Hotel & Motel Management - October 20, 2008 - (Page 36) 36 News H&MM October 20, 2008 | HotelMotel.com www.HotelMotel.com/digital_edition Tech tools Continued from page 1 next level. These technologies can be implemented at the property level to help attendees have a better experience and encourage them to return for later meetings. “On a very basic level, the more you know about your clients’ business, the more prepared you are,” said Rob Weissman, co-producer of the show. “To bring it a step further, what technologies can the hotel provide when you are H&MM | JASON Q. FREED pitching your property to a group? Social networking is a big thing— how do we tie that into the venue experience?” Allen Blue, VP of product strategy and co-founder of LinkedIn, a web portal for networking professionals, addressed how social networking pertains to business meetings. He introduced a new component to LinkedIn— LinkedIn Events—to help event planners coordinate and promote events and track attendees. Blue said the new component will be an automatic “word-of-mouth” tool. “If I say I’m attending or exhibiting, that information becomes available,” he said. A beta version of LinkedIn Events is up and running, and event planners can start listing their events for free at events.linkedin.com. Soon, planners will be able to start building attendee lists and notifying other LinkedIn members of their meetings. Blue addressed how LinkedIn Events will affect the Allen Blue announced the launch of LinkedIn Events to help planners coordinate and promote events. meeting host, presumably a hotel or convention center. “Let’s imagine you’ve got people attending an event, and they are able to discuss the event on LinkedIn,” he said. “That information can be turned around and used to benefit the hotel. Imagine a system where hotels can build a reputation on past successful events.” Bill Bruck, principal of Q2Learning, which provides e-learning solutions for companies, discussed general emerging technologies for 21st century meetings and events. He said using the right technology is as important as the people involved and the meeting process. “If you are going to use technology in the meeting, you might want to have a bank of computers,” Bruck said. He said Wi-Fi access is very important at meetings, and hotels automatically should unblock any access to the Internet in boardrooms. Also, he said, hotels either should provide or allow meeting planners to bring in extra access points to improve wireless Internet connections. Bruck also warned against using irrelevant technology just to impress. “It has to be usable; it has to be intuitive,” he said. “And it has to be relevant. There’s too much going on with the shiny toys.” Many of the speakers during the technology segment suggested using an electronic feedback system during meetings in which attendees can use their cell phones or an electronic tool to ask questions or send messages that appear on a screen. Bruck suggested speakers use an electronic evaluation system after the meeting. “Audience response systems offer an opportunity to make comments about a speaker or a session they are attending in real time,” said David Langford, VP of technology for Smart City Networks, which provides communications solutions to hospitality venues and convention centers. Langford also discussed recording options that would allow an event planner to record a session and burn it onto a DVD so attendees can take the material with them. There are a number of providers who offer the ability to record, manipulate and disseminate materials, but a venue that is equipped to provide these tools may have an advantage over one that doesn’t, he said. Another increasingly popular technology for meetings is attendee tracking. Michael Gilvar, CEO of Fish Software, presented a case for radio-frequency identification tracking that collects data from the attendee. Not only can an event planner record the exact location of each attendee at every second, but it also can target attendees through advertisements. RFID is primarily geared toward tradeshows, but hotels can benefit by integrating RFID tracking with digital signage throughout the property. “With all of the new interactive signage, you can do so much,” Weissman said. “You’re walking past this sign and the hotel knows you’re interested in steak, so an advertisement for the hotel’s steakhouse appears.” Attendee tracking can be brought into the property by a different provider for each meeting, but if a venue were to wire for it permanently, it would have an advantage, he said. “You could have all of these things available,” Weissman said. “You could say, ‘We’ve tested it on our facility so you don’t have to reinvent the wheel.’” jfreed@questex.com Subscribes to 4 magazines. ©2008 Acxiom Corporation. All rights reserved. Acxiom and InfoBase-X are registered trademarks of Acxiom Corporation. http://www.HotelMotel.com http://www.HotelMotel.com/digital_edition http://events.linkedin.com
Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Hotel & Motel Management - October 20, 2008 Hotel & Motel Management - October 20, 2008 Contents Event Empowers Property-Level Leaders Boutique Bonanza Perspective Legal FAQ Consultant's Corner AAHOA Update Sales Clinic HotelWorld Update On Finance Trends & Stats Surprise Guests by Predicting Their Needs Transactions Worse Than Most Predicted Electronic Safes Housekeeping Services Marketplace Events Ad/Edit Index Classifieds Checking Out Hotel & Motel Management - October 20, 2008 Hotel & Motel Management - October 20, 2008 - Hotel & Motel Management - October 20, 2008 (Page Cover1) Hotel & Motel Management - October 20, 2008 - Hotel & Motel Management - October 20, 2008 (Page Cover2) Hotel & Motel Management - October 20, 2008 - Hotel & Motel Management - October 20, 2008 (Page 1) Hotel & Motel Management - October 20, 2008 - Hotel & Motel Management - October 20, 2008 (Page 2) Hotel & Motel Management - October 20, 2008 - Contents (Page 3) Hotel & Motel Management - October 20, 2008 - Boutique Bonanza (Page 4) Hotel & Motel Management - October 20, 2008 - Boutique Bonanza (Page 5) Hotel & Motel Management - October 20, 2008 - Perspective (Page 6) Hotel & Motel Management - October 20, 2008 - Perspective (Page 7) Hotel & Motel Management - October 20, 2008 - Consultant's Corner (Page 8) Hotel & Motel Management - October 20, 2008 - Consultant's Corner (Page 9) Hotel & Motel Management - October 20, 2008 - AAHOA Update (Page 10) Hotel & Motel Management - October 20, 2008 - AAHOA Update (Page 11) Hotel & Motel Management - October 20, 2008 - Sales Clinic (Page 12) Hotel & Motel Management - October 20, 2008 - Sales Clinic (Page 13) Hotel & Motel Management - October 20, 2008 - HotelWorld Update (Page 14) Hotel & Motel Management - October 20, 2008 - HotelWorld Update (Page 15) Hotel & Motel Management - October 20, 2008 - On Finance (Page 16) Hotel & Motel Management - October 20, 2008 - On Finance (Page 17) Hotel & Motel Management - October 20, 2008 - Trends & Stats (Page 18) Hotel & Motel Management - October 20, 2008 - Trends & Stats (Page 19) Hotel & Motel Management - October 20, 2008 - Surprise Guests by Predicting Their Needs (Page 20) Hotel & Motel Management - October 20, 2008 - Surprise Guests by Predicting Their Needs (Page 21) Hotel & Motel Management - October 20, 2008 - Transactions Worse Than Most Predicted (Page 22) Hotel & Motel Management - October 20, 2008 - Transactions Worse Than Most Predicted (Page 23) Hotel & Motel Management - October 20, 2008 - Transactions Worse Than Most Predicted (Page 24) Hotel & Motel Management - October 20, 2008 - Transactions Worse Than Most Predicted (Page 25) Hotel & Motel Management - October 20, 2008 - Electronic Safes (Page 26) Hotel & Motel Management - October 20, 2008 - Electronic Safes (Page 27) Hotel & Motel Management - October 20, 2008 - Electronic Safes (Page 28) Hotel & Motel Management - October 20, 2008 - Electronic Safes (Page 29) Hotel & Motel Management - October 20, 2008 - Housekeeping Services (Page 30) Hotel & Motel Management - October 20, 2008 - Housekeeping Services (Page 31) Hotel & Motel Management - October 20, 2008 - Housekeeping Services (Page 32) Hotel & Motel Management - October 20, 2008 - Housekeeping Services (Page 33) Hotel & Motel Management - October 20, 2008 - Housekeeping Services (Page 34) Hotel & Motel Management - October 20, 2008 - Housekeeping Services (Page 35) Hotel & Motel Management - October 20, 2008 - Housekeeping Services (Page 36) Hotel & Motel Management - October 20, 2008 - Housekeeping Services (Page 37) Hotel & Motel Management - October 20, 2008 - Marketplace (Page 38) Hotel & Motel Management - October 20, 2008 - Events (Page 39) Hotel & Motel Management - October 20, 2008 - Ad/Edit Index (Page 40) Hotel & Motel Management - October 20, 2008 - Classifieds (Page 41) Hotel & Motel Management - October 20, 2008 - Classifieds (Page 42) Hotel & Motel Management - October 20, 2008 - Classifieds (Page 43) Hotel & Motel Management - October 20, 2008 - Classifieds (Page 44) Hotel & Motel Management - October 20, 2008 - Classifieds (Page 45) Hotel & Motel Management - October 20, 2008 - Checking Out (Page 46) Hotel & Motel Management - October 20, 2008 - Checking Out (Page Cover3) Hotel & Motel Management - October 20, 2008 - Checking Out (Page Cover4)
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