What have I been up too? Where have you been? Any new articles coming?
These are just a few of the questions that I have been getting lately. Truth be told, I have been hanging out at the pool….. Not that pool fool…. The Meeting Pool (ouch, bad humor alert).
What is the Meeting Pool?
Let’s start at the beginning. The Meeting Pool project was born almost a year and a half ago at a Panera Bread just north of Chicago in Skokie, IL. I was meeting with (the most awesome) Dahlia El Gazzar about some webby, wordpressy type stuff and she said “You know, I have always had this idea to create something amazing for the meetings and events industry about tech, here is the idea”, to which I replied “No shit, I have been thinking the same thing too”.
Dahlia even had a name for this thing….. “The Meeting Pool”.
Normally, this would be the part of the story where you would hear “and the rest is history” but this is anything but history. The Meeting Pool is a living, breathing thing that has had growth spurts, failures, setbacks, triumphs, and even a little acne as it approaches what I would call puberty. Even with the ups and downs it is all coming together rather nicely. We are just about go and have even added the super kick-ass, speak her mind more than me Tara Thomas.
So what is the Meeting Pool?
The Meeting Pool is all things tech for the meetings and events industry. It is about getting stuff done, how to do it, what tools to use, and which to avoid. We are talking apps, software, hardware, tutorials, how-to’s, tips, tricks, and more little goodies.
We are aiming this site at Meeting and Event Planners, Directors of Marketing, Demand Gen, Global Meetings leaders, VPs, and everyone else that has a stake in meetings, events, and conferences. Thinking big we are.
If I had to make a comparison (and I hate comparisons because they typically suck) I would say that it is a cross between Mashable and Yelp with a sprinkle of me, a dash of Dahlia, and a little bit of Tara thrown in for good measure (Anyone else just hear Mambo #5).
What does it all add up too? A whole lotta fun, a whole lotta work, and what I hope is a whole lotta useful for the meetings and events community.
So, when does this thing launch.
That is a whole ‘nother part of the story my faithful friend.
It seems when you have three amazing tech people who also happen to be meeting and event professionals, you can be kinda useful, and we happen to be useful to the fine and amazing peeps at AIBTM.
The Meeting Pool will be producing the Future Events Experience in Chicago this summer, only 30 short days away.
We figured this would be a good place to launch the website and the super secret tool that we know every meeting and event planner will be able to use multiple times…. Seriously, anyone can launch a site, what we are working on will knock your freaking socks off (either that or I am easily impressed.. which is totally possible).
I would love for you, my most awesome readers, to do me a favor:
- You can follow The Meeting Pool on Twitter (we are already talking event tech)
- You can like the Facebook Page (ditto, great stuff there too)
- You can follow the G+ page (This poor page has one follower and it is me)
So, what about PlannerWire?
No change kiddies, no change. About this time of year I have a knack of going radio silent due to client events, this year it just lasted a little longer than usual as we worked on the super awesome-a-licious site that is Meeting Pool. Once this puppy launches I will be writing for both (so go and get on The Meeting Pool mailing list).
That’s all for now. In the immortal words of Jimmy Buffett…. Fins Up!
Now… take a break and enjoy you some Jimmy
