of the apps primarily are available on iPhones, but also are being developed for the BlackBerry and Android smartphones as well.
“Apple’s iPhone is the leading smartphone not only in the Americas, but in Europe as well, making it the natural choice for Las Vegas Market’s global attendee base,” Maiden said.
He added, “In the future, (the company) plans to further enhance this technology across all of its shows and events, as well as develop applications for other smartphone operating systems, such as BlackBerry.”
For attendees, the apps cost almost nothing. At Intl. CES, the app cost $1.99 to download, Dunion said
Las Vegas Market, Boston and ASAE aren’t charging at all, hoping to possibly make money instead on selling advertising space or sponsorships.
“The BCEC would charge a fee to customize the apps for shows,” Gilroy cited as an example. “Shows could also have their own branded apps. We think that’s what a lot of high-end events will want.”
She added the app itself also has the ability to be customized to not only different shows, but also different venues.
“Our mobile platform has been designed so that it can be easily and profitably deployed by any venue that hosts multiple events,” Gilroy said.
Besides the low cost, another benefit of the app is the fact that it gives people the choice to avoid lugging around a bulky show directory and save a lot of paper in the meantime.
“We printed far less directories (than) in the past,” Dunion said. “It helped follow the trend to have less paper (at the show).”
With smartphones outselling computers, Rooney said he thinks apps are here for the long haul. “This is the future for conventions and meetings that want to stay ahead of the curve,” he added.
