Cisco Launches Suite of Event Collaboration Technologies

The suite of network-based technologies enable organizers to conduct interactive physical and virtual events, more effectively measure return on investment, expedite the planning process, and attract speakers. “This is not meant to replace events. We need to have live events, but we can’t afford to do them the way we used too,” says Rick Hutley, vice president, internet business solutions group, Cisco. “Business is now global, and mobile now and both of those trends actually create an increased need for face-to-face events, but the cost of doing them the old way is now prohibitive.”

Fortune magazine recently employed video-enabled Web conferencing via Cisco WebEx™ Event Center to offer highly interactive virtual participation as an alternative to physical attendance at its annual Fortune Conference. "Cisco's Collaboration for Events extended the reach of this year's Fortune Conference well beyond our four walls and previous physical limitations,” says PJ Boatwright, vice president of events, Fortune. “By using technologies such as Cisco WebEx, we were able to unite our 300 in-person attendees with nearly 1,000 virtual participants around the world. In addition, by making video content available on the Web via Cisco Show and Share, we are converting our conferences into Web communities lasting long after the event doors closed." 

ExCel London, a host site for the 2012 Olympic Games is focused on using collaboration and business video technologies to enrich the participant experience at events hosted at its facility, especially the tools for creating interactive digital signage which allows content, video and marketing campaigns to be broadcast via Cisco Digital Signs from a central source to large numbers of people in multiple locations at an event. The signage content can also be instantly changed to display new content when needed. Touch-screen capability allows attendees to interact with digital signs directly from the event floor, instantly accessing information and content that is most relevant to them. "In building London's first international convention center, our goal was to create the ultimate venue for today's connected, Web-driven society,” says David Pegler, managing director, ExCel London. “As the physical world increasingly converges with the virtual, we see video collaboration technology as a defining element of the next-generation event experience. As such, we are excited to use our existing Cisco network as a platform to deliver additional Cisco technologies such as Web conferencing, digital signage and Cisco TelePresence, all of which can help us deliver on our vision to make London's ICC a sought-after destination for events of the future."

Cisco has also achieved cost efficiencies by deploying business video and collaboration technologies for its own events, helping the company realize event-related cost savings of more than $100 million to date."During the last three years, Cisco has accelerated the transformation of its own internal and external corporate events though the use of collaboration technologies like Cisco TelePresence, WebEx, digital signage and unified communications,” says Nancy Neipp, senior director, global corporate events, Cisco. “In addition to delivering an exciting and innovative new experience to our employees, customers and partners, we've also been able to reduce live attendance costs by 78 percent, extend the reach and impact of our events, and reduce logistical overhead.”