Top Picks for GBTA 2012

GBTA 2012 is just around the corner. Stop by Booth #2331 and say hello to the Active Network | StarCite team. Be sure to ask them to show you the all new ‘Meeting Locator’, a nifty new tool that calculates the optimum location for your next meeting or event in terms of cost and carbon footprint.

Here’s our top picks for this year’s show.  

If you haven’t enjoyed a session on Strategic Meetings Management with Kevin Iwamoto, do not hesitate any longer. Kevin is ‘The’ meetings procurement maestro and delivers his sessions with a witty punch of humor and panache that it sure to have you chuckling out loud and thinking of clever ways to pinch the pennies and manage your meetings spend within the first 5 minutes.

Get to room 157 C on Monday July 23rd at 11.45 for SMM 101: Building the Framework with Kevin Iwamoto.

Despite his fresh, handsome appearance, Anthony Miller is no spring chicken to the world of events. Indeed, he knows a thing or two about global meetings management and will have you frantically scribbling notes on smart ways to drive more revenue from your events while creating more engagement with your global event audience.

Join Anthony for his session on Global Meetings Management – The Next Frontier, on Tuesday July 24th, room 159, 10.30am-11.40

The CWT sponsored event at the Boston Symphony Hall is the place to be on Tuesday evening. With a theme like ‘Thrive in Retro’, how could you resist? This is a Mad Men-inspired 60’s night club theme that will transform one of Boston’s most beloved landmarks back to an era of glamour and style.

Get your dancing shoes on and see you for some 60’s swing on Tuesday July 24^th, Boston Symphony Hall at 7.30pm

It’s not every day that we see not one, but two past US presidents in the line-up of keynote speakers for a convention such as GBTA. George Bush will host a luncheon and speaking session on Tuesday at 1.15pm but

Our pick for Wednesday July 25th is the session with Bill Clinton, Founder of The William J. Clinton Foundation 42nd President of the United States of America, which takes place from 1.45pm-3.45pm.

What sessions will you be attending at this year’s GBTA? Comment below with your recommendations.

Written By: Irene Coghlan

What is Your Event Technology Resolution?

By: Eric Olson, General Manager
Active Network | Business Solutions

Last year I spoke more than a dozen times on event technology, and every time I encountered the same experience.  A nervous, overwhelmed event planner pushes her way to the front of the room, thanks me and says, “What do I do first?”

It’s maybe the single best question to ask about technology.  Yet, there is only one person in the room brave enough to ask it.

As digital tools flood into corporate and association events, it’s easy to get overwhelmed and it’s even easier to overwhelm your audience.  So, my response is always the same.

“Make sure you have a very clear list of business objectives for your events. Then focus on implementing ONE piece of technology to better achieve those objectives; Do that one thing really, really well.”

It’s really that simple. And since January is a time for diligently penning resolutions to drop a few pounds or drink a few less cocktails, I think it’s also time for every event planner to make a technology resolution.

Three Steps to Creating Your Technology Resolution:

1. Create a measurable, stack-ranked list of goals for your event or events in 2012. Whether the goals are to increase attendance or improve post-event sales, create a prioritized list of goals that you can control and measure.

2. Make a list of the technologies your audience uses most often in their daily lives. For example, I noticed a recent technology conference that 80% of the room was using an iPad to take notes and interact during a session. Yet, the event had no connection between the live experience and those mobile devices. Instead the event had a single microphone in the middle of the room. Think about the technologies your audience uses in their everyday life to 1) find content and 2) interact and collaborate with each other.

3. Identify one technology from the list in #2 that will better help you achieve one of your goals from #1 and create a specific goal to implement it in 2012. For example, if your goal is to increase attendance and your audience is filled with LinkedIn lovers, your goal may be to implement a LinkedIn group to drive attendance at your event. Remember, technology doesn’t always have to hit your budget.

This exercise can be as simple or as complex as you need it to be for your organization. But, the hardest part is getting started. So, start with one thing. Make it measurable. And focus on doing it really, really well.

If you do it right, this isn’t just a resolution you can keep. It’s a resolution that can grow, expand and continue to benefit your business for years to come.

Cheers to good technology and great events in 2012 and beyond.

Eric Olson is responsible for driving global sales and operations. Before joining the company, Eric was Vice President of Marketing and Media for a prominent education provider, specializing in online courses, virtual events and live conferences. In seven years he grew the company’s annual revenues from less than $10 million to more than $140 million, primarily through the expansion of its events portfolio.

Written By: Eric Olson

Data Center Migration Update

Earlier today we completed our database migration, and RegOnline is fully functional. We’re excited to be in a cutting edge data center environment, providing our clients with the best performance and data security available.

If you have any questions about how this move affects your accounts, please check out previous blog entries. And, as always, our support team is here to help you during business hours.

We appreciate your patience during this important improvement, and we look forward to helping you put on amazing events in 2012 and beyond.

Written By: Michelle Nikolayevsky

Data Center Migration Update

After a long night of hard work we are pleased to announce that we have reached a major milestone in our datacenter migration and the site is back online in our next generation data center!  There is a small number of customers that are taking a little longer to complete, and may experience the maintenance page, but we expect to have those users back on line before 8:30 a.m. MST.

8:40 A.M. MST Update

Progress continues on those customers having difficulty accessing the system: We are now anticipating that we will have the few customers still having issues resolved by 10:30 A.M. MST. We apologize for the inconvenience this may have caused.

10:30 A.M. MST Update

We have resolved most issues with customers and expect to have full resolution in the next few hours.  We’re running late with this resolution and we want you to know we’re working non-stop until it is resolved.

Thank you all for your patience and continued support. Have a wonderful weekend!

Written By: Michelle Nikolayevsky

Data Center Migration Scheduled for TONIGHT, 9:30PM, MST

Written By: Michelle Nikolayevsky

Data Center Migration Set for Friday, January, 20 at 9:30PM MST

UPDATED IMPORTANT NOTIFICATION:

At 9:30PM (MST) Friday, January 20, 2012, RegOnline will be migrating all existing data to the state of the art, Active Network data center. This maintenance will make the system unavailable for approximately four (4)- eight (8) hours.

In preparation, please reference the blog post below (originally posted on December 2, 2011), addressing important information regarding customer IP addresses.

*****************************************************************************************************************

The Active Network has opened a state of the art datacenter and will be migrating all of their customers to this new site.  In January 2012 RegOnline systems will be migrated to this center which requires new IP addresses to be issued as part of this move.  The new datacenter provides RegOnline customers with improved stability, monitoring, and systems that we anticipate will lead to a more predictable user experience.

The migration process will take approximately eight (8) hours and will be conducted over a weekend during the first half of January although these times may change based on a more detailed schedule that is being prepared. Please expect additional communication regarding this migration over the next few weeks.

What Does This Mean For Our Customers?

Our IP addresses will change meaning that anyone who has made changes to their firewall or has a custom third party gateway implementation will have to update their records.

Who Does This Impact?

-Customers with a 3^rd Party Gateway with IP restrictions

-Customers who have firewall rules in place for API calls

-Customers who work in highly secured environments

If you are one of these customers please continue reading for important information

3^rd Party Gateways Integrated with RegOnline
If you are using a custom or third party gateway, your gateway may require you to specify which IP addresses are allowed to process transactions.  If this is the case, make sure to add the following IP address to your gateway configuration in order to ensure no interruption in credit card processing.

IP Address
74.120.127.3

Firewall or Network Exceptions to Access RegOnline
If you have firewall exceptions for RegOnline for either workplace rules, API calls or other security reason to access RegOnline, please contact our support department.
Exceptions on Receiving Email from RegOnline (Whitelisting)
If you have an exception added to allow email from RegOnline please make sure you add the following IP addresses (all port 25) added to your whitelist

IP Addresses
74.120.127.72
74.120.127.73
74.120.127.74

Still have questions?

1. Make sure that the appropriate IT or Network staff within your organization is aware of these changes, as they can help to determine if any changes are required.
2. Still need help? Please do not hesitate to contact our Support department for more information: https://customerportal.activenetwork.com/NewCase.jsp  Stay tuned to the blog for more updates.

We’ll keep you posted about the details, but for any additional questions, please do not hesitate to contact our support department directly.

Written By: Michelle Nikolayevsky

UPDATE: Data Center Migration Scheduled for January 20th!

Written By: Michelle Nikolayevsky

8 Steps to Planning a Successful Event

2012 is just around the corner. How goes your planning so far?

Events are the combination of many different elements that come together. Before getting too far into planning, take a step back and consider what key elements will collectively make your event the best it can be.

The  whitepaper, “8 Steps to Planning a Successful Event” details some components that event organizers should consider. From online registration forms to social networking, this helps create focus.

To learn more, click  here to read the whitepaper .

What do you think? What are some important elements to consider when planning events?

Written By: Michelle Nikolayevsky

External Authentication is Here!

We are excited to introduce External Authentication!

This exciting new feature will be extremely beneficial  to associations with thousands of members. Coined xAuth, this membership authentication system will integrate with other third party systems, making it easy to validate registrant’s credentials directly through RegOnline.

Based on a combination of email, username and password, RegOnline’s registration process will integrate with an external site to validate a registrant’s credentials.  This combination helps event organizers  make sure a registrant is who they say they are, based on existing membership data.

What is now a simple set up by member registration type, was once a tedious process of uploading and managing contact lists, invitations, or discount codes.

Some of the key benefits of powerful External  Authorization:

1. Use existing membership databases to verify registrants, without the tedium of uploading and managing additional contact lists.
2. Provide members deeper discounts for different registrant types
3. Restrict member access to certain registrant types
4. Pre-populate registrant personal information based on your membership database
5. Ability to customize failure authentication messages based on membership authentication logic

Stay tuned to the blog, as we detail how to setup xAuth with your registration forms!

Are you often working with external validation of your attendees? Tell us about it.

Written By: Michelle Nikolayevsky

We’re Moving!

Active Network has opened a state of the art datacenter and will be migrating all of their customers to this new site.  In January 2012 RegOnline systems will be migrated to this center which requires new IP addresses to be issued as part of this move.  The new datacenter provides RegOnline customers with improved stability, monitoring, and systems that we anticipate will lead to a more predictable user experience.

The migration process will take approximately eight (8) hours and will be conducted over a weekend during the first half of January although these times may change based on a more detailed schedule that is being prepared. Please expect additional communication regarding this migration over the next few weeks.

What Does This Mean For Our Customers?

Our IP addresses will change meaning that anyone who has made changes to their firewall or has a custom third party gateway implementation will have to update their records.

Who Does This Impact?

-Customers with a 3^rd Party Gateway with IP restrictions

-Customers who have firewall rules in place for API calls

-Customers who work in highly secured environments

If you are one of these customers please continue reading for important information

3^rd Party Gateways Integrated with RegOnline
If you are using a custom or third party gateway, your gateway may require you to specify which IP addresses are allowed to process transactions.  If this is the case, make sure to add the following IP address to your gateway configuration in order to ensure no interruption in credit card processing.

IP Address
74.120.127.3

Firewall or Network Exceptions to Access RegOnline
If you have firewall exceptions for RegOnline for either workplace rules, API calls or other security reason to access RegOnline, please contact our support department.
Exceptions on Receiving Email from RegOnline (Whitelisting)
If you have an exception added to allow email from RegOnline please make sure you add the following IP addresses (all port 25) added to your whitelist

IP Addresses
74.120.127.72
74.120.127.73
74.120.127.74

Still have questions?

1. Make sure that the appropriate IT or Network staff within your organization is aware of these changes, as they can help to determine if any changes are required.
2. Still need help? Please do not hesitate to contact our Support department for more information: https://customerportal.activenetwork.com/NewCase.jsp Stay tuned to the blog for more updates.

We’ll keep you posted about the details, but for any additional questions, please do not hesitate to contact our support department directly.

Written By: Michelle Nikolayevsky