Pathable announced Nov. 4 the availability of its event experience platform, considered a “digital conference experience in a box.” Driving attendee retention and satisfaction as well as revenue for exhibitors and sponsors, the online platform and mobile application builds pre- and post-event private networking communities that foster “year-round engagement.”
As the only event-centric platform to combine private networking with key event logistics tools, Pathable’s digital program guide facilitates the growth of a community.
“We tell our attendees ‘come for the content; leave with a community.’Pathable is the key to delivering on that promise,” said David Blatner, co-creator and host, PePcon: The Print + ePublishing Conference.
Embedded on the conference event website and accessible through a mobile Web application, Pathable encourages networking among attendees before, during and after the event. At a number of events, attendees return to the conference website as a year-round membership community.
The solution turns event websites into highly engaged, ongoing community portals for meeting planners and attendees alike.
“Our attendees may come to our conference sites for different reasons: the agenda, the meeting scheduling, maps, etc. Then, while they may not have joined just for the social networking, once they come to the site, they find there are so many great ways to connect with each other, and with the conference, they end up spending more and more time with the site overall,” said Laura Rednour, conference manager, American Association of Critical Care Nurses. “Pathable is a very powerful tool.”
Using Pathable, attendees, exhibitors, sponsors, speakers and event management can easily identify others with like interests or needs, and engage in meaningful connection throughout an event. Attendees can search to set up meetings with others based on interest, job title, region, company or any combination of profile characteristics. Once the right networking opportunities are identified, Pathable’s calendar integration identifies mutually appropriate times and even meeting locations based on the attendee’s scheduled sessions and meetings.
A complete desktop experience that integrates with mobile, Pathable allows organizers to manage all key aspects of a conference’s digital program from their fingertips. Used as a logistical tool to view exhibitor listings, sessions and the show floor map, the platform also builds one-on-one relationships between attendees through its meeting scheduling application.
Organizers
- Live dashboard consolidates activities;
- Integrates with ticketing and registration provider (EventBrite, RegOnline, SignUp4, Cvent, etc.) or in-house system;
- Analytics to measure customer satisfaction, experience and feedback;
- Online attendee and speaker directory, dynamic session agenda, surveys, private meeting scheduling and table reservations, exhibitor listings and sponsor opportunities, interactive facility and tradeshow maps;
- Communicate prior to conference; and
- Customer or prospect engagement after the event.
Exhibitors
- Active and passive lead retrieval;
- Virtual tradeshow booths give exhibitors year-round exposure and interaction;
- Multiple sponsorship opportunities within the interface give organizers more to sell;
- Attendees and exhibitors can pre-schedule meetings in their booth or reserved meeting rooms and tables; and
- Interactive tradeshow floor map.
Attendees
- Browse, search and connect with attendees and speakers;
- Choose sessions and schedule private meetings;
- Export calendar to Outlook, iCal or view on mobile device;
- Discover connections from Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn who are also attending; and
- Identify resources or solutions before the event via dialogue with exhibitors, speakers, other attendees.
Designed for both desktop and mobile using HTML 5, Pathable does not need to be installed from an app store; it functions on the iPhone, Android and most Blackberry devices. Any device with a modern browser and an Internet connection can connect to Pathable, which can issue SMS text message alerts for critical information during an event, such as room changes and altered meeting times.
“When it comes to technology, the meetings industry is fragmented and antiquated. There are hundreds of niche providers for individual services (surveys, audience response, online agenda, mobile apps, exhibitor lists, tradeshow floor map, etc.). That’s great if all you need is that one solution, but it’s unwieldy if you have many problems to solve,” said Jordan Schwartz, CEO, Pathable. “And what about reviewing the schedule, starting conversations, booking meetings, etc., from your office before the event? A mobile event ‘app’ cannot replicate that experience. Pathable event experience platform is the only before, during and after, complete desktop and mobile solution for conference planners.”
Pathable is developing an additional feature for exhibitors to access virtual lead retrieval tools by identifying individuals who view their page through the event website to be launched at a later date.
The name ‘Pathable’ comes from a conference meeting attended by Schwartz while working for Microsoft. To identify each person’s connection to one another, the first person held onto the string of a ball of yarn, identified their relationship with another and tossed the ball of yarn to that person. Continuing the exercise until each person had been passed the ball of yarn, the result was that everyone was connected and only a few steps removed from one another. Finding the path to each other begins with a genesis, giving birth to Pathable, a community-focused event experience platform that fosters networking among like-minded attendees that continues long after an event ends.
For more information, visit www.pathable.com.
