Have you ever wanted to capture all the content you’re taking in onsite at an event and have easy access to the notes afterward? There’s an app for that.

Core-apps has entered into an agreement with AstraZeneca to acquire the company’s Conference Notes iPad app, including the associated technology.

Core-apps, a mobile app and event management technology platform for the trade show industry, and AstraZeneca have a shared goal to expand Conference Notes.

The acquisition will allow Core-apps to scale the technology and for AstraZeneca to continue to utilize the app for medical conferences and events.

Core-apps CEO Jay Tokosch said the company is focused on adding new functionality to the platform, as well as focusing on strategic market expansion and globalization.

“The acquisition of Conference Notes fits all the qualifiers for our growth roadmap, especially scaling functionality based on user demand,” Tokosch said.

He added, “We understand that taking notes and engaging with conference content is difficult during a presentation. Attendees are limited by the sessions they can join and most notes end up in notebooks never to be seen again. Conference Notes helps solve this problem.”

AstraZeneca’s Digital Innovation Group created Conference Notes to promote scientific exchange at medical conferences.

Conference Notes offers meeting attendees a suite of functionality designed for planning, note taking, engagement and more.

Under the terms of the agreement, Core-apps will expand Conference Notes for use with all Android and iOS devices.

Core-apps also plans to leverage its sales and technical teams to bring Conference Notes to a broader customer base, while still enabling AstraZeneca to offer the app to medical associations and at internal meetings.

“Our expertise can help make this tool more accessible, both within the medical industry and to markets such as life sciences, higher education and beyond.” Tokosch said.

He added. “There are similar standalone apps in the marketplace, but Core-apps will be the only platform in the trade show and event space to offer a totally integrated solution. Show organizers with a medical or scientific focus will soon be able to include this functionality as an add on to their event app.”

AstraZeneca Vice President of Global Commercial Excellence John McCarthy said Conference Notes represents a success story from the forward-thinking products created by the Digital Innovation Group.  

“Conference Notes is one example of the digital innovation that the AstraZeneca Digital Innovation Group, in partnership with DigitasLBi, offers customers in order to enhance their experience with science and medicine,” McCarthy said.

He added, “We are confident that Core-apps is the right partner to help bring Conference Notes to more industries and individuals across the globe, especially those on the front-lines of patient care.”

Ewen Sturgeon, DigitasLBi International CEO and Global Executive Sponsor for the partnership between AstraZeneca and the digital agency, said, “Our partnership in the Digital Innovation Group (DIG) with AstraZeneca has given rise to some truly ground breaking services and we are extremely proud that DIG has delivered this leading piece of technology. The sale and ongoing partnership with Core-apps will help continue the scale and reach of this exceptional service."

Conference Notes is a popular and award-winning app, widely used for key medical association meetings, specifically:

• 2015 American Heart Association Scientific Sessions, among the top 20 medical app downloads on iTunes in the U.S.
• 2015 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, seventh most downloaded medical app on U.S. iTunes and ranked in the top ten for 13 additional markets around the world
• Awarded the 2015 Digital Impact Award for the best use of digital from the European healthcare sector

Tokosch said his company plans to expand the app into the overall trade show industry as well.

Core-apps CEO Jay Tokosch said the company is focused on adding new functionality to the platform, strategic market expansion and globalization.

“With our large range of industries we provide our technology for, we saw this as being a solution that fit most all of the events we worked with,” he added. “Engagement is one of the key areas that every event organizer looks for in their event and Conference Note provides that no matter what industry your event is focused on. Being combined with our Mobile app so that users can easily get the conference material. follow along, make notes, collaborate, and then take it all with them for future review is a major enhancement to the way session education is done today.”

The deal is expected to finalize this calendar year for an undisclosed amount.

A pilot program will launch in December 2016 with a full release planned for first quarter of 2017.