ST. LOUIS
Meetings industry tech gurus Corbin Ball and James Spellos have partnered with QuickMobile to create a new, free iPhone and Android app that allows meeting planners in the midst of site inspections to enter information about properties they’re considering and get those hotels rated for their technological prowess, they announced at MPI’s World Education Conference. The app, Tech Spec, also allows planners to email the report generated from the review to their superiors, colleagues or industry peers.
The offering enables meetings buyers to assess numerous features of three key areas of hotels: guest rooms, meeting space and the lobby/public space. Among the many areas reviewed in the guest rooms are fee for extra devices, wired connection, download speed, IT support, furniture ergonomics and even whether the TV can be used as a port. Among the lobby considerations are kiosk check-in/out; complimentary charging stations and WiFi access; and cell reception. There is no limit to the number of properties planners can keep track of in the system and they can also take notes on each hotel.
Future iterations of the app could include much greater ability for planners to share property reviews with one another, according to Ball. Meanwhile, users can chat with one another, and let QuickMobile what works and what doesn’t within the tool, in the user group at www.facebook.com/techsitespec. But for now, the goal is just to gain critical mass and get people to start talking about the issue of hotels not keeping up with the times.
“It’s a gift to the industry as a way to get the conversation started,” Ball said.
