Virtual Events and Virtual Meetings Conference

Virtual Edge Summit 2010
the Summit on Virtual Events, Meetings & Communities
February 22-23 Santa Clara, California

Attend for FREE Real or Virtual and hear speaker from…

Today’s uncertain economy is forcing companies to cut travel, and downsize or cancel important meetings and annual events. Yet, companies still need to stay in touch with loyal clients, reach new prospects and collaborate internally. More and more firms are discovering ‘Virtual Environments’ can provide an answer to the new economics of business communications.

Virtual Edge Summit 2010 is your

Roadmap to Success in Virtual Environments

Why: Virtual Edge Summit 2010 is the only event that focuses exclusively on providing education, training and solutions for planning and producing virtual events, meetings and communities. Over 2 days, dozens of experts will share their expertise with you, and be available for one-on-ones.

Who: Virtual Edge Summit 2010 is designed for all virtual marketing and meeting professionals, as well as for those with expertise in producing physical events and in-person meetings that now need to expand into adding virtual solutions. The event also offers a rich program for digital, IT, and community support professionals. Attendees will meet other event, marketing and community experts from Cisco, IBM, SAP, Oracle, Intel, Disney and top virtual technology and service providers like InXpo, ON24, 6Connex, Stream57, CGS VirtualEvents365, George P. Johnson, Unisfair and Digitell.

To register & learn more visit ||Virtual Events and Virtual Meetings Conference ||.

Who knows the impact of this virtual conventions patent ?

Landmark Patent for Online Conventions Granted to Software Management, Inc.

Pittsburgh-Based Company Secures Major Competitive Edge in Internet-Based “Virtual Conventions” and Event Management

Pittsburgh, PA, September 22, 2009 –Software Management, Inc. (SMI), a Pittsburgh company that developed a “virtual convention venue” for conducting online meetings, conventions and trade shows, has been granted a patent for its technology by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

With this patent, SMI now holds exclusive patent rights to their highly effective software application which is essential for online conventions in the destination management industry.  The company will now make full use of its proprietary technology to enhance its existing products and services.

“This is a very significant development in our industry and certainly for our company,” said Jennifer W. Reichenbach, President of Software Management, Inc.  “Most of the concepts covered by this patent were introduced and incorporated in our product technology following our application for a patent in December 1998.  We now intend to evaluate a variety of strategic alternatives based upon this issued patent, and continue to enhance the functionality of our Destination 3000 products in the marketplace.”

Since 1998, Software Management has worked to complete the technical and legal requirements to secure government approval.  Th patent, entitled “A Method and System for Conducting a Plurality of Cyber-Based Conventions,” was issued on September 15, 2009 (Patent No. 7,590,688).

It was invented, designed and developed by Software Mangement founder and retired CEO Paul D. Franke, Sr.

SMI’s patented technology enables industry associations, convention and visitors bureaus, meeting planners and others to conduct and augment multiple industry events online, simultaneously, including the ability to manage and conduct virtual expositions and attendee registrations.  For example, the user can register and “attend” an industry conference or trade show simply by viewing it at their computer from a remote location.  Users can register online, participate, and enjoy the benefits of the event in much the same way that others who would travel to the event would.

The SMI system receives and stores convention data and parameters from meeting planners.  It then receives and stores exhibit booth display data for the convention from exhibitors.  Based on search criteria provided by participating attendees, the website server releases stored database convention information based on the attendee’s interactive use online.  In this way, the SMI system creates a “virtual convention venue” for conventions that exist only online.  Additionally, the system supports and augments a convention or meeting being held in a physical or venue-based center.

“Many of our clients have supported our efforts to seek this valuable patent protection,” says Reichenbach.  “They have placed their trust in SMI’s technology, products and professionals, and now share in our excitement with a long-term future now protected with rights under U.S. patent law.”

For more information on Software Mangement, Inc., visit us at www.softwaremgt.com.

About Software Management, Inc. and Destination 3000

Software Management, Inc. (SMI) delivers powerful, affordable and customizable sales, marketing and customer relationship management solutions that are designed “from the ground up” for destination marketing organizations.  In business for over 25 years, SMI is an established and experienced technology provider.

SMI’s client list includes destinations of all sizes and operating budgets, with customers ranging in size from over 100 employees to some with just one or two full-time staff.  This versatile customer base demonstrates the flexibility and affordability of our solutions, putting our Destination 3000 technology product within the means of any destination that wants to realize the power of true and complete sales and customer relationship automation.

About Paul D. Franke, Sr. (Inventor and Patent Holder) Retired Founder of Software Management, Inc.

Paul D. Franke, Sr. has over 25 years of experience as an entrepreneur, and a total of 36 years software and computer industry experience.  A management science graduate of Carnegie-Mellon University, Franke helped design the world’s first on-line ATM banking system, and has lead his own company’s efforts to develop and deliver the destination industry’s first Windows-based database management system currently in use in over 50% of the major “top-travel” cities accross the USA.

Travel Industry Seeks Socially Responsible Second Life

In 2007, I met with Management at Suntec Exhibition Centre in Singapore regarding virtual worlds and the opportunity for Real & Virtual World events to be run in Unison with each other. Singapore recently held the IT Show at Suntec, 770,000 people packed the centre and SGD58.5 million was spent in four days – how much more could have been spent if they held a virtual event for those unable to make it to Singapore over the 4 stipulated days – i wonder ?

Excerpt from Travel Industry Article below:

At the ITM’s 37th annual conference in Liverpool this week, the people responsible for spending an annual £34bn ferrying business executives and staff around the world will hear that physical attendance is not always the ideal way to convene conferences and confabs. Instead, the technology of online virtual worlds can bring delegates together in an equally productive, immersive, businesslike environment which is also socially responsible, greatly reducing the impact of corporate travel on the environment.

Alan Haymes, director of London-based New Business Horizons – which provides Second Life offices, meeting and conference facilities for other clients as diverse as Universal Music Group and the London Chamber of Commerce – will be leading the ‘Meeting in Cyberspace’ session at the ITM conference, explaining the business benefits of events that take place in a virtual world and comparing the experience not only to physical meetings but to the ‘traditional’ virtual option of teleconferencing.

Haymes comments: “Virtual world conferencing is a more complete experience than the webcam or teleconferencing suite, which means that the ITM’s initiative extends beyond saving money and improving CSR. In a virtual world, delegates can immerse themselves fully in the conference environment and truly feel part of a big event. Breakout and one to one sessions can be easily incorporated, there’s less pressure on performance and appearance … and it can be more fun.”

via Travel Industry Seeks Socially Responsible Second Life.

I also shared this idea with Twinity management….

IBM aims at Meeting Industry with Virtual worlds – itsReal

Made in IBM Labs: IBM Creates Software for Holding Face-to-Face Meetings in Virtual Worlds

Allows Meeting-Goers to Teleport Themselves From Instant Message Chats to Virtual Conference Rooms — No Reservations Necessary

ARMONK, NY–(Marketwire – March 4, 2009) – IBM (NYSE: IBM) is making it easier for widely dispersed businesspeople to interact and collaborate without the time and expense of in-person meetings.

What is making all this possible is the marriage between “virtual world” Web sites, and “unified communications and collaboration tools” — technology that links such things as voicemail, audible chat, and instant messaging. Virtual worlds are interactive, immersive Web sites with three-dimensional graphics. There, people are represented by versions of themselves, called avatars. With origins in multi-player gaming sites, virtual worlds re-create the social and visual dynamics and cues of human interaction, and are now increasingly used in business settings.

IBM is now allowing selected clients test Sametime 3D, a new tool which will let business colleagues not only exchange instant messages and chat verbally, but also share presentations and ideas in private, prefabricated, reusable meeting spaces located in a variety of virtual worlds. These spaces will allow participants to, literally, throw ideas on the wall during a meeting to “see what sticks,” and to vote on, organize, and save the most promising proposals. Avatars can make presentations to one another, socialize, debate, or, literally, examine ideas and 3D objects from all angles.

IBM’s new software enables groups based in different locations to meet on a regular, periodic or impromptu basis in these virtual worlds. With this new software tool, IBM is providing several reusable meeting spaces, including a theater-style amphitheatre, a boardroom and a collaboration space which can each be used for impromptu or scheduled brainstorming sessions, status updates, town hall-style meetings, rehearsals, training classes, and more.

“This project is part of IBM’s ongoing work to redefine the nature of online meetings,” said Colin Parris, IBM’s Vice President for Industry Solutions and Emerging Business. “The work that takes place during a meeting is hard enough; people shouldn’t have to struggle with logistics. Whether through improvements to Web conferencing capabilities or with special offerings such as Sametime 3D, IBM is offering new ways to engage and collaborate, making meetings more effective and productive.”

The new software overcomes several challenges that have existed for businesses wishing to hold meetings in virtual worlds: First, businesses can collaborate the way in which they are accustomed, using software they may already have, such as electronic presentations, enterprise security, and instant messaging tools. Second, IBM has prefabricated a variety of re-useable spaces specifically designed for productive meetings, making it unnecessary for adopters to painstakingly build meeting rooms each time they want to meet. Third, these spaces are secure, overcoming privacy concerns manifest in many public areas of popular virtual worlds. And finally, colleagues not wishing to participate in a given virtual meeting can still view documents, presentations and results from those sessions — or even snapshots of a previous meeting.

In the future, the software will provide a variety of ways for participants to circulate reports to one another that document the meetings’ progress. IBM will also make it easier for users to chat verbally and exchange information generated by and for virtual meetings, with traditional computer software already installed on their computers and servers.

Selected IBM clients and business partners are now being invited to work with IBM’s Lotus Services organization to test this new software. The solution, which may be available by the second half of 2009, uses version 8.0 of IBM Lotus Sametime, and a plug-in designed by IBM Research for virtual worlds. When the software is developed fully, clients will be able to use it to connect any number of virtual worlds, such as OpenSim or Second Life. A demonstration of the software’s capabilities is available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfqGwKFStuw

IBM is in the forefront in exploring virtual worlds. Hundreds of IBM researchers, consultants, and developers are developing and providing new ways of learning, collaborating and doing business in virtual worlds. IBM is helping clients to develop their virtual world strategies, and is providing them with solutions and services that enable adopters to better collaborate. In addition, IBM is leading an initiative to help improve compatibility between disparate virtual worlds. Internally, IBM uses virtual worlds to conduct research, host events, and to acclimate new employees.

For more information, please visit www.ibm.com.

Invitation – Mix Business with Imagination at the Big-Bit Islands Launch – itsReal

Big-Bit Launches Big-Bit Islands in the Virtual World Second Life an Entertainment, Live Performance, Attractions and Business Services hub to drive Big-Bit’s Business Strategy for 2008 – event starts at 9pm SL time February 9th 2008

Sydney Australia. February 07, 2008 — Big-Bit Australia Pty Ltd, a leading virtual worlds full service solutions provider today announced the exciting launch of Big-Bit Islands in the Virtual World Second Life. Entertainment, live performances, attractions and business services and the Big-Bit team will be on hand to guide you through the evening’s event. The event starts at 9pm SL time February 9th 2008

Image: Event Arena Big-Bit Island

Bit-Bit is a leading Virtual Worlds full service solutions provider that offers strategic advice, construction, marketing and events services to companies seeking to establish footholds in virtual worlds such as Second Life and other newly emerging worlds. Comprising a talented International team of virtual world veterans, Big-Bit has in-house building and programming expertise to execute scripting for complex projects in virtual worlds.

What SL Residents can expect ?

• Big-bit Islands Grand Opening Saturday February 9th – 2008
• Dance with our very own funky DJ – Estrelle Fauna
• A Treasure hunt for those seeking to enhance their inworld wardrobe and nab a mystery prize or two
• Grand Prize 10,000$L
• Fireworks will adorn the Big-Bit Islands skyline to welcome in a new era of services & entertainment

Visit PrimAdonna: http://slurl.com/secondlife/PrimAdonna/169/248/27

What RL People can expect ?

• Considering launching in Second Life? The Big-Bit Team will be on hand to discuss your options
• Previous projects will be highlighted on the Big Bit Island as testament to Big-Bit’s expertise in inworld development
• Bring your Business to Big-Bit Island and let Big-Bit’s imagination work for you

Visit Big-Bit Island: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Big%20Bit/163/115/27

PrimAdonna Island, part of the Big-Bit island group is home to PrimAdonna designs by Big-Bit’s Jana Gillespie also known in Second Life as Estrelle Fauna. Specialising in fashion, content creation and design, PrimAdonna offers unique style careful attention to detail and great versatility. The PrimAdonna shop offers a variety of women’s clothing from casual to formal and corporate wear for both men and women including shoes. PrimAdonna Island and shop have been magnificently rebuilt and announces it’s reopening.

Image: PrimAdonna on Big-Bit Islands

Big-Bit offers companies an innovative way for getting products launched in Virtual Worlds. For more information please contact Jana Gillespie, Big Bit Australia Pty Ltd, details below.

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About Big-Bit Australia
Big-Bit understands that the single most important ingredient that drives humanity is the need to communicate. Without communications we would not be able to achieve even the simplest of tasks. We partner with clients to create the opportunities for them to engage with their communities in the virtual space in ways that are only limited by their desire to drive business and our imagination. In doing so, we commence on a journey with our clients that is destined to take a business into new dimensions of communication, understanding and connectivity.

For more information please contact:

Andrew Peters
The Pacific West Communications
Cell: +65-9451-9012
Email: andrew@thepacificwest.com

Jana Gillespie
Director
Big-Bit Australia Pty Ltd
Cell: +61-412-582-233
Email: jana@big-bit.net