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Hybrid meetings are one of the biggest trends of upcoming events. A hybrid event, as we know it, combines a traditional “live” event with a virtual “online” event.

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Nr 45 April - May 2015Afgiftekantoor 9099 Gent X / P.508718/Bimestriel

How To Deserve The Success Of A Hybrid Event

One of the most traditional emblem of the Sales culture in the Enterprise is the Monday Morning Sales Meeting. It is a necessary step to define the “to-do’s” and “targets” fra-ming an expected successful week.

What if participating to the Monday Morning Sales Meeting was really motivational…

The future of Wi-Fi will be shaped by « customer personalization » Today, the future of Wi-Fi in hotels goes well beyond the simple provision of reliable and free connections. As we know, the slogan « No Wi-Fi? No customers » is becoming increasingly topical, especially on the other side of the Atlantic.

Mobile PCs, the cloud and the mobility in today’s world are boosting the adoption of videoconferencing services by enterprises. It was in 1964 that AT&T gave a public demonstration of its Picturephone. The new advocates of videoconferencing then already supposed that it would not be long before it swept over the world like a tidal wave.

Videoconferencing services are leaving the meeting room!

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The State Of Watchmakers

It is the method of choice for communicating the desired messages – which is what the effectiveness of the meeting ultimately depends on.It is too often forgotten, unfortunately, but the exchange of information constitutes the primary goal of meetings and conventions. It is a matter of informing, motivating, persuading and setting new objectives and defining future perspectives.

The Key Ingredient of Any Meeting: Presentations!

Charging Your Smartphone Wirelessly!

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Shop windows are doping themselves with digital displays

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The iPad in Companies and at Meetings and ConferencesIt is a constant in the corporate world: whenever a tablet is used professionally, there is a good chance

that it will bear the Apple label and is an iPad.

The reasons are many. The intrin-sic quality and aura

of the Apple brand play their part too, of course, and the absence of vi-ruses due to the closed system design of iOS is also a big advantage.

Creating, managing and selling

From the outset, iPads are equipped with pow-erful applications that enable you to work. These include Pages, Numbers and Keynote, but there are plenty of others, such as Micro-soft Word, Excel and PowerPoint. The creation of docu-ments is therefore well within the capa-bilities of all users. One can even display, modify, and share AutoCAD drawings!Functions for archiving, sharing and syn-chronizing files are highly available via sys-tems that work more or less like Dropbox. PDF document management is taken into account by numerous applications, which enables users to work together effective-ly. One can also scan documents, create PDFs, and process these PDFs using OCR software so as to obtain a text version. Even more important, particularly for sales-people: one can have documents signed easily, in a natural way and either with the index finger or via a stylus, and then store or print them or send them by email.

Communicating, planning and traveling

But there is much more: iPads are perfect-ly suited to videoconferencing and remote communication. They have all the neces-sary built-in technology and, here too, the applications are very reliable. Some are

products of big name companies like Adobe, Cisco and IBM. Meetings too are well served: an iPad can share its screen with more than ten others, and applications enable the shared use of a white-board with unlim-ited zoom via the Internet. The result is full collaboration between participants. Software can also be found for project manage-ment, job scheduling and work lists, customer man-agement and work time tracking as well as billing

and accounting. Points of sale will have applications at their disposal that are suited to them and very user-friendly, possibly with even a credit card reader. For business trips, you can search for the best flight, reserve it, follow the movement of planes, perform the booking of your stay and discover the restaurant that fits your expectations, while at the same time keep-ing an eye on travel expenses and having a list at your disposal that shows you all the items that « are not to be forgotten ». At meetings, conferences and other meet-ings of associations, iPads can offer pow-erful dedicated applications to enhance audience participation. Personal profiles, event calendars, a ’who’s who’ of the participants, business cards, on-the-fly busi-ness meetings, the possibility of inter-active voting, taking photos and the pres-ence of collaborative

work tools are just a few of many (the list goes on and on) options available to in-crease the level of convenience for each delegate.This is really a galaxy of applications that all take ergonomic principles into account and from among which companies will be able to choose those that best satisfy their needs.

SMART kapp SMART Technologies

Prysm

3

Transform yourself into a brilliant orator Contrary to common belief, you don’t have to be a brilliant orator to give an excellent speech.

You only need to be well prepared. Here are a few pointers…..

No doubt you will give your speech in the context of an event. As a rule, the programs of events are published in

advance. Make sure your speech has a cat-chy title and then many people will be look-ing forward to it even before the event.

Winning over or losing your audience before opening your mouth

Another important truth: you can win over or lose your audience even before launch-ing into your speech. Indeed, it is an estab-lished fact that if people think that you will be good, you have every chance of being seen as good. To this end, make sure to polish up your biographical details, as they will be presented in the program and used by the moderator to introduce you. And, contrary to the advice offered by many people, never admit to suffering from stage fright or feel-ing anxious. In the same vein, you should pause for a few seconds before beginning. You will steady your breath, calm your nerves somewhat and, in particular, you will give the audience time to settle down and concentrate on you and your message. If you are not using a microphone, make sure you speak loudly enough for people at

the back of the room to hear you. One ad-vantage of non-amplification is that you will be able to stroll about in the midst of your audience and this will boost your « de fac-to » presence. You will be able to do the same thing with a lapel microphone, but be careful here, as you will need to speak a little more slowly and clearly than you would do without amplification. The direction of your gaze is important. Regularly sweep your eyes over the audi-ence from right to left, without hurry, in such a way that everyone in the room will feel en-gaged.

Short, cryptic and forceful!

Your hands must not remain motionless. They can be used to emphasize and in-crease the impact of your points, except that you should avoid waving your arms around compulsively. All your gestures must ap-pear to be correctly dosed. How you begin your speech is particular-ly important. You are strongly advised not to start with something like « When I was asked to speak on this subject, I wondered what to say… ». You should prefer open-ings that are dynamic and even a bit dra-matic, like « This year we are going to radi-

cally change our organization… ».There is a trick you can use to invigorate your sentences: put the main verb at the beginning of the sentence, and do this sys-tematically for long sentences…., which you should try to avoid, as it is advisable to use sentences that are short and some-times even cryptic, but forceful, and whose meaning is explained afterwards, like “Fail-ure is not an option”, “Never again”, and “No excuses”.Make use of striking adverbs and adjectives that enhance and add color to your sentenc-es. Not simply « Our many challenges » but « Our many exciting challenges ». Not sim-ply: “Let’s work on our problems” but “Let’s work energetically on our problems”.The repetition of words can be very effec-tive. It hammers home the message and these words remain inscribed in the mem-ories of the listeners. Remember Obama’s well known « Yes we can ». Finally, to complete this rather short over-view, be careful: you must not speak too long! Nobody has ever complained that a speech was too short and if you cannot say what you have to say in twenty minutes you should go away and write a book on the subject.

The Key Ingredient of Any Meeting: Presentations!It is the method of choice for communicating the desired messages – which is what the effectiveness of the meeting ultimately depends on.

It is too often forgotten, unfor-tunately, but the exchange of information constitutes

the primary goal of meetings and conventions. It is a matter of informing, motivating, per-suading and setting new objec-tives and defining future pers-pectives.

Pioneer in this field

The 1950s saw the blossom-ing of the first presentation techniques that increased the impact of speeches and were suited to meetings of a large number of peo-ple. These techniques were overhead pro-jectors and 8mm films. Then there were the slides, which caused image presentation to really take off.But it was in 1985 that the first comput-er-based system was created. It was called « Present » and ran only on Macintosh com-puters. So this was the precursor of Power-Point, which took over and became the most used presentation software in the world.

Current situation and great opportunity

These days the range of possibilities has be-come almost infinite. Speakers can enrich their messages in a great number of ways! For example, they can opt to broadcast

high-resolution visuals (HD video and dynamic animated presentations); they can decide to make interactive pres-entations by encouraging participants to intervene vocally or through digital questionnaires (interactive voting); they can choose their own computers (Win-dows, Mac, tablets and smartphones IOS – Android). Additionally, they can work online by employing the Internet to use content available in real time (such as YouTube or websites provid-ing quarterly figures or online presenta-

tion tools).Until now, speakers remained limited in their possibilities by the need to make their pres-entations in the traditional PowerPoint for-mat. This is no longer the case since Slidebox, a Dutch company specialising in presenta-tions, makes it possible to handle all current presentation formats. So today speakers can make full use of the richness of their mes-sages.

What does the future hold?

Of course, there will be further improve-ments. Meetings and other conventions are part of a range of communication tools that allow the delegates before, during and af-ter the event to have access to the content which can take a variety of forms: HD record-

ings of presentations, PDF files which can be easily displayed on tablets and smartphones etc.We also think of information about the author, the programme, summaries of a convention which are so important to obtain a complete picture of the event. They can be found on a website by means of a smartphone applica-tion or during the event itself. Slidebox specialises in the optimisation and collection of these different data so the infor-mation is the same everywhere and easy to manage.

Slidebox BVBuitenwatersloot, 312

2614GR DelftThe Netherlands

E-mail: info@slidebox.nlWebsite: www.slidebox.nl

Keizershoevestraat, 262610 Wilrijk - BelgiumTel: +32 478 948951Fax: +32 3 2397516Email: jp.thys@cbsmedia.bizWebsite: www.cbsmedia.biz

Publication ManagerJean-Pierre Thys

EditorJean-Claude Lesuisse

TranslationBabel Ophoff Vertalingen

PrintingLowyck

PublisherJean-Pierre ThysKeizershoevestraat, 262610 Wilrijk - Belgium

Communications Business Solutions is published5 times a year. Online registration forms on ourwebsite will be considered for a regular free copy.Subscription Print: 55 € (Belgium) – 60 €(Europe), 85 € (other continents).

All reproduction rights reserved for all countries. Re-productionof the texts (even partial) is prohibitedwithout permission of the publisher.

Member ICCA (International Congress and Convention Association)

Communications Business Solutions is availablein print in french and dutch and online in english,french and dutch.

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Emergency Storage on Tablets and SmartphonesOften people buy a smartphone or tablet with little storage space, without however opting for the lowest price. They

believe it will be enough for the needs these devices are expected to satisfy.

Once they own the device, they download the desired applications, take photos, store documents,

books, newspapers, download a few mo-vies and that’s when they realise there is not enough memory.

A highly portable solution

Soon they regret not being able to use an external hard disk, as is possible in the world of computers.However, given the way these devices are evolving, it would be unacceptable having to lug a heavy device around.Today, there are solutions out there. The idea is to separate the applications (which have to be on the smartphone or tablet) from the data (all sorts of files, texts, audio or video). These solutions are highly portable. One of them is a simple USB flash drive, except that this special flash drive, which comes with a removable SD memory (so you can use as many SD cards as you want but only one at a time) creates a Wi-Fi network that the devices can connect to. Let’s be clear from the start: it suffices to put the USB flash drive in your pocket after pressing a button (which activates the Wi-Fi network) and the smartphone or tablet can access

all the data on the flash drive, no matter where you are since it is the flash drive it-self which creates the Wi-Fi network. It is a personal hotspot of sorts. There are flash drives of 16, 32 and 64GB. The Wi-Fi network thus created allows for the wireless connection of several devices (eight for example) and the flash drive pro-vides several hours of autonomy (four, for ex-ample).

Almost nothing but benefits!

Here’s an excellent solution for using tab-lets and smartphones on planes and while travelling. But, keep in mind, when the de-

vices are connected to the Wi-Fi network of the USB flash drive, gone is the Wi-Fi connection to the Internet (because you can connect a tablet and smartphone to only one Wi-Fi network at a time). In prac-tice, it is possible however as the settings allow for the flash drive to be connected to the Internet Wi-Fi network, which does gives access to the flash driver. But this (based on our own experience) reduces the transfer speed, which can be annoying when several photos have to be read one after the other.Also a plus: the charging of the flash drive. Charging occurs by connecting the flash drive to the USB port of a computer… or by plugging it directly into a USB charg-er. We have been able to charge it easi-ly using our iPhone charger. Very practical

given the size of the accessory! Moreover, while it’s charging in this way, it can continue to trans-mit its Wi-Fi feed!You can also transfer on the fly im-ages taken with the smartphone or tablet or store in their memory any file from the flash drive. Finally, it is a solution (which re-ally works) that addresses any insufficient memory capacity of

tablets and smartphones.

Charging Your Smartphone Wirelessly!As always, the short battery life in our everyday electronics is sinful. One of the main offenders is

the smartphone, the multitasking electronic by excellence, which lets you access the internet, email,

games, and much more on top of making phone calls.

Despite the use of less power-hun-gry chips and high performance batteries, battery life has not impro-

ved by a lot and charging your smartphone is often the best solution.

The Compatibles And The Others

To charge your phone, you need to plug it into an electric outlet via its designed charger. It is a small task that will become unnecessary in the future with the success of wireless QI chargers with the consum-ers. We have all found ourselves unable to locate our chargers in the past.Wireless charging is done by induction. The way it works is very simple: put your phone on the charging plate and you’re done! Wireless chargers are also devel-oped by many car manufacturers for the batteries in electric cars. You only need to park your car on top of a charging zone for your battery to be full the next morning.Sadly, not all smartphones are “QI com-patible”. We estimate that 80% of smart-phones are compatible. Thankfully for the non-compatible phones, some man-ufacturers make accessories designed to

be attached to the back of the phone and allow QI compatibili-ty, such as the Galaxy Samsung phones prior to the S6. There also exist sliding induction plates for the iPhone that plug them-selves into the iP-hone connector.

The Swedish Giant Gets In The Ring!

It is interesting to note that Ikea, in its project called “Home Smart” in partner-ship with the Wireless Power Consorti-um (WPC), made furniture with integrat-ed wireless chargers. As a matter of fact, some lamps, night tables and desks have a QI wireless charging system. For the non-compatible devices, Ikea also planned covers and shells that are QI receivers.Let us also note that the QI technology

from WPC is already available in hotels, restaurants, airports and public spaces.To finish off, we need to state that the wireless charging business is made of three competitors: the WPC (with the QI technology mentioned in this text), the Power Matters Alliance (PMA) and the Al-liance for Wireless Power (A4WP). Each of these organisations try to impose their vision of wireless charging, but as of to-day, QI technology is undoubtedly in the lead.

Tech’n (Integrated Technology)Email: info@tech-n.nl

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The future of Wi-Fi will be shaped by « customer personalization » Today, the future of Wi-Fi in hotels goes well beyond the simple provision of reliable

and free connections.

As we know, the slogan « No Wi-Fi? No custo-mers » is becoming increasingly topical, es-pecially on the other side of the Atlantic.

Information messages

Nevertheless, one can imagine that, alongside free and proper (and really reliable as well!) basic ac-cess, a « high speed » connection is offered that allows the sending and receiving of large files. It is often preferable to opt for a small expenditure that ena-bles you to save a lot of time rather than rely on an offer that is free but requires ten times more time to achieve your ends. It is the difference between a tourist who simply wants to check his emails and a businessman who, for ex-ample, has to send and down-load videos and take part in videoconferences. But let us go one step further. Wi-Fi and connectivity in ho-tels will allow them to forge an increasingly personalized link with their customers. In fact, hotels, sponsors and sales-persons will have a unique op-

portunity to connect directly with their customers via the Wi-Fi network. Let us imagine a business customer walking into a hotel lobby. He receives a welcome message as well as the number of his room on his smartphone. At the same time he is kept informed of the differ-ent events that will be held during the day. Follow-ing this, our businessman will receive a message with details on the opening times of the restaurant, the specials of the day and the time breakfast is

served, and then another message informing him when his room will be serviced and still another tell-ing him when the cleaning will be finished so he can avoid going there while it remains unavailable.

And suggestion messages!

These « push » notifications make life simpler but, of course, they also present hotels with opportuni-ties to generate revenue from advertising for « spe-cific content ».In fact, wireless connectivity is constantly progress-ing and Wi-Fi will not only serve as a gateway to information, emails and the Internet. It will enable hotels to connect better with each customer individ-ually. Hotels will focus their policies on the antici-pation and satisfaction of individual needs so as to improve the customer experience. Every custom-er is unique, as we know, and has specific tastes. The advantage is that they change very little. And with this in mind, databases of past visits will ena-ble the sending of personalized proposals based on previous behavior. Notifying a customer that his favorite entertainment is available a few hundred yards away from the hotel and enabling him to re-serve seats without having to go to reception, or in-forming him of local restaurants offering his favorite dishes and cuisine, is well within the reach of Wi-Fi technology. This technology is still in its infancy.

Wi-Fi in Hotel Rooms: The Opinion of Hotels!We already wrote a lot about the requirements of business travelers when it comes to Wi-Fi connection

in their hotel accommodations.

Apparently, the leaders of hotel groups all sing the same tune. It is interesting to us that their point of view, surprisin-

gly, completely meets the desires of the tra-velers.

‘’Internet is like running water and electricity’’

Christopher Nassetta, from Hilton Worldwide, states that his group is very proactive when it comes to responding to the Wi-Fi demands of its clients. He advocates for a tiered pric-ing system as well as a basic Wi-Fi service. For him, the Internet is now an integral part of today’s world. Stephen Homes, from Wyndham Worlwide, thinks that having access to Internet can be compared to having access to oxygen. He finds it shocking that travelers are sometimes charged for Internet, and states that the ma-jority of the hotels of his chain do not charge for Internet. ‘’Internet has to be available, just like running water and electricity’’.Wayne Goldberg, from La Quinta Inns & Suites. Today, it’s not about giving the tech-nology to the clients, but rather letting them use their own devices to their full potential. For Goldberg, Wi-Fi is an excellent example. The standards went from 6Mb of bandwidth to a minimum of 50 and up to 100 Mb. The

standards were elevated in response to cli-ents demanding very clearly to be able to stream videos and use multiple devices. All this was done for free.

Wi-Fi Even in Cars!

Greg Dogan, from Shangri-La Hotels. Here again, a perfect track record. They are the first group to offer a free Wi-Fi connection. Today, Wi-Fi connectivity even spreads to cars of the group for free. Greg emphasiz-es that he is always surprised when trav-elling by the outra-geous prices billed by some establish-ments.Sonia Cheng from Rosewood Hotel Group, Carl Michel from Generator Hos-tels, Nicholas Clay-ton from Jumeirah Group, Craig Reid from Auberge Re-sorts and Larry Ko-rman from Alias are also on the same wavelength. Free, modern, and fast

Wi-Fi everywhere to respond to the demands of streaming from the clients. Clayton states that an average family comes with at least two (often three) devices and they need to be offered bandwidth.Conclusion? According to the United States, a country well known for its affinity to the sub-ject, free high-quality Wi-Fi is the upcoming norm. Old Europe always lagged a bit be-hind, especially when it comes to technolo-gy in its hotels, and it will take a bit longer to adapt. But, certainly, the time will come!

A business couple working in a suite of Hotel Catalonia Barcelona Plaza

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The Drone That Takes Good PicturesDrones are quite popular with the consumers. They are these flying radio-controlled objects that fly several tens of meters

from the ground and take back images from their onboard camera.

Their battery life is weak and many lower-end models are not very de-pendable. The onboard camera is

of the same quality: it takes pictures of a low quality, which perfectly fulfills an in-formative and recreational role.

A Powerful Way To Create Original Images

Next to the consumer world is the world of the professional drones. The accuracy of the professional drones is always on point, the battery life is larger, the con-trols are more precise, and the hardware is bulkier. This whole kit lets the user take pictures and film movies of a high reso-lution.These drones are a powerful way to cre-ate original images for a business that, up to now, had no possibility of filming im-ages of this kind. Even a helicopter has to fly higher and its size doesn’t allow it to squeeze into tight or even hostile envi-ronments (only the hardware is exposed to danger in this case, no human lives are at risk). Furthermore, the cost of renting a helicopter is way higher than hiring a “drone team”. A lot of specialised provid-ers are available in Belgium and offer all

the skills required.Imagine the construction of a hydroelec-tric station. Up to now, aside from the costly helicopter solution, we had to be content with close-ups of the ongoing work and shots from the departure of the banks or a zoom in on a boat. The drone allows you to film the whole process seen from above, to speed by the construction like a speedboat, then raises in the air when it gets close to the station. Thou-sands of original images are possible and extremely useful to create a commemora-tive movie of the construction.

A Versatile Tool

A professional drone can do marvels dur-ing events, fairs or congresses gather-ing a large crowd by offering, here again, images that would be impossible to take using traditional methods. The use of drones inside halls and exposition rooms is a major positive: in a few minutes, it is possible to obtain images that give an idea of how big the event really is com-pared to images taken from any other filming methods.Finally, the examples of drone usage from businesses are extremely numerous. We

reckon that you have already imagined, since you started reading this article, what drones could bring to your society!To include the images properly in a busi-ness movie, it is important to think about how specific they have to be right when the scenario is created. It is a question of creativity, and we have to recognize that creativity is becoming rarer nowadays. Let us not forget that this new way of taking pictures is a good match to digi-tal signage, which is in a constant need of original and striking images. Although, using this tool doesn’t mean you should abuse it! Like a good recipe, you have to balance the different ingredients with fi-nesse!

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Being Well Understood During International ConferencesConferences and different languages… Happy (or sad?) cacophony where misunderstanding reigns

supreme… or particular times of valuable exchanges? The fact is there: for a human being, nothing

is better for understanding than using your mother tongue.

In the meanwhile of the unlikely (desirable?) day where all the mothers will speak the same language, translation and interpreta-

tion will be at work!

Simultaneous Interpretation

During a conference, there needs to be ways of interpreting in place. Interpretation consists of transposing a message of a language into another language, although there are a lot of demanding restrictions: it needs to be natural, fluid, and it also needs to adopt the tone and in-flexions of the speaker.Here, during these international conferences with people from different places and cultures speak-ing different languages, the job of an interpreter consists of allowing them all to communicate, not by translating each of their words, but rather by translating the ideas they are communicating. Different types of interpretation are possible. The most well-known by the general public is simultaneous interpretation, where the inter-preter works in a soundproof booth with at least one colleague. The speaker in the room uses a microphone and the interpreter, hearing the speech in his headphones, translates the mes-sage almost instantly via his own microphone. In the room, every person can choose which translated language they wish to listen to.

Consecutive Interpretation And Whispering

“Consecutive” interpretation, which has mostly been replaced today by “simultaneous” inter-

pretation, is done otherwise: the interpreter, sit-ting amongst the crowd, listens to the speaker, and when the speaker is done, he translates into another language with the help of notes. Con-secutive interpretation keeps its utility in certain contexts (very technical reunions, work break-fasts, reunions in small committees or visits in the field). Let us note that a seasoned interpret-er can translate interventions up to ten minutes long, or even longer, with great precision.An alternative to “consecutive” interpretation is “whispering”. In this case, the interpreter is part of the crowd, sitting or standing, and interprets simultaneously directly to the ear of the partic-ipants. Whispering, used during bilateral meet-ings for example, saves a lot of time compared to consecutive interpretation.

The “Relay Interpretation”

A situation seen frequently is the “relay”: a par-ticipant speaks a language not covered by the interpretation booth. Imagine there is a Japa-nese speaker and that the booth that translates towards French does not know this language. This booth can connect itself (by audio link) to another booth which covers the language of the speaker and does the relay. For example, let’s say the booth that interprets towards German knows Japanese and that the French booth knows German. The interpreter works from an-other language (German) from the one of the speaker (Japanese) without a noticeable qual-ity loss.We know that interpreters normally work to-wards their mother tongue, but some of them

have a mastery of a second language that is sufficiently high to let them interpret towards this language from their mother tongue. This is called “retour” interpretation. In addition to this, a few interpreters master their second language so perfectly that they can interpret towards this language from any of their known languages. They can then work in two booths. The “retour” is very useful to do “relay interpretation” from lesser spread languages towards widespread languages.

“Asymmetrical” interpretation

There can be situations where all the partici-pants speak in their mother tongue, but listen to the interpretation in a limited number of lan-guages. This is known as “asymmetrical” inter-pretation. Very often, the participants under-stand one or many of the widespread languages without feeling comfortable enough to commu-nicate in these languages. The interpretation is only done, for example, towards three “active” languages.Finally, a last word about simultaneous inter-pretation in sign language, the interpretation to-wards hard of hearing people. It is usually done from spoken language to sign language and vice versa. The interpreter makes sure to have good positioning so that he is facing the partic-ipants that are hard of hearing. It is important to note here that there is not a single universal sign language that is understood by all. Even if many gestures and expressions are universally recognisable, there is more than one hundred sign languages or dialects in the world!

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Videos for businesses - mission possible…..in more ways than one! Video technology and business, it is a love story that has passed through several phases. Fifteen years ago this

technology was reserved for large budgets. Those days are gone.

Audiovisual systems for businesses cost well over a million Belgian francs at that time and required considerable resources

in terms of both personnel and material.

An amateur approach creates an impression of greater authenticity

This was because one had to take into account the deterioration in image quality, which depend-ed on the number of « generations »: during ed-iting, with each copy of the tape, the quality de-creased. Video cassettes for distribution were thus obtained that were of a markedly inferior quality compared to that of the original footage. No problems of this sort exist today: thanks to the magic of digitization, copies are safely pre-served against degradation. Nevertheless, cer-tain precautions must always be taken in order to produce a video of excellent quality – as we will see below. But to make a brief aside: is it always necessary to produce a video with images of impeccable quality? The answer is clearly « no »: in certain circumstances, it is even advisable to adopt an amateur approach, as this creates an impres-sion of greater authenticity. In fact, « profession-al quality » is always associated with « staging » and this supposed mastery reduces the power of the message - for example, on blogs (where content is more important than form), during « customer reviews », and for « buzz » videos and « viral » videos.On the other hand, if one adopts the framework of a « live » recording, the public quite happily accepts a lower quality standard as the video is perceived as a record produced in the heat of the moment. Of course, the accumulation of handicaps must be avoided: an unclear image PLUS a sound marred by interference PLUS erratic camera movements PLUS untimely blurring of imag-es discourage the viewers. The amateur ap-proach must not be taken too far.

Restraining one’s ambitions where necessary

To return to the high-quality business video, the one that will be found on the company’s web-sites, on DVDs, and on digital signage screens,

here the constraints are obviously quite different. Already, good photographic and sound record-ing equipment is required and attention must be paid to fine-tuning the lighting. But technology is not everything. One also needs a specific communication goal, with a clear message. The project must be thought through with due consideration given to

the target audience and the broadcast media. You must also be realistic and your ambitions must be commensurate with the portion of your budget you wish to allot to them. For example, cinema and TV have accustomed us to find-ing many extremely expensive special effects « commonplace » and « elementary ». Your am-bitions must be in line with your budget, other-

wise disappointment is the inevitable outcome! In the case of audiovisual material intended for projection on large screens, it is highly advis-able to call upon professional personnel. The search for a good provider will be a thorny is-sue. Which doesn’t mean that you should then turn your back on the creative process: it is precisely on the basis of your needs that these professionals will offer you a synopsis, which will be refined by exchanging information with you! It is therefore up to you to redirect the team while taking care not to stifle creativity. Then comes the stage of the scenario where every detail must be approved (sets, settings, dialog, casting etc.). It is the final stage, the fi-nal « safety net » (not to be neglected, for any subsequent modifications will be costly, even impossible!) before the filming per se and the final editing.

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Meetings…. Obligation or enthusiasm? Obligation and enthusiasm are two different things. The first is a constraint while the second is born

of inspiration, spontaneity and desire. Ultimately, it is rather like the difference between a recipe to be

followed and creativity.

A comparison proves nothing…. But your meetings….. Do they stem from a desi-re or do they occur to fulfil obligations?

More productive with meetings than without them?

In the business world, time is valuable and a myriad of activities make competing claims on it. A person’s energy is therefore continually in demand and any decision to hold a meeting is based on the assumption that the time and en-ergy devoted to it will be more productive in the

long run than without this meeting. It is a gamble, as we can well imagine. In oth-er words, « Considering what the group must achieve, and given what we think we can ac-complish by working together in a remarkable fashion, what do we need to discuss »?According to experts, discussing the progress made in achieving the most important goals should be the first choice, especially if this pro-gress does not meet expectations. In the same way, it would be fruitful to hold a meeting in support of a colleague who is wres-tling with a particular problem and who has re-

quested some suggestions because he believes that the combined expe-rience of the group members will help him find a solution.

Making the best use of the participants’ time

Likewise, meetings bringing togeth-er a large audience may undertake the task of clarifying an organization-al problem in such a way that the is-sue may later be fully addressed by a smaller group. Short and targeted instruction on par-

ticular points in order to provide the members of the group with the necessary expertise on specialist topics that need to be dealt with are also an excellent motivation. In fact, and these examples are meant to pro-vide a contrast here, the worst of all motiva-tions is « We are having a meeting because that’s what we do every Monday ». The aim must be to make the best use of the participants’ time, with discussion being limit-ed to the problems that are important and that count. If you want to hold meetings on a regu-lar basis then that is no problem provided that the agenda of each meeting is scrutinized to make sure it is in accordance with the above considerations.

The Renovation Of A Meeting RoomWhile it may not be possible to do miracles, old meeting rooms can be greatly improved in efficiency by making

a few investments to bring them up to date.

In the past few years, busi-nesses have invested in tech-nology to increase the efficien-

cy of its colleagues. Sadly, a lot of meeting rooms did not receive in-vestments, and it takes more than comfortable chairs and fancy po-lished tables for these rooms to de-serve their name.

Why Not An Interactive Flipchart?

Computer equipment is a must. There needs to be a main computer connect-ed to the network and spare plugs to charge the personal gadgets that will be brought by colleagues. A Wi-Fi network is also a must, since most tablets and smartphones do not have Ethernet ports.Now, we need to consider a projector or a monitor. Presentations, spreadsheets, and videos need to be easily shown on a screen. It will be up to you to choose whether you need a projector or a monitor, depending on the size of your meeting room.Replace the traditional flipchart with an inter-active white board! Your meeting room de-serves it! It is a tool that is natural to work on, and it can display information coming from a computer, then everything can be re-

corded to be emailed or printed. Because of this, notes no longer need to be taken by col-leagues, which means they can completely focus on the presentation.

Open Yourself To The World!

Open your meeting room to the world! Think “videoconference”. You will be able to talk live with your teams on the other side of the world, or with your sales teams, wherev-er they may be. Do not forget that tablets, smartphones, and notebooks can all access the Internet from anywhere, and that it is es-sential to gain time by augmenting produc-tivity. Nothing beats a live exchange at the perfect time, especially not an email that will

only be answered once the meeting is over.If we look a step further, telepresence, which is costlier, allows the feeling of a “real” pres-ence of participants that are far away. It is mostly used in “executive” meeting rooms, where the executive management organis-es their meetings.In the (rare) case where an investment in videoconference is not possible, you can at least equip your meeting room with audio conference equipment.Finally, keep your cables tidy! Even in this wireless world, there will always be cables. Hide them as much as you can by attaching

them, and place the equipment in a prede-termined spot (for example, a closet). Order and method need to be predominant for the free space to actually be free.

10

A Little Useful Story about Useless MeetingsPicture this: you are hard at work, right in the heart of resolving an issue (any issue) when, suddenly, a

notification pops up on your screen: « meeting in 10 minutes ». Sounds familiar?

This is bound to take the wind out of the sails of productivity as you have to inter-rupt the task at hand and return to it later.

But… will the meeting really last ten minutes? And, most importantly… will it be useful? Let’s hear the views of Mike Brandes, Certified Tech-nology Specialist with InfoComm.

There are plenty of vague and useless meetings!

Companies hold many useless meetings! For instance, there is the way too long weekly sta-tus update meeting where 20 people discuss the status of their projects. Real leaders/man-agers shouldn’t need to call a meeting to know where their employees are on a given project, but that’s another topic.Another example: the ‘vague’ type of meet-ing! Its title is already vague, like “New Product Design”. Of course, there isn’t an agenda and there isn’t a set direction in which the meeting is supposed to go. Also, there is no telling when the meeting is over. Instead, five to ten people sit around a conference table talking in circles. One nagging metaphysical question remains: « what did we just spend the last hour talking about? ».One last example, this one relating to a useless meeting: your boss sends you an email and

then walks over to your office as soon as he has clicked the “send” button to ask you how you will respond to this email (which you prob-ably haven’t even received). Of course, he will repeat the content of the message and wait for your response. Simple fixes

However, there are simple ways to make meet-ings count. Pay a lot of attention to the agenda. That may seem like a no-brainer but, unfortunately, in practice it isn’t. You need to have an agenda that is not vague — a specific agenda that ad-

dresses each topic to be discussed, the reasons for discussing them and the expected outcome. A brief example? « New Product Launch. Deter-mine timeline for R&D, development, quality as-surance, testing and then release of new prod-uct. This tentative schedule should be sketched out by end of meeting. »That little sentence took me only a short while to write but could save at least 30 minutes in a meeting. It’s clear what needs to be discussed and decided, and what the outcome should be. This saves time, money and a lot of agitation. Also, it allows all parties involved to prepare for the meeting.Another simple tip: post-meeting reactions, de-cisions. Each manager informs their team of the decisions that were made and of the implica-tions for their work going forward.For the example above (new product launch), Marketing develops an ad, Manufacturing de-velops an assembly timeline, Quality Assurance develops a testing schedule, etc.

Finally, after the meeting, there MUST be a writ-ten summary. This is a key document which will prevent having to hold the meeting all over again because no one remembers what was discussed. And it will provide the reference to measure how effective the follow-up measures were.

An Eloquent Tablet at your Service!What we are dealing with here is nothing less than the worthy descendant of the flip

charts which dominated conference rooms for so long.

While modern-day large interactive tablets still accept pens, they are also capable of turning your fin-

gers into writing instruments. In addition, they digitally record what you write and draw!

Works very well

Sharing content is, indeed, a major plus for meetings. Tablets create PDF files,

PowerPoint documents, HTML and JPEG files; in other words, they can handle all types of applications. Rather than print-ing documents and hand them out at the end of the meeting (although you can al-

ways easily do so by connecting a printer to the tablet), you can use the interactive tablet to send cop-ies directly to the participants. You can also post them on a website and/or make them available for download. It works very well. Either you dis-play the content which you care-fully prepared in advance, or you create the messages ‘live’ as your

presentation progresses. Ob-viously, a mix of both meth-ods is possible: any pres-entation can be put on pause to add annotations. You can also use handwriting recognition for your text!

Giant display

The connection of an interactive tab-let is made via a USB port or a wire-less module; Mac, PC Windows and Linux are welcome and this way the tablet becomes a giant display on which you can take notes and write.

Additional software includes handwriting recognition, screen capture, conversion of the session’s content into files which are saved, and sharing with remote par-ticipants.

As we are working in an IT world here, all connections are possible, including the wireless connection of tablets and smart-phones.Finally, a few words about the image qual-ity. The new generation of interactive tab-lets also incorporates 4K technology, or Ultra High Definition. This huge qualitative leap forwards (3840 x 2160 pixels against 1920 x 1080 in Full HD) is, of course, very interesting, regardless of the tablet’s di-mensions: let’s not forget that you write on it and that, therefore, the definition plays a key role. The difference is also no-ticeable when rendering graphics, images and videos, provided related sources are selected!

Prysm

Smart Technologies

11

What if participating to the Monday Morning Sales Meeting was really motivational…

One of the most traditional emblem of the Sales culture in the Enterprise is the Monday Morning

Sales Meeting. It is a necessary step to define the “to-do’s” and “targets” framing an expected

successful week. But for a few years now, this Sales Meeting is facing evolutional roadblocks:

increased mobility of the sales teams, international attendance, and a significant and evolution

of communication tools.

Traditionally, the Monday morning sales meeting is ran using a Paperboard, used to write key items and visualize elements

discussed among participants.

This annotation tool is quite productive but using it is not without inconvenient:- It often lacks empty paper sheets- Users forget used paper sheets, potential-ly exposing to the next meeting participants confidential information.- The meeting leader needs to detach the paper sheets to photocopy them, or take digital pictures to share them with the au-dience.- and all this with the non-eco-friendly feel-ing of wasting paper, at a time where “no paper in enterprise” policy is promoted, even if it is sometimes perceived as an uto-pia.

Recently, the Canadian company SMART Technologies introduced SMART kapp, the

modern replacement of the traditional Flip-chart, which solves these issues.It is basically a digital dry-erase board, with the same shape and size (42”/107cm ) as a traditional Flipchart, but the Paper sheets have been replaced by a smooth glass surface to write on. It is also available in a shape of a 84” (213cm) dry-erase white

board.Both are pre-printed with a unique QR code, which the user needs to scan to es-tablish a Bluetooth connection between the

white board and the smartphone, to vis-ualize instantly the content on the phone display!This link is made thanks to the SMART kapp free app, avail-able on Apple Store and Google Play. The app enables the user to capture some snapshots of the whiteboard content, as it is being written (including the writ-ten modifications and erasing). Therefore, it is no longer neces-sary to take a digital photo of each page us-ing a smartphone. Moreover, the user can share the snapshots by email or post them on social networks, or even generate thru the smartphone a dynamic URL to share the evolving SMART kapp content in LIVE with five participants locally or remotely. Seeing the content for remote users is in-stantaneous, thru “one click” on the URL, but will require either the mobile phone or a separate audio conferencing tool to estab-lish a voice communication between each participant.In addition, the user can subscribe to a Pre-mium features (less than 2 euro per month), and be able to share the URL with up to 250 people, add a passcode to protect the live session, or create a static URL to avoid unnecessary repetitive URL sharing.With SMART kapp, all participants have ac-cess to the same LIVE content, can save it, share it, and keep track of all what has been shared. It is becoming more difficult to omit some elements of the meeting, or a “todo”. The end result is a productivity in-crease and a more energized sales team!

Such technology, as easy as its paper based predecessor, but which benefit from today’s smartphones, changes the way people work in the enterprise. Psycholog-ical barriers to waste paper are lifted, and costs concerns too: average yearly paper cost for a typical meeting room, in an ho-tel or a congress center is around 3200 eu-ros, plus labor costs. With SMART kapp, it ranges down to 800-1100, depending on the solution, and is a one shot!

Beyond the Enterprise, a collaboration tool like SMART kapp is ideal for a Hotel, or a congress center, looking for ways to differ-entiate its value and services offering. A

‘connected’ meeting room, for a low cost, easy to install, without need for IT support, nor any specific maintenance (except the pen replacement once in a while), creates an attractive focal point for customers, and saves money. SMART kapp appears to be a great opportunity for the Hotels and Meet-ing hosting industries to modernize their Meeting Rooms, while adapting to the work methods of the 21st century.

SMART TechnologiesWebsite: www.smartkapp.com

Download the video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSN0a-

Hh1zk

12

Audio Conferencing Has Become Truly ‘Mobile’The face of the world of audio conferencing has changed since the arrival of BYOD. Indeed, workers are

using their own devices to communicate, including smartphones of course.

On the other hand, the very fact that people always have a smartphone with them increases the odds that

they are available to participate in a confe-rence call.

From BYOD to BYOA

Similarly, the number of audio conferences through a PC or mobile phone running a ded-icated application is on the rise. These appli-cations, which are based on IP, thus the in-

ternet, are very easy to use. It often suffices to click on a calendar or link. In fact, BYOD has led to BYOA (Bring Your Own Applica-tions).In the end, however, their use has given rise to ‘shadow IT’ of sorts which can be dam-aging to the setting up of conferences since

it fragments the user base: dif-ferent interfaces, different pos-sibilities and confusing as to « who can call who ». For instance, Wainhouse Re-search has found that more than half of voice calls are con-nected to an audio conferenc-ing service. While in the past the norm was traditional audio conferencing, today’s norm is audio confer-encing with integrated web collaboration, possibly en-riched with video and increasingly integrated into unified communication.

Ease-of-use and attractive prices

This development has several consequenc-es. The ‘usual form’ of communication is be-coming increasingly rare in view of the cur-rent billing plans (‘unlimited’ options) offered by mobile telephone operators and in light of telephone applications that « hijack » the telephone network by relying on the Internet.People are beginning to realise that easy au-dio conferencing is FINALLY possible with a simple click. Microsoft Outlook, Google Agenda and others create a conference call

link which is automatically included in every invitation to a meeting. It thus suffices to click, when appropriate, on « participate » to be automatically connected. In the course of the audio conference it is no longer neces-sary to form key combinations (for instance, pressing « *8 » to hang up); it suffices to press the « mute » pictogram.Under these circumstances, these days it is best to choose a business audio confer-encing system that offers integrated web and audio services. Prefer an unlimited au-dio conferencing option (‘all you can use’). Hence, it is no longer necessary to set up a free line for participants to call, as used to be the case.

Tools for Vocal ExpressionMeetings and microphones go together very well, the former often needing the latter. But one must not forget that

a microphone is a tool which amplifies the voice and not a way to get good vocal expression!

Indeed, the microphone, for all its advan-tages, will never turn an annoying voice into an interesting one! A few techniques to

make good use of them…

The Voice, a Communication Tool in its Own Right

The first time you use a microphone can be a bit of an unsettling experience. Under the pressure of having the eyes of all the mem-bers of the audience on you, it is hard to con-trol the tone of your voice, its volume and its pace. Those are the three parameters that will bring substance and give life (sense and emo-tion) to your message. You have to get used to your voice before trying to use it as a real communication tool, which it has the potential of becoming. Depending on the case, raising your voice, increasing the pace or, converse-ly, uttering slow words in a serious tone of voice helps a great deal to get your message across. In this regard, exercise and experi-ence are the keys.However, having a good understanding of how the microphone works is also essential. For example, it is important to know how to turn it on and off: Remember the misadven-tures of quite a few public figures who made private comments while… their microphone

was still open! It is not always simple and therefore… one has to remember to ‘mute’ the microphone at the right time.

Microphones and ‘hot spots’ and ‘cold spots’

Microphones of the ‘lavalier’ type are very com-mon. This microphone is attached to the clothes of the speaker, who must be aware of it and wear clothes with a lapel (or a tie) to hold the microphone. A wireless lavalier requires the presence of a transmitter to be worn close to the waist, on a belt for in-stance. It is important to know that a lavalier works best when positioned about ten (or more) centimetres below the chin. It is not unim-portant; you have to do precise tests, for if the microphone is positioned too high,

it will cause ‘hot spots’ and ‘cold spots’ when the speaker turns their head. You can picture the ‘area of operation’ of the microphone as a V-shape of sorts with the base being the mi-crophone.Wireless microphones are very popular as they enable you to walk around freely to have a more powerful presence. But here, too, you will need to do some testing in advance as the Larsen effect (resonance of the speakers in the microphone) is devastating.A desk microphone or a microphone on a stand also requires standing at a suitable dis-tance. Often people speak too close to the mi-crophone, which amplifies all of their breaths and other jaw clicking sounds, not to mention the ‘pop effect’ due to explosive consonants being too close to the microphone’s mem-brane.

13

A Projector Really Dedicated To Your Meeting RoomBusiness meeting rooms see a lot of images. The choice of an LCD or DLP projector can be quite profitable.

How to choose the right one?

There exist a few tips that may help. They are easy to understand and re-member, because they all boil down

to common sense.

The Concern For A Good Brightness

The brightness of the projector is a part of this basic logic. To determine the re-quired brightness, one needs to consid-er the desired image size and the neces-sity, or lack thereof, to keep certain lights on during projection to allow participants to take notes. An obvious example: if you have a large room and you need a bright picture while keeping the lights on, you will need the maximum amount of brightness. The brightness of projectors is indicated in ANSI lumens. Generally, projectors are between 500 and 2100 lumens.To have a more specific idea of required brightness, here are some examples. For an image of 1.5 to 1.9m in a small (5 to 10 participants) room without lighting, a pro-jector from 500 to 1000 lumens will suffice.A dim lit medium sized room (10 to 30 par-ticipants) with an image of 2.5 to 3m will need a projector with 1000 to 1500 lumens.For a completely lit up large room (30 to 100 participants) with an image of 4 to 7m,

you will need a projector from 1500 to 2000 lumens.

Do Not Limit The Quality Of The Original Image

The resolution of the image is another im-portant factor to consider. The right reso-

lution will need to be chosen according to the resolution of the used source images. The resolution of the projector has to be

the same as the images. While laptops are popular nowadays, this means the XGA resolution (1024 x 768) or, even better, the SXGA (1280 x 1024) are the most popu-lar resolutions and should be your basic standard while projecting videos or Auto-CAD. It would be a shame to limit the qual-ity of the original image. To avoid the prob-

lem of your projector becoming obsolete, a good idea would be to buy the high-est resolution projec-tor possible to make sure that you can project the highest resolutions without compromising image quality.One last small tip that is easy to under-stand: before buy-ing, ask the seller to compare many pro-jectors side by side in your meeting room to achieve optimal

results. It may seem obvious, but it real-ly helps in choosing the right projector for your needs.

Video and Digital Signage – Everything is Possible and that’s the Tragedy!Need we remind that films have captivated the public for over a century? Films and videos are all the more entertaining

given that they only require a minimum of effort and the information is easily absorbed and retained.

People are accustomed to watching them through multiple media: TV sets, of course, but also computers,

smartphones, tablets etc. It is estimated that videos are six hundred percent more effective than print and direct mail. These days, putting these magical tools on digital signage screens is a piece of cake.

Adapted and Pertinent Content

Everything is possible and that’s… the tragedy! For the content disseminated must be appropriate and pertinent. It all de-pends on the location of the digital signage system, the type of people moving in the area and the message one wants to con-vey. For example, in the entrance hall of a large company, an hotel, a congress-con-vention centre could play a ’welcome vid-eo’, while in the waiting room of a dentist one may choose to disseminate specific in-formation messages. If digital signage is installed inside the company, it can, through adapted train-ing videos, keep to a minimum the learn-ing time for personnel, for example, or ef-fectively disseminate a message from the management (such as a « message from the CEO »).In the canteens and other relaxation areas,

one can broadcast footage of a company party or an open house.

Shorter = More Effective!

In any event, the length of the video greatly determines how well the information will be retained. Short videos (less than one min-ute) attain a huge retention score of 80%, whereas videos lasting anywhere between two and three min-utes score 60%, which, we will agree, is still quite good. If you decide to make your own vid-eo, make sure you disseminate the most important in-formation first; es-pecially if the digital signage systems are placed in high-traffic areas where there is a risk that mobile viewers are unable to watch the entire-ty of a clip. The be-ginning is somewhat similar to the TV concept of ‘prime

time’.The image quality must be adapted to the screen size. In the case of digital signage, it is essential that it be excellent and in HD. Given the distance from which people watch, it is rarely necessary to use 4K, apart from exceptional cases and circumstances. If the video is produced in-house, make sure to use a stable support system while shooting to prevent any shaking.

14

Wainhouse Research Invites our European Clients and Readers to Cross the Pond

Alan D. Greenberg, Senior Analyst & Partner, Wainhouse Research

Every year we make the Wainhouse Re-search North Amer-

ican Summit a global af-fair. Past North American Summits have drawn dele-gates from the UK, Germa-ny, Spain, Italy, France, Is-rael, South Africa, Russia, Brazil, Mexico, Canada, Ja-pan, China, India, Singapore, and elsewhere.The entire Wainhouse Research crew is excited about some new elements to our Summit this coming 27-29 May, 2015 – most notably for some free pass-es (more on that below). Foremost, this year we will have more analyst and enterprise user talks on the topic of Unified Communications and workplace transformation than ever before. That’s where the focus will be: Wainhouse Research data, Wainhouse Research analysis, Wainhouse Research’s take – along with enterprise users – on market trends, real-world best practices, and ways of accomplishing successful collaborative technology deployments. Enterprises large and small will be speaking to making UC global or local. Dell Corporation’s Lawrence Grafton will speak to how he pitched to Michael Dell himself on an enterprise video initiative that would unify corporate messaging

to more than 100,000 employees and ensure that everyone, no mat-ter where they are in the world, is speaking the same language. His idea, DellTV, lev-erages Sonic Found-ry’s Mediasite Show-case, My Mediasite, analytics and policies to change how it trains and communicates in a truly global environ-

ment. Workplace furniture designer Herman Miller’s Nic Milani will speak to building a workplace environment for collaboration that help people feel sup-ported, engaged, and able to collaborate effectively. The cloud will be under scrutiny: Emma Richardson of the Colorado East Central BOCES (a service center) will talk about how interconnectivity (and cloud-based collaboration) is leveling the playing field, while Gene Warren, CEO of Warren Global Confer-encing, will explore the impact of mobility, HD Voice, IP-encrypted voice, and cloud computing on conferencing service providers. Jennifer Klein of Prin-cipled Learning Strategies will speak to efforts for us-ing collaboration in glob-al contexts – and what ed-ucators need to support their efforts.

And then there are the Wainhouse Research analysts.

Andy Nilssen, Can Microsoft Lync Online truly replace your mainstream web conferencing service? – We will take a critical look at Lync strictly from the perspective of its strengths and weaknesses for those thinking of replacing a mainstream solution such as WebEx or GoToMeeting.Andrew W. Davis, 50 Video Conferencing Trends, 50 Shades of Grey – The many trends rocking video conferencing todayBill Haskins, Tomorrow’s UC - Innovation or Good Intentions? – This ses-sion will take a look at these developments, comparing and contrasting across emerging solutions and next-level strategies from Microsoft, Cisco, and com-panies like Unify, Google and … Amazon!Alan D. Greenberg, Alexander and the Horrible Terrible No Good Very Bad Day for Collaboration – This talk will explore the collision of online and brick-and-mortar collaboration; 2) the impact of new solutions that combine real-time

and on-demand tech; 3) the rebirth of the LMS; and 4) how user-generated content is changing the opportunity map.Steve Vonder Haar, Mixing it Up: Breaking Free From the Confines of Web-casting – Steve will discuss that while “tra-ditional” webcasting applications are ef-fective and generate substantial value, advances in streaming platforms make video more malleable than ever before.Marc Beattie, Where’s the Growth in UCaaS? – This session explores the prom-ise, the problem, and possibility of UCaaS – for your enterprise or your service.Ira M. Weinstein, Selling Collaborative Technologies: A View from the End User Side of the Negotiating Table – This ses-sion will provide vendors and service pro-viders with direction concerning what they can do better to move sales opportunities further along, and end user organiza-tions will hear a few ideas about how better to manage their vendorsBut the most exciting new element this year: free passes! For the first time ever, Wainhouse Research is offering one free pass per subscribing organi-zation of our On Demand subscription services. If an organization subscribes to any one or more of those services at the time of registration, they are enti-tled to one free pass. If anyone ever thought about subscribing, this is a great excuse. Besides the analyst and user focus, we are planning a pre-conference Work-place Transformation workshop with Compass Business Solutions, a casual welcome reception on Wednesday May 27th, and an all-new optional analyst dinner on Thursday evening, May 28th. With the theme of workplace transfor-mation, we expect to continue to add speakers in the coming weeks.

Alan Greenberg

Industry executive asking a question from the audience

15

Videoconferencing services are leaving the meeting room! Mobile PCs, the cloud and the mobility in today’s world are boosting the adoption

of videoconferencing services by enterprises.

It was in 1964 that AT&T gave a public de-monstration of its Picturephone. The new advocates of videoconferencing then

already supposed that it would not be long be-fore it swept over the world like a tidal wave. Over the following years, however, videocon-ferencing stayed confined to meeting rooms, where the cost, complexity and limited range of many systems discouraged their use.

And more than fifty years later…..

Today, more than fifty years later, the deploy-ment of videoconferencing finally fulfills the original hopes, thanks to unified communica-tions. Indeed, it is unified communications that have established the use of videoconferencing at the workplace. According to Nemertes Research, who, at the end of 2014, collected data from 180 companies, 43% of these enterprises had added video-conferencing to more than 10% of their workplaces (whereas in 2012 only 17% of them had done so). Today the main suppliers of « uni-versal » unified communication sys-tems are Avaya, Cisco, Microsoft, Mitel and Shore Tel. And emerging technologies like WebRTC eliminate the need for a dedicated client and allow videoconferencing to be easily extended to outside the company’s boundaries. Many suppliers are also responding to the needs of mobile use, so much so that isolated individuals can par-ticipate in a group or one-to-one video confer-ence, independently of their location. For a company, use of the cloud means that it can be sure to save on initial investment costs, since it is the service provider who takes care of the infrastructure. The cloud,

too, is evolutive, adapts to the company (scaling up or down) and removes the need for per-sonnel dedicated to the man-agement of infrastructures.

Videoconferencing is finally off and running

Most cloud services allow vid-eoconferences to be easily of-fered to customers, partners and suppliers, who can use their own terminals or connect via WebRTC-compatible brows-ers. Cloud providers also reduce the costs of con-nection points, making video capabilities less expensive for both large conference rooms

and small offices. Furthermore, the widespread availability of « consumer » videoconferencing services such as FaceTime, Google Hangouts and Skype has given rise to the idea that video-conferencing capabilities are always availa-

ble on any device and from any location. An illustration of the current trend: between 6,500 and 10,000 video conferences are held per day in the Google company, and this is re-

lated to, among other things, the ease of accessing them (a simple mouse click)! According to Wainhouse Re-search, in 2015 around 200 million persons will work collaboratively via videoconferencing. Consequently, the new generation who are entering the world of work today have always been able to chat with their friends and family by video and expect to find the same possibil-ities at work, wherever the location. Videoconferencing is finally off and running.

Interesting for the company at all levels!

An interesting fact: the growing availa-bility of videoconferencing in the office and on mobile devices is being accompanied by the increasing deployment of videoconferencing systems for meeting rooms (average growth rate of 32%). All company departments can benefit from

video collaboration. According to a sur-vey of more than 5,000 persons, 88% of senior management members are highly satisfied with its use. The same is true of 83% of IT personnel, as well as market-ing and finance department staff (75%). As for sales staff, 92% of them are sat-isfied, as are 73% of customer service staff and 83% of engineers. Pretty good scores! More than ever, videoconferencing is be-coming inescapable within the framework of unified communications (UC), and the trend in this field is summed up in the fol-lowing short phrase: « at any moment, everywhere and on every peripheral de-vice whether it be mobile or fixed ». Col-laborative video tools will continue to proliferate, allowing the maximum bene-fit to be gained from information that is conveyed, according to Dr. Mehrabian, author of the book « Silent Messages », through the words used (at 7%), via the voice (at 38%) and from « meta-commu-nication » (facial expressions, gestures and postures)(at 55%).

Prysm

16

How To Deserve The Success Of A Hybrid EventHybrid meetings are one of the biggest trends of upcoming events. A hybrid event, as we know it, combines a traditional

“live” event with a virtual “online” event.

Today’s technology allows the se-tup of links that are high quality and simple to create. For the organi-

sers and speakers, there will be more and more situations of a real and online public at once.

Conversion From Virtual Towards “Live”

It is obvious, and we would like to make it clear, that a live participation offers more advantages and value than a virtual par-ticipation, especially when it comes to possibilities of networking, establish-ing personal links, and be-ing immersed in the event. The setup of a hybrid event may however bring a larg-er audience and offer an international perspective to the event. Furthermore, a certain percentage of vir-tual participants become “live” participants. That be-ing said, it is important to know that for the “online” participants, it is no longer enough to just stream the event, they deserve more

than this.They need to feel like they are completely a part of the event. The speakers need to take some time during their introductions to look at the camera and greet the vir-tual participants just like they would greet the participants physically present in the room. The live participants will also need to be aware of the situation. A good way of getting everyone interested in the hy-brid event is to announce the number of online participants and to tell everyone where they are from. Finally, the questions

from the room will have to be mixed with the opinions of the online participants.

Cross Interventions

“Thinking about the online participants” is also not leav-ing them with the image of an empty conference room. Before the event actually be-gins, stream commentaries and information on how the event is going to happen.The respect of timing is even more important during a hy-brid event. The online partic-ipants connect themselves

at key moments to follow the discussion on a specific subject. Just like on televi-sion, if you are late or if another subject is going on, they might simply… go on with other things and disconnect themselves.The reactions of the online participants are important. They can react in different ways, depending on the technology that is in place. It may be a “comments” tab, it can be done through social media such as Twitter for example, or in other ways (such as the video streaming of the partic-ipants, in fancier cases). The president or speaker then needs to inject those com-ments and make them public in a way that they will be part of the discussions. The two publics (real and virtual) need to ben-efit from this.

Prepare Hybrid Events with Great Care!More and more companies are interested in organising hybrid meetings, conventions and

meetings. Remember that a hybrid event is an event which, in addition to bringing participants

physically together, allows a remote ‘online’ audience, connected to the Internet, to learn about

(and participate in) the event.

This formula is meeting with increasing success despite some reluctance on the part of the organisers, who initially fea-

red the ‘cannibalization’ phenomenon.

Like a TV director

Indeed, the biggest fear was that the interested audience would stay home and that such a sit-uation would significantly diminish real and ac-tive participation in the event. It has since been demonstrated that this fear was groundless as a hybrid event makes it possible to increase the audience of an event by allowing the par-ticipation of people who would not have come anyway. Additionally, and this is a direct con-sequence, a hybrid event allows for the « glo-balisation » of the event, adding to its impact.The organisation of a hybrid event does not differ fundamentally from that of a traditional event, except for the fact that it must be pre-pared more thoroughly and that one has to make sure the appropriate technical equip-ment is in place and in good working order.Therefore, one must organise more ‘in depth’ than usual and ‘cut’ the course of the event,

much like a television director. The timing must be respected, if only because part of the re-mote audience will certainly be interested in particular moments of the event (specific speeches for instance) and will only connect then.

Timing the speaking time

Thus, the preparation also requires that the various players (chairman, speakers) time their speaking time and submit, for technical purposes, the various documents that will be used. This way, during the various speeches,

the appropriate visuals can be shown on the screens.From a technical viewpoint, one will need to talk to an Internet expert who specialises in hybrid events and, among other things, dis-cuss with him the transmission speed that is possible, keeping in mind that audio « costs » less in bandwidth than video, for example. One will also need to make a choice in terms of the quality of the images put on the Inter-net. Good quality requires high-speed con-nections.The ultimate in hybrid events is to allow remote participants to take the floor (during question/answer sessions for example) and, in certain cases, to allow the people in the audience to see the speakers. One can also put in place voting systems to take the pulse of Internet us-ers in real time and bring up the results on one of the screens set up at the event.Finally, and this is one of the benefits of a hy-brid event, the sequences broadcast will be stored on the machines, allowing everyone (those physically present, the remote partic-ipants and… those who are absent) to watch the event again or to watch it « à la carte ».

Mediasite

Sonic Foundry

Sonic Foundry

17

The State Of WatchmakersIt was particularly interesting this year, since the release of the Apple Watch, to watch the state of the

traditional watch companies. They had a meeting during the recent Baselworld in Basel, from the 19th to

the 26th of March.

It is still too early to tell, but many Swiss watchmakers already took the dive and proposed smartwatches, such as Breitling

(chronograph connected to a smartphone), Frédérique Constant, Bulgari Diagono (proto-type), Alpina and Mondaine.

The Combination Of Watchmaking And Innovation

Its functions are aimed for health and wellbeing, it would easily offer a two year battery life, and it em-bodies traditional Swiss watchmaking and techno-logical innovation. In addition to this, they are com-patible with Android and iOS smartphones.Frédérique Constant has a vision of a watch “that is a bridge between Silicon Valley and

Switzerland”. On the side of Breitling, we’re talking about a smart chronograph, made for pilots.

Of course, the smartwatch is also considered a menace to Swiss watchmakers. El-mar Mock (one of the creators of the Swatch) told the daily “Le Temps” that he believes that “the smart-watch puts the mid-range classic watch in danger”. François Thiébaud, president of Tissot, disagrees: “There is a synergy, not an opposition”.

He estimates that the phenomenon of the smartwatch has been a posi-tive one: “Watch-making has never been discussed this much before!”Tissot sees its smartwatch pro-ject differently: labelled “swiss made”, the watch does not depend on a smartphone and will have a large battery life.

The Strength Of

The Symbol

Adrian Bosshard, the director of Certina,

says the following: “We sell high-quality watches that last a long time, not electron-ic products of mass production”.

Elie Bernheim, director of Raymond Weil, underlines that “the main problem with the smartwatch is its obsolescence.” It is true that watches, until now, represented a life-long investment.However, he sees a real potential in this new market.

Thiery Stern, president of Patek Philippe, believes that “the smartwatch may bring the concept of “watch” back to popularity and motivate the younger crowd to adopt it”.He insists on the media coverage of smart-watches that pushes people to “overreact”. Finally, he would “love to see the third and fourth generations of these models”, high-lighting that we are still only at the very beginning of this market.The consensus is around the idea that a watch is “a symbol, a status, a memory

related to an event of our life”, as opposed to what a smartwatch can offer.

Breitling

Photo from left to right:Monsieur François Thiébaud, Président de TissotMonsieur Johann N. Schneider-Ammann, Conseiller FédéralMonsieur Nicolas Clerc, Vice-Président Département Produit TissotMonsieur Nick Hayek, Président de la Direction Générale du Swatch Group

BaselworldThierry Stern,

Président de Patek Philippe

18

19

A Galaxy of opportunity for anyone whose involves visual communication

From 18-22 May 2015, the Koelnmesse exhibition centre in Cologne plays host to

FESPA 2015, the world’s largest event for the speciality print community, attracting

thousands of printing applications who come from all over the world to see the

latest technology innovations in large format printing.

But, according to FESPA CEO Neil Felton, this print ‘mecca’ is also a galaxy of opportu-nity for anyone whose involves visual com-

munication to attract, promote, engage, direct or in-form.

Here he outlines some of the trends that will be re-flected in this year’s event…

A Galaxy of Opportunities for Communicators

The digital revolution which has turned marketing communication on its head in the last 15 years has also stimulated an explosion of creativity for printers, transforming what print can do as a medium of visual communication.Digital wide format print technol-ogy means that the economics of print have changed fundamental-ly – projects or ideas that would have been infeasible to realise in print just a decade ago are now possible, and digital print enables a degree of individualisation that is music to the communicator’s ears. Graphics of any kind can now realistically be print-ed and cut to any individual specification, person-alised, or tailored to the needs of a particular envi-ronment.

Reimagining print

And don’t limit your thinking to paper or cardboard; it’s time to reimagine print. Even in signage and dis-play, think about how you could use textile-based soft signage to good effect, both for visual impact and to reduce transportation and storage costs. Or consider how you might potentially use printable magnetic media to create POS graphics that can be endlessly repositioned on any metal surface.Did you know that developments in inks mean it’s possible to create dynamic graphics that physical-ly react to their environment – images that appear, disappear or change with changes in temperature or the addition of water for example; touch sensi-tive inks, or clever metallics or tactile inks that allow you to create luxe effects without the cost. And contemporary printable self-adhesive vinyls

make it possible to wrap virtually any three-dimen-sional object, meaning anything can carry your brand or campaign image – cars, bicycles, boats, planes, furniture, entire buildings. If it moves - or if it doesn’t – wrap it!

Print in the digital mix

Today’s print – even POS graphics and outdoor – sits very comfortably in our mul-tichannel marketing world. Devices like QR codes, Near Field Communication and iBeacons are making print an interactive medium that acts as a very effective bridge be-tween the physical and vir-tual, encouraging the viewer of the graphic to extend their engagement in the online space, or using geo-location data to enable a level of per-sonalised targeting of infor-mation or promotion. Printed graphics can easily

be combined with digital signage or screen media to make for a more multisensory experience, incor-porating audio and video, or delivering dynamic in-formation. Many visual communications special-ists can advise on clever solutions that mix printed and screen media to deliver ‘wrap-around’ experi-ences for your customers.What’s more, advances in areas such as eye-track-ing mean that you can now equip instore or outdoor graphics with devices to feedback on engagement levels – consumer dwell-time in front of a graphic, and feedback as to which areas of the image they

focused on. Graphics are becoming an increasing-ly measurable part of the communications mix.

Print for impact

If your business lends itself to events or experien-tial marketing, then wide format print is the solu-tion to create jaw-dropping pop-up spaces, or event graphics with the wow factor, from straightforward flags and banners to branded hoardings, awnings, crowd-control fences, printed podiums, backdrops, inflatables…And even in more classic areas of marketing – pro-motional or commemorative merchandising for ex-ample – up to date print technologies and materials make it possible to produce garments or giveaways that are creative and personal, and in small quan-tities to support time-limited promotional activity and eliminate inventories of outdated merchandise gathering dust.

No boundaries

It’s true to say that print today has virtually no bound-aries; the technology exists today to print economi-cally on just about anything. Cement, glass, ceram-ics, wood, carpet, textile, metal – today, anything is possible, a fact that has the potential to transform all areas of display.Whether it’s for a retail space, hos-pitality environ-ment, corporate office or show-room, if you can imagine it, you can print it. In the era of immersive brand experiences and the growing role of the retail space as a ‘show-room’ supporting an eventual online purchase, wide format print is your best friend. It enables you to transform walls, floors, ceilings, glazing, surface coverings and soft furnishings. And the best bit? The comparatively low cost of decorating with print means that you can refresh any space regularly, whether that’s to change the seasonal look and feel of a restaurant, to ring the changes in a hotel or event space, or to reflect cam-paigns and promotions in a store.

FESPA 2015 Global Expo– with its component events FESPA Fabric for printed garments, Euro-pean Sign Expo for signage, and Printeriors for decorative print applications - is your gateway to discover your new universe of print.FESPA 2015, 18 – 22 May 2015, Koelnmesse, Ger-manyVisit www.fespa2015.com for more information.

Neil Felton

20

Shop windows are doping themselves with digital displays The digital display is inserting itself into more and more screens! Previously confined

to big screens, it is now embedding itself in smaller screens and in strongly innovative

combinations. The most striking characteristic: the digital display is increasingly

involved in touch screens and in interactivity.

The boundaries between interactive kiosks and di-gital signage are therefore

disappearing. This is in the nor-mal course of things, given that interactive kiosks also made use of screens. But today this has been taken much further.

From the traditional shop window to true « window shopping »!

In reality, it is the very philos-ophy of digital signage that is evolving. Not long ago it served mainly to catch the eye, to dis-seminate information and ad-vertising messages. It imposed itself by its size and luminosity. This is still the case, but, on the one hand, smaller screens in the very departments of stores ena-ble visitors to choose their own path and, on the other hand, and most importantly, some real rev-olutions have taken place. The revolution that follows is ex-emplary. It involves Adidas-style window shopping, applied to its NEO range, and the system was first installed as a prototype. The brand invested in…..the tra-ditional shop window in order to transform it into a genuine vir-tual shop. First advantage: this shop is open 24/7. Second ad-vantage: it attracts attention on a massive scale. Third advan-tage: its playful aspect, which appeals to the young genera-tions (ultimately Adi-das’ core target). But let’s see how all this works. The shop window is a large touch screen on which a « virtual » model and Adidas products appear. A bar code (QI) is dis-played, which the potential customer only needs to scan with a smartphone in order to obtain a PIN code. From this moment on, his or her mobile phone is connected in real time with a shopping bag that appears in the window. All prod-ucts dropped by the consumer into the

bag, by gestures on the win-dow, appear instantly on the smartphone. The customer can change the product details and can also inform his or her friends via social media. The life-size digital mannequin carries the desired product and moves ac-cording the customer’s wishes. It is huge fun.

Consumers are already innovative actors

The touch medium of the future, the interactive shop window is a revolution in the marketing and media world. It allows a simple glazed store front to be trans-formed into a real interactive communication tool that ena-bles passers-by to be actors in the animations produced on the shop window. Obviously, this technology is still in its infancy, but renowned brands are already embarking on the interactive shop window adventure. For example, AS Colourmatic, a brand famous for its colorful T-shirts, offers an interactive shop window that analyzes the passer-by in terms of the « cheerfulness of their clothing ». The system then suggests a more trendy choice of colors, available in the store. For its part, Starbucks has in-stalled an interactive shop win-dow in Toronto that « rewards its customers and the pas-sers-by in the city »: trial offers,

mark-downs and drinks are offered as part of the program! In England, the ready-made clothing brand WESC has invited pas-sers-by to make a holo-gram dance, according to their position along the window.

Finally, Nike+, us-ing Kinect technolo-gy, animated a whole series of shop win-dows with balls that flew (virtually) when passers-by walked past the window. Oth-er shop windows al-lowed passers-by to perform a jump and to see the score achieved etc.

Shopping Window Adidas

Shopping Window Adidas