What is Your Event Technology Resolution?

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

Eric Olson is general manager of SMB Events at Active Network | Business Solutions. He is responsible for driving global strategy and P&L for the company’s business-to-business events solutions serving small to medium sized businesses, associations and tradeshow and expo companies. These include event management and marketing technologies. During his tenure, Olson has grown the SMB Business Solutions business by more than 200%.

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.

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

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.

UPDATE: Data Center Migration Scheduled for January 20th!

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
Product Marketing Manager
Active Network | Events

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:
Brian O’Neill
Product Manager
Active Network |Events

5 Event Questions to Consider for 2012

2011 is rapidly drawing to a close…have you started thinking about, or even working on, your 2012 events?

This week, we will focus on planning ahead. Below are a handful of questions that you should consider when sizing up future events.

1. Budget

Before getting started, what is your overall budget? Make sure to know exactly what you are working with before even looking. This will help you realistically assess all aspects of your event.

2. Site Planning and Lodging

Where will you be hosting your event? What do you need from your facility (staffing, equipment rental, etc)? Do you need lodging for your event?

3. Attendees

How many people are you expecting? How many are local vs. non local? Do you need transportation? Do you have specific dietary needs that need to be accounted for?

4. Registration

How robust of a system do you need? Do you need to have multiple types of registration? Do you need different types of pricing levels, like early bird or late registration? Will you have groups?  Do you need surveys?

5. On site Needs

Do you have a process for onsite check-in? How will confirmation work?  Do you need to print badges? Do you need extra staff on hand to help?

These may seem like a lot of questions, but they are just a few of the many things to consider for your events. RegOnline can help you with online registration forms, event websites, surveys, attendee management, on site needs and more.

Stay tuned all this week for helpful planning tips for the year. What kinds of events do you have on deck for 2012? Let us know by leaving us a note below.

Written by:
Michelle Nikolayevsky
Product Specialist
Active Network|Events

Feature Requests are Live!

Did you know that Feature Requests are the most powerful way to get your voice heard?

Feature Requests are an excellent method for our development team to have a direct pulse on the needs of customers, and to help make RegOnline more robust and useful. Through the Active Network Customer Portal, RegOnline customers can submit Feature Requests, or vote on existing requests.

To submit a Feature Request:
• Go to RegOnline product page in the Active Network Customer Portal
• Select the “Feature Requests” icon
• Over to the right, you will see a link to new “Idea”
• From this field, you are able to input a Feature Request

What can you expect?
We do our best to accommodate the amount of feature requests that come through the portal, and we greatly appreciate your time in submitting them. Due to the nature of the demand, we try our best to get to all the ideas that are posted.
The ideas that are submitted will be reviewed on a bi-weekly basis by our moderation team for their relevancy and product fit. Ideas that are duplicates, not a fit for our product or too specific will be moved into the “Closed” folder by a moderator. When this happens, the submitter is notified via email.

Ideas that could potentially be included into our product will be left in their list to gather votes and comments. When an idea proves to be valuable enough (based on votes and comments) we will attempt to work it into our release schedule.

Get out the Vote!
To get a feature request heard, vote on one today!
• Go to RegOnline product page in the customer portal
• Select the “Feature Requests”icon
• Read through the existing ideas and simply click on “I like this” to vote on a Feature Request.

NOTE: The feature request you want to add may already exist within the Active Network Customer Portal. Make sure to search for duplicates, and vote on an existing request instead of adding a new one. The more votes for a feature request, the greater chance it has of being incorporated into the development queue.

Have a feature request? Have a question? Check out the Active Network Customer Portal for answers or to give it a try.

Written by :
Michelle Nikolayevsky
Product Specialist
Active Network| Events

Special Podcast: Eric Olson on the Tradeshow Guy Blog

Founder of Communication One Exhibits and trade show expert, Tim Patterson, recently viewed a demo of RegOnline. He was so impressed with the product he decided to interview General Manager Eric Olson for a podcast.

Listen to the podcast on Tim’s Tradeshowguy Blog, and learn in more detail about the benefits of using RegOnline.

What do you think of the interview? Let us know by posting a comment below.

Written By:
Michelle Nikolayevsky
Product Specialist
Active Network| Events

Smoother Check In is Here!

Onsite Check in just got easier!

Enhance the overall event experience for your attendees! We upgraded the RegOnline Onsite Check in Kiosk this past weekend and smoother, faster and easier check-in is here.

The RegOnline Onsite Kiosk makes it easy to check in attendees with fewer clicks than ever before. Check in attendees by scanning their barcode, which automatically prints badges, in a noticeably more efficient process.

When activating your event, enabling Onsite Check in couldn't be easier.

Highlights of the onsite kiosk include:
• Auto printing capabilities (Removes up to 3 clicks to get badges to print)
• Configuration of scanner to auto-submit the search page
• When searching by reg id; automatically check in and print badges without a single click
• Works in Google Chrome and FireFox versions 4 and higher with Adobe Reader 9/10
• QR Code improvements with Quiet Zone and background colors to increase scanner reliability
• Scanner reliability warning when barcodes are reduced in size from the default

Please note that security settings in Adobe Reader must be configured to allow for auto printing. These can be configured through Adobe Reader preferences.

Anyone can set it up; anyone can use it. Just one more thing to help make onsite processes more efficient, so you can easily remove one more issue onsite.

For your next event, give the updated onsite check in a try and tell us about your experience. We love hearing from you!

Written By:
Michelle Nikolayevsky
Product Specialist
Active Network | Events