FutureCON

It's no secret that I believe mobile and wireless technologies are changing the way we conduct business. Conferences and trade shows are no exception.  Events of the future are being tailored to mobile workers.   This is especially true with the advent of smart phones as well as new mobile devices, such as Apple's iPad.   One such conference I attended recently that had a good handle on this concept was Forrester's IT Forum in Las Vegas, Nevada. 

Forrester used both traditional and new ways to encourage attendees to interact with others. Among the more traditional ways were the provided power strips and Ethernet connections in many of their sessions. These made it much easier to live blog, micro-blog, etc.  While this doesn't sound like much, access to power outlets is a common complaint I hear while attending other conferences.  Access to power outlets is especially critical for mobile devices, which are commonly used to share & connect, but often have battery life issues. 

Also related to the infrastructure was the fact that Forrester provided an adequate Wi-Fi network, which alleviated concerns about too many rogue APs and/or Mi-Fi devices.  Again, this is increasingly important as we see more Wi-Fi enabled devices, such as dual-mode phones or iPads in use during conferences. 

In one of the keynote presentations, Forrester VP Ted Schadler postulated that video is one of four key technologies that is empowering employees and changing the mobile landscape.  Forrester definitely backed up the importance of video as they gave away Sony Bloggie cameras at the start of the conference and encouraged users to upload videos on YouTube. 

It's my belief that products such as Flip cameras and Sony Bloggies are driving the push towards video because they make it much easier to upload and integrate with popular applications such as YouTube and Facebook. That being said, I believe the main inhibitor to a more widespread adoption of video is the lack of good search functionality.  Obviously, categorizing and tagging video is a start, but we need a more comprehensive way to search for keywords or phrases within the videos.  In this case, Forrester asked everyone to use a specific hashtag, #itf10, to identify both text and video content related to the conference. 

Speaking of video, they also used Ustream to record and deliver content from some of their presentations in real time. If you are not familiar with Ustream, there is no cost for you to watch the presentations.  The presentations are also recorded and available for playback anytime. 

One last unique mechanism Forrester used to enhance the conference experience for mobile workers was an iPhone app designed specifically for the event.  Among other things, the app provided information about each session, displayed a map of the conference center, and gave answers to frequently asked questions.  I also created a short video about the conference iPhone app if you'd like to see it in action.   

What new techniques have you seen at conferences that allow attendees to better connect and share with others?  Do you think there are there any other trends that will make their way into this arena?  What about location-based applications and services?  Any others?  Submit a comment and let me know what you think!

Douglas J. Haider is a Wireless Consulting Engineer with Xirrus. He hosts a personal blog at WiFiJedi.com, and micro-blogs on Twitter @wifijedi