ipad rentalRecently I followed a LinkedIn discussion where the following question was asked:

“What’s your favorite way to use iPads at events?”

Three meeting professionals participated in this discussion sharing their real-life use of iPads in this environment.

Here is a summary of their commentary as well as more information about each app and the overall benefits of iPad technology.

Jill Mendoza, Meeting Architect at Kinsley uses an iPad for the following:
  • Note taking
  • Downloading the conference app
  • Emailing
  • BEOs
  • Meeting specs
  • Vendor information

Mendoza stated, “I…use technology…to help eliminate the stack of paper waste and compress everything in one easy-to-carry device.”

If you rent iPads for your next meeting or conference, you will find them to be a valuable resource. Rather than having the attendee carrying around a heavy conference binder in a bag and you and your staff having to do the same, an iPad weighs less than one pound and has a battery life of about 10 hours. In addition, think about all that paper you are saving!

Thomas Hallin, Co-founder at ITM Mobile, LLC shared his recommendation about two applications. The first one is targeted to the attendee and the second is useful in small group settings.

Meeting Notes Lite, a free app, offers the following features:

  • Compose and edit notes during a meeting
  • Garner meeting details, including a list all attendees.
  • Turn device upside down to direct microphone against the speakers for optimal recording
  • Email recording, photos and meeting details to self or others
  • Share recordings through iTunes File Sharing or Dropbox

Idea Flight app lets one person (the Pilot) use their iPad to control a presentation to an audience (their Passengers) of other iPads via Wi-Fi.  This does not require additional cameras, equipment or wires. The Pilot has control over the presentation speed and can lock and unlock the content for Passengers to browse slides at their will. Great for keeping everyone on the same page, so to speak! This app is free to passangers but there is a cost for the pilot.

In addition to these two apps, MeetingApps.com has thousands of meeting and event apps categorized by area. Corbin Ball Associates also has free meeting planner tools that run on iPads.

Kate Hawley, Associate Expositions Manager at American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists, likes iAnnotate PDF for the iPad. It allows attendees to read, mark up and share PDF, DOC, PPT and image files. The cost of this app is $9.99.
Hawley stated, “This app allows you to upload a PDF presentation…and make additional notes, mark-ups, etc. right in the PDF. All the notes are in one place and you can easily share your docs with others.”
For more ideas on how attendees can use iPads in the meeting environment, check out the blog post:  iPad Works Like a Laptop? There’s an App for That!
Are you event planning in California? Look to AV Event Solutions as your iPad provider!  To discover more about how you can rent iPads for your next event, request an iPad rental express quote now or call 1-888-249-4903.