Proactive entrepreneurs usually attend a lot of events like conferences, seminars, meetings, trade shows, networking dinners, etc. All of them involve getting acquainted with people, communicating with them, and learning new things. Generally speaking, it all comes down to large amounts of information with which a person has to cope.
In the age of technological development there are numerous solutions allowing conference attendees to make the most of the events they attend. Mobile apps win the race because they are always close at hand via smartphone and the only necessary condition for using them is enough space on your device.
We have reviewed a number of mobile apps for events and conferences and compiled a list of the best ones for you to use next time. Before we name the applications, let’s talk about conferences in general and about the needs of attendees that can potentially be satisfied with some variety of software.
Conferences and Why People Attend Them
There are certain features common to any conference. Every event has attendees and speakers. A conference can have multiple locations, each with their own schedules. There can even be exhibition spaces and various competitions for startups. Don’t forget about coffee breaks, lunch, and after parties as these aspects can be very important with regard to networking. Additionally, visiting conferences most always involves some amount of travel. You’ll need to book a hotel, find places to eat, and go sightseeing of course. Discovering a new city is an opportunity that should not be be missed.
Conference visitors come to learn from others, expand their network, exchange experiences, and find new business opportunities. These needs should be served somehow and this is where various apps can be of great assistance and can substantially reduce the effort required to satisfy every attendee.
Best Apps for Conferences
As it is impossible to remember everything, the key points of presentations should be noted. It doesn’t matter whether they are written with a pen or typed, it is important just to have them. Evernote is one of the most popular applications for taking notes with the help of a mobile device.
The features are:
- Take individual notes in various formats like text, photos, audio, video, etc
- Organize all notes into separate groups
- Attach various documents, files, and photos
- Search through your notes
- Scan and digitize documents, business cards, etc.
One of Evernote’s greatest benefits is synchronization with various devices be it a laptop, desktop, tablet, or smartphone. However, it is worth keeping in mind that the app can be active on only two devices simultaneously.
Today, Twitter is one of the best apps available for conference attendees. Social sharing is now treated as an integral part of our everyday life, and personally attending an exciting event can be even more newsworthy than a story on the web. Apart from letting everyone know that you are going to a conference, Twitter can also help you post successive updates for your colleagues or friends who are not also in attendance.
It is probably not necessary to describe all of Twitter’s features in detail, given the app’s widespread popularity, but we can sum them up:
- Sync your contacts with the app and connect with more people
- Set up your profile and see your activity history
- Send and receive messages
- Write tweets and discover what others are talking about
- Explore the most popular and trending topics
Many thought leaders, such as Elon Musk or Bill Gates, use the app, some of whom may even be attending the same conference. Wouldn’t it be interesting to know what they share?
If you attend a conference in a city you’ve never been to, you will certainly need a guide. While a local would be the best option, this may not always be an option. In the event no one is available to act as a personal guide, a mobile app is enough to explore the area, find a good hotel, and nice places to eat.
TripAdvisor serves this need all too well.
The main features of the application are:
- Explore hotels, compare prices, find the best options
- Explore restaurants and choose those that match your food and price preferences
- Find various activities to do in your free time
- Compare prices for flights and choose those that are the most affordable
- View reviews, photos, and ratings for various places, share your own thoughts and impressions
- Use Near Me to discover attractions nearby
- Ask questions in the forums
- Download maps
This app can become your best friend for any trip. You can either arrange and plan everything in advance or organize things step by step as the need arises.
Networking at conferences most always involves exchanging business cards. If you meet with a lot of people it may become problematic to try to keep all the cards together. They require space and are easy to lose due to their small size. Apps like CamCard solve this problem by storing all business cards in digital format. This means that you will have them all in one place on your device so they are with you wherever you go and available whenever you may need to use them.
CamCard offers the following features to its users:
- Scan and store business cards
- Exchange e-cards with those who are nearby
- Recognize cards in 17 languages
- Access contacts from multiple devices
- Receive notifications about contact updates
- Add notes to contacts
- Set up a personal profile to provide more information about yourself
- Learn news about contacts’ companies for better conversations
CamCard will help you manage business cards effectively and save you precious time, especially when you are at a conference and every minute counts.
Networking is vital at a conference. Attendees, who aim to make the most of the event, should have their calendar packed with meetings. If it so happens that you end up with some free time you’d like to spend on business appointments but there are no more opportunities to be found among the other attendees, CityHour could be your life-line. This application will help you find people nearby with the same professional interests and arrange personal meetings with them.
CityHour offers the following user options:
- Find people within 50 miles who are ready to meet with you within two hours
- Filter your search by dates, times, industries, and goals
- Synchronize meetings with your smartphone calendar to keep your schedule organized in one place
- See app contacts and their details
- Send in-app messages
- Synchronize with LinkedIn contacts or contacts from your phone’s address book
This app can also be a good friend to have even if you are not attending any particular event. While on a business trip or just traveling, you can make an appointment on the fly and turn a couple of free hours into quality time.
There are five more applications to learn about in the full article on MLSDev blog.
