What's Floating Around Cloud 9? 23 February 2015

Welcome to another week at Cloud 9! 

After last week's blog on industry exhibitions and a guide to making the most of exhibiting, we thought this week we'd talk about the technology side of things for the industry.

There is a melange of smart gadgets and wearable technology, but how will it be applied in the MICE industry?

Augmented Reality Sourcing 
The focus of augmented reality headsets like Oculus Rift is on gaming, but in the near future, hotels will allow planners to view meeting facilities virtually, from the comfort of their desk or home. 

Interactive Venue Set Up
Leap Motion allows you to control a computer in 3D with your hand movements. This technology will be used side by side with AR head-sets and allow planners to create their meetings set-up virtually and in an interactive way. The Leap Motion Controller is the beginning, but there's a lot more stuff on the way. They're already working to extend 3D interaction into many other digital devices, and embed our technology in products from the ground up. 


The End of Translation Booths
Microsoft's Skype Translator translates your voice and video calls in real-time. There is

room for improvement on this beta version, especially with contextualisation of conversations. Nevertheless, this technology could replace translation booths. Delegates will be able to follow any presentation in any language by smartphone. Skype brings people together to make progress on what matters to them. Skype Translator will open up endless possibilities for people around the world to connect, communicate and collaborate; people will no longer be hindered by geography and language.

Contingency Planning for Rain
A new kickstarter campaign presented the 'air umbrella' an invisible umbrella which takes advantage of airflow and creates shelter from the rain. Useful for big outdoor events or even when your running from one meeting to another! Air is everywhere on the earth. The flowing air can change the moving path of the object. The faster the air moves, the greater the energy is. The jet airflow can isolate some objects. So when we make use of the airflow, we can protect ourselves from the rain drops. Then the airflow forms an umbrella without a visible cover - brilliant!




Blabroids
Social robotics will also find its place in the meeting industry. Post-event questionnaires might be replaced by robots collecting feedback - Blabdroids. Some are more likely to engage emotionally with artificial intelligence than other people as robots can be seen as non-judgemental. 

Another very interesting technological creation that has currently taken a hit overseas, is the Instagram printer by Social Playground. This device allows you to: 

Spread Content Organically: Inspire attendees to share user generated content from anywhere in your event and build online conversations about your brand.

Drive your Hashtag Further: Incentivise consumers to tag their photos with your brand or event hashtag, driving viral reach. 

Engage via Offers and Competitions: Integrate hashtag competitions or brand your printed photos with exclusive offers to engage consumers further. 

Post Event Content and Insights: Social Playground will provide you with a digital copy of all of your photos and a detailed insights report so you can see exactly how much engagement was generated from this device. 

We don't know about you, but that's enough for us to take in for one week! 

Have a good one folks! 

What's Floating Around Cloud 9? 16 February 2015

Welcome to another week and its certainly true that exhibition season is upon us in the Events Industry.

Paula was off at Coventa a few weeks ago, Giles has just returned from Convene and Rubina has only just recovered from Love Business East Midlands where she was in major network mode.

As this week sees Confex, the Event Production Show, Office and BNC all take place in London, we thought we’d bring you a little guide to making the most of exhibiting. 

Not Reading the Exhibitor Manual is one of the biggest mistakes you can make. Ensure you read and digest every piece of information the exhibition organiser sends to you and don’t just presume that everything will be provided – check the specifics. Electricity? Chairs? Furniture?

Also make sure you return all the paperwork by the deadline, last minute panics help no one!

Also be pretty clear about just what you are trying to achieve by exhibiting. You won’t know if you’ve been successful until you can quantify just how well you did. New Business? Number of Leads? Set a target!

If you manning a stand then this is not the time to be shy. You need shiny happy people that are happy talking to strangers and comfortable drawing people to your stand in a cheerful, friendly manner. Whoever you have, remember that they are representing your brand so make sure they have good people skills as well as good knowledge of what you are all about as an organisation.

There is little point in having a raft of beautiful people if they know nothing about your products or what you are trying to achieve so make sure everyone is up to speed in advance.

If you have invested in the show, then it’s also time to think carefully about your stand design and graphics to ensure it effectively communicates what you do. Pictures really do tell ‘a thousand words so make them big, bold and brand related.

On a busy exhibition floor it is vital that you make a good first impression and research shows you have about 7 seconds to engage with someone – remember the old adage, you never get a second chance to make a good first impression!

So stand out, look inviting and interesting and who knows where it might lead!

But just why should people visit your stand? If you have a huge budget it’s easy to make your stand really inviting and ensure an audience, but even if you are on a budget, there are lots of simple ideas which can really make a difference.  Have a candy buffet, offer refreshments or cupcakes or run a fun competition.

Please do remember, that no matter how long the day has been, exhibition staff should smile and make eye contact at all times.  If you are chatting away or playing games on your mobile phone, sitting down with your arms crossed, yawning, stuffing your face or looking grumpy, then you could be missing that all important new client…

It can be difficult to gauge how many staff you need at an exhibition, but do remember that people will only wait a limited amount of time to speak to someone before they move on and in all likelihood won’t come back. On the other side of this is having too much staff, who are all clamouring your attention. Try and get the balance right and do remember that exhibiting can be exhausting so make sure all of your team get regular breaks to eat, drink, check their phones, and even pop to the loo!

As with all Sales environments, as well as asking questions, make sure you listen. Only by listening can we understand just what our customers have to say and how we can help them.

We’ve all seen the obsessive bag carriers at shows, those who have little or no interest in your product, but want a free carrier bag or pen. So get the balance right, have information for potential customers to take away, but don’t overload them. And limit the nice give always to those who matter the most!

Additionally, do make sure you are happy to answer questions about price if asked. Even a bespoke service needs to be clear about what it is, and what it costs. Get to the point, and make sure you are understood and just what the benefits are.

Not everyone can afford a scanner, which is perhaps one the best ways to capture data, but most visitors will be loath to fill out a form or complete a questionnaire, so data capture needs to be short and sweet and if you can a fun experience.

A business card draw is a good way of getting lots of new contacts easily, and for the sake a bottle of bubbles, well worth the investment!

It’s always great to connect with industry colleagues and suppliers, but don’t waste valuable time when you could be targeting visitors. Save the chat for later at the bar and reserve your energy for the potential new customers. And what ever you do, never bad mouth a competitor or supplier, gossip spreads and it will do you more harm than good.

Tweet and be tantalising with your tweets, entice them to your stand. Just because you continually tell people to come and visit you using the exhibition hash tag that doesn’t mean it will happen! Give your social media messages some thought, and give them a great reason to maximise engagement.

Packing up Early is one of the deadly sins of exhibiting and normally you are specifically instructed about set down times, but if you have made the investment to be there then surely, you should get every last minute out of exhibiting that you can. You never know when that last great customer will appear!

And lastly, if you don’t follow up your leads after the show, then what a complete waste of time it was.  Follow up, and send a personal mail, not a mass one. Show that you have understood the customer, and even if you have to look them up, get a sense of who they are, and how you can work together. And then call them. Be Persistent.

We know everyone is overwhelmed with communication these days, so stand out and follow up.  It just might pay off!

Have a great week!

What's Floating Around Cloud 9? 24 November 2014

Welcome to yet another week at Cloud 9.

As always, it's a busy week ahead. but we thought we'd give you an insight of what exactly Rubina and Shannon got up to in EIBTM last week. For those of you who are true Cloud 9 supporters will already know all about EIBTM, but for those who aren't (!)... 


EIBTM is the leading global event for the meetings and events industry, taking place in the award winning business and tourism destination of Barcelona. The event gathers over 15,000 industry professionals for three days of focused access to a dynamic business environment, thought provoking professional education and business networks. 

EIBTM not only provides networking opportunities during its exhibition hours; After exhibition hours, networking and business go on as meeting professionals connect in different ambiences. 


As hosted buyers, Rubina and Shannon were lucky enough to be spoilt by Accor and Moulden Marketing. After a long, tiring, insightful day Tuesday, Rubina attended the Pullman Skipper party at ’The ‘Le Club’. On arrival they were welcomed with a drinks reception, but once you headed in to the club, you was instantly thrown back in to the 50’s. With everything from a vintage Cadillac to a swing band – Accor got it spot on once again. Even the ladies were treated to a mini hair treatment with some local senoritas giving the girls classic up do’s that fitted with the theme of the party.

We can’t wait to see what the 2015 Accor party has in store!

However on Wednesday after the exhibition, Shannon attended Moulden Marketing's exclusive evening event at Barca del Salamanca where Catalan Tapas, local wines and meat/fish platters were served. 

The evening was attended by around 40 buyers/guests and a number of Moulden Marketing's partner co-hosts which included the likes of ConferenceWise Group, Dublin Convention Bureau, Korea MICE, Accor, Martins Hotels, Camden Court Hotel and many more. Needless to say, we were extremely well looked after and Shannon has now decided to go on an eating strike for the next couple of weeks! 

Additionally, Shannon joined Moulden Marketing on their familiarisation trip to explore the beautiful city of Madrid and what they have to offer for the industry. 

The trip included an overnight stay in the Hotel Auditorium and AC Palacio de Retiro, dining at the La Posada de la Villa, Hotel Santo Mauro and El Corral de la Moreria and activities such as an iPad Challenge around the city, watching the Flamenco Show and site visits of a number of great venues.

To conclude, we'd like to give a massive thank you to both Accor and Moulden Marketing for giving us the opportunity. Also in a result of attending the EIBTM we would highly recommend anyone within the meetings and incentives industry to attend next year, but don't be confused as they have now changed the name to IBTM World.

That's all for this week folks, enjoy!