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We built our company around the primary goals of the event planner (or, if you prefer, event organizer, event architect, or event director). You want people to register, attend, and get the most out of the experience. You want to create a buzz. At the moment of execution, you want your event to be valuable and enjoyable.

We’ve created the ZeristaPRO platform with these goals in mind.

Research suggests that 64% an event planner’s working time is consumed by mind-numbing busywork. In addition to the fact that time is the currency of your life and it is being used in a manner described as “numbing,” we believe that if you could eliminate this nonsense from your workday you could better allocate that time to far more useful ventures – setting yourself ahead of the other event planners who are spending over half of their day with busywork. So, how do we remove the busyness from your agenda?

ZeristaPRO makes event planning a breeze.

• By using the matchmaking and chatter features attendees are able to connect and start buzzing long before your event takes place. This user-propelled pre-event buzz will virally build a sense of excitement for your events – no monkey-business or busy-work required.

• The schedule builders and agenda features make sure that all times and locations are in sync for all attendees & speakers – no mass notifications and confusion for small changes and adjustments.

• Chatter feed and social media integration allow attendees, speakers, and sponsors to establish a community organically, exchange thoughts and ideas about which sessions to attend, and get the conversation flowing long before anyone boards a plane or checks into a hotel.

• Effectiveness: streamlined registration, great user experience, and mobile event planning dashboard make it so that your event thrives and you aren’t tied to a computer.

Social media has radically shifted the paradigm in which making connections occurs, a change with huge ramifications for the event industry.

According to comscore, the self-touted global source of digital market intelligence, as of February 2011 one out of every eight minutes online was spent on Facebook. Yes, the obsession with social networking partially stems from our curiosity to know whose gotten married/pregnant/incarcerated since high school, but in reality a only a small portion of our time spent on sites like Facebook is consumed by such creeping (“Facebook stalking,” if you will). What it really symbolizes is the fact that people are, at their core, social creatures. We want information, we want to sell our products and services, but, more than anything, we want to connect with one another.

Networking

Pre-social media, one would arrive at an event with a limited amount of time to meet, mingle, spark a conversation, and – hopefully – develop a couple of meaningful connections. Today those are balls that can be rolling in the days, weeks, and months preceding the event itself. With social media technology, attendees and exhibitors are enabled to participate in group discussions, share ideas, spark conversations, and request meetings long before anyone boards a plane or leaves their office. Rather than relying on the serendipitous nature of meet and mingle events, one can search through a database of every attendee, speaker, and event session in order to filter out the most promising networking opportunities available based on their specific interests and event goals.

In the end, not only does social media technology allow individuals to begin making connections way back in the planning stage of an event, but this foresight allows them to plan for the event itself so that, when it arrives, they are able to allocate their time and energy during those few days most effectively (and then continue the conversation in the days, weeks, and months to follow).

Simplicity

Let’s be honest: navigating through an event can be an absolute nightmare.

Schedule changes are inevitable. Keeping track of exhibitor brochures and business cards, along with a 3” thick stacks of session schedules, itineraries, brochures, and maps, can quickly become a discombobulated, confusing, and downright miserable ordeal. Exhibition halls are huge. People are everywhere, business needs to happen, and there is never enough time in the day.

With the help of mobile technology, events become manageable again. When things are manageable, you’re free to get the most out of them, and maybe even (gasp!) enjoy them a bit.

The Moral

A great event is energized, productive, progressive, and dynamic. Without the right tools, however, any event can quickly become an overwhelming, chaotic mess that fails to reach it’s maximum potential.

Companies and individuals that utilize event technology prevent the little administrative inconveniences that unnecessarily complicate an event while simultaneously giving themselves an edge before, during, and after the event itself.

This year, NTC (NTEN’s nonprofit technology conference) used Zerista’s web & mobile event planning platform to enhance the annual 3 day experience for over 2,000 users  - an impressive adoption rate that includes 362 exhibitors, 280 speakers, 11 moderators, and 1,915 attendees. This complete mobile platform put the entire event completely in the palms of all 2000+ hands, not only simplifying networking and planning, but making it easier to connect and form an effective event community.

It was nice to be able to choose several sessions and have a schedule on my phone, so that if one session was full, or didn’t fit my needs, I could easily look up my alternative session without having to reference my program book…

I also relied on the live [Chatter] feeds to see what everyone else was saying about the conference topics, key takeaways, and to also see where people were heading to dinner or when the cookie cart arrived!

- Lisa, myNTC user and writer for the Balcom Group blog

To learn more about NTEN’s Nonprofit Technology Conference, visit their website at http://www.nten.org/ntc

Taylor, a Colorado native, grew up ski racing in Steamboat, Colorado. Rather than going to a traditional high school, he attended a “ski academy” where he wore ski boots 250 days out of the year and traveled all around the world.

After high school Taylor studied communications at DU and went on to work for Nordica as their North American factory rep.  His job was to be the face of the industry, driving all over the country and maintaining the equipment for clubs and athletes. It was a sports lovers dream – Taylor was responsible for keeping all of the athletes happy, from the Nordica athletes in the X-games to those in the Olympics.

Taylor went on to be an entrepreneur in two, very successful, software companies, before arriving here today at Zerista. Although he works with us as an account executive, it’s his incredible background in technology and software development that lets him be such an  effective liaison between the development team and our customers.

Today his interests are vast. His parents still live in Steamboat, where his mom runs “Strings,” a well-known yearly Steamboat music festival. This festival has been a big stepping stone for up-and-coming bands – a number of Best New Artist Grammy have been won the year after they performed at her festival. Growing up this translated to lots of starstruck moments for Taylor, who met people like Billie Corgan, David Bowie, and Trent Reznor during these summers.

When he isn’t skiing or meeting superstars, Taylor loves to cook and loves to eat – he’s even teaching his wife to cook at the moment. When they aren’t cooking together, Taylor and Katie spend a lot of time with their dogs – Chuck (a 5 year old lab/great dane mix) and Roxie (a 4 year old shitzu poodle) – both rescues. You think between the cooking, the eating, the skiing, and the Zerista-ing, Taylor would have enough on his plate – but no cigar: he just finished his first half-marathon, where he raised about $10,000 with his wife and sister for the Leukemia/Lymphoma society. The photo above was taken at this marathon, right at the 12.5 mile finish line.

If there’s one business concept that we absolutely can’t imagine anyone arguing with, it’s the idea that – today more than ever – networking is at the heart of career development.

Now, if someone wanted to argue anyways, they should know that the Harvard Business Review is on our side –  it recently reported that 95% of executives consider face-to-face meetings essential for long-term business relationships.

As Ivan R. Misner, New York Times bestselling author of networking guide The 29% Solution explains, the difference between companies that are good versus companies that are great “are in the little things that are done exceptionally well. Great networkers move their business forward, but they don’t do it alone. Great networkers have a plan, work to expand their network, go the extra mile, know how to get the most value for their time, communicate their messages effectively, become the experts, capture their best stories, and do what others don’t.”

It’s this idea that makes us believe that social media tools and technology will increasingly begin to separate good businesses from great businesses.

Companies and individuals that utilize event technology like ZeristaPRO, with it’s unique matchmaking feature & social networking tools, give themselves an edge before, during, and after events. Not only does social media technology allow these “great” networkers to begin making connections & expanding their networks way back in the planning stage of an event, but this foresight helps them plan for the event itself so that, when it arrives, they are able to allocate their time and energy during those few days most effectively.

Let’s look at it this way: in the days before social media technology, you would arrive at an event with a certain amount of time to meet, mingle, spark a conversation, and hopefully develop a couple of meaningful connections. Today, those are all balls that can be rolling in the months beforehand. With social media tools you can be a participate in group discussions, share your ideas, spark conversations, and request meetings long before you ever board a plane or leave your office. Rather than relying on the serendipidous nature of meet and mingle events, you can search through a database of every attendee, speaker, and event session in order to filter out the most promising networking opportunities available to you based on your specific interests and event goals.

This concept has been incredibly successful in the world of dating, where online dating has become an overwhelming phenomenon. According to a recent survey by Match.com, in 2010 20% of committed relationships (1 in 5) and 17% of newlyweds met on an online dating site. These statistics don’t even take into account the millions of people who have connected through common interest groups and forums, friends on social networking accounts like Facebook or Twitter, or by following a blog or website.

ZeristaPRO borrows the “matchmaking” concept utilized by online dating sites like Match.com or eHarmony, and brings it into the professional arena. Event sites built on the ZeristaPRO platform have a “recommend” button that will “match” you with attendees, event sessions, and sponsors that might be of particular interest to you, both streamlining and personalizing the social networking processes.

In a world like dating – which is tied to so many deeply rooted emotional strings – online dating is thriving for one reason: because it works. It works because filtering through a large pond based on mutual interests, and then being allowed to converse via email, gchat, etc. versus the time and energy involved in going on a Friday night date, is a much more effective ways to find yourself a compatible partner. If this process is successful in something as emotionally loaded and high-commitment as dating, then imagine just how effective it can be in a much more practical, less-intense arena like business networking.

And here is where our argument comes full circle: if a face-to-face meeting is essential for business success, and there are more people attending a conference or event then you could possibly meet in a day (or even a week) period, then why on earth would you risk squandering that time shuffling through small-talk with the wrong people? It’s awareness of these little decisions that take a company from good to great. Here at Zerista, we would argue that the great companies in our future are the ones who, today, see how powerful social networking technology is, and recognize that if it can pair people well enough that they can spend the rest of their lives together, it certainly should be able to help you select the connections that will be most valuable for you to spend that precious face-to-face time nurturing at an event.

Featured image is property of Rolling Stone magazine online, SXSW 2011.

Events matter. You’ve heard us say it a thousand times. It’s plastered all over our website, twitter page, and e-mail signatures. Yes, it’s a concise, striking, and powerful tagline (if we do say so ourselves), but it’s much more than that. The truth is, it gets to the heart of who we are and why we think our product matters: because events matter, and our product is a tool that enhances events. ZeristaPRO is a vehicle that allows you to engage in an event before the physical start date, so that when that date arrives you are set up, connected, and able to make that invaluable face-to-face time as high-impact as possible. It enables you to take those face-to-face encounters and keep the conversation going for months afterwards. In a nutshell, it’s a vehicle to help you make the most of events, and this matters only because events, themselves, matter.

Events inspire us. Educate us. Connect us.

When Lady Gaga gets involved, on the other hand, they  perplex us.

From industry trade shows to professional sports games, events bring people together and punctuate life, they’re the things worth sharing and remembering. From Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech to Hurricane Katrina, from Lady Gaga being “born” out of a giant egg onstage during this year’s Grammys to your 16th birthday party, events drive our personal and cultural social conversation. Events have the power to inspire, connect, and educate. In the case of your 16th birthday party (or Lady Gaga), they might even have the power to be slightly traumatizing.

There are a lot of great event social media blogs on the web – with many new ones seemingly popping up every day.  Lots of really smart people are sharing their ideas and perspectives on how social media is changing the event experience and, in the process, the event industry. Here are some of the event social media blogs we find ourselves reading frequently:

Sytelabs There’s nothing not to love about Jacob Worek’s writing on event planning, services, and ideas. He handles everything from managing event stress to Charlie Sheen with humor and very relevant insight.

Midcourse Corrections – Jeff Hurt seems to pump out great stuff on the role of social media at events on an almost daily basis.

Fork in the road – Social Media and Face-to-Face Meetings – If you’re interested in in-depth explorations at the intersection of social media, virtual events, and meetings, Michelle Bruno’s posts are a great source.

Interactive Meeting Technology – Sam Smith has built up a successful following with his witty deep dives on the latest in event technology, in particular social media tools.

Chris Brogan – General social media blog but often with a focus on event social media.

McCurry’s Corner –  Mike’s posts have a personal touch as they explore the world of event social media.

The tough thing about lists is that you always have to leave somebody off or forget one of your favorites.  Do you read any of these blogs?  Which do you like?  Who did we miss?

“The Congress for the New Urbanism is very excited to be using Zerista this year! Attendees have been impressed to find an event networking site that looks great and connects them with the colleagues they’ll see at our conference. They’re also using it to select and find sessions. It definitely surpassed our expectations.” -CNU Communications Director

We recently completed a fun project working with a leading urban design conference in Denver.  The Conference for the New Urbanism (CNU) is the nation’s leading forum dedicated to advancing urbanism and promoting alternatives to sprawl.

We were excited to work on this project – not only because we support the general new urbanist principles, but also because we live and work in the types of communities that new urbanism seeks to encourage.

As background, New Urbanism is an urban design and development movement dedicated to implementing community-oriented principles of traditional town and city planning in contrast to the prevailing system of formless sprawl. New Urbanist developments are walkable, provide a diverse range of housing options, encourage a rich mix of uses, and provide welcoming public spaces as detailed in the Charter of the New Urbanism.

The conference attracts more than 1,000 attendees from around the world who particiapte in several hundred planned activities throughout the week.

Some of the key challgenges faced by the conference organizer:

•    Strengthen relationships between core stakeholders – attendees, speakers and exhibitors
•    Increase networking between attendees, speakers and exhibitors
•    Increase productivity at the conference

The solution included the following key components:

•    Attendee, speaker and exhibitor directories with detailed info on all key stakeholders
•    Online conversations for attendees, speakers and exhibitors
•    Personalized scheduling tools with ability to export MS Outlook, iCal and other calendar aps

The solution generated a significant ROI:

•    27% average increase in event networking due to Zerista (based on survey data)
•    10% average increase in overall event productivity due to Zerista (based on survey data)

If you have any questions  or comments, please feel free comment below.