Our new release introduces a new capability to incorporate your unique business rules into the 1-on-1 scheduling system. You will see this new feature in the Attendee to Attendee meeting version of MeetMax first, and then over the coming months it will be enhanced to include the all of the meeting automation and reporting that our MeetMax classic users have come to rely on.

MeetMax is a very flexible product that not only provides registration and scheduling for large scale sell-side investor conferences, but can also be used for small events such as investor trips and analyst days. Many brokers often manage trips for their investor clients to travel and meet with several companies and management teams over several days. These type of events are perfect for MeetMax. An event site can be created to inform clients on the key elements of their trips such as: hotel dates, company schedules, travel details and also allows them to sign-up for activities.

The advantages of a web based app over a native app are emphasized by the sheer number of native apps available. Wall Street Journal review of the app industry this week provides further detail. The apps number in the itunes store is 775,000 and in the google store is 700,000. There will be resistance from event attendees to down load yet another native app to their already crowded mobile device. However accessing content on a mobile device will continue to be a powerful trend. Wall Street Journal also said that there are now 181 m tablets and smart fones in the US and the average user is spending 2 hours per day on their mobile device.

We at MeetMax enjoy keeping our finger on the pulse of the Event Industry. A trend we have noticed of late is that Event Organizers are providing their registrants a letter for their bosses in order to justify the cost of attending the event. Event Organizers that deploy MeetMax’s networking application can drive event registration by enabling attendees to create 1-on-1 meeting schedules prior to the event. Just like attending a business trip is more efficient than a marketing event, demonstrative results are always more persuasive than hopeful letters.

The debate over the merits of native apps versus web-based apps, should also include an understanding of the appetite for an event attendee to download yet another native app to their mobile device. A recent New York Times article stated that Apple has over 775,000 apps in the ITunes store. Surely the “Play Store” for Android users has a similar number. There is clearly an abundance of apps for users, but a limited amount of space on phones. Many users already have over 75 apps on their phone and this limits space for much else. It can be argued that web-based apps, which are not stored on the phone, and are accessed via the web have a clear advantage. Web based apps do not hog RAM and memory like a native app and potentially provide a better approach for event organizers.

The opportunities created by mobile technology continue to evolve. MeetMax’s mobile capability was designed to provide a useful and efficient mobile on site conference application. MeetMax/WSW has added to our mobile functionality the ability to view and listen to webcasts directly from a mobile device. Now, if an investor was busy with a 1-on-1 meeting and missed a company presentation, the investor would be able to access a replay of the web cast from a mobile device.

The MeetMax A2A functionality includes a powerful administrative view. It provides event organizers more information and access to the attendees. Success of an event lies in the hand of the event organizer. This applies even more so to private meetings. A powerful admin view can enable an event organizer to act like a host at a party. And any successful party requires a prepared and attentive host. MeetMax’s admin viewpoint has the ability to:

1. Generate meeting reports, e.g. meetings requested, but not yet confirmed.

2. Keep your attendees up-to-date by batch emailing attendees any conference updates, including their schedules

3. Print and distribute 1×1 schedules/badges onsite.

We continue to be immersed in the debate on the relative merits of web apps and native apps. More considerations that support the case for web apps are: 1) Customization: native apps require permissioning and lead time to customize but the MeetMax web app pulls data directly from our MeetMax system. This allows changes and customization to be implemented very quickly and easily. 2) Web apps are very cost-effective. Native apps certainly enable a richer set of features and functionality but is not clear that this is justified by the economics.

The debate in mobile technology over the benefits of a web based app (browser) or a native app is intense. Our experience in 2012 in deploying mobile event apps has provided us with significant first hand experience. There are two advantages to deploying a browser-based solution, 1) Flexibility, a web-based application can be altered and changed in minutes, not requiring the permissioning or authorization process of a native solution 2) Platform agnostic, both Apple and Android smartphone use has grown rapidly, but in the finance sector in particular Blackberrys are still prevalent and a web-based application has clear benefits.

Despite the promise of new technologies some traditional practices have stood the test of time. The continued development of conference call software and virtual meetings have not reduced the demand for Face to Face meetings at events. At investor conferences one-on-one meetings have become more prominent than ever. MeetMax’s key point of differentiation is that the application combines both on line registration with 1-on-1 meeting requests and scheduling.