Automated Content Processing Helps Speakers and Planners Self-Publish Presentation Files In Real Time
CadmiumCD’s eventScribe App is one of the only event apps that offer a true note-taking experience. Attendees can draw lines and highlight text directly on presentation slides, as well as take typed notes beside the slides. It’s an experience that feels natural and, for many, is unmatched. The challenge for CadmiumCD has always been that this experience takes a lot of work to curate in the background.
Problem: Simple for Users, Complicated for Planners
Peter Wyatt, CTO and co-founder of CadmiumCD, explains:
“Previously when a speaker uploaded a presentation in the speaker ready room, someone at CadmiumCD would go into myCadmium a couple times per day, download new slides, then convert the Powerpoint into a series of images using our proprietary software that makes note-taking possible. These images were uploaded to the cloud and published to the app.”
Attendees can highlight text, type notes, and draw on slides using the eventScribe Event App.
This proprietary technology makes CadmiumCD’s eventScribe a favorite for planners with educational conferences. But it’s a labor-intensive process that doesn’t meet the expectation for quick turnaround times at today’s fast-paced events. Most vendors have workarounds to speed up the process, which lead to all kinds of issues. Low quality slide sharing and a lack of robust note-taking capabilities are two of the most common.
Solution: A New Tool Is Born
“We aren’t willing to compromise. We know the value of our product and so do our clients,” Wyatt continues. “Still, we understand that attendees want instant access to the latest information, and planners want to deliver.”
Wyatt and his development team went back to the drawing board and emerged six months later with a new process. Now, when a speaker uploads a presentation or file online in the Conference Harvester or onsite in the speaker ready room, it’s made available in the mobile app via an automated process.
The new self-publishing tool cuts out manual processes when speakers upload content to the Conference Harvester.
The same technology that makes files available in the app can also be used to make them available on the eventScribe Website. The beauty of this process is that planners no longer need to schedule content updates, figure out if a presentation is available, and coordinate labor efforts; the files are uploaded, then show up in the next app update as published content.
Contingencies: Instant Isn’t Always Ideal
Some organizations still need a barrier between the upload and publish steps. Medical associations, for example, require disclosures to be reviewed and approved before going live.
“That’s why we’ve also tied this system directly to the approval module in the Conference Harvester,” comments Wyatt. “For those using this tool, files are not automatically published until you approve them.”
CadmiumCD CTO Peter Wyatt shares details of the new self-publishing tool at CadCon, the company’s annual users group meeting.
The Ultimate Goal: Better Experiences for Speakers and Attendees
Brian Snyder, CMP and Meeting Manager at Complete Conference Management, says this new process is invaluable for conferences:
“The speakers I work with are putting out the latest content available in their sessions. Instead of punishing them for showing up with the most recent information, we can now help them deliver that information to attendees in real time.”
Snyder says because of this, the self-publishing tool creates a better attendee experience. The tool ensures that attendees receive quick updates and have access to the latest information.
The self-publishing tool is now available to select users of the Conference Harvester and eventScribe Website and App platforms. To get started with the new tool today, contact CadmiumCD at 410-638-9239 or info@cadmiumcd.com.