Cool New Marketing Technologies: Caught and Served

Rob Everton

Creative Technology Director

To make one “Creative Technology Director” mix equal parts engineer, creative dreamer, and idealist. I’m constantly seeking new technology or services that fit one of two major criteria: 1. It’s really really cool -or- 2. I can creatively blend it with some existing services to create new solutions for marketing, communications, and entertainment. My background is pretty wacky and includes designing attractions for Disney, designing trade show experiences, writing plays, pushing really big buttons, designing laser systems and special effects for entertainment, engineering components for strategic defense and tactical weapons, kiosks, webcasting, strategic planning, and running a large videogame website as editor-in-chief.

Currently I’m losing brain cells at a rapid pace on behalf of my two kids, but I can still beat the pants off them in any videogame. I still can’t play the piano worth a damn. I can probably fill your head with more progressive rock trivia than should be allowed by the rules of interrogation under the Geneva Convention. I love new technology, but I don’t want to have to buy “The White Album” or “Star Wars” on any more plastic discs.

Rob's posts

NFL To Broadcast in 3D to Theaters (one game)

By Rob Everton

As you may recall, I am a BIG fan of 3D video. After seeing the U23D concert movie, I felt I had seen a significant glimpse of the future of virtual events. And several industries are moving quickly behind the scenes to get professional and consumer 3D products on the market.

One major milestone is about to happen – an NFL game broadcast live in 3D to theaters in LA, New York, and Boston for a lucky closed audience on December 4th. The last event of this type was a Mavericks basketball game back in March. The NFL – always a leader in broadcast technology – should make this a very interesting test.

I expect it won’t be long before this solution is available to corporate clients to extend the reach of their events worldwide while improving the immersive sense of being there. It sure beats watching a webex from your desk!

Posted in Event Solutions, Virtual Events, Webcasting | 1 Comment »

Green Media Show Ad Received Late, on Plastic

By Rob Everton

A local “Green” event sent me a postcard offering me a discount on registration. The event was the day before. Great….

Also – the postcard was made out of virgin plastic, with a recycle count of ‘1′. There’s a URL pointing me to a website where I can learn more about how it was made but I don’t plan to take the bait. If this was really a sustainable material they should have said so right on the card. Maybe I’m old school but sending a big plastic postcard, even if it can be recycled, to a corporate prospect who probably doesn’t have plastic recycling set up near their office seems completely wrong – especially in the context of an environmental-themed event.

I also won’t share the links to the event or the company making the card. As marketers, we can do better.

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Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

Webcast: Maximizing Marketing Value During a Downturn

By Rob Everton

Update – Webcast went swimmingly. I will update this when the archive is posted. Thanks to all that participated!

Our latest webcast:

Crunching the Numbers: Maximizing Marketing Value During a Downturn

From the registration page:

At the beginning of 2008, it became apparent that a recession was coming our way. In the face of financially troubling times, companies tend to scale back on major marketing efforts to try to save some money. The net result is that these companies usually end up in worse financial shape.

During times of economic stress is the worst time to scale back on your marketing efforts. In fact, a downturn gives companies a golden opportunity to develop deeper relationships with their customers and partners through relationship marketing.

Tune in on September 30, 2008 to hear this exciting panel discussion featuring industry experts.

You will learn:

How to build communities and reach people through activities like webcasts and social media.
How B2B marketers can do more with less and be more efficient at turning marketing investments into revenue.
How to plan, implement and measure word of mouth campaigns.
How face-to-face events are more important than ever.


Link: http://www.cramereventmedia.com/webcastseries/

Posted in Marketing Technology | Comments Off