Back in April I had the opportunity to attend the Ad:Tech Interactive Marketing conference in San Francisco. Here are 5 tools that I was able to make use of to successfully navigate the event. Maybe a few of them will come in handy for you at your next conference:
1. Evernote: There are plenty of ways to take notes, but for me there's really only one. If you have an iPad, a smartphone, a laptop, or a computing device of any kind, I would highly recommend Evernote. You can enter your notes easily and quickly, you can add pictures (or if you have an iPad or other mobile device you can take a picture directly in Evernote), and you can also record audio simply by hitting a button. After you're done recording, the file attaches itself to your note so you can easily access it. Notes can be organized by date and keyword tags can be easily added for easy retrieval via search. Evernote is free, but for $5 a month you can synchronize notes from your mobile device to the cloud - which then allows you to access them anywhere. Once you're done, simply file the note and it will be ready for you to retrieve and send to your boss or colleagues when you return from the event.
2. Twitter: Most big events (and a lot of smaller ones too) have started using Twitter #hashtags to help people follow what's happening in and around the event. For instance, at the event I was at, I was simply able to keep a running search in my Twitter app for #Adtech and it kept me up-to-date on official conference messages as well as info from other attendees. If you are attending this year's GBTA convention in Denver in August, be sure to look for the Twitter hashtag to help you find your way. Travel and Transport will be using it in our event Tweets! (@tandtnews).
3. The Official Event App: Going to an event? Check out your mobile device's app store to see if the event has an official mobile app. Usually these apps will contain schedules, maps and other important information about the event. Sometimes they will also integrate their official Twitter #hashtag into the app so you can follow updates directly from the apps.
4. Location-based Apps: If you are a user of location-based services like Foursquare or Gowalla in your daily life, you are probably like me and sometimes wonder why you bother. Well, conferences are a big reason why you should bother. You can use these apps to easily connect and locate friends and colleagues in the area, or you can simply use them to figure out where the best places to go are (either during the event or popular night spots) based on the number of check-ins.
5. QR Code Readers: You've probably seen those little square codes printed on magazines and ads and web sites. Have you tried to scan one? Both event organizers and exhibitors are using these codes more and more to deliver contact information, marketing information, enter contests and more. With a simple QR Code reader on your smartphone, you can scan the code and pull up the information on your phone. Popular QR Code readers include i-nigma (iPhone), QuickMark (Android), QR Code Scanner Pro (Blackberry) and NeoReader (Windows Phone 7).
Be sure to use these tools at the next conference you are attending. Did I leave any out? Let us know in the comments. If you are going to be at GBTA in August, be sure to watch our blog and Twitter feed (@tandtnews) for updates.
~ Travel & Transport's Mark Dauner
These insights are excerpted with permission from Travel & Transport's Inside T&T blog.