Using Mobile Devices at Your Live Events Oh, the Places You ll Go!

Transcription

1 Using Mobile Devices at Your Live Events Oh, the Places You ll Go! By: Karen D. Lee Oregon State Bar Tigard, Oregon Presented at: ACLEA 47 th Annual Meeting July 30 August 2, 2011 Boston, Massachusetts

2 Karen D. Lee Oregon State Bar Tigard, OR Karen Lee joined the Oregon State Bar CLE Seminars Department in 2001 as a program attorney and has been the director since Prior to becoming a CLE professional, Karen was a tax and transactional attorney and practiced in Oregon and Texas. A member of ACLEA since 2001, Karen has been involved in a variety of activities. She has facilitated discussions for the state and provincial bar SIG, the programming SIG, and Boot Camp and was co chair for the 2011 Mid Year Meeting in San Francisco. Her presentations at ACLEA meetings have ranged from destination CLE to delivering great customer service. Karen currently serves as a member at large on the ACLEA Executive Committee. An avid traveler who believes that educational experiences are not limited to meeting rooms, she is always on the lookout for unique CLE opportunities and locations.

3 ACLEA 47 th Annual Meeting July 30 Aug. 2, 2011 Boston Using Mobile Devices at Your Live Events Oh, the Places You Will Go! DISCLAIMER The presenter does not have a smartphone. (But she recognizes how smartphone use is dramatically increasing and how apps can enhance CLE events and even generate revenue. )

4 Why use a mobile app for CLE events? Nielsen reports that 31% of U.S. mobile phone owners have a smartphone as of December, 2010, and anticipate that smartphones will become the majority by the end of Gartner, a technology research company, expects U.S. sales of smartphones to reach 95 million in 2011 and become the highest selling consumer electronic device category. The Coda Research Consultancy predicts that global mobile Internet use via smartphones will increase 50 fold by the end of Morgan Stanley Research estimates sales of smartphones will exceed those of PCs in 2012.

5 What s in a Mobile Event App? Maps Event schedule Speaker bios Course materials Exhibitors and sponsors Contacts Area Map Area map (the area surrounding the venue, public transportation routes, parking, etc.)

6 Venue map (layout of the building showing meeting rooms, elevators, bathrooms, and parking access) Venue Map Venue Map with Event

7 Full Schedule Schedule by Sessions

8 Schedule by Speakers Text and photos; can include links to speaker s website Speaker Bios

9 CLE Course Materials Practicality: Size limits (e.g., Apple limits PDF files to 20MB) the bigger the file, the longer it takes to download; individual PDFs of materials are recommended rather than one PDF containing all materials. Viewing a function of screen size; landscape viewing helps but full PDF page is not displayed so user has to scroll across the page. CLE Course Materials Access: Open anyone who downloads the app has access to the materials. Authenticated requires a code to access document; access can be for individual users or restricted to certain groups of users. Approval for access is authenticated using addresses provided in advance by app sponsor to app developer. Access code is automatically sent to user once authentication is complete.

10 Exhibitor location at the event, description, contact information, exhibitor representative(s), and websites Exhibitors Including exhibitors in the app can be an exhibitor fee upgrade Placement on the banner (top of the app) can be a premium upgrade Exhibitors

11 Sponsors Another way to acknowledge sponsors Can include sponsor descriptions, contact information, and websites Potential upgrade feature Contacts Open access: user enters desired contact info into the app. User selects recipient to receive info, which is exchanged only between attendees who enter information in the app. Authenticated: app sponsor sends app developer contact information in advance (e.g., attendee name, firm, and address) and app developer populates the app. Only the attendee s name and firm displays on the app; each attendee would have to approve sending address to another attendee.

12 No more fumbling for business cards! Oregon State Bar Events Identified three institutes for testing the apps*: NW Securities Institute: geographically varied (OR, WA, and BC, Canada); some sponsors and exhibitors; downtown hotel location with event on one floor. Litigation Institute and Retreat: primarily Litigation Section members; no sponsors or exhibitors; awards dinner; rural resort lodge location. NW Bankruptcy Institute: geographically varied (OR and WA); many sponsors and exhibitors; breakout sessions; downtown hotel location with events on several floors. *Apps were provided to attendees at no cost.

13 Why Free Apps? Did not want a barrier to presenting new technology. Content was relatively minimal and users might not see value in paying. Wanted to encourage use of apps and have members associate an app with OSB CLE. If you build it, they will come. (But how much will it cost me?) Historically (up to two years ago), building an app could cost between $15,000 and $30,000. Web ( off the shelf ) apps typically are less expensive than native (custom) apps but they do not have the flexibility that makes a native app a potential source of revenue.

14 Costs to Build a Native (Custom) Event App Pricing Model: Flat fee $5,000 to $15,000 per app Flat fees vary based upon the number of platforms desired (iphone, Droid, and Blackberry), content complexity, and exhibitor/sponsor structure. Contracting for a series of event apps can reduce the per app price. Costs to Build a Native (Custom) Event App Pricing Model: Time and Materials Paying for software developer s actual time. Typical custom developer rates range from $100 to $150+ per hour. Individual developers usually specialize in platforms (e.g., Droid but not iphone; iphone only, etc.); larger vendors may be able to provide all three.

15 What You Need to Build a Native (Custom) Event App A timed schedule of events Locations of sessions and events Speaker names, bios, photos, and websites Exhibitor and sponsor information (name, description, representatives, contact info) Who gets the banner placement? Maps (venue and area) Additional details and graphic requirements (see Appendices A & B) Appendix A Customer Checklist

16 Appendix B Graphics Checklist You Have a Mobile Event App Now What?

17 Spread the Word! Advertise app in event announcements. Targeted s to registrants and section members in advance of the event with a link to app. Spread the Word!

18 Insert a QR (Quick Response) code in print and electronic announcements (a phone can read the QR code from your computer). Spread the Word! User Responses NW Securities Institute Downloads: 65 iphone 5 Blackberry downloads Blackberry sessions: 46 * *iphone sessions could not be reported due to data loss

19 User Responses Litigation Institute & Retreat Downloads: 6 Blackberry 11 iphone 18 Android Sessions: 220 User Responses NW Bankruptcy Institute Downloads: 1 Blackberry 46 iphone 80 Android Sessions: 715 Banner impressions: 84

20 What We Learned Select programs that will be content rich (breakouts, large venue, exhibitor and sponsors, etc.). You want users to have something to view. Have the content finalized well in advance of targeted launch date. The approval process for the Apple app store requires a minimum of three weeks, sometimes more. Promote, promote, promote! Once people learned about the app they thought it was pretty nifty. Solicit feedback from users during the event for future apps. Will We Do it Again?

21 Your thoughts? Thank you for listening! Karen D. Lee CLE Seminars Director Oregon State Bar (503)