Certain Software will be getting some sun at the ASAE show in San Diego
Posted Monday, August 18, 2008 by Gianni Lyle
If you are an association event and membership program planner, odds are you will be at the ASAE Meeting and Expo being held this week in sunny San Diego. ASAE & The Center for Association Leadership brings out some of the best association organizers in the United States to compare notes and get fresh ideas for membership management, meetings, events and professional development programs.

Certain Software's Director of Marketing, Kimberly Enright, along with other Certain Software experts will be available on the tradeshow floor to discuss solutions for 21st Century online registration, event management and membership programs. From Certain Registration, used by large member organizations like FFA and Boy Scouts of America, to newly added products memberConnect and eventsInteractive, Certain Software has long been meeting the needs of  associations of all sizes and focuses.

The ASAE Meeting and Expo is going on August 16 -19. Visit their event site for more details and news.

Certain Software will be at 2008 ASAE Tradeshow
 
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Certain Software is all over the map…
Posted Thursday, June 5, 2008 by Mariesa Ramos

Busy, busy, busy little bees here in the Certain Software Marketing Department.  Lots of buzzing going on – we just returned from exhibiting at the ASTD (American Society for Training and Development) Conference and Expo in San Diego, CA.  ASTD attracts a large number of training program managers, session and meeting planners, program managers, etc.  Next, we’ll be at the Greenfair Silicon Valley starting this Friday in San Jose, CA.  We are a technology partner and sponsor and are supporting the Go Green efforts by educating the public on how to go paperless.  You can have a look at our Go Green best practices by clicking here: www.certain.com/gogreen

Next week is just as busy.  We are also a technology partner of HSMAI’s (Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International) Affordable Meetings and SGMP (Society of Government Meeting Professionals).  We will be exhibiting at HSMAI's Affordable Meetings West in Long Beach, CA on June 11-12 and also at SGMP’s Annual Conference being held June 11-14 in Dallas, TX. 

Certain is all around the world  – visit our event page to see where we’ll be next! 

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PCI Compliance in the Meetings Industry
Posted Wednesday, May 7, 2008 by Jonathan Dodson
As the CIO of Certain Software, one of the most frequent requests for information I receive from customers is regarding PCI (Payment Card Industry) compliance. In fact, at the last Meetings Technology Expo in San Francisco, I spoke on the subject of PCI and data security. More than ever, independent meeting planners need to be aware of the potential penalties which can be associated with not being PCI compliant. My team has gone through extensive audits and received the highest level of PCI certification as PCI Level 1 for Service Providers.

If you want to learn more, go the PCI site.

https://www.pcisecuritystandards.org

Certain Software’s achievement of PCI Level 1 for Service Providers is listed on both the Mastercard Site Data Protection and VISA Cardholder Information Security Program sites.

Mastercard Compliant Service Providers

VISA CISP Compliant Service Providers

If you take credit cards for registration payments, you will want to ensure your provider is listed on these sites.
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Meeting Different at MPI's PEC in Houston...
Posted Tuesday, February 19, 2008 by Mariesa Ramos

After returning from MPI’s PEC event in Houston, I was asked by a few different industry planners my opinion of the connection spots on the tradeshow floor.  I shared it with them and thought I would share it with everyone else, too. 

 

At first I was a little worried about the set-up of the connection spots (that’s what MPI called them), but after arriving to the show floor and seeing them in person and setting up our booth area it ended up working out very well.  The connection spots opened up the show floor and made it more welcoming.  The thing I liked most about the connection spots was not being in an aisle.  We obtained more exposure and received more booth traffic as a result of the non traditional aisle set up.

 

Only one negative comment on the connection spots – we recently re-designed our 10x20 booth which cost a significant amount of marketing dollars.  If shows start moving in this direction (which I’m not opposed to) it would mean that we wouldn’t get as much use out of our investment in our booth re-design.

 

I’m looking forward to seeing this type of set-up at future shows.  

Speaking of future shows, be sure to visit the events page to find out where we will be next.
 
Check back soon for a future blog on my experiences at MPI's PEC - The General Session, Technology Playgrounds, and more.

 

Here are some pictures of Certain’s connection spot at MPI's PEC:


Certain's connection spot at MPI's PEC

Nick Brown, Jeff Rasco, and Dr. Rick Borry
Nick Brown, Jeff Rasco, and Dr. Rick Borry

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Technology Tradeshows take off in February
Posted Thursday, February 7, 2008 by Kimberly Enright
It seems like one of the latest trends for the large meetings and events tradeshows is to segue off into "technology-focused" mini-tradeshows such as ASAE for associations, ASTD for training and HSMAI for corporate and independent meeting professionals.  We saw this trending last year with MPI-WEC in Montreal when they grouped all of the technology providers for online registration such as Cvent, StarCite and Certain and other meeting and event software technologies in one exhibit area.  It makes so much more sense when you think of the plight of the meeting professional who is inundated with the huge hotel venue exhibits, and trying to get through to the guy (or gal) in the back of the exhibit hall with the event management software demo.  Let's face it would you rather drink a mai tai in the Hawaii booth, or ...well, you get my drift.

We just got back from the ASAE Technology Conference & Expo held in Washington DC last week.  Once again, it was a technology focused show aimed at the association market.  We were one of the only online registration providers to exhibit since most of the big players were the pure membership management providers like iMIS,Q, netFORUM (what is it with the CAPS?).  We enjoy a very good relationship with associations, not only for their annual conference registration, but for their increased attendance through our email marketing and our ability to import a large amount of membership information.

Another team from Certain just got back from MPI-PEC in Houston last week where we participated in the technology playground and demonstrated Certain Registration.  Stand by for more details on this blog from our soon-to-be-CMP Mariesa Ramos....All for now, Kimberly
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