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Corbin's July 2001 TechTalk Newsletter I am writing much of this
newsletter on my return flight from a speaking engagement in Costa Rica for SITE
- The Society of Incentive Travel Executives. Not only was the program fun,
informative and well organized, the destination was delightful. Costa Rica is a
friendly and safe country with beautiful rain forests and beaches and with a
good infrastructure. This issue is packed with news,
articles, and favorites. Hope you enjoy it! Corbin IN THIS ISSUE:
SPONSORS Thanks to the following
newsletter sponsors: Conferon
(http://www.conferon.com):
Now offering clients a comprehensive web-based meeting consolidation tool called
Conferon Meeting Management Solutions (MMS) powered by PlanSoft. b-there (http://www.b-there.com):
Discover the benefits of integrated online registration, housing, travel,
& e-marketing solutions. NEW ARTICLE: The Future in the Palm of Your Hand Just about the time you get
used to your trusty notebook PC, a whole new range of smaller devices are making
their way into the meeting planning arena. They come in a wide range of types and shapes (Palms,
PocketPCs, Blackberry pagers, internet-enabled cell phones and several others),
but the common theme is they bring a vast increase in portability to many of
your meeting and hospitality data tasks. This article covers the range
of ultra-portable computing and communication tools (personal digital assistants
or PDAs for short) specifically focusing the meetings and hospitality industry. www.corbinball.com/articles/art-pdas.htm NEW ARTICLE: Electronic Contracts and Digital Signatures By John S. Foster, CHME, Esq. Another excellent article
printed with the permission from the author, one of the best legal minds for the
meeting industry: Although most transactions
between meeting planners and suppliers today are created by the exchange of
paper, this traditional way of doing business is rapidly changing.
With on-line Requests for Proposals (RFPs) already a reality as well as
the ability of meeting planners to check hotel availability via the Internet,
can totally electronic or “cyber” contracts be far behind? By contracting on-line,
businesses can improve efficiencies, reduce paperwork, and streamline their
operations. At the same time,
however, new technologies create challenges for the legal system, which must try
to apply existing law in a new context. www.corbinball.com/articles/art-digitalcontracts.htm TECHTALK NEWS APEX moves forwardThe first meeting of the APEX
Technology Advisory Board will be meeting in Chicago at the end of the July. The
meeting, comprised of the CEOs and senior executives of meeting technology
providers, CVBs, hotels, and meeting planning organizations is expected to set
up a technology framework to assist in the creation of voluntary open standards
for the meeting industry in areas including housing, RFPs, meeting/events
history, and more. ****** Meeting Software Information OnlineMeeting Technology Solutions, a
live database of more than 300 technology solutions, has recently debuted on the
PCMA site. The database will enable site visitors to search and retrieve product
profiles that provide contact information and product descriptions. This service is free to PCMA
members and for $4.75 a search for non-members. Click this link: www.pcma.org/mtech/meettech.htm
For a trial, click on the third
heading, "FLASHpoint" Technologies Solutions Database Search and enter
your ID# and Password for demonstration. Temporary ID#: Demo Password: Demo NEW FAVORITES The quarterly update of my
online favorites file has just been uploaded. There are now more than 2,100
links – the most extensive listing on meetings technology on the Web (all
recently checked and catalogued for your use). Some of the ones to check out
are: EventsDigital Among the new finds are
EventsDigital an informative site dealing with Take special note of the
Networking section under Solutions and the Planning Guide for Digital Events. ***** MeetingMatrix This recently updated site has
a number of new innovations. Check out the ActiveMatrix Demo where one can
diagram meeting space online line. Also, their 3D-VR looks into the options for
three dimensional room diagramming. **** IPIX
Immersive Video Check out this very cool video
streaming tour of the Atlantis hotel. It will allow you to look any direction
and zoom in and out on objects as you float through the hotel grounds, down the
water slide, into the gigantic aquarium and more. This requires a couple of
plug-ins available at the site, but the ride is worth it and a great example of
how hotels and other meeting facilities can use the web can increasingly provide
rich information to potential buyers. www.ipix.com/choose_ipix/ipix_movies/index.html ***** World Electric Power Guide With speaking engagements in 12
countries this year, I have found this site very helpful with a database of all
of the AC plugs for most every country in the world
– with pictures. http://kropla.com/electric.htm NEW ARTICLE:
Tech Trends for Convention Professionals,
by Jeff Rasco, CMP A very thought provoking look
into the technology future of meetings is reprinted with the permission of the
author, Jeff Rasco, CMP, one of the meeting industry’s leading technology
thinkers. This article could just as
easily be titled “Jump On the Bus If You Don’t Want It To Run You Over!”
Technology has us surrounded, and it’s closing in fast.
This is great news if you’re ready for it, and deadly if you aren’t.
Having an idea of what is coming down the tech pipeline will certainly
make you more professional in what you do, but hopefully you can have some fun
with it, too. NEW ARTICLE: Cyber Café Hints, by Jeff Rasco,
CMP This article, also by Jeff,
gives many helpful ideas on setting up and providing Cyber Cafés at your
conference or exposition. www.corbinball.com/articles/art-cybercafe-rasco.htm
UPDATED ARTICLE:
The
Meeting Planners Technology Checklist In addition to the Cyber Café
checklist listed above, I have recently updated my site inspection tech
checklist as well. www.corbinball.com/articles/art-techcheck.html CURRENT SPEAKING CALENDAR: www.corbinball.com/presentations.calendar.htm My
speaking and consulting travel schedule for July and August will bring me to:
Melbourne, Dallas, New York, Las Vegas, New York (again), Chicago, Denver,
Jacksonville, Nashville, New Orleans, and Montreal. CORBIN'S PROGRAMS:
www.corbinball.com/presentations.htm CORBIN'S CONSULTING AND WRITING SERVICES:
www.corbinball.com/services.htm SPONSORSHIP:
Are you interested in helping to sponsor Corbin's Tech Talk
Newsletter with more than 3,900 targeted subscribers interested in meetings technology? E-mail me at: corbin@corbinball.com SUBSCRIBE:
If you are receiving this issue as a forward and would like to get your own FREE subscription, please send a message
to: corbin@corbinball.com. Simply include "subscribe" in
the subject line. Or signup online in at www.corbinball.com/contact.htm.
© Copyright 2001 Corbin Ball Associates. Sign up for Corbin's fee TechTalk
Newsletter distributed via email every 2 months in the
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