IBTM World 2017 Technology Watch Awards Recognize Outstanding Event Industry Tech Achievements
December 7, 2017
The ibtm Technology Watch Award winners for 2017 were announced at the most recent ibtm world, held Nov. 28-30 at Fira Gran Via in Barcelona, Spain.
As the longest-running awards program of its kind, the ibtm Technology Watch awards recognize the achievements of new and innovative event industry technologies, ensuring that the achievements of talented entrepreneurs looking to revolutionize the meetings and events sector are duly acknowledged.
There were three categories for this year’s nominations: Logistics and Production, Management and Marketing and Audience Engagement.
All entries were reviewed by an independent judging panel of experts who are considered influencers in the field of technology, headed up by Corbin Ball, owner of Corbin Ball Associates and comprising Michelle Bruno, president of Bruno Group Signature Events; Dahlia El Gazzar, founder of DAHLIA+ Inc; Ruud Janssen, founder of TNOC.org and co-founder of EMG; Pádraic Gilligan, managing partner at SoolNua; Paul Hussey, director of The Conference Doctor and Julius Solaris, founder and editor of Event MB.
Sciensio was judged the overall winner for its Concierge Eventbot, winning the Audience Engagement category, while SharedXP Limited won the Logistics and Production award and Conference Pulse took the Management and Marketing category.
“We had an incredibly strong field of entries this year, making it a challenging task to decide on the winner,” Ball said.
Sciensio is an emerging technology supplier that helps businesses develop and deploy messaging platform strategies to improve customer interaction and help build relationships with their stakeholders. The company’s Concierge EventBot is a chatbot that has been specifically developed for events, enabling event organizers to easily share information and logistics with their attendees in a valuable and accessible way.
“Sciensio and its Concierge Eventbot have proven great tenacity and innovation in helping the events industry stay ahead of the curve with regards to effective customer engagement, sitting at the heart of every successful business in this industry and beyond,” Ball added.
He continued, “Sciensio and its Concierge Eventbot highlight two important event tech trends: the emergence of artificial intelligence to provide better and more efficient services to attendees in the form of chatbots - a direct and very useful means of providing event information.”
Shared XP Limited is a web-based crowdsourcing and crowd voting platform that enables event organizers to engage with their audiences and networks about ideas and content to create valuable event experiences.
ConferencePulse uses marketing and sales intelligence to provide insights that can help event professionals determine the right events to attend, submit (session presentation) abstracts for as well as sponsor.
"The fact that ConferencePulse won this prestigious award is a further testament and validation that we are building an events intelligence platform that truly addresses the needs and pain points of our valuable clients," said Val Tsanev, founder and chief executive officer of ConferencePulse.
He added, “We were humbled and honored by the award.”
Michelle Bruno, a member of the judging panel who regularly writes about event technology and event innovation, explained that award winners are selected based on two different types of innovation criteria.
"As judges for the ibtm Tech Watch competition, we always look for innovation in two areas: the way technology is used to solve a recurring or familiar pain point for the meeting industry and whether the technology used is on trend,” Bruno said.
She continued, “So for example, Sciensio uses artificial intelligence and a chatbot to address attendee engagement and customer service. Shared XP uses crowdsourcing to co-create event content and ConferencePulse uses large data sets to discover speakers, sponsors and venues in a manner that the judges had never seen before. In these ways, the three category winners and the overall winner were unique.”
For more information on the ibtm Technology Watch Awards, go HERE.
Partner Voices
HERE, hosting responsible meetings and caring for our communities are top priorities. Through its 'Focused on What Matters: Embracing Humanity and Protecting the Planet' philosophy, MGM Resorts commits to creating a more sustainable future, while striving to make an impact in the lives of employees, guests, and the communities in which it operates.
Water Stewardship Efforts
MGM Resorts understands the importance of using water efficiently, especially in the desert destination of Las Vegas. Conserving water has always been part of the mission, but MGM Resorts has expanded its ambition into water stewardship.
In 2022, MGM Resorts President and CEO Bill Hornbuckle signed the CEO Water Mandate—a UN Global Compact initiative mobilizing business leaders to advance water stewardship. MGM Resorts International was the first gaming company to take this important step.
MGM Resorts replaced 200,000 square feet of real grass with drought-tolerant landscaping in Las Vegas.
MGM Resorts pledges to reduce water withdrawal intensity by 33% by 2025 and by 35% by 2030.
From 2007-2021, use of more than 5.6 billion gallons of water was avoided because of conservation efforts.
Caring for One Another
MGM Resorts’ Food Donations Program collects and preserves unserved food from conventions held at MGM Resorts properties, then safely donates to food insecure people in the community. Since the program’s launch in 2016, more than 3.7 million meals toward a 2025 goal of 5 million meals have been donated into the community. Donations include:
Unserved perishable prepared foods from events
Perishable unprepared food from MGM Resorts’ kitchens
Nonperishable food items from minibars and warehouses
The collaboration with Southern Nevada’s primary food bank, Three Square, has developed the infrastructure needed to safely collect, transport, and store food from MGM Resorts properties in Las Vegas, reducing food waste while serving the community.
Fostering Diversity and Inclusion
To MGM Resorts, a diverse and talented workforce is essential to success. By cultivating innovative strategies that consider multiple perspectives and viewpoints, the company creates an inclusive workplace culture that benefits its employees and community. MGM Resorts takes pride in being a welcoming home for veterans, individuals with disabilities, people from diverse backgrounds, LGBTQ+ community members, and more. This commitment to inclusion is reflected in the company's recruitment and hiring practices and its social responsibility initiatives. From the workplace to the community, MGM Resorts' commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion remains unwavering, and its efforts continue to create a more equitable and sustainable world for all.
MGM Resorts understands its responsibility to contribute to the social and economic progress of the communities in which it operates. HERE, we embrace humanity.
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