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Len Gauger is the founder of Message Blocks. Since he was younger, event planning was a big part of his job. He usually managed about twenty events per year. He learned a lot from his past mistakes: the more people involved in the planning process, the more chaotic it became. He saw a market for a software that would allow organizers to coordinate all planning documents in one place online, with the capacity to collect registrations, edit conference agendas, and incorporate real-time reporting all managed via a smartphone app. This is a very good example of using technology in the event industry. Instead of waiting until the morning to get hold of event planner, it is easy to communicate with the company 24/7 online.

There are few processes about how to select a HRIS technology. What is the degree of flexibility and scalability that the HR information technology software provides? HR professionals should determine if the software can import data from multiple Excel spreadsheets, databases, and paper documents and the level with which it can interface with all kinds of systems and data. Will the HR information technology be able to grow and scale with the organization? Is the HR information technology software able to integrate with other systems? HR can obtain greater efficiencies when data and other employee information entered into one system can be shared with another system. Who is responsible for implementing, or building, the solution? What level of training is involved? HR should have a clear understanding of the level of training and technical expertise that will be required and the amount of time expected. If training is involved, is there a charge? What types of maintenance and upkeep are required? What security measures are built into the HR information technology? If the software is available online, through an ASP or SaaS model, the provider should offer daily backups, backup servers, and added protective layers. Will employees be able to enroll in benefits plans and make changes in real-time to their personal data and plan choices? The system should clearly present the plans available and enable employees to make selections at their convenience, simplifying these actions throughout the process with wizards.

Overall this article speaks on the upcoming services and software offered to meeting and events planners. The article outlines some new programs such as VIP organizer, EnnectEvent, and others as well and even talks about the purpose for each one. The point of the article is to inform readers on the new services that are being used in order to simplify the event planners and the consumers experiences.

This article talks about how events have changed throughout the years and especially because of 9/11. before this day the event planners and safety personel were focus on traffic control but now it is more safety concerns and the prevention of terrorist attacks. It discusses how and why technology can help them and shows many different examples that were real life like the super bowl an the presidential debates. it also stresses how important it is to know the technology and not to learn it in a crisis. Also it helps in choosing what technology to use. There are so many options out there and there is definitely a way to do all this without technology but technology can help and make it a lot safer and more effective.

Events can be successfully planned, executed and reviewed without the use of technology. However, there are affordable technology solutions that can ease the burden and provide enhanced situational awareness during an event. And the new high tech, E-Sponder, really assist in the automation of business processes, expecially the event planning. E-Sponder was used to automate many critical business processes during the debate and consequently provided real-time information sharing and reduced resolution time for unplanned events. In addition, it gave complete situational awareness both inside and outside the command center to all of those involved in securing the debate activities.

In this article, Viktor Nagornyy writes about the PlannerTech show. This event was designed in order to bridge the gap between internet technology and event planning. Liz King is a power event planner and is the owener of Liz King events. She is know for "embracing technology and utilizing social media." This PlannerTech event was scheduled to take place in New York City during the NYC Internet Week. The idea behind PlannerTech is to highligt internet technologies that cater to event planning. During the event there was time to socialize and mingle with event planners and discuss the advantages of the internet in their industry.

FIFA has paid noticeable attention to the environmental impact of the World Cup since the 2006 World Cup and green management has increased with every World Cup since with the biggest plans already staged for years 2018 and 2022. The Green Goal environmental program has been in effect since 2005 when FIFA partnered with Local Organizing Committees (LOCs) in order to champion green initiatives. This program has been adapted for every World Cup since. The program combines the resources of host cities, governmental departments, local environmentalists and international partners. Now, FIFA is implementing green initiatives into the bidding process for 2018 and 2022 by requesting information pertaining to the reduction and control of negative environmental impacts from bidders prior to making a decision on where to host the World Cup. In my opinion, FIFA has adequately worked towards environmental sustainability over the past ten years and has powerful plans to continue and improve green initiatives going forward. Previously, the indoctrination of the Green Goal program in 2005 laid the foundation for green goals and growth. Each subsequent World Cup has relied on a Green Goal program to set and measure environmental initiatives. Also, FIFA has already begun working on the Green Goal for 2018 and 2022 by requiring potential host destinations to incorporate environmental sustainability into the management structure of the mega-event. Management is required to set measurable objectives in six key areas: water, waste, energy, transportation, procurement and climate change. In addition, potential host destinations are required to plan and explain how they will incorporate stakeholders and the community via an Environmental Advisory Board. All of these aspects must be outlined in the bid submitted for consideration by FIFA and will be weighed heavily during the host location decision process.

FIFA's decision to use involved green standards as part of the bidding process for World Cups 2018 and 2022 is ingenious. The rigorous standards and expectations eliminate cities that are unwilling or unable to do the research and prep work required for the environmental concerns associated with such a large and prestigious event. However, these same circumstances caused increased competition between the remaining cities and come with some sort of financial cost. The increased competition between potential host cities and the associated higher costs pertaining to the implementation of green strategies may be seen as negatives to involved commercial/government entities and community conservatives. The following comparison explains how this may be so. Companies often design buildings with minimal closets despite having a large need for storage space. The philosophy behind this is "closets don't make money." On the contrary, entertainments space (i.e. Casinos), larger sales floors (i.e. Car Dealerships) and management offices are all spaces in which money is generate and therefore income is maximized by maximizing the "money-generating space" and minimizing spaces (i.e. closets) that do not do so. Similarly, green initiatives guarantee extra expenses and do not generate a significantly increased income. Some entities may view green initiatives as "closets." In conclusion, FIFA is a powerful force in the green initiative campaign. The organization has worked tirelessly the last 15 years to implement and improve environmental initiatives related to the World Cup. Despite the outside chance that a significant portion of the population will view green initiatives as costly non-necessities, I believe that FIFA's Green Goal program will be a success. It provides an expanding platform for each subsequent Word Cup by requiring environmental initiatives to be implemented at the management level and begin at the earliest point possible: bidding.

Event management could become a various tedious job depending on how large of an event you are planning. Event Management Technologies have allowed Event Managers to help better control their planning and spending budgets, as well help get the word out of their event through different social media platforms. This article helps supports these points and others. This article covers how with new technologies in event management there is the ability to compare past events similar to ones you are currently working on now and see exact prices of different items so you could determine if there is a cheaper route to go or if they are necessary at all. The platforms utilized nowadays allow planners to share with their crew and even clients what is going on in the planning process so all could be on the same page. There is also the ability to market events via social media which helps reduce costs of hiring marketing teams to get the word of the event occurring.

As this article mentioned, MeetingMatris will be added to the hospitality curriculum in Kendall College. MeetingMatrix provides State-of-the Art meeting planning technology solutions. In my opinion, it is very necessary to provide the students with useful technology solutions and it provides a lot of assistance for their future job seeking. In the rapid development society, accurate and instant information decides if a business success or fail in a meeting plan. Therefore, more and more people begin to pay attention on this issue.

RealView is a Chicago-based mobile software company that assists hotels with emergencies by equipping first responders with hotel's up-to-date floor plans and other relevant information. "We provide a preplan program where we make everything a responder would need available to them ahead of time," Stephen Nardi, CEO of RealView, said. "With planning, both employees and responders won't be operating on trial and error but reality." All of this information is streamlined to portable tablets or security stations and can be updated remotely and shared digitally. This software is important not only because of the safety of hotel patrons and visitors, but also to protect a hotel from a liability standpoint. "The front-end policies you have will protect you in the moment and in the end," Justin Parafinczuk, a partner for the defense law firm Koch, Parafinczuk, Wolf and Susen said. ""Any break in the chain is a liability. It's a minefield." In my opinion, this type of software not only makes sense but should be required in all hotels. When dealing with emergencies that involve life and death, seconds matter. It is software like RealView that can be the difference in saving peoples live's. RealView offers the ability to streamline real time information and make it easily sharable. I believe that not having this type of software should be considered a legal liability to hotels and they should be held accountable if they do not have this type of software implemented.

The hotel event planning business is a very lucrative business for hoteliers. Renting out space for special events such as weddings, birthdays, graduations parties and conferences are all ways hotels can earn extra revenue. In this article, "Hospitality & Event Planning: The Ingleside Hotel, provides a brief overview of the 40,000 square feet renovated meeting and banquet space. The Ingleside Hotel in Wisconsin created a new program called 'Experience Ingleside that will create unique opportunities for guests to explore both the property and the local community. For the frequent business traveler, this space is great as it offers guests rooms and suites that include a work station with complimentary wireless internet.

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems were once referred to as manufacturing requirement planning (MRP) and were mostly comprised of supply ordering functions, but now consist of companyy-wide functions, such as finance/accounting, and even human resources compenents.  (Source: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/enterprise-resource-planning-ERP.html) This article discusses the leap ERP are taking to cloud-based software and the implications to consider.  This trend means that even small- to medium-sized business can have an ERP software to run their business, instead of (due to high cost associated with it) just large corporations.  Many are finding it beneficial, especially because it's customizable.  A business can choose which components they want or need the most instead of having to take on ones that wouldn't benefit them.  Although it's not as high a cost, it's still a cost, and the writer warns to consider business needs carefully before making the leap, giving extra considerations to the fact going fully Web-based is a security concern for any business. 

The article talks about major trends in tourism events, ranging from green initiatives through F&B to the 2nd largest reason people go to events is networking opportunities and providing quiet areas where people can network in is a good idea. More events are being planned so it is necessary to book event venues early.

Like everything nowadays is evolving, also the meetings are evolving in order to stay trendy and appealing for consumers. Meetings are growing exponentially YOY at a rate of between 5-10% according to the prestigious CWT meetings and events company for 2020 (without counting coronavirus). The reality is that the meetings industry also needs to evolve in order to stay in business with the new trends, clientele and times. This list provides 19 trends that every event planner needs to consider to make their event a success, including but not limited to the new demographics in the world (millenials).

This article is about 19 event trends that event planners should be informed about. People are expecting different things from events that in the past years where not expected. Trends have changed, for example, it is a trend now to have minimalistic events instead of gaudy ones. Now people also expect creativity out of the event and to have a unique event. People also care about security of the event and fast WI-fi. All these trends are important to know and will continue changing with the years.

The author of the article breaks down event planning in 8 steps. He states that you should know why you are having this event and when. You should also know how much money you have to spend for the event then knowing where your event will be. Event planning is big undertaking so you want to make sure that you have the correct software weather it be for ticket and payments or signs or live streaming etc.You should do your research for vendors if you can bring outside ones in, if not see if the venues vendors have deals that you can utilize. You need to know why people are coming to your event and what it will take to motive those people to come and how to get them to come again.

Another Article about how Covid-19 has affected the industry. In this one in particular, is about an application that can be accessed by Android phone or website called Event Tow. With this new app that was inspired in millennial technology and Covid-19 pandemic, the customers can book events from the comfort of their homes and/or office. I believe this could be another example like the Smart-bar

This article uses diagrams and gives the step to let us know the processing of managing the risk. Also, it teaches a four-step process- Mitigation, Preparedness, Response, and Recovery to address a crisis successfully.

In the article, "Online-first event planning: Leave the bagels, keep the connectivity," it talked about global conversations facilitated by online engagement that have an in-person conversation or presentation at its core. When the company decided to live stream their events, their attendance nearly doubled just by using the ICCM's webcast. "International organizations that focus on issues such as open governance and transparency often fail to lead by example on these issues, holding conferences that are limited to small audiences, and comprised only of individuals who can afford the time and airfare necessary to be in attendance." Overall they believe that this tool is a great way for social change. This is an effective way to share information with others at a low cost way.

This article is a research paper did by Amir and Beer-Sheva. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the impact of technology on the human resources function in organizations, in general, and in hospitality firms, in particular. At the beginning, it introduced the role of human resources department in organizations for decades. And the trend or changes in contemporary human resources. Then it came out that we cannot skipped the effect of technology on the HR function, especially in tourism and hospitality industry. So, next it gave the definitions of HRIS by introducing technology. And list some advantages and challenges of using HRIS. In the end, it listed how technology put infusion across HR function, including recruitment, selection, training, performance evaluation and compensation, payroll, benefits and pension administration, labor relations and outplacement.

This article is about a new application: Monscierge that launched in December for the iOS (apple) and Connect for the Android in January. The software allows all of the amenities of a hotel to be available to guests via smartphones. The app is completely customizable for each of a brand's specific hotels. This is an excellent idea for both hotels and guests with the recent rise in smartphone and tablet technology. Guests who may not be as comfortable requesting things in person or over the phone would now have the option to do so digitally. Research of 1,000+ hotels and resorts worldwide was conducted over 3 years and found that the majority of questions to the front desk, bellmen, etc. were related to: services, local information, and recommendations. This app seeks to improve that by making those inquiries easily searchable on a smartphone or tablet, also allowing guests to input their own comments. With this finding it should be expected this kind of technology would be very well accepted, which it was. In respect to benefits for the hotel the app is completely customizable down to specific hotels to suit their image needs. With the use of this application it would also allow staff to be more effective, negating redundant questions. By allowing guests the ability to send digital postcards bearing the hotels brand it gives the company more exposure. These benefits are significant for a company looking for new technologies to give them an edge The benefits of this application are numerous for both the customer and hotel. Hotels may also see benefits moving into future years with easier training due to familiarity with this type of technology and customers with easy-to-use technology. For hotels and consumers attempting to plan completely customized experiences, trip-planning functionality is built into the app providing many possible uses. This app to me seemed to be very logical in the current progression of technology. The majority of people today

This article tells us how Marriott never forgets a guest. First and foremost, the author told us a little story about a guest's experience in Marriott. He told the hotel about his trip, the hotel let the planning coordinator to make an itinerary for the customer including trip details and their favourates. The experience in Marriott made him very satisfied. In addition, the software which made Marriott's velvet-glove treatment come true is called customer management software from Siebel Systems Inc.. This technology aims to combine the customers, hotel and planning coordinator together to share the information of the customers such as the size of the bed, the view of the room or some specific needs of the customer. In this way, people will arrived at the room prepared just as what he liked, which will made the customer satisfied and gains the hotel loyalty and hotel profits. Marriott owns 1850 hotels and resorts worldwide and began using the software in late 1998. Until now, this software has brought a large number of guests and increase sales for the hotel. Many people would like to find the planning coordinator to book their stay during Marriott or by the hotel booking system. More and more people are choosing Marriott instead of other hotels of the personize service provided by the hotel. Finally, Marriott is transforming its sales teams to aggressive marketers for all the Marriott properties. So this makes it easy for the salesperson to book hotel rooms worldwide for his local customers. With the advantages of the software, many hotel chains such as Hilton Hotels Corp. are staring to follow the Marriott's technology lead to satisfy their customers.