May 2005
5 essential event technologies (and what you need to know about them)

From digital programs to wireless Internet access, technology has become a catalyst for adding value to show attendance and content.


By Julie Ritzer Ross

Webcasting and video streaming. Wireless Internet. LAN, VLAN, WAN and VPN connections. In the not-too-distant past, these technologies and others like them were not in high demand for use at convention centers. However, the times, to quote a line from singer Bob Dylan, “they are a changin’.”

“For show managers and convention centers alike, such technologies are becoming must-haves, to impress attendees and add value to the overall conference experience,” says Ben Tally, Chief Technology Officer and Co-founder of Priority Networks Inc., a Las Vegas, NV-based provider of network services to event facilities and event producers throughout the United States and Canada.

1. Digital conference program
What it is: Instead of (or as an adjunct to) providing exhibitor lists, session schedules and related show information in a traditional book format, many show organizers are offering digital conference programs attendees can download onto handheld devices. Programs are usually downloaded from show organizers’ Web sites in advance of the event. Attendees then download program updates from infrared touch-screen kiosks in the convention center.

Benefits: Attendees like the convenience of accessing the information they need by pressing a few keys on a handheld device rather than sifting through pages and pages of a printed document, says John Adams, General Manager of the Colorado Convention Center in Denver.

How shows are using it: Attendees at The Offshore Technology Conference (OTC),  held May 3-6,  2004, at Reliant Center in Houston, had the option of downloading the “OTC Digital Guide” from the OTC Web site to Palm OS and Pocket PC handheld devices, and to update it at infrared, touch-screen kiosks installed in the registration area. The guide was powered by technology from NearSpace Inc., a Petaluma, CA-based company that provides tools and services for developing and delivering applications to the Web, PDAs and print media. 

Contents of the OTC Digital Guide included daily schedules, session descriptions and locations, show floor plans, exhibitor information, venue and local area maps, and much more, says Sally Goldesberry, OTC’s Director of Meetings and Exhibitions.

Attendees also used the guide to build personal itineraries or prioritize lists of exhibits they wished to visit, as well as to create customized maps of the exhibit floor and to generate “electronic trip reports,” complete with lists of follow-up actions and contact information. Goldesberry says response to the guide was excellent — more than 10,000 of the event’s 50,000 attendees availed themselves of it and, based on post-show feedback, a very significant increase in usage is expected at OTC .05, slated for May 2-5.

TIP: Bells and whistles, such as the personal itinerary and exhibit visit list-building capabilities featured as part of the OTC Digital Guide are a must in order to elicit sufficient user interest, says Creighton Hoke, Co-Founder and Chairman of NearSpace. Goldesberry agrees, noting that attendee satisfaction is the return on investment here; the more features in the guide, the greater that satisfaction.

2. LAN, VLAN, WAN and VPN connections
What they are: Local area networks (LANs), virtual local area networks (VLANs), wide area networks (WANs), and virtual private networks (VPNs) are rendered possible by fiber-optic infrastructures installed in convention centers, says Ellen Barry, Chief Information Officer of McCormick Place, Chicago. In convention center environments, LANs are usually employed to transmit voice and data between various areas of the building; WANs, to transmit voice and data to remote locations. VPNs create dedicated, private, fully encrypted Internet-based connections inside convention facilities or between these facilities and other entities. VLANs permit multiple classes of network service to be delivered, and to send voice and data locally over an Internet-based network. 

Benefits: LAN, VLAN, WAN and VPN connections enhance show content by allowing for easy information sharing among attendees. For instance, voice and data for a presentation being given in one meeting room or at one exhibit booth could be simultaneously viewed in another meeting room or at another trade show booth. It also affords attendees access to information from other resources and permits exhibitors to run their own applications in real time.

How shows are using them: Hands-on radiological imaging demonstration booths have become a key feature of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) Annual Meeting held at McCormick Place. Demonstrations occur via WAN connections to hospitals and laboratories, such as the Image Processing and Informatics Laboratory of Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles, CA.

LCD workstations with Internet2 connections allow attendees to view such procedures as the querying, retrieval and display of digital medical images (such as MRIs). They can also see technology designed for interactive teaching of biomedical curriculum via the Web and learn the application of back-up medical imaging archiving procedures. Internet2 is a next-generation version of the Internet utilized in the medical field. Its low latency and high bandwidth allow for instantaneous transfer of multiple large image files comprising hundreds of megabytes apiece.

TIP: Ensure that the convention center’s fiber-optic structure allows for network redundancy. With redundancy, there are two carriers, and hence no interference with communications should one carrier go down, says Michael Hall, Network Manager at the Austin Convention Center.

3. Wireless and high-speed Internet connections
What it is: Wireless Internet access is made available through hot spots— access points that are connected to wireless local area networks (WLANs) linked to the Internet. Most WLANs use the IEEE 802.11b, known as WiFi (wireless fidelity), protocol to transmit data at speeds of up to 11 megabits per second. Individuals with laptops or network interface card-equipped PDAs can obtain high-speed Internet access within about 1,000 feet of a hot spot.

Some facilities, such as the Albuquerque Convention Center, offer attendees free use of hot spots. Others charge a fee for this service. At the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia, show organizers can pay a flat fee to provide hot spot access to all attendees. Alternatively, individuals with their own wireless-enabled devices and PC cards can obtain the service for $40. The Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, FL, charges individuals $7.95 per day for wireless Internet service.

Meanwhile, high-speed Internet access, whether wired or wireless, is afforded by fiber-optic network connections, with 1-gigabit connections becoming the norm, say sources. Many facilities now tout high-speed Internet access on the exhibit floor and in meeting rooms. The Metro Toronto Convention Centre has taken this to a new level. Separate zones throughout the building, such as meeting rooms, exhibit halls and theaters, can be defined and different welcome screens and messages can be displayed on attendees’ wireless devices, depending on their location in the building. For example, if a user is attending a hospitality convention and launches his Internet browser while in the exhibit hall, he may be welcomed with a screen relating to hospitality, while at the same time a doctor attending a medical conference in a meeting room can be greeted with another screen relating to that event.

Benefits: Wireless Internet hot spots enable attendees to access their e-mail and the Internet while on the road; the more they can take advantage of this value-added service, the greater their potential to attend an entire event rather than leave early to return to work, says Tom Morton, General Manager of the Albuquerque Convention Center.

High-speed Internet connections on the show floor and in meeting rooms add value to presentations by allowing exhibitors and presenters to access online support materials at lightning speed, “way before (audiences) lose interest,” adds Morton.

How shows are using it: Wireless Internet connections throughout the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta were an integral component of WIRELESS 2004, the annual meeting of the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association (CTIA). A total of 230 Internet drops from the center’s network were provided during the event, which ran March 21-24. Forty individual wireless networks were established. To ensure perfect connectivity, 1.5 miles of fiber optics were run, and cabling and fiber for 10 rooftop antennas for GPS and satellite reception were integrated. During the event, as many as 2,200 devices simultaneously accessed the Internet through the wireless network, says Rob Mesirow, Vice President, CTIA Operations.

TIP: To save money on hot spots, consider soliciting exhibitor sponsorships, suggests Tally.

4. Sophisticated broadcasting capabilities
What it is: Made possible by upgrades to or installation of fiber-optic cabling, sophisticated broadcasting capabilities in highest demand include Webcasting and streaming video. Webcasting is the transmission of live or prerecorded audio or video to PCs that are connected to the Internet. Streaming video is usually sent from prerecorded video files, but can be distributed as part of a live broadcast feed.

Benefits: Like the above-mentioned technologies, Webcasting and streaming video enrich show content by allowing attendees to view coverage of events they’ve missed or would like to see again, as well as to incorporate presentations by experts not present at the event. It also bolsters overall show value: Attendees who cannot attend a show at all or cannot be in a specific area of a facility when a presentation is being given can view a broadcast of that presentation.

How shows are using it: The 2005 Macworld Conference & Expo, produced by Framingham, MA-based IDG World Expo January 10-14 at the SMG-managed Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco, featured a Webcast of Apple Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs as he delivered the keynote address.

The National Cheerleaders Association used video streaming from one area of the Dallas Convention Center to another during its All-Star Competition, held February 5-7. “We wanted to give people who were moving between the main arena where the competition was taking place and other halls a chance to look at plasma video screens in the hallway and see what was going on,” says Rudy Sandoval, the association’s Director of Multi-Media Operations.

TIP: Remember that Webcasting and streaming video aren’t just for presentations; promote the fact that exhibitors can use the technology on the trade show floor for product demonstrations and the like, says Hall.

5. Improved telephone service
What it is: Upgraded wireless telephone service, provided by wireless signal distribution networks that support service from multiple wireless service providers rather than only one, is a hot ticket, says Tally. Such networks collect carriers’ signals, using dedicated fiber-optic cabling to low-power radio signals throughout a building. And although voice-over-IP (VoIP) has yet to become a mainstream technology, convention center managers cite increased interest among groups. VoIP allows telephone calls to be placed and forwarded through the Internet.

Benefits: Service from multiple wireless providers increases cell coverage throughout a facility to about 95 percent from “perhaps half that,” according to Morton. VoIP affords free local and long-distance telephone service to users with free or fixed-price Internet access. For exhibitors, it eliminates the expense of installing analog phone lines at their booths.

How shows are using it: WIRELESS 2004 was the first group to use the Georgia World Congress Center’s distributed antenna system for cellular carriers. The system includes 252 antennas, 70 miles of fiber optics and 34 high-speed T-1 lines. It can provide wireless signals for up to six carriers. During WIRELESS 2004, an estimated 700,000 calls were made by Cingular, Sprint and AT&T customers.

TIP: Make sure the network supports five or six carriers; support for two or three carriers is not enough to keep the cell coverage rate sufficiently high, sources conclude.