Do you know how to SpotME???

Yesterday I attended the 2010 MPI Leadership, Education and Awards program held at the Sheraton Chicago. I must say there were many things about the day that I really enjoyed but there was one aspect in particular that I was rather blown away by. The SPOTME device. For those of you who don't know what this is it's basically an oversized PDA that allows attendees to be engaged in the event.

One of the key features is business card sharing. By simply touching your device to another persons device all your personal information is then transferred to them, you can accumulate people until the end of the night and the information is then emailed to you. This is great if your the type of person who does not bring business cards but I would rather have the card (I know it's not very green) but then I can make notes on the back and to me there is something about using the sense of touch, it's one more way that I've connected with the person. Plus I like to email people first thing the next day and start to establish a relationship. It's now almost noon the following day and I've received nothing yet. (I seriously doubt this would fly in Japan.)

But aside from the Business Card Sharing there were features that were quite redeemable. There was an ask the speaker button where you could type questions as the speaker was talking and they were transmitted right to the front for the Q&A portion. Did I mention it is totally anonymous? This is great! It enables people who would normally not ask questions to be heard. It is also much easier to manage the Q&A session. Similar questions can all be answered at once, and it becomes clear what needs to be elaborated on more.

You can also send messages to other attendees and use the radar to find out who is standing around you or "spot" someone you'd like to speak to. Not to mention it has the full event agenda listed, there are voting capabilities, text messaging and other custom options. Overall I think the device is very cutting edge and it just shows how great the strides in our technology have become. The manner in which we hold meetings and conventions is really blossoming.

Just be sure to have your morning coffee before the meeting starts. One key feature is a beautiful picture that is taken of you on site and remains the screen on your Spotme all day. I'm curious to see if it's emailed with the business card information. This may not be the picture I want floating around...