Meeting Professionals International     Texas Hill Country Chapter    Quarterly Newsletter Spring 2006

First Apartments - Freedom, Responsibility, and Possibilities! by Lauren Grossman Austin Convention Center I can remember my first apartment once I had moved out of my parents' house and then out of the dorms.  It was sparsely furnished but had the basics- a twin bed and small dresser from my bedroom at my parents' house; two arm chairs that had been my grandparents' that were excess furniture; a couple of lamps; a table for four plus two folding chairs (also from my parents); some pots and pans that my mom had as extras; a set of dishes my mom gave my brother and me to split; and my grandmother's silverware.  Of course, I had the obligatory bookshelf for my 9" TV made from two long planks and four cinder blocks. Little by little, I was able to fill my apartment with "stuff" I bought when I got a full time job.  But I would have really been camping it without my parents' help. Most of us were lucky enough to have similar situations and can remember the exhilaration of having our own place for the first time.  Most of us also couldn't have done it without some help from our parents. Imagine not having those parents and striking out on your own.  Imagine, at 18, having no choice but to go out on your own because you are a foster child and your time in foster care is over. A foster child's experience in starting their adult life isn't quite so exhilarating and is probably a bit more frightening than what we experienced.  Imagine having nothing with which to start your new life. That is what you, the members of the MPI Texas Hill Country Chapter, can change.  The charity we picked out for the Spring is The Center for Child Protection.  We are helping them in their collection of items for "life kits."  These kits are filled with items everyone needs for their first apartment.. pots and pans, dish towels, plates, silverware, cups and glasses, kitchen knives, plastic storage containers, lamps, phones, alarm clocks,  sheets, towels, beds, and.well, you get the idea.  The Center has about 80 life kits to create.  If you don't have any gently used items to donate, then think about getting a $20 gift card from Walmart or Target.  Twenty dollars goes a long way in those stores. It's an incredible way to make an impact in a kid's life as they become independent.  Please take a moment to go to our chapter website for more details and the shopping list. We are collecting through May 23 so your time is almost up but the need has not diminished. Email Tina Applin at  tapplin@austin.rr.com for more details or arrange for your donation to be picked up.	MySpace versus Matchmaking By Stephen Nold and Oscar Alarcon Advon Technologies In just 36 months, MySpace.com has spread like wildfire to become the fifth most popular English language website.  MySpace is a network of easy-to-build homepages, complete with user profiles, photos, blogs, and interest groups, all with a "do it yourself" HTML feel. The viral growth of this social networking site has resulted from 'friend to friend' linking and invitations, primarily among teenagers and twenty-somethings who create profiles to connect and keep in touch with their peers.  In the events industry, a similar concept is emerging.  When business people choose to attend an event, in most cases they want to meet as many people as possible who will add value to their business. Broadly described as "business matchmaking," this software enables meeting attendees to log in to a web-based community for the event they are attending, easily find the right contacts (people or companies) before the event, schedule meetings to occur at the event, and then log in after the event to follow up. Without a matchmaking system in place, the process of networking at an event is inefficient at best.  But when the meeting organizer provides a matchmaking system, ROI is likely to increase for show organizers, exhibitors, and attendees alike. Since business professionals have different priorities and concerns than MySpace users, such as efficient time management and contact information privacy, it is important for meeting organizers to choose a matchmaking vendor whose system provides the control they need to ensure that the right contacts are made at their events.  Match Events is an interesting new provider of matchmaking services for the Meeting Industry.  Having run thousands of matchmaking events for singles, Match Events has built on their experience to successfully launch two sophisticated tools for business matchmaking: NetworkingMatch and TradeshowMatch.  NetworkingMatch enables speed networking sessions where a room full of professionals simultaneously rotate through brief, pre-arranged, one-on-one conversations. TradeshowMatch helps meeting attendees find and arrange their own meetings at mutually convenient times and locations. Both tools provide additional value to Meeting Organizers, such as integration with the registration database, and reports on audience interests.  And the websites can be customized to create a seamless transition to the event's website.	As a Meeting Organizer seeking to attract more participants, improve attendee satisfaction, and increase ROI, keep an eye on these social/business networking tools. You may soon be employing your own version of 'MySpace' at 'YourEvent'. Meeting Industry Matchmaking Vendors:   a2zInc. / www.a2zinc.net Contact:  Mr. Rajiv Jain, President and CEO rjain@a2zinc.net Conference Data Systems / www.cdsreg.com Contact:  David Lawton Director of Sales & Marketing DLawton@CDSReg.com ExpoExchange / www.expoexchange.com Contact:  Bob Lucke EVP, Business Development bob.lucke@expoexchange.com introNetworks / www.intronetworks.com Contact:  Mark Sylvester CEO and Cofounder Mark@intronetworks.com Leverage Software / www.leveragesoftware.com Contact:  Mike Walsh CEO and Founder mwalsh@leveragesoftware.com MatchEvents / www.MatchEvents.com Contact:  Tom Jaffee CEO Tom@MatchEvents.com   ngn / www.ngn.de Contact:  Robert Dblik President Robert.dblik@ngn.de   Tradeshow Multimedia, Inc. / www.tmiexpos.com Contact:  Anne Abbot President anne@tmiexpos.com   Stephen Nold and Oscar Alarcon are with Advon Technologies, Inc.  Addressing the impact of high tech on the meetings industry, ATI assists clients in defining strategic use of technology based on sound business process management.  You can reach them at +1(512) 310.0628, stephen@advontech.com  or oscar@advontech.com.

 

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