I recently returned from IMEX, which is America’s worldwide exhibition for incentive travel, meetings and events. The conference took place in Las Vegas last month (October 2014). One of the most interesting parts of the event was a competition where 10 startups were invited to showcase their technology on the trade show floor. The winner of the competition is then invited back to next year’s conference, and provided with free booth space to boot.
This year’s winner was Speecheo, which will provide a way for the audience to “use their devices to see the speaker’s slides, record audio, take notes, and create bookmarks.” At the end of a workshop, those who take advantage of Speecheo will have a digital keepsake of the presentation. Not only does this allow the audience to capture that which they wish to save, but it also provides feedback for the presenter and organizer, helping them to better understand their audience by seeing the information they valued most.
The “People’s Choice” winner was Crowd Mics, a downloadable microphone. Meeting participants can download the app and signal when they have a question or wish to comment. Once given the go ahead, the commenter is then able to use the meeting room sound system. Other features include the ability for audience members to text their comments, as well as an on-the-spot polling option. For an alternative polling option, you can check out sli.do, another startup that was featured at the event.
Other notable startups in attendance were Attendify and Eversnap. Attendify allows for attendees to share their event-specific thoughts (sort of a like a conference exclusive Twitter platform), while Eversnap allows for the sharing of event-specific pictures. Gruupmeet really caught my eye as it means to simplify execution by providing the meeting professional with a way to “keep on top of participants’ flight details, schedules, service experience, communications, tasks, etc.”
Though these startups may not be out of beta testing quite yet, you can sign up to their email list so you’re the first to know when their technology is ready to go!
