event planning | Interactive Meeting Technology

IMT Mailbag – How Do I Engage the Audience at Virtual Meetings?

Recently a Manager of Sales Administration emailed us and asked us the following question: Subject: How do you keep attendees engaged during virtual meetings? Do you have any suggestions on articles, books, etc. that address Virtual Meetings regarding how to engage the audience, stop multitasking and keep them engaged? Here’s how we answered

Posted on 12 Dec 2014
By Samuel J Smith
In event consulting, Event Planning, Going Digital, hybrid / virtual, interaction ideas, interactive meetings, marketing strategy, new event tech tools

Event Goals: If You Want Steak Don’t Order Chicken

You get what you ask for. (Well, at least you typically get what you pay for.) Sounds simple enough. There shouldn’t be a lot of room for interpretation there, right? Wrong. It's funny to me how many people tell me that they want "steak" at their event, then go on and

Posted on 19 Nov 2014
By Samuel J Smith
In event consulting, Event Planning, event tech trends, Going Digital, interaction ideas, interactive meetings, marketing strategy, social networking

Creating Interactive Meetings: How to Turn Attendees Into Active Participants

When I look around me, I feel like the world is screaming for more interaction and dialog at meetings and events. (In fact, I've been noticing this for years as I mentioned in my first IMT blog post.) There are too many events where attendees are stuffed in chairs, lined

Posted on 11 Nov 2014
By Samuel J Smith
In event tech trends, Going Digital, hybrid / virtual, interaction design, interaction ideas, social media

Which Would You Choose: Four Hours of PowerPoint or an Adventure?

Let’s pretend that you are putting together an All-Employee Meeting. What do you think your attendees will prefer: 4 hours of PowerPoint or an Adventure? I would go with adventure 10 times out of 10. Boston Scientific chose adventure, too. They skipped the General Session that would have stuffed 5,000 employees into

Posted on 2 Feb 2012
By Samuel J Smith
In interaction design

Creating Mad Event Science

Each year 3M spends over a billion dollars on R&D. One Billion dollars! They have thousands of people working on solutions to new problems, refining existing products and just creating mad science. Event Camp Twin Cities is an innovation lab for the meetings industry. A tiny one. The event is about

Posted on 13 Jul 2011
By Samuel J Smith
In other

First Impressions: IML Connector

Have you heard about the new IML Connector? It was announced in February 2010 and has been repeatedly delayed in coming to market. Well, it is almost here. Last month, IML demonstrated the Connector at an MPI Minnesota chapter meeting. Luckily, I happen to be there. What is the IML Connector? The IML Connector

Posted on 11 May 2011
By Samuel J Smith
In new event tech tools

Shifting to Digital: the MPI World Education Conference

If your annual education conference attracts only 20% of your members what are you doing for the other 80%? How do you create and deliver education for them? How do you bring your community together? Meeting Professionals International is making some bold moves in 2011 to tackle some of these challenges.

Posted on 1 May 2011
By Samuel J Smith
In Going Digital

Social Media in Events: Beyond Facebook & Twitter

Does it seem like every post about social media in events talks about Facebook and Twitter? Do you feel like your creativity is being constrained, because so many people are talking about the same 3-4 solutions?

I do.

In a followup to my last post (Real World Likes – The Next Big Thing in Social Media in Events), I want to show you two fresh examples that will help you open your mind to new possibilities for social media at your events.

New York City Marathon 2010

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnrzClsOlyU&feature=player_embedded]

See how Asics used videos and location based tracking to help family and friends at home cheer on their marathoners. This is really cool stuff. Fans record videos and leave messages for runners. Then as the runners go past a checkpoint, the videos and messages play on large screens.

Posted on 25 Apr 2011
By Samuel J Smith
In social media

Real World Likes – the Next Big Thing for Social Media in Events

What happens if I think that the ice sculpture and chocolate fountain at your event are off the hook? How do I tell my facebook friends and my twitter buddies? I have to pull out my phone, take a picture, enter a short message and upload it. I miss valuable networking

Posted on 18 Apr 2011
By Samuel J Smith
In social media

Are You Multiplying The Value of Your Meetings?

When you get ready to start planning your next meeting, is your plan to make an incremental change or take a giant leap? My guess is incremental change. And, I bet you then go look for new ideas that you can include in your event. Right now you might be excited

Posted on 18 Mar 2011
By Samuel J Smith
In strategy

Tag : event planning

New York City Marathon 2010