Simon on: Predictions for 2013

It is a great tradition to offer predictions at this time of year. 

Given the exaggeration about some aspects of technology, could it be that we’ll be told that the iPad mini will revolutionise the meetings world so desktops and laptops will be burned? Or that “The cloud” will mean that everybody can have all of their documents safely stored in a mystical place run by someone else? 

Somebody is bound to claim that NFC will mean that nobody needs to carry cash, credit cards, business cards or a name badge. And no doubt, by the end of the year the whole planet will be signed up to Facebook so there won’t be any need for any other communications channels.

Why stop there? Surely within 20 years, your smartphone will be wired directly into your brain and will know more than you do so you’ll no longer need to go to conferences or exhibitions.

Perhaps this is a slight exaggeration but I have a horrible suspicion that it isn’t much more ridiculous than some of the stuff we’ll actually read.

Originally published in Conference News

Simon on: Smartphones

There is an assumption, frequently repeated, that ‘everybody these days has a smartphone’. It’s a claim that’s used to support the idea assertion that organisers need to provide services for attendees to use on their smartphones. The trouble is that the claim is wrong.

Recent analysis by research company ComScore shows that 51.3 per cent of mobile phones in Britain were smartphones in Q4 2011. Obviously the proportion will vary from one age group to another and between market sectors but ComScore shows that almost half of phones in this country are not smartphones. That said, it is true that smartphone sales are increasing but it will be a while before they become the standard.

That is a serious issue for any organiser but even that overstates the case for smartphones. It ignores the fact that some smartphone owners won’t use technology developed for the phones. They may have a smartphone only because their company provides it and they may not be allowed to use software not provided by the company.

Clearly this means that systems that rely on smartphones will be immensely useful for reaching around half of any market but organisers need to remember the other half.

 Originally published in Conference News