Sunday, January 15th, 2012
It’s Day 2 from the North American Veterinary Conference and I’ve been experimenting with fresh technology that enhances the conference attendee’s experience: an app! The NAVC app was brought to my attention the day before the conference started by way of an email welcome announcement from NAVC. This free download was designed so that you could leave your copy of the official program in your room, or perhaps go green. I think this is a fabulous idea, but was surprised when the 1-inch thick program was pre-packed in our conference goody bags. With the implementation of an app, I would hope to see fewer programs printed next year, perhaps allowing attendees to pick up a hard copy, if they want one.
The NAVC app features the following functions on the dashboard:
- General overview of the NAVC
- The complete scientific program, which allows you to build your own program schedule gives you control over creating a custom program schedule for each day of the conference.
- A speaker list that is completely searchable by name, with photos and biographies.
- An exhibitor list that is completely searchable by name, giving you a complete index of vendors with one-touch connectivity to their websites and a map location of where to find them in the exhibit halls.
- Maps of each exhibit hall and program rooms for both the Gaylord and the Marriott.
- Social media connectivity allows users of the app to post to their Twitter or Facebook feeds directly from the app.
- A news feed pulls all Twitter posts with the #navc to the app for a convenient one-stop view of who’s posting what, live from the conference.
- Surveys for each session are built into the app, giving you the power to submit your feedback for sessions in a more convenient manner.
- Extras include FAQs about the conference center, recommendations for places to eat, information about the hotels, and an on-call button that puts you in direct contact with an NAVC staff volunteer if you have a problem.
- Your user portal gives you access to the digital proceedings and your session attendance records, which are tracked digitally.
- An attendee list, which is searchable by last name. If you gave permission to publish your email address, the app allows you to connect directly with other conference attendees.
- Messages can be sent to you from the NAVC through the app.
My goal has been to streamline my “baggage” throughout the day. I have been able to carry just my iPad for taking notes and my smartphone with the app to keep me on schedule and guide me through the day. The app does tend to crash on occasion, but overall I have been very pleased with its functionality. My hope is to see this option available at other major conferences, as I see real value in this tool.
Tags: app, conference, navc, seminars, time management
