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The author of this article, Tara Thomas, summarizes the top five technologies for event planners. The first technology that she mentions is smart phones. She writes that this is the most obvious technology that event planners can't live without. Planners can do things like set alarms, look up information, communicate instantly, and use social media to promote the event. The second technology that Thomas mentions is SaaS cloud applications. Software as a service allows planners to access all details and execution aspects of an event from any web enabled device, eliminating printed or emailed reports. Thirdly, Thomas talks about virtual events. Virtual events save the planner and the attendee valuable time, money, and resources. Thomas next talks about social media and viral marketing. Using sites like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn to share event details is a great way to communicate to a very large group of people. The fifth and last technology that Thomas speaks of is Ipads and tablets. Through event management applications, planners have all of the information they could possibly need right at their fingertips. Ipads and tablets also make it possible to communicate in real time if needed.

This article was about the 5 technologies event planners can't live without. These technologies are: smart phones, SaaS cloud apps, virtual events, social media and viral marketing, and finally iPads and tablets. Smart phones are important to the daily activities of an event planner because they are able to look up phone numbers, response to emails, update a status on a social media site, review or add to lists for events, and so much more all on the go. SaaS cloud apps let planner take advantage of accessing all devices and execute aspects of an event for any web enabled device. With SaaS cloud apps you are also able to link up your event management system with a customer relationship management system. Virtual events allow planners to fill seats at a cost that won't cost a burden. Social media and viral marketing allows event planners to market themselves and get event details to different consumers. iPads and tablets get rid of the need for a large heavy binder stuffed with event details. Now event planner can carry a tablet that allows you to access anything you need. In conjunction with the SaaS cloud apps you can also access contracts, registrations, and room blocks and also link up a CRM system as mentioned before. The technology advances we have now let event planners do even more on the day to day, but also make it easier for them to do so.

The article lists five technological necessities that used by the event planners. They are smartphones, SaaS cloud apps, virtual events, social medial and viral marketing, ipads and tablets. All of these technologies can save time and costs for the event planners. What`s more, they provide a more simplified life for the human beings. 

Social media is a huge part of life now for most everyone, and clearly the hospitality and tourism industry is adapting their marketing techniques in order to benefit from these mass communication websites. One of the important facts to understand is that much of online marketing has become "viral". Viral marketing in a nutshell is a mass blast of promotions via video, articles, blogs etc. The major benefits to viral marketing are that these promotions can be forwarded, commented on, reviewed and then easily shared with others. A tag, a bookmark, a link posted to any of the major sites markets these promotions at a speed that the industry is now getting accustomed to. Social media has also allowed the marketers to realize their strengths and weaknesses by reading and watching reviews of what they have to offer. In a nutshell, social media is a major benefit to the tourism industry and with viral marketing being utilized can boost the industry and benefit tourism as a whole.

I think it is important not to post just a message on your online marketing initiatives, but to post the right message. As highlighted, viral marketing is most effective when the message is passed along to other users. Its all about spreading the word.

Smartphones, Saa S Cloud Apps, virtual Events, social media,viral marketing and Ipads and tablets are the most common event panning technology. These technologies can use in hospitality/ tourism. Smartphones are most of people will use everyday and the same as professionals. It easy to manage the whole things in a short time. Social Media and Viral Marketing are also have a huge inffluence on people. Like the twitter, facebook.

This articles talks about how social media has impacted the tourism industry and how it has changed the platform for the marketing strategy. It mentions how viral marketing is being used more often which is focused on online communities, blogs, social media networks and wikis. Social media, unlike traditional media channels, represent a unique way of transmitting information in all directions, not just "one-way" and "top-down". The article also specifies how sharing and promoting tourism related information through social media is a part of our mission. Understanding an importance of the viral marketing, our team is dedicated to spread your message by using knowledge and expertise over social media applied in tourism industry on both global and local levels. Social bookmarking is one of the fastest methods for internet users to organize, share, and manage web resources currently available as a SEO tool. Most of social bookmarking services support internet users to organize their bookmarks with informal tags such as tourism, travel, marketing etc

The article concentrates on the latest and most fashionable marketing practices in the hospitality sector. It is noteworthy that the industry learns from other sectors and strives to match its practices to realize growth. The author, Shangzhi Charles Qui, identifies five major marketing trends likely to influence the future of hospitality and tourism. They include augmented reality, virtual reality, viral, human spirit, and collaborative marketing. In line with augmented reality, it would be critical in the industry to provide a new view of the world with extra information. According to Qui (2016), augmented reality suits the industry since it "has already been used in improving tourist experience, particularly adding entertaining elements to the journey." Virtual reality suits the industry as it will provide a more direct user experience instead of relying on photos and videos. The author observes viral marketing using social networks that have been used by Unilever, Volkswagen, and Nike. A critical aspect is that "viral marketing is based on the power of word-of-mouth (WOM)," making it more effective in transforming the purchase behavior of customers (Qui, 2016). Based on human spirit marketing, customers are leaning towards products that touch their spirituality; that is, their hearts. The last trend, collaborative marketing, increases interactions between businesses and customers, businesses and businesses, and consumers and consumers. It applies to the industry because "collaboration is particularly important in destination marketing effort due to the fragmented nature of the tourism industry" (Qui, 2016). Therefore, it will become the commonest marketing strategy in the future.

An unssuspecting person check into a hotel like any normal person would. The ever so common exchange, credit card for room key took place. The only difference was that the person that checked had done so with other intentions. The "guest" utilized an IP Telephone that was in this hotel room to hack into the hotel credit card database and steal credit cards, transmit them to a foreign country and then have money transferred to his offshore bank account. This happened but at the hands of Jason Ostrom, aa Vigilar senior security consultant. Ostrom was able to unplug teh telephone in his room, plug in the phone's ethernet canle into his laptop and hack away. Of course, he did this as part of his job in testing a company's security agaisnt viral hackers. His company offers free security testing using a downloadable software called VolP Hopper This article was extremely interesting because as a frequrnt traveler as well as a perosn in the hospitlaity industry I was very shocked at the ease that the credit card information could be stolen. When it comes to credit card security it is of the utmost importance for companies to be PCI compliant and spend whatever it is necessary to safeguard the information of their customers. The detrimental damage that a security breach can have on a person can be debilitating as leaders in the hospitality industry we must do everything possible to prevent attacks like this from happening. made me become extra cautious about using my credit cards.

In hotels, international eMarketing is very significant because this service industry ensures sales by connecting and interacting with consumers across the globe. So the writer of this article introduse his/her opinion about that Facebook could be a international eMarketing tool, in order to attract international leisure travelers and increases potential sales. Also, the author mentioned that the internet exposure is a determinant of eMarketing adoption, the eMarketing is a kind of varying use of viral marketing, and the social networking websites which mapping social connections to widen relationships and spread information. There are seveal benefits and several ways of using the social networking website to promote the hotels.

I pretty believe that social medias are playing an important role in marketing of hotels, such as facebook. But something I have to say that facebook can not been accessed all over the world. The simple example is that we can not use it in China. The thing I mean that social media also have some negatives and we need to improve.

This article points out 5 information technologies that event planner can't (or shouldn't) be without. The first, and most obvious, is the smart phone. The author lists a few tasks that can be accomplished right from our smart phone, including making to-do lists, setting alarms for meetings, etc. the second technology is the SaaS Cloud App(s) that allows event planners to "access all details and execution aspects of an event from any web-enabled device...". You can also list this software to your CRM system which I think is really cool. The author goes on to discuss virtual events, social media and viral marketing, and lastly, ipads/tablets. She makes the claim that having events virtually and promoting your business through social media can save you time, money, paper, and resources in general.

It seems they are really customizing the guest experience by offering guests the opportunity to take advantage of their relationship with Live Nation. I like how they get the guests involved in promotions by offering them a cash code, a benefit of being an SPG member.

The article highlighted the five top technologies that are quite effective and beneficial for events: 1. Smart phones: Smart phones have the ability to look up suppliers when on the move, for example the ability to respond to emails as well as monitor and respond to the social media. Another benefit is the ability for to do list and scheduled to be created. This is very critical in the time management of events. 2. Saas Cloud Application (software as a service): The advantage is to have access form any web enabled device. This will reduce printing cost and provide the ability to customize reports. Meeting Planners can use Saas to link event management system with customer relationship systems eg. Saleforce. This allows efficient data transfer to both speakers and attendees. 3. Virtual Events: Webiners like gotomeeting.com give participants the ability to attend meetings from multiple locations. This can be save time and money. The only drawback in the personal interaction however, for quick group meetings and presentations this can be quite convenient. 4. Social Media and Viral Marketing: One out of every three persons spend three or more hours on-line per day. The sharing of events though social media sites is highly beneficial for both planners and attendees. Smart planners get participants to market to people within their network. 5. Ipads and Tablets: No more big boxes of binders to ship home form a conference. This means huge saving for bit planners and attendees. Access for information can be controlled at registration point. Information is easily transferred to ones device

I agree every event planner I met at SOBEWFF was on their Ipad 24/7- you sort of feel out of the loop without one. However while observing the benefits of new technology, increased response rates and efficiency, there were still issues that required a phone call rather than an e-mail. In the planning stage this technology is all very helpful but the day of personal interaction is required. Also as far as CRM event planners are still very hands on in terms of making their presence known through face-to-face interactions. The industry still relies heavily on personal relationships.

This article talks about the 5 most important tools that an event planner needs to use. 1.Smart phones- this one is an easy one. We all know how important our smart phones are to us. Smart phones allow us to have so many different applications at our fingertips. 2.SaaS cloud applications-"software as a service" these applications have opened up a new way to view things in the event planning industry. These applications allow the planners to use their ipads and tablets to allow them to connect with other applications like salesforce, to deal with customers in an easy manner. 3.Virtual events-these events like "webinars and live feed "have become popular it gives viewers the sense of being at the event. Webinars are also very popular because it allows planners to get more people to "be" at the event for a lower cost. 4.Social Media- because sites like Facebook and Twitter have become so popular it makes sense that this would be important to events because people are often commenting of places they have been to. 5.iPads and Tablets-because they add a sense of simplicity and organization to the madness that is party planning

In this article, Christine Negroni discusses the future of airline booking and travel. Over the last ten years, there has been a shift from telephone reservations to computer reservations with the birth of the World Wide Web. With new mobile devices and smart phones, customers are now trying to find the newest, easiest way to work a plane ticket or a vacation. Companies have to strategically plan how they will market to thei customers. FOr leisure, companies will want to reach them through Facebook and Twitter. With the internet, airlines today need to focus on their image. The image is just as important as the product you sell, or the plane ticket the customer purchases. With Youtube, anyone can post whatever they'd like, so hospitality companies and airlines especially, need to be weary. Because the aviation industry is so large, the internet give customers and companies a way to interact on a deeper, more personal level.

This article emphasizes the positive and negative aspects of the hospitality industry adopting to sustainable practices. It recognizes that this industry is in the business of making money, while appoints the importance of doing so conscientiously, respecting the environment. It shows the steps that the organizations should take on its journey to action. I believe that sustainability should be a business imperative and not a lifestyle choice, as the sustained interest among consumers in tourism products and services are continuously increasing. That should be beneficial for the organization, positively affecting the operating revenue.

The article discusses the many ways the IT world is finding new ways to be sustainable in the hospitality industry. Changing the way a hotel runs by introducing e-mails to guest and other companies to reduce the paper flow or allowing guest to do mobile check-ins can reduce a lot of paper waste. Also, having guest use their phones as key cards for their rooms can aid in avoiding wasting and needing to create key cards. By hotels having an energy saving system, they reduce electrical waste by having computers on low power consumption mode. One main thing the article mentioned that I personally see a lot of hotels doing is digital advertising. Instead of relying on paper advertisement, hotels rely heavily on ads on social medias, facebook, google, and third party vendors.

This article discusses the IT green movement that has been in action since the rise of technology and ways on how IT can go green. Some opportunities in the green IT movement include the following: - Using IT responsibly and effectively to reduce water, energy, and paper consumption. This gives IT teams to take advantage of a few technical enhancements within their hotels to provide key cards available on smart phones, email to reduce paper, and digital signage. - Deploying effective technology practices such as Energy Star compliance to shut down computers automatically after periods of inactivity and server virtualization. This would mean for everything to be on one common server, and companies can save money on computer hardware and power consumption. - Tackling e-waste and deploying recycling technologies to reduce environmental waste and impacts. This could be implementing by introducing a safe recycling system for used hardware. - Digital marketing practices. This could be like using digital media to save money or using social media to encourage guests about the green practices that the hotel is implementing. - Marketing strategies to report and promote green practices. This could be having the business properly use marketing strategies to target these environmentally conscious market and find ways to promote green practices to this market segment. These are all very effective ways for IT teams to go green within their hospitality businesses. These green IT projects will need approval from top management and investment in time and resources.

Social Media platforms has radically changed customers purchasing habits. Networking with other users lead to a gathering and sharing of information which then leads to increases in trust and intention to buy. Social Media represents an opportunity to boost brand recognition, increase sales, and promote word-of-mouth communication. This article is separated into two parts; the first discussing theoretical concepts for the growing of Social Media use in recent years, and the second giving point on the key role that social media takes in improving an e-commerce platform. As a theoretical concept, it is believed that social media has a lasting effect on social influence and the trust that consumers have during the purchasing process. This has allowed companies like Facebook to generate mass use through social integration and connecting people with those living around them. For concrete evidence, multiple points attribute the growth in online social platforms. The most successful of these steps has bee the online after-sale service, which allows e-vendors to communicate directly with their customer giving them a chance to witness the attention paid by the e-vendors on their needs and problems. This also allows for customers to rate and review products and services. Social Media has now been shaped to be the ideal place to gain knowledge about brands. So much so that shopping behavior influenced by reading other consumer's comments took place in 46% of all purchasing decisions. The article goes on to give hard data on social networking in emerging markets such as South Asia, Oceania, East Asia and Southeast Asia. It also gives hard data on use of social media in restaurants, with over 82* of all restaurants having some sort of social platform. In conclusion, social media has become a viral phenomenon and learning to manage effectively will lead to an outstanding competitive advantage.

This article focuses on the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the hospitality industry, with a critical look into the approaches that hotels F&B have applied to combat the new challenges. It is apparent that businesses in this industry have been adversely affected by the fact that they are no longer allowed to host customers, and some have even been closed down. The main challenge is that the businesses have also had to adjust their operations, with respect to the provision of an environment where there is minimal contact between customers and the employees. This article reveals some of the feasible approaches that have been applied by some of the businesses to ensure they continue serving their customers. Some of the strategies include the development of contactless food delivery options, providing gift cars and certificates to entice the consumers to purchase discounted offers, and promoting online ordering for food and other products. "Since most governments are prohibiting food and beverage outlets from opening fully for dine-in guests, contactless food delivery options have gained momentum." (Williams, 2020). Such innovations are bound to be the only way for the players in the industry to survive. However, they also need to embrace the fact that they have to lay off most of the workers and to repurpose some of the facilities. The hotel industry has to continuously embrace the challenges being presented by the restrictive laws meant to enhance the safety of the people by preventing the spread of the viral infection. The amicable solutions should be the diversification of products and services to meet the new needs of the target markets, while also ensuring that the entities are not operating at a loss.

This is an interesting article that is written by a Data Privacy Lawyer. He outlines the complexity of data privacy in travel given that there are so many different interpretations of what it means in different countries. He also highlights that when privacy might be violated by another individual, there is almost no recourse.

This article analyzes how user-generated ratings have a positive impact on hotels revenue growth. It looks at this through three different methods: one, ratings that the uses provide, two at how those ratings are "distributed over the scale," and three, the number of reviews that hotel receives. The article observes 240 small to mid scale hotels in Italy. Some issues we see come up revolve around the subjectivity of user-generated reviews and how that can positively and negatively affect hotel occupancy and interest. Ultimately, it appears that hotels that already have a high star rating will benefit most from these user-generated ratings because they have a stronger bargaining tool. The other benefactor are small, niche hotels whose increase viability and unique qualities help it in encouraging new tourism and high level experiences.

Social media can both positively and negatively affect companies. Companies need to dedicate time and resources into creating content to help build brand recognition and fan loyalty. Content needs to feel organic, to help drive more traffic and brand loyal and awareness. With the many upsides to social media marketing, comes some disadvantages. Posting content allows for negative feedback from consumers. Companies should work on replying back with positive solutions to customers as other potential clients will also see these and reconsider using your brand.