The MeetingTechOnline Buyer’s Guide to Mobile Apps for professional event organizers and corporate meeting planners has just been released and will be available (in print) at the MTO Summit in November. I wanted to give you a preview of the guide which I had the pleasure of writing and pass along some of the insight I received in the process. This and other guides to follow are designed to give buyers all of the information they need to make an informed purchase. Plus, it lists all the providers that helped me with the guide and others that are leading the field of mobile app development.
The Table of Contents of the 35-page Buyer’s Guide includes:
- Introduction
- Why mobile?
- Developing a mobile app strategy
- Mobile possibilities—what can you do with a mobile solution?
- Native apps or mobile Web sites—pros and cons
- Pricing models
- Revenue opportunities
- Time frame
- Best practices
- Choosing a provider
- What to include in a Request For Proposal (RFP)
- Case Studies
- About the author
- Acknowledgements
- Provider Directory
The guide is a neutral, non-commercial (except for the advertising) overview of third party mobile apps for events. When I was putting together the publication, I learned a couple of things:
- Most event organizers do NOT approach vendor selection from an informed perspective and very few actually put together an RFP when entering into the selection process. One reason is that there is so much information to sift through. Another reason is that there are so many apps to choose from (and many more on the way). What do you put in an RFP if you don’t know what you don’t know?
- The two camps (native apps vs. Web sites) are equally vibrant and can argue either way for their solution. Some providers offer both options and that is definitely an alternative that buyers should consider (depending on their audience and the connectivity of the venue).
- Selecting an app is only half the battle. Adoption is the other half. Event organizers have to do a better job of promoting the app and training users. Although one of the goals of developers is ease-of-use, organizers can play a substantial role in reducing the learning curve that still exists.
The Takeaway: Read the guide. Get in the game.
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