i-Meet

It seems that John Pino, founder of StarCite, has heard our classes prayers for a social networking site targeted specifically toward meeting professionals.  In the article "StarCite Founder Launches Social Networking for Meeting, Event Planners" on MiMega Site Pino talked about the need for industry specific networking and the impact that it can have on the industry as a whole. Having just recently left the beta phase, and initially debuting in August, the site has already attracted 2,000 members. The article does not specify how many of these partifipants are suppliers vs. planners. 

The site allows you to network online much like facebook in that you create your own circle of friends and who can and cannot see you. Like LinkedIn the site allows you to contact "the world" with any questions regarding the industry which any member can access. The cool feature of this site unlike other social networking sites is the opportunity to rate and discuss experiences with a specific supplier. This will provide a platform for planners to connect regarding pros and cons about suppliers, properties and  experiences. Interestingly, the site profits by attracting suppliers in which to market themselves toward meeting professionals. This direct marketing approach will allow for suppliers to reach out to planners directly rather than using other more traditional means of marketing. 

As you know I feel strongly about the opportunity to job search through social networking sites which this one does not yet supply a forum for. I have signed up for the free service and look forward to watching it grow and adding a follow up blog of my opinions on the site. 

Google 411

Are you totally tired of being the only person without internet service on your phone (and are you totally grateful that you JUST got text messaging)? Without the internet or a phone book how do you figure out the phone number of a restaurant, museum, store or whatever your looking for... well 411 of course! So when using this service it used to cost $1.25 to be connected to the business you are trying to reach. More recently 411 created free 411 where you were forced to listen to about a million advertisements before you were given the phone number and disconnected. 

But Google who seems to perfect everything has launched their own free 411 service 1(800)GOOG-411. The feature has all of the same elements of the original 411 in addition to the opportunity to have the information texted to you and work with the matching feature of any mobile phone to map the location. In terms of advertising, Google has not yet incorporated advertising (and I hope that they don't) of course without advertising it is difficult to make money on a free product. Finally, it is simple to block your calling information so that Google and businesses you connect to do not receive your phone and personal information. 

As an events professional this is really beneficial. When away at an event you have to be resourceful and sometimes your own little CVB. With the resource of your cell phone your have the opportunity to figure out resources within the city just by calling Googles 411. If you don't know the business you are attempting to call you can request "French Food" or "Zoo" and receive a listing of all such businesses in the area. 

What will they think of next? 

GUESTROOM 2010

GUESTROOM 2010 is an innovative and intriguing twist on the traditional hotel experience. 2010 was conceived by an organization HITEC and continues to be constantly updated and perfected. 

Living Space 

In designing the perfect guest experience HITEC has considered every every aspect of a guests wants and desires during a hotel stay. Within the living space of a 2010 guest room is a desk with laptop, a unique efficient SONY OLED television, Wii system including a Wii fit and an intercom system rather than a phone. 

Each of these elements are to satisfy a guests needs in considering the fact that hotels are often a home away from home or a home office for a period of time. By incorporating both technology guests are accustomed to having and are unique will truly enhance the guest experience according to HITEC. The reason for doing without the in room phone is two fold,  first of all, each guest will have their own a cell phone. 2010 hotel rooms will have keyless door entry using ones cell phone in conjunction with IBM's VingCard technology. Secondly, individuals who one cell phones are less likely to use in room phones which end up as a cost for a hotel rather than a revenue generator. Instead 2010 rooms will feature an intercom which is connected directly to the front desk and eliminates the need for an in room phone. 

Sleeping 

I know that when I stay at a hotel the first thing I do it jump in bed and turn on the TV. 2010 rooms will allow guests to control their stay from the TV. From the TV guests can control in room amenities like temperature and lighting in addition to hotel services like ordering room service. (I know for me this would be REALLY exciting). Additionally the bed in these rooms is the extremely unique 21st Century Bed Technology. The beds are made up of thousands of pieces  which are supposed to contour to the precise needs of an individuals body. This makes the home away from home experience much easier. 

Impact   

There are numerous other elements of technology included in these rooms including Amazon Kindle, LUX ART & DESIGN, infrared Minibars' and many more. The room as mentioned is designed solely to increase guest experience. I think a hotel which adopts GUESTROOM 2010 will certainly have a place in the hotel industry. Information that has to be considered is the amount of money required to produce and stay in such a property. Additionally each of these technologies is very innovative however, as we know, technology is ever changing and technology which wows us today will not do so tomorrow. Thus, how can a property afford to keep up with current technology and continue to wow and please guests. Also, I admit some of the technology is really cool and sounds fun but do we really need it? How much will a guest use all of the conveniences provided to them in such a room?  It will be interesting to see if and when a property chooses to adopt the GUESTROOM 2010. 

Technology Updates - Boomers vs. Millennial's

As most of you are aware I am always interested in different generations and their relationship with technology, in particular the technologies we have been studying throughout the semester. As a side not this blog is not fact based but instead based solely upon recent experiences with my family, friends and coworkers. 

LinkedIn & Facebook

Last evening at dinner a family friend asked me to explain LinkedIn because he was sent a friend/network request. I explained the social networking capabilities including building an online professional network. The network I told him allows you to keep in touch with business professionals and enables you to network with people you have always wanted to meet or maybe would not have met without the service. I asked him if he was considering joining and he said absolutely not. He explained to me that his method of networking is much more about personal face to face relationships and went on to tell me that he rarely uses his e-mail for business and when he cannot meet his clients has a phone based relationship with them. 

As I mentioned in a previous blog, I myself registered for LinkedIn and have yet to find it very fulfilling. As much as it is about social networking it is not a fun website to visit where you are keeping in touch with people you are friendly with. I think what Facebook has done right, and why so many people have joined, is that it has become a portal for professional life and personal life where you look forward to signing in and checking out what friends and colleagues are up to. 

Recently my entire team at my internship have signed up for Facebook. It has made the office dynamic very interesting firstly because if you are friends with your coworkers the material you have on the website must be appropriate and secondly because what we do on Facebook tends to consume our conversations with one another. When I asked my coworkers why they joined they said so that they could stay in touch with high school friends and former coworkers. They told me that upon joining they were amazed by how many of their friends were already on the site and the applications it provided. 

This made me wonder, is it that social networking websites are generational or that some are just way better than others. My next study is to see if my mom or dad will sign up for the service and see what they think... 

Politics and Facebook

Facebook has become the premiere social networking website and has played a significant role in this years presidential election. I have noticed, as I am sure many of us users have, that our friends have constantly updated their status, page, groups, photos, videos and events to include politically charged information. Facebook has really set out to encourage Millennial voters to become engaged with politics and really take a stance on this years campaign. 

Today, the site has created a special "Today is Election Day" page. Upon signing into the site the page is automatically advertised and shows how many users have stated they voted today currently it is at 368,802. The page also also allows you to take a stance by choosing a gift supporting Obama or McCain, helps users identify their polling place using Google Maps and notifies individuals that it is still possible to register to vote today in several different states (Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, Wisconsin and Wyoming). Also, users can update their status stating that they have voted or "donate" their status to encourage users to vote for a specific candidate. 

According to the NDN blog, millenials are going to play an integral role in this years election and if they do in fact get out and vote will provide a great advantage for Obama. "I was on Facebook (for work purposes of course), and noticed that more than half a million people have signed now up to have their status automatically updated to display a GOTV message. Users can choose whether the message says to get out the vote for Obama, McCain, or just to get out the vote, and then pass the word on to up to 40 friends at a time." According to NDN's findings 69% of the people who signed up for the GOTV message choose to support Obama while 16% supports McCain, and 9% of just get out the vote messages. 

It will be interesting to see the impact my generation actually has when today is over. I am particularly curious about the findings facebook users update versus how many people actually vote.  

Technology and the NYC Marathon

As many of you know this Sunday I ran my first marathon. I have run in many New York Road Runners races throughout the past two years and have always been interested in the technology involved in managing these races. But the marathon and its 26.2 miles include significantly more technology then the average Road Runners race. 

Each runner is presented with a chip about the size of a quarter which we have to secure to our shoes. The chip is inactive unless it is stimulated by another type of technology, therefore it only collects data at specific areas on the course. The ChampionChip, made by a Dutch company, is used in almost every premiere marathon and ironman throughout the world. Two sets of mats are placed on the ground so that when participants run over them they can record the exact time a runner was there. The course had these check points set up at every 5k (of which there are 8) and every mile after mile 16. 

Road Runners and other organizations have adopted the ChampionChip technology for several reasons. First of all it deters people from cheating because they are required to pass through every check point before finishing. According to an article in the NY Times a runner in the Boston Marathon and NYC Marathon in the late 70's took the subway in both races and won the race before they were caught. This technology was introduced so that this would be impossible even for non elite runner.  Secondly, the technology makes it easy to be tracked by family and friends interested in your position in the race. My family signed up for "athlete tracker" which instantaneously e-mailed their cell phones when I passed a check point. This made it easy for my parents at the finish line to figure out when I would be finishing and for my other family members following me from burrough to burrough to figure out exactly where I would be when. 

In the article Bits, Bytes and Blisters: Tracking Runners From Start to Finish in the NY Times Road Runners mentioned that the technology is not flawless and that they are looking into GPS technology to provide even more accurate race results and further deter cheating. All in all it was a fantastic race and the technology helped marathoners, organizers and spectators alike.