New England Society of Association Executives

2013 - 2014 Officers

CHAIRGregory Beeman

Associated Builders and Contractors— MA Chapter greg@abcma.org

CHAIRMAN-ELECTTracy Burns

Northeast Human Resources Association tbm@nehra.com

PAST CHAIRMANMary S. Reitter, CAE

Brain Injury Association of America msreitter@rcn.com

SECRETARY-TREASURERDarlene Winnett

Energy Council of the Northeast DLetavec@ecne.org

EXECUTIVE DIRECTORPam McKenna, CAE

NEWSLETTERMaria Brogan

New England Society of Association Executives 6 Boston Road, Suite 202 Chelmsford, MA 01824 Ph: 978 250-9847 Fx: 978 250-1117 E-mail: office@nesae.org Web: www.nesae.org

Inside this IssueUpcoming Events ...........................3Call for Board Nominations ...........4Member Updates ..........................5Member Value & Story Telling .......7Welcome New Members ...............8Top 10 Features to Look for in an Online Community ......................10Organizational Excellence Event Photos .........................................11Nominate for NE/SAE Awards .....122014 Meetings Tech Trends .........14

Mission CriticalBy: Greg Beeman

Every association needs a mission. I’m sure there are few - if any - in the association community who would disagree with this.

But why? This question was posed by Holly Duck-worth in her keynote presentation at NE/SAE’s management conference earlier this year (which, by

the way, was one of the best programs I have attended in a long time). Duckworth, CEO of Leadership Solutions International, is not saying associations should not have missions. She thinks though, that we should challenge the convention wisdom on what it is and what it means.

When you think of your association’s mission, what comes to mind? Probably not the words short, simple and alive. In my case, I remember how much time we spent on each word as we tried to cover all the bases.

Association missions are often developed through long, laborious sessions with boards of directors, task forces and strategic planning committees. Missions tend to expand over time, swelling to paragraphs. Missions tend to sound very academic and official; they seem intended to convey an air of importance.

I remember at one of my association’s planning meetings the facilitator said our mission was something to cherish. Had she been there, I think Holly Duckworth’s response would have been, “Hmmmm.”

Is a “cherished” mission a relevant one? If not, then according to Duckworth, what value does it really have? At her NE/SAE presentation, she asked how many in the room knew their association’s mission. The majority of hands went up. She then asked how many could recite it, without hesitation. Virtually all of the hands went down. The woman who tried started out strong, but was stumbling by the end.

How relevant can all these missions be if we can’t remember them? I was struck by how obvious the point was, but yet how oblivious I was to it. I have been involved in several rewrites of my organization’s mission statement over the years and I thought our current version said what it needed to say.

Therein lies the problem. Mission statements tend to be similar to – and as exciting as – a dictionary definition. Couldn’t they, asks Duckworth, be short, sweet and active? Shouldn’t they actually be part of the daily conversation rather than simply copy that appears on applications and official reports?

Duckworth says that many of the young members and staff who are the future, and sometimes current, leaders of our organizations can’t relate to the typical mission

Spring 2014

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and other time-honored traditions of association governance.

The Society of Dermatology Physicians Assistants (SDPA) decided to do something about this. Their mission statement was a full paragraph complete with typical verbiage. Among its 52 words, promote was used twice, and it included familiar statements about “professional development” and “quality, cost-effective care.”

After a re-boot, the SDPA mission is now just seven words: “Empower. Educate. Ad-vance. The Future of Dermatology.” In shedding the traditional structure, the mission went from passive to active. Duckworth said the mission now has a whole different relevance with the association.

Inspired by this, I asked my staff to each do their own re-boot of our mission, using the SDPA example. It’s been eye-opening. Our first discussion revealed that while everyone on staff knew we have a mission, they considered it something we needed to have, rather than something that we actually used. Their re-writes are closer to calls-to-action than a typical association mission. We are now working to meld the individual takes into a joint version. Then I plan to share it with our board, and I think it will be a lively discussion.

Duckwork says we need to let go of our conventional thinking on mission statements and other controlling documents such as bylaws, policies and procedures. She is not saying we should abandon them, but that we should rethink them….and our ap-proach to them.

After he gave me his dramatically different re-write, the newest member of my staff said, “I don’t know how valid this is. I see it a little differently, and I’ve never written a mission before.” With thanks to NE/SAE and Holly Duckworth, I now see that this is exactly the point.

www.NESAE.org 3 EXECUNOTES

Upcoming EventsMay 7, 2014

CEO SIG Meeting Associated Builders and Contractors Headquarters, Woburn, MA

June 5 - 6, 2014NE/SAE Annual MeetingSea Crest Beach Hotel, Falmouth, MA

October 9, 2014NE/SAE Technology Conference, Bentley University, Waltham, MA

January 15 - 16, 2015NE/SAE Annual Management ConferenceBoston Marriott Newton Hotel, Newton, MA

Special Thanks to NE/SAE’s Supporters!

Platinum:

Gold:

Silver:

Continued from page 1

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NE/SAE 2014 Call for Board NominationsAs Red Sox famed announcer, Joe Castiglione, would say, “Can you believe it!” No, it’s not

another Red Sox World Series Championship (although we hope for that). Nominations for anticipated positions on NE/SAE’s Board of Directors are now open.

If you have or know a NE/SAE member with knowledge or experience with governance, strategic thinking ability and the commitment to work effectively within a collective decision-making group, the NE/SAE Board of Directors is looking for you! Self-nominations are encouraged.

NE/SAE’s Board of Directors are the stewards of the association and consider the broad interests of NE/SAE in shaping its future. The board provides strategic leadership, a shared vision, sense of mission and is responsible

for NE/SAE’s fiscal health.

If you are interested in serving or nominating a fellow member, here’s all the information we think you may need:

Deadline for Nominations Nominations are due no later than May 15, 2014.

Eligibility NE/SAE board members must be association or industry partner members at the time of nomination and throughout their board service.

Anticipated Board Positions Available Chair-Elect (one year term, succeeds to a term as Chair) Director (filling the remaining two years of an unexpired term) Director (three year term)

Nominating Yourself Complete the online nomination form at www.nesae.org or send an e-mail requesting an application to Mary S. Reitter, CAE, Chair, Nominations Committee at msreitter@rcn.com.

Nominating Another Member If you would like to nominate another member, please send the nominee name, contact information (title, organization, mailing address, phone and e-mail address) and reason for nomination to Mary S. Reitter, CAE, Chair, Nominations Committee (msreitter@rcn.com or fax 508-877-0615).

Board Member Expectations and Estimated Time Commitment NE/SAE Board Members (Directors serve an estimated 35 hours annually):

• Adhere to ethical standards and a commitment to the mission and purpose of NE/SAE.• Attend and actively participate in all board meetings (currently four (4) annually); these frequently are held in

conjunction with NE/SAE education programs. In addition, board members must be accessible for requests and input between board meetings as needed.

• Provide leadership that advances NE/SAE and the best interests of the association; be strategically focused and visionary.

• Promote NE/SAE and its programs to others and attend major NE/SAE events, including the Annual Management Conference, Annual Meeting and Technology Conference. Registration fees are the responsibility of each NE/SAE board member.

• Volunteer for and willingly accept assignments and complete them thoroughly and on time.

Officers (Chair, Chair-elect, Secretary-Treasurer, Immediate Past Chair) should expect to devote an additional 35 hours annually to NE/SAE board service.

What to Expect After Your Nomination As NE/SAE’s nomination committee reviews nominations, additional application information a telephone interview or may be requested and scheduled as necessary. The NE/SAE membership will vote on the slate of nominations presented at the NE/SAE Annual Meeting, June 5-6, 2014 at Sea Crest Resort in Falmouth, MA. Newly elected board members assume office on July 1, 2014.

www.NESAE.org 5 EXECUNOTES

Member UpdatesThe Hotel Providence is excited to welcome an new General Manager, David G. Benton. David G. Benton is one of the hospitality industry’s most focused and innovative leaders. An experienced hotelier, David has held various senior level positions with the hospitality industry over the last 30 years.

In January 2014, Benton took over as General Manager of Hotel Providence, the only AAA Four Diamond boutique ho-

tel in Providence, Rhode Island. Since arriving at the hotel, Benton has pursued his two greatest passions as an operator; to elevate every detail of the guest experience, and to position the hotel as a generous and responsible steward of the community in which it resides.

Association UpdatesCEO SIG UpdateThe CEO has its next meeting on May 7, 2014 at from 8 a.m. – 10 a.m. at the office of Associated Builders and Contractors in Woburn, MA (100 Unicorn Park Drive). Breakfast will be provided.

It will be an open forum.

The plan is to have two addition CEO SIG meeting during 2014.

Anyone who has suggested topics for CEO SIG meetings, or any comments, can please contact me at greg@abcma.org or at 781-273-0123.

Membership SIG UpdateNE/SAE’s Membership, Marketing & Communications Association Professionals (SIG) met on Friday, March 14th to discuss Membership Recruitment & Retention. We would like to thank the sponsor of that meeting:

Greater New Bedford Association of REALTORS® Chief Executive Officer, Paul Chasse, has been named a founding Co-Chair to the Massachusetts Business Coalition for South Coast Rail. This newly formed coalition has been tasked by the South Coast business community with developing a pub-lic relations campaign and legislatively advocating for com-muter rail service to New Bedford, Fall River and Taunton. In addition, the REALTOR® association will act as the fiscal

agent for the coalition.

The Massachusetts Society of Certified Public Accountants launched its 10th tax season partnership with Boston.com, the website for The Boston Globe, in February. Members participate in one-hour, interactive Tax Chats with Boston.com readers every other week, and the website promotes their chat the week prior to the chat. Members also respond to readers’ ongoing questions in the Ask A CPA discussion board. The mutually beneficial partnership continues to be popular among MSCPA members and Boston.com readers alike.

The Massachusetts Society of Certified Public Accoun-tants has named Eileen P. McAnneny as its president and CEO. McAnneny was selected to lead the MSCPA after an extensive nationwide search led by the MSCPA’s executive search committee and national search firm. She began her role on January 20, 2014, following the retirement of Theo-dore J. Flynn, CAE who led the MSCPA for 43 years.

As the MSCPA’s president and CEO, McAnneny will lead stra-tegic planning initiatives, maintain the MSCPA’s track record of excellence and expand advocacy, continuing education and membership growth and retention programs.

Save the Date!NE/SAE Technology

Conference

Thursday, October 9

Bentley University Waltham, MA

The Boston Security Analysts Society is very excited to have George Dudley on board as the Director of Marketing and Communications. George started on February 25 and has hit the ground at a full sprint.

Then Save the Date!NE/SAE’s 2014 Annual Meeting

June 5 - 6 Sea Crest Beach Hotel

Falmouth, MA

Overnight reservations for the Annual Meeting at the $139 group rate may be made by calling 800-225-3110 or 508-540-9400. Don’t forget to mention you’re with NE/SAE to receive this low rate!

Registration now open on www.NESAE.org

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www.NESAE.org 7 EXECUNOTES

Member Value and Story TellingBy: Amanda Kaiser

Do Your Members Engage With All Your Association’s Member Benefits? “It’s frustrating. Our members don’t know about everything we offer and they don’t take advantage of many of their member benefits. Even our board members don’t know all that we do!” If members are not using their benefits they are not engaged and unengaged members don’t renew. I hear this lament a lot from association marketing and membership professionals.

How do we get members to learn about their benefits and then use them? Send out more emails? Develop member brochures? Cross-promote in our journal? Maybe but there are a couple of things to consider before starting these tactics. First find out if each benefit matters to members. If the answer is yes then you have to craft the story your members need to hear.

Do Your Benefits Matter?Do you know if your member benefits matter to your members? For a benefit to matter it has to solve a problem. A member problem can be a challenge, a goal or a fear. Can you describe how each of your association’s offerings solves a member problem? Mem-bers might not be using a benefit because the benefit doesn’t solve one of their real, current problems.

Conversely do your member benefits solve your member’s most pressing problems? Has the industry or profession evolved since your benefits were developed? What role has technology played in advancing the profession? Perhaps your member benefits don’t solve your member’s biggest problems making the value of your association small in comparison to the overall need they have.

If you are finding your benefits becoming less popular or other organizations stealing your member’s attention it is time to reevaluate your member’s needs. Ask your mem-bers what their most challenging professional problems are. What are they stuck on? What are they worried about? What could your association offer that would help them matter more? Once you really understand your member’s problems figure out how to solve them.

Are You Telling A Story That Matters?It’s not enough to have your benefits matter. The next hurdle is telling a story about each benefit that matters to your members.

Many associations have that laundry-list-of-benefits-page: weekly e-newsletter, monthly print journal, annual conference and quarterly member benchmarking report. We leave it to our members and prospective members to make the link from the problem they have to the solution we are offering.

Take the weekly e-newsletter as an example. The actual problem the newsletter may solve is keeping members up to date on the latest trends in a rapidly evolving industry so they can make the best recommendations to senior management about how to im-prove policies, strategies and projects.

Figure out what problem each benefit solves and then tell the story that makes that link for members. Help them understand the value to them. Explain in your member’s words and from their worldview how each benefit solves their professional problems.

Members engage when they know what is in it for them. Your benefits have to solve a problem, help them cope with a challenge or fear, or move them closer to a goal. Your association will thrive when you are solving your member’s problems and telling them how each benefit matters to them. Amanda Kaiser helps associations deeply understand their member’s wants and thoughts. She blogs about association marketing, innovation and insights at www.SmoothThePath.net. Find her on Twitter at @SmoothThePath.

NE/SAE Needs YOU!

Interested in volunteering your time and talents to NE/SAE? We would love to hear from you! NE/SAE will have volunteer openings for their 2013-2014 year in the following areas:

Board of DirectorsEducation CommitteeMembership Committee

Please complete the form on www.NESAE.org to let us know of your interest. We will follow up with you. For Board of Directors openings, you may also e-mail the Nominating Committee Chair, Mary Reitter,CAE. For Education and Membership Committee service, you may also e-mail the Chairs, Donna Dunn, CAE, Education Committee Chair and Iseult Kavanagh Morgan, Membership Committee Chair.

Nominations for the Board close May 15th.

Looking for more details? See our Call for Nominations article on page 14.

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Meagan Bartlett, Sales Manager Gideon Putnam Resort Saratoga Springs, NY

Kevin Cuff, MPA, IOM, Executive DirectorProfessional Risk Managers International Association (PRMIA) Northfield, MN

Lou Kornet, Senior VPThe Markens Group Springfield, MA

Donna Libby, Senior Sales ManagerGreat Wolf Lodge / New England Fitchburg, MA

Rachel Manners, Director of SalesMountain View Grand Resort & Spa Whitefield, NH

Andy McMillan, PresidentBACnet International Bedford, NH

Sarah Murray, Executive AssistantThe Association for Medical Imaging Management (AHRA) Sudbury, MA

Colleen Pappas, Executive Vice PresidentWorcester Regional Association of REALTORS® Auburn, MA

Adam Robitaille, Director, Sales and Marketing Hilton Boston Woburn Woburn, MA

Dev Singh, Vice President, Specialty BankingWebster Bank Providence, RI

Karyn Walsh, National Event DirectorFinancial Executives Alliance Boston, MA

Christina Wong Chin, Membership Marketing Massachusetts Dental Society Southborough, MA

Sam Zoob, National DirectorFinancial Executives Alliance Boston, MA

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Top 10 Features to Look for in an Online Community Platform By: Ben Martin, CAE

As VP for Marketing & Communications at a large membership organization I selected a community software platform, I’ve worked as a product manager for an online community platform, I’ve personally launched three online communities, and now I’m doing more and more work with organizations to help them select online com-munity software that match their business requirements.

Here’s my no-spin, no-hype analysis on the most important features to look for in an online community software package. There are many other things to take into consideration, but these will get you started.

1. Data synchronization between your Customer Relationship Management (or equivalent) database and the community plat-form. At a minimum, it should support a one-way transfer of member data from the CRM package to the community platform.

2. Single sign-on to the organization’s main website, because nothing stifles engagement quite like being logged into a mem-bers-only section of the website and being asked again for your username and password when clicking over to the online com-munity. Logging in is the single largest barrier to engagement. You MUST help your members bypass the login screen.

3. E-mail notifications sent on a schedule determined by the end user. The community manager may have the ability to set the defaults for their frequency, but the end user should be able to set notifications to arrive on a schedule they prefer.

4. Resource directory, file upload/download, or document sharing. Most organizations I’ve worked with view resource sharing as the core benefit of their online community, and it’s a noble thought. But the simpler the resources feature, the better off you’ll be, because experience shows that users don’t often share files.

5. Discussion forums or groups. Although most organizations launch online communities with the hope that members will share sample documents, they usually don’t. If your experience is like most others, the primary way that you’ll get engagement from your community members is through discussion groups. Look for a simple discussions interface that makes it not just easy, but enticing, to reply to posts and start new discussions. Interfaces that can aggregate all of “my recent discussions” or “most recent discussions” in a single screen are best-of-breed.

6. Auto-login e-mail notification links. From experience, we know that most users interact with online communities when they receive e-mail notifications. Login failure crushes engagement metrics, but you can virtually eliminate this challenge by choosing an online community platform with an e-mail notification auto-login feature. You might also hear vendors call this something like “link tokening” or “gatekeeper” features.

7. Mobile friendly pages. If it hasn’t already, mobile internet traffic is poised to overtake desktop internet traffic in the very near future (as of July 2013). Some vendors tout native apps, but mobile friendly pages are far more effective in reaching the broadest possible swath of your users. Ask if the mobile friendly pages play nicely with the auto-login email links.

8. Messaging engine. There are two cases where a more sophisticated feature is the better choice, and this is one of them. Look for products that allow community administrators to send messages to certain segments of users, merge in member or commu-nity data, and have messages sent automatically when triggered by a member’s activity or at certain time-based intervals.

9. Reports. This is the second instance in which you want to give preference to sophisticated features. Virtually all vendors have some level of reporting, but some of the best out there can tell you things like which users (not just how many, but the specif-ic people who) have taken a specific action during a timeframe you define. Precious few online community platforms offer an abstract query tool, but if you find one that also satisfies your other requirements, give it serious consideration. Also look for web analytics (either native or Google Analytics compatible) and report automation (e.g. having a daily report of everyone who logged in for the first time e-mailed to you).

10. Design flexibility. Look for platforms that allow the community manager to configure the layout of the home page, interior pages, menus, banner advertising, and other content. More advanced users may want the ability to override the Cascading Style Sheet, embed custom code into widgets or blocks, and configure the content of error pages (e.g. access denied, page not found, etc.).

Did I miss anything? What would you replace?

Recognized as one of “Five to Watch” by ASAE’s Associations Now magazine, and a winner of the National Association of REALTORS®’ Technology Spotlight Award, Ben Martin is an association executive with over a dozen years of experience in trade and individual membership organizations. He is the Chief Engagement Officer at Online Community Results, providing outsourced online community management, consulting, coaching, and strategy services.

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A Review Site that Will Create Transparency in the Competitive AMS WorldWhen you’re hanging around your association executive fellows, it doesn’t take long for the conversation to digress to the topic of the association management system (AMS). And when it does, no association exec is lacking emotion about the technology that they have to use every day.

Selecting an AMS is one of the most important investments an association has to make. And as humans, we highly value the opinions of our family, friends, and peers. With these two things in mind, Review My AMS has been born. Review My AMS is a website where executives can speak openly and honestly about their experiences with their AMS.

The site allows association executives to anonymously review, comment on, and rate their AMS based on customer service, ease of use, reliability, and customization. End users share their review for free then they get to read all the reviews of their peers for free. It’s a beautiful thing!

Here are a couple excerpts of real reviews that you will find on Review My AMS.

“It’s a great middle-of-the-road option for a small-staff association” …the biggest positive of this platform is the very easy learning curve, its user-friendly interface, and its reliability. The staff who use the AMS have little to no developer experience, and it has been easy for them to interact with the database. It’s easy to figure out where you need to go for different functions. It has also been quite reliable. Usually when there is an error (with a membership pay-ment, etc.) it is because there is something not set up correctly on our end. We haven’t gone through any outages, and we really like this… Job Role: Marketing

“Does alright, but won’t give you a footrub” The customer service is very good, customizations can get expensive, but I think that’s the same for all AMSs, but it is robust and all the bits and pieces work together. I think the biggest drawback right now is that it wasn’t built for smartdevices (no responsive design going on here) and with so much interaction with the database moving to mobile devices, it’s going to inhibit the product in the near future... Job Role: Executive Management, Strategic Planning, Governance

Share your review or learn more at www.ReviewMyAMS.com.

Your Nominations Needed for NE/SAE AwardsNominations are now being sought for NE/SAE’s Rising Star Award as well as our Super Star Award. We invite your nominations for these awards. The nomination deadline is April 30, 2013. Awards will be presented at our Annual Meeting, June 5th and 6th at the Sea Crest Beach Resort in Falmouth, MA.

The Rising Star Award was created to recognize exceptional up and coming association professionals. The individu-al does not need to be a current NE/SAE member but will receive a complimentary membership if they are selected as the recipient of this award.

The Super Star Award recognizes individuals who have gone above and beyond in their volunteer service to NE/SAE.

Nominations may be made through NE/SAE’s web site. The deadline for nominations is May 15th!

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www.NESAE.org 14 EXECUNOTES

Meetings Technology Trends to Watch for 2014 (Part Two of Two)By: Corbin Ball, CMP, CSP

These are exciting times. The rate of technology change is accelerating with thousands of ideas, apps, and inno-vations bubbling up to help meeting planners, exhibitors, venues and other meeting participants to do their jobs better.

This annual review covers many of the major events tech trends to watch for this coming year.

Crowdsourcing and a crowd sharing will be more widely used for events. Crowdsourcing is the process of obtaining services, ideas, answers or content from a large group of people (typically an online community) rather than from traditional suppliers. A range of crowdsourcing tools are emerging for sharing, funding, voting, and much more. Benefits include: lower costs, greater choice, and bet-ter input – all of which can be used in a variety of ways for events. This will change the way meeting participants get sleeping rooms: www.airbnb.com and www.easynest.com; share travel: www.sunyride.com, www.airbaltic.satisfly.com; co-create event content: www.panelpicker.sxsw.com, www.allourideas.org, www.ideascale.com; www.stereopill.com; review events: www.yelp.com, www.hubb.it, www.event-rater.com; and fund/promote events: www.peoplefund.it, www.planana.com, www.picatic.com, www.fixelated.com to name a few. Additionally, mobile audience polling devices can be used during and event for insight capture, for market research, and real-time feedback to assist in making strategic decision making.

Wearable/ultra-portable computing will begin to work its way into events. Technology has developed in ten-year cycles: 1960s: mainframe computing, 1970s: mini-computing, 1980s: personal computing, 1990s: desktop internet computing, 2000s: mobile internet computing. This decade may turn out to be the decade of wearable/everywhere computing. Computers are popping up in our cars, our home appliances, and soon on our bodies. Google Glass (google.com/glass/start/) and a range of smart watches (hen.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smartwatch), smart bracelets, NFC rings are in the works and more will assist us with navigation, networking, and augmented reality. Although part of a larger societal trend, this will impact events and trade shows in the next few years as attendees literally embody these devices to assist them at events. The opportunities are many as a mini-teleprompter for speakers, for note taking, polling, video-conferencing, virtual site inspections and much more. Face recognition could remind you of the name of a col-league. Way-finding through a facility or exhibition hall could be a possibility. Appointment reminders and more are all possibilities.

Video will be increasing integrated in the business process for events. Video is almost always more compelling than a page of web text. It is becoming the language of the internet for promotion, communication, and sharing event content to broader audiences. We will see richer and deeper involvement with video in our daily lives and in promoting, managing and distributing event content. Consider these advances:

Video is getting cheaper and easier to produce:

• Most of us are carrying HD video cameras in our phones with multiple free apps to record, edit and share the videos recorded.• The price for higher-end video production equipment has dropped dramatically as well as becoming lighter and easier to use.• Hybrid meetings and event content capture are seeing substantial growth at events.

Video is becoming cheaper and easier to distribute:

• Skype.com provide one-to-one HD video conferencing for free. Also, with Skype’s acquisition by Microsoft, we will likely lead to more integration to Office products, and, therefore, more widely used during business.

• Google Hangouts allows 9-way video conferencing for free and free video web streaming and recording to YouTube with Hang-outs On Air

• The traditional online meeting platforms such as WebEx , GoToMeeting and others are getting easier, cheaper and more reliable as is broadband internet.

• Personal, free short video distribution channels such as Instragram Video, Vine and Tout are seeing huge growth.• BOB.tv, a business video distribution channel designed specifically around events with broad meeting association support has

just launched.

As video becomes ubiquitous, we will see strong growth and reliance on it for event promotion and event content distribution.

Geofencing and location-aware technology such as iBeacon will begin to be used by meeting venues and event organizers to improve the participant experience. A geofence is a virtual perimeter around any geographic area, such as a hotel, a conference center, an exhibition or any another arbitrary boundary. When a mobile device using a geofence service enters or exits a geofence, the device receives a notification which often is in the form of an alert or a mobile coupon. A geofence notice may be sent to another mobile phone or email account as well. Although a relatively new concept, geofencing is beginning to be used for marketing, security, and anti-theft purposes.

Continued on page 15

www.NESAE.org 15 EXECUNOTES

The opportunities for events could be significant. Attendees could automatically check-in to an event zone using a geofence app. A proprietary event app could automatically be launched without the need for a password. Exhibitors could send out targeted messag-es to different categories of participants. The venues could provide information to visitors. Local area merchants could send discount coupons to convention attendees. AV companies or venues could be notified if unauthorized equipment with an RFID tag linked to a geofence is removed from the premise. The frequency and type of geofence notifications sent will be controlled by setting user preferences, but there are lots of ways that this technology can be used to improve events.

Companies such as TapCrowd and Topi are beginning to use geo-fencing in the events arena.

IBeacon will be a huge player this coming year. Very low-power, low cost (less than US$10) Bluetooth iBeacon transmitters with up to a 150 foot (50 meter) range will interact with mobile event apps to assist in: map location facilitation and direction finding, gamifi-cation and scavenger hunts, lead exchange/tracking, exhibit booth dwell time and other analytics, automated check-in and badge printing, social media networking, continuing education unit (CEU) tracking, and more!

Advanced display technology will create a greater “wow” factor at events and exhibitions. This year’s Consumer Electronic Show was full of 3D imaging devices, many without glasses. Eventually, 3D technology will become so pervasive that 2D screens will seem as obsolete as black-and-white TV seems today.

Higher resolution glassless 3D imaging will become more widely used in the next few years in exhibitions. 3D attracts attention. We see in 3D. In the next few years, technology for imaging will finally catch up to what we experience essentially every moment of our stereoscopic waking lives.

Projection or video mapping is another very interesting development in display technology. This involves projecting images on any multi-dimensional shape or form. Any object can become a display, leading to stunning visual effects that make events memorable and showcase the group’s creativity. This can be on a building edifice, an aircraft carrier, or elaborate stage sets for events.

Some interesting event examples are:

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6e_XW32y9U• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGjS0EPcin4• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4sVTUAdoLg• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GcighIL9w0&list=PL037A7C2AE703395F• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OoDheQ-rtxE

Audience engagement becomes a top priority for events. We are living in increasingly noisy times. We are being barraged with a daily “fire hose” of information that can be very daunting and is often tuned or filtered out. One benefit of meetings is that they take us away from our normal office environment to one where most of us feel a social contract to engage and be engaging with others. Meetings, when reduced to their most essential element, are about bringing people together.

However, there is much competition for our attention in our multi-media, socially-connected world. Traditional event paradigms of the “talking head” speaking to a passive audience, or a “build it and they will come” model for exhibitions are no longer acceptable. The word “attendee” is being replaced with “participant.” Participants expect to be engaged. They expect to have a say in what I going on. They expect to continue to use their social media tools as they do at home. They expect to be treated as individuals rather than an email address on a mailing list. They are increasingly expecting a richer, more targeted and more interactive time at events, and are making their event purchases choices accordingly.

Mobile social media and event apps are opening the door to a much more sensory and interactive experience and are fueling this transition. Gamification, the use of game thinking and game mechanics in a non-game context to engage users and solve problems, is seeing increased events and exhibition usage. Some consumer mobile apps such as Foursquare.com and SCVNGR.com have been used for this, but the trend is for more specialized event apps such as EventMobi.com, BoothTag.com, MeetingPlay.com, and larger mobile app developers such as DoubleDutch.com, QuickMobile.com, CrowdCompas.com among others are incorporating gaming into their larger event guide applications.

An engaged participant is a repeat participant and is one who will tell his or her colleagues as well. Many of the fourteen trends in this article are involved in some way with participant engagement, a trend that will see increasing emphasis this coming year. Corbin Ball, CMP, CSP is a speaker and independent third-party consultant focusing on meetings technology. With 20 years of experience running in-ternational citywide technology meetings, he now helps clients worldwide use technology to save time and improve productivity He can be contact-ed at his extensive web site: www.corbinball.com and followed at twitter.com/corbinball. Subscribe to Corbin’s free every-other-month high-content TechTalk Newsletter at corbinball.com/techtalk.

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Having to say “Captain may I?” to go to the restroom.

Designer, someplace with my dignity intact.

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