Engaging The New Meeting Goer.

Guess What? It's time to techno-fit your meeting. People in their mid-20s through mid-30s comprise 16 percent of the U.S. population, and in many organizations they make up a third of the workforce. And if those folks are attending your meetings, take heed: They're tending to expect to find plenty of high-tech enhancements to help ease their way through your events. What's more, a growing number of people 35 and older use technology in daily life and expect the same high-tech conveniences.

The result: an increasing need to use more efficient, advanced technology, combined with greater personalized service, during and after meetings. Too often, associations are slower than their corporate counterparts to embrace technology, and it's time to rethink, retool, and pick up the pace--or be left in the cyberdust.

Generation Xers grew up with computers, beepers, cell phones, and the Internet, and they expect instant communication at association meetings. Find out how technology can help you captivate your younger audience.

For example, is your association still recording sessions and making audio-cassettes available for purchase? Guess what--many members of the younger generation do not own a cassette player. In the near future, savvy associations will be able to hand out CDs of a session as attendees leave the room.

Younger meeting goers expect technology to be available everywhere. Here's some advice for associations eager to meet these demands.

Going high tech

Many associations have voice mail systems and Internet access. Why not bring these tools to your next meeting? On-site voice messaging centers can offer personalized voice mail boxes. Messaging centers can include stations for e-mail access and personal Internet searches.

In addition to voice and text messaging, communication centers with networked computer terminals and telephone banks can offer exhibit-booth and product-locator abilities, as well as the means for attendees to find friends and colleagues at conference hotels.

More associations will use technology in the future to extend the impact of meetings and share educational content with a global audience. Some are now providing online sessions with live or taped Web streaming (telecast via the Internet), or posting session recaps on their association Web site. The Professional Convention Management Association, Birmingham, Alabama, made several sessions from its 1999 annual meeting available on its Web site and extended the educational content to others by making the sessions available on the site months later. In this way, members who were unable to attend the meeting still reaped some of the benefits.

Another way to extend the reach of meetings to non-attendees is with videoconferencing. Many convention centers and some larger hotels offer facilities and technological support for videoconferencing. And savvy associations are making fiber-optic networks, which carry more data and allow for faster Internet connections, part of their requirements when choosing meeting sites.

Presentations with punch

Today's presenters know that slides and black-and-white overheads can put an audience to sleep. Even the well-known PowerPoint presentation is becoming old hat. More and more speakers are using computer-driven presentations such as animated video and colorful graphics. Presenters of the future will transmit materials to a central computer at the meeting site, which will transmit their presentations to the appropriate meeting room at the right time.

A talking head at a podium will send today's attendees running for the exit doors. Audiences want to "tell" presenters what they want to know and have sessions customized accordingly.

Audience keypads, real-time surveys, and other polling devices are making this type of interactive presentation a reality. The future holds even more promise in making meetings the most exciting learning experiences imaginable.

Microsoft founder Bill Gates holds large meetings via the Internet, taking questions from his audience around the world. This technology is on the horizon for association meetings--and it can actually save money. Instead of covering travel, lodging, and meals for a plenary speaker, you can offer "live" interactive sessions to multiple audiences with the presenter thousands of miles away.

Rather than asking your convention center about slide projectors, start asking if they have cable outlets and phone jacks in meeting rooms and if they are fully networked throughout the facility. The Radiological Society of North America, Oak Brook, Illinois, for example, holds its annual meeting at Chicago's McCormick Place each year and paid part of the cost to install a fiber-optic network because of the association's high-tech needs.

On-site logistics made simple

In the future, attendees may be able to register themselves on site by swiping their driver's licenses and credit cards at a terminal. Entering a session will be even easier when electronic badge readers replace paper tickets.

Conference Management Systems (CMS), a national company that provides resources for the convention and trade show industry, has used technology to alleviate frustration for attendees. For example, delegates at an Avon cosmetics meeting complained of waiting in line only to find that the session they wanted was sold out. Now, CMS places monitors around the signup area to inform attendees of available and sold-out classes.

At the same meeting, CMS set up a system of terminals at strategic on-site locations where attendees could browse merchandise and place orders through the on-site meeting store. Their orders were filled and held at a "will-call" desk for pick up.

Enhancing your exhibits

For years, show organizers have spent endless hours on the exhibit floor observing traffic patterns and other visitor trends in an effort to design floor plans that keep everyone happy and productive.

Organizers of the future will monitor each person's exhibit-hall movement to learn how much time each visitor spends in a particular aisle and what patterns he or she walks while in the hall. Attendee badges will be coded so reader devices can be positioned at the end of each aisle to record attendee information.

Some exhibitors already use touch-screen technology. At this year's Chicago Auto Show, attendees could obtain a model's engine specifications or other vehicle data by touching display screens posted at the exhibit. In the future, this technology will serve the needs of booth visitors while gathering survey-type information from them, allowing booth staff to spend more time meeting and greeting people.

Although technology offers many opportunities to enhance the quality of meetings, a potential downside does exist: the loss of human contact with members and attendees.

John Naisbitt, author of Megatrends, coined the term high touch 20 years ago. In his book he referred to companies that used technology to improve the quality of customer service.

Today, high touch can be defined as a combination of human interaction and user-friendly technology. Associations need to ensure that high touch remains an integral part of association meetings. Have technicians readily available to assist attendees with their questions as they are using high-tech equipment. Using technology for check-in and registration processes allows staff members to devote more attention to individual attendee needs and to offer the human contact that will make them feel welcome.

High touch meets high tech

Technology can help create high-touch experiences through more personalized service, easier access to information, and 24-hour electronic contact with staff.

Association executives can make their Web sites more useful and user-friendly by providing routine conference information that can be accessed easily before a meeting. As users surf your site, they can e-mail their questions in advance to your staff or to presenters.

Your Web site can even help attendees create personal planners for their meeting experience, such as self-directed tours of your exhibit hall that will ensure they visit their most desired exhibitors. Other ways to deliver high-touch technology include offering onsite cell phone and pager rentals.

Exhibits need high-touch elements too. Offering the most current lead-retrieval systems to your exhibitors is an excellent way to create a better sales situation for both exhibitors and attendees. Typically, these systems consist of a plastic card (similar to a credit card) or a device that reads the attendee's badge. The best technology involves a hand-held laser scanner for reading attendee badges with 2-D bar codes, storing demographic data via computer disk, and offering optional printouts.

A word of caution: The American Privacy Act requires that meeting attendees be notified in advance about how demographic or other personal information will be used. This information should be placed on every registration form.

Some associations are creating virtual trade shows to supplement real-world expos or building attendee interest with an on- or off-site preview. These shows allow potential attendees to browse a cyber exhibit hall and preview companies and products that interest them. This approach can help sell the real exhibition and provide better service.

Producing memorable meetings

Despite predictions that technology will replace the need for person-to-person interaction, meetings remain the best way for individuals to exchange ideas, view products, and learn new concepts.

Why not enhance that experience? Get away from podium presentations and use technology to foster discussion among audience members. Offer interactive forums or technology centers where attendees and suppliers can gain hands on experience with programs and data. Using technology to provide a greater number of high touch interactions among your organization, the staff, and the all important attendee will keep your meetings thriving for years to come.

Christy Kessler is director of operations for Conference Management Systems.

SEtTiNg REaSONaBle HiGh-tEcH expEctATioNs

Although technology can be useful for association staff and meeting attendees, you still need to proceed cautiously when considering high-tech elements to add to your meeting. To avoid abusing technology, follow these guidelines:

* DON'T LET TECHNOLOGY SUBSTITUTE FOR COMMON COURTESY. If an attendee asks a question of a staff member, give him or her a direct answer, rather than telling that person to find the answer on a computer. Or, assist the individual in finding the answer using technology.

* DON'T USE TECHNOLOGY WHEN A REAL PERSON CAN DO SOMETHING MORE EFFECTIVELY. Rather than insisting that attendees find their way around a facility using computer-based kiosks, have staff available at key locations to assist people with directions and direct them from one session to the next. You don't want to add to a person's frustration if he or she is in a hurry or lost.

* DON'T HIDE BEHIND TECHNOLOGY. If you use computers during the check-in process, place the terminal screen low on the counter to allow for more direct eye contact between the staff member and the attendee. Human interaction will make attendees feel welcome.

* DON'T OVERUSE TECHNOLOGY. Even though many communication centers provide the means for meeting organizers to use broadcast e-mail or voice mail, use this sparingly and only if necessary. It's easy to overwhelm attendees with too many messages and announcements.

Once you set some boundaries for using technology at your meeting, you may want to explore the idea of integrating the following high-tech tools:

* COMMUNICATION CENTERS. Using a combination of networked computers and a phone bank, you can offer attendees the opportunity to stay in touch with their offices, families, and fellow attendees while at your meeting. These centers offer great sponsorship opportunities and will often pay for themselves.

* LEAD-RETRIEVAL SYSTEMS. Exhibitors and attendees appreciate this quick and easy way for exhibitors to collect demographic information on those who visit their booths. Using a hand-held laser scanner, exhibitors can read attendees' bar coded badges and add custom comments into a database.

* ONLINE REGISTRATION AND LODGING. Using the association's Web site, today's attendees can enjoy the ease and convenience of registering online and receiving instant confirmation of lodging arrangements. This service is being used more frequently by tech-savvy attendees.