Hello Readers!
As if you didn’t know already, we are living in the age of technology-and one of the sectors greatly affected by new advancements is the meetings and events industry. Just this month, the Meetings Technology Expo came to Rosemont with more than 50 sessions and demos all geared to making meetings more engaging and profitable for the corporate, association, independent and trade show planner.
“For the past five years, our event has helped educate thousands of meeting and event professionals on the technology that enables a faster, more cost-effective and more efficient approach to conducting meetings and events,” said Paul Paone in a recent article; he founded the annual conference in 2005. Sessions offer CMP accredidation and offers information on the newest registration systems and consolidation tools, among other topics.
A few weeks prior to the Expo, on May 21, the Chicago-based Virtual Edge Institute (VEI) relaunched their summit that educates planners who produce hybrid and digital meetings. During five virtual sessions, attendees gained information on how to make hybrid meetings memorable and understanding metrics.
“Digital and hybrid meetings are still very much in their infancy and VEI is filling a void in the industry by providing this high level education, which professionals can use to help advance their own organizations,” explained VEI’s Carolyn Clark in a release.
We also caught word of the debut of the Swiss Tech Convention Center, “the world’s first fully-automated facility for meetings & conventions.” So what does that mean? A revolutionary system to collapse chairs and move walls with the touch of a button, meaning planners can efficiently transform spaces within minutes, 15 to be exact. The floor of the auditorium opens up and mechanical arms lift rows of chairs (3,000 in all) that are housed under the floor, leaving a flat surface. Watch this video to see it in action!
Robotics, meetings from a computer screen and tech tools for better ROI? The future of meetings and events sounds incredible.
Happy planning!
Selena Fragassi
Editor, Illinois Meetings + Events magazine
