Keeping everyone around the globe instantly informed about a conference is not an easy task. To achieve this goal in the Internet era, eConferenceWare has expanded and launched Version 2.0. eConferenceWare is a state-of-the-art, secure, database-driven service offering providing the latest information for:

Attendees
Authors
Exhibitors
Conference Personnel

1. Reduce printing and mailing costs to effectively $0.00 for conferences that require author/paper participation. One of the biggest values of eConferenceWare is the online paper maintenance. Instead of requiring authors to print and mail, or even e-mail, abstracts and papers to a central office where they are dispatched to the correct conference personnel for review, comment and return, all authors and conference personnel simply login to the eConferenceWare website to exchange information. No printing or mailing fees are required. No time is wasted waiting for the paper to arrive and no confusion is incurred over what version of a paper is to be reviewed or used. The eConferenceWare website maintains and organizes all of this information between hundreds of authors and dozens of conference personnel.



2. Increase conference attendance by supporting online creditcard registration. Many studies have shown that the easier it is to buy something, the more likely it will be purchased. The same is true of conference registrations. If registering is as simple as filling out a form on the Internet, instead of making telephone calls or faxing forms, more registrations will occur and fewer people will "pay at the door". The conference gets their well deserved money earlier in the process and attendees receive e-mail confirmations, helpful notifications and access to the online conference proceedings after the conference has started.



3. Increase exhibitor participation by offering online registration and information. The same philosophy applied to registrations can be applied to exhibitor participation. The easier it is to register as an exhibitor, the more exhibitors you will attract.



4. Increase recurring yearly participation of authors, exhibitors and attendees at a reduced cost by using e-mail lists that are comprized of the previous year's online activity. For every user that passes through your conference website that registers as an author, exhibitor, attendee or staff member, your online e-mail list grows. This list is your conference contact list that will grow year after year and will only be accessible to your conference.



5. Reduce the workload of the conference staff by offering online registration, exhibitor maintenance, author maintenance and e-mail list notifications 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Most conferences rely on a small administrative staff and many professionals that volunteer their time to make the conference a success. Providing these individuals with technology and tools to make their job easier and more effective only increases the value of the conference and each person involved.

The "pilot" conference for eConferenceWare was ITherm 2000. The financial success and comments from authors, exhibitor, attendees and staff is the foundation for the value proposition for eConferenceWare. The numbers may not match the numbers for your conference. eConferenceWare may not be the perfect solution for every conference. Here are a few easy questions to answer that may help you decide if eConferenceWare is going to benefit your conference like it did the ITherm 2000 conference.

1. Does your conference spend a significant amount of its budget on printing and mailing to authors, attendees and/or exhibitors? If your conference mails out a "Call For Papers" and uses e-mail or the U.S. Postal Service to transport abstracts and papers between authors and the conference personnel, eConferenceWare can save your conference time and money - guaranteed.



2. Does your conference rely on professional or non-professional volunteers to make the conference a success? Providing these individuals with technology and tools to make their job easier and more effective, since they usually are not being financially compensated for their efforts, only increases the value of the conference and each person involved.



3. Does your conference draw authors, attendees and/or exhibitors from all around the world? Having a fully functional website available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week means the attention and service you provide to attendees, authors and exhibitors from foreign contries doesn't suffer. eConferenceWare is simply a full-time conference assistant that doesn't need breaks for vacation.

The answers to these questions may help dictate if eConferenceWare will reduce your conference cost, increase personnel efficiency and, in the end, pay for itself during the first conference.

What we have seen, because of the use of eConferenceWare, is this:

1. A $25,000 printing and mailing budget was reduced to less than $2,000.
2. A 40% increase in author participation.
3. A 70% increase in conference attendance.
4. A 50% increase in conference exhibitors.
5. A 0% increase in conference staff to handle the increased number of author's papers and attendance.
6. 50% fewer telephone calls from authors, exhibitor, attendees and staff because the conference website handled the majority of the questions and issues 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

eConferenceWare, by its design and essential purpose, should save your conference a significant amount of money while, at the same time, increasing participation and reducing the number of people required to handle the increase. The value proposition is that simple.