Last year the Asia-Pacific Incentives & Meetings Expo (AIME) in Melbourne was a blast. We had such a great time that we are participating in 2012 AIME, in fact next week!

Just like last year we will be available at a stand (Stand 1900) so we can hopefully have the opportunity to meet you and introduce you to our software. But this year, we’ve also got something pretty special planned...

The launch of our very new Membership Manager!

The Membership Manager, like all iVvy components, will integrate seamlessly with the rest of the tools for a complete Event and Membership Management solution. For the chance to gain a sneak preview of the new feature join us between 4:30pm and 6pm Tuesday the 21st for drinks and a chat. We’d love to see you there!

For more information visit their website.

Are you a prospective Victoria University Event Management student? If so, you’ll be learning the iVvy system as part of your degree! Pretty cool, heh?

iVvy and Victoria University have teamed up to provide Event Management students with an academic program that gives graduates industry accreditation for iVvy, improving their employment opportunities upon graduation. Martin Robertson, lecturer for Events Management at the University said, “We can clearly see that iVvy is quickly becoming one of the market leaders in the events and conferencing space, and as a result have made the decision to use iVvy as our teaching platform for all Events Management diplomas and degrees starting in 2012.”

So, if you’re keen to get a head start in the industry, and learn the iVvy Event Management software, consider enrolling in one of Victoria University’s suite of Event Management degrees. It might just be the extra edge you need for a successful and enriching career.

We were absolutely delighted when we received our copy of CIM Magazine today! Why? Well, it was bright pink and had a big white ‘V’ on it!  That’s right folks, iVvy made the front cover of CIM Magazine and we couldn’t be happier! Better still, we turned to page 10 to find our very special cover story on the benefits of cloud technology for Event Management.

It’s always great to have publications like this recognise and support us in our quest to revolutionise the Event Management industry. If you’d like to learn more about CIM Magazine, visit their website. Thanks for your support, CIM!

What is “Cloud Computing” and how will it revolutionise events and membership management? James Greig, Chief Technical Officer and software expert at iVvy, talks about this new method of software distribution and the benefits for associations using it.

What is Cloud Computing? Well, in a nutshell, there is one major difference between traditional software and Cloud based software. Traditional software is stored on your computer’s hardrive or your server, whereas Cloud software is stored on the developer’s service and you gain access to the software via an Internet login. Examples of cloud computing include Gmail, Salesforce, Facebook and iVvy - Cloud based software for enterprise-class conference and events management.

Of course, there are many small differences between the two and the advantages of Cloud computing are far reaching. One major positive is the accessibility of Cloud computing software from anywhere in the world. All you need is an Internet connection and it becomes possible for you to organise your event, or manage your memberships, from wherever you are. This is perfect for associations with a dispersed or mobile team and it helps improve communications and organisational structure.

Another very important benefit to Cloud computing is the cost factor. Computing hardware is expensive. There’s the initial purchase, ongoing maintenance fees and electricity bills that can quickly burn into a company’s budget, particularly for the smaller association. With Cloud computing software all you really need is a computer and access to the Internet, allowing you to funnel your savings back into your business rather than into infrastructure. The other advantage of not having the software stored on your own hardware is that you will benefit from immediate software upgrades as they happen, as well as 24 hour, seven day a week server maintenance from experienced technicians.

As a result of cloud technology, associations have a means of reducing costs usually associated with licenses and having to hire permanent IT staff to manage and maintain in-house servers or deal with upgrades and ongoing maintenance. Now they can focus their budgets on membership and delivery of educational and other objectives rather than major infrastructure and up front capital costs.

I am often asked about the security factors of Cloud computing, particularly in the wake of the recent hacking examples. While I cannot speak for all Cloud computing companies, I can say that iVvy take security very seriously and have implemented a number of security measures to ensure the integrity of our client’s data. If you are contemplating investing in a Cloud computing service, always ask for a copy of the company’s security documentation. This document should outline the measures they take in the interest of security. If they can’t provide such documentation, I would not opt for their services.

In my opinion, Cloud computing software, with its cost efficiency, accessibility, automatic updates and high security, is going to revolutionise today’s event and membership management for associations.

Cloud Computing for Associations in a Nutshell

1. It’s cheaper
2. It’s safer
3. It’s more convenient
4. It’s portable
5. It improves communication
6. It allows for regular, automatic software updates

There’s been a lot of talk lately about the inherent security of cloud computing, particularly in light of the June hacking of a large Australian web hosting firm. As a cloud computing services provider who relies on the integrity of our security system, we thought that now would be the perfect time to release our Security Whitepaper, which outlines the measures we take to ensure the security of our clients’ data.

In the Whitepaper, you’ll find information on how we manage personnel and staff, measures we take to protect against hacking attacks, as well as how we protect our hardware from fire and damage among many other security measures we have in place. We highly recommend that you download and read the Security Whitepaper so you too understand how seriously we take security.

If you have any questions, please contact us and we’d be happy to address them.

That’s right folks! According to the 100 maven judges in Anthill’s SMART 100, iVvy is the seventh most innovative and commercially viable new company in Australia. For those that didn’t hear, the SMART 100 competition went live last month and was judged by trusted industry experts as well as all our friends and fans who helped make our success possible by tweeting, liking and commenting about us. It is with much gratitude that I thank everyone for their help, as well as our amazing programming team who have committed countless hours developing our application.

So, considering we’re on the topic, let’s look at the seven reasons why iVvy is the seventh most innovative company in Australia today.

1. It has all the Event Management tools you need in one place

Gone are the days of keeping track of budgets using Excel spreadsheets, Word documents containing your task list and sending invoices and tickets from your Outlook account. With iVvy, every tool you need to successfully set up, market and manage an event can be found in the one easy-to-use system.

2. It can be accessed from anywhere you have Internet

Unlike other Event Management software, iVvy is stored on the Internet, not your computer, making it possible for you to access your iVvy account wherever you have Internet. Holidaying in France and need check your event registrations? Simply find an Internet connection and login - it’s that simple.

3. It takes payments online from 13 different gateways

Rather than paying a third party provider to manage your ticket sales, use the iVvy system. It supports 13 Payment gateways and manages everything from invoicing and delivering receipts to managing the registration status of a ticket depending on whether payment has been made or not. It’s perfect for keeping track of tickets sales, registrations and attendees.

4. You can try before you buy

Not sure if the iVvy system is for you? Then sign up for our Free Trial. It’s completely obligation free and is the perfect opportunity to find out how your event management will benefit from a little help from us.

5. It’s affordable

Depending on your needs, there’s a pricing plan to suit you and all our packages are affordable. When you factor in the amount of money you’d usually spend on updating your software, hiring extra staff to manage time consuming operations and paying to have marketing consultants design email marketing campaigns, you’ll be very surprised at how much money you’ll save using the iVvy system instead.

6. It’s Australian

Think that the best software always comes out of The States? Think again. In the past decade, Australian’s have started producing some of the best software in the world. By taking advantage of our local talent, we’re able to produce a product that is proudly Australia Made and Owned and of a quality that competes with our best international competitors.

7. It’s always getting better

We don’t just resell software that other developers have made - we ARE the developers. We have a full-time team of programming experts that work nine to five, Monday to Friday, developing  ways to make our system even better. Updates occur on a weekly basis and, because we use the Cloud Computing method of software provision, you receive those updates as soon as they are made.

For all you iVvy fans out there, you’ll be pleased to hear that we’ve entered into the Anthill SMART 100 list! This initiative by Anthill magazine recognises companies across Australia for their sense of innovation as well as their commercial viability based on a public voting system.

This is where you come in. By simply visiting our SMART 100 listing and “tweeting”, “liking” or leaving a comment, you’ll help us achieve our goal of being listed in the Anthill SMART 100 Index alongside ninety-nine other groundbreaking, innovative Australian companies.

So, please, help us make the most of this amazing opportunity and get behind your iVvy team.

AIME, or the Asia-Pacific Incentives & Meeting Expo, is heralded as the “must attend event for event organisers,” so of course our iVvy directors, Lauren Hall and James Greig were there with bells (and suits) on!

The event was held in Melbourne on the 15th and 16th of February and was a wonderful event for everyone involved in the Event industry. The entire two days was a hive of activity with 850 exhibitors representating all aspects of the event industry, networking with each other and sharing ideas.

The highlight of the event was definately catching up with some of our existing clients and getting introduced to a range of companies that we know will love what we do. Many thanks to the team at AIME who managed to create such a fantastic and successful event.

Here at iVvy, we understand that we look after some of your most valuable data, and it’s a responsibility that we take very seriously. In our latest updates, we added new security measures to protect your privacy and data with even more diligence.

Restrict login to IP address
Tell our system what IP addresses are safe or “whitelisted” for your account to increase your security measures. If someone tries to login to your account from an IP address not listed in the system, they will be refused entry. This option supports multiple IP addresses, so it’s ideal for larger businesses - like universities and multi-site companies - but is equally effective for small businesses with one IP address.

Set minimum password length
Set the minimum password length for your users to encourage stronger passwords. You can choose to make the minimum length anywhere between 6 and 10, 10 of course encouraging much stronger passwords.

Set maximum login attempts before Word Verification appears
If someone’s login fails an allocated number of times, they will be required to complete a word verification before they can attempt login again. This helps prevents computer programs from trying unlimited passwords to login into your account.

Set Maximum Login Attempts before being locked out
Set the number of times a failed login can occur before the person trying to login is locked out for a period of time. You can set the lockout time to be anywhere between 0 to 12 hours, and the number of failed logouts to be between unlimited and 10.

Force Session Identity
This feature helps prevent anyone capturing your details while you are logged in and replicating them to enable them to login using your details. There are two methods you can use. Enabling “Use IP Address” means that only people with your IP address can remain logged in using your details. This is the most secure method but is not recommended for offices that have multiple IP addresses, such as universities or big offices. Enabling “Use Browser” means that only people using the same browser details as you can login to your account. This is less secure but still very effective.

Set Session Timeout
If someone has logged in and remained inactive for a period of time, they will be automatically logged out. You can set this time to be anywhere between 5 minutes and 12 hours.

To access your security settings, go to Settings in the top right hand corner of your account, and then go to the General > Security. Then take the time to set these to suit your requirements. There is also a help article in the Knowledgebase to help you with these settings.

New tools and functions are getting added to iVvy all the time, and this month we saw the launch of the new SMS Marketing tool for all our iVvy Professional and iVvy Enterprise users.

This revolutionary tool is a fantastic addition to the event marketeer's arsenal. Messages can be sent to your contacts' phones within seconds, or scheduled to be sent a date and time in the future to coincide with an event’s session or website launch.

The benefits of choosing SMS Marketing over conventional marketing techniques are far reaching. Many of us have access to our phones more often than we have access to our emails, allowing your message to be received regardless of whether your contact is at their computer or not. For example you could use it to send a reminder message to all attendees on the day of the event.

Of course, the iVvy SMS Marketing tool is equipped with a collection of other great features, including custom fields to personalise the message, a “test message” function which is sent to your own mobile number, and a simple unsubscribe feature to help you comply with the Spam Act. Our Support team have upload help articles to your iVvy login to get you started, as well as information on pricing.

So, you’ve been trialling iVvy, you love it, and it’s time to jump on board and get yourself an iVvy account. But where do you start?

Luckily, the team have made it easy for you to decide on the plan that’s right for you. There are three options for you to choose from: the entry level Starter plan, to the Professional plan, right up to the feature rich Enterprise plan. For the details of each of these plans, visit our Pricing Options page.

For all the plans there are two main billing components that should be considered. The first is the monthly service fee, which is different for each of the plans. The second is the fee incurred for any additional services, including:

• Sending an Email Campaign
• Sending an SMS Campaign
• Adding Abstracts to an Event
• Each Event registration.

You will be notified of any additional charges before the campaign is sent, and the program will prompt you to accept these charges. The cost will be charged to the account you have setup in your Account Settings area.We have currently enabled credit card payment, and are anticipating to have direct debit available for you in the near future.

For more information on the costs and inclusions of each plan, please go to our Pricing Page. When you are ready to upgrade from your trial to your preferred plan, simply login to your iVvy Dashboard and follow the prompts to complete your upgrade. We look forward to having you onboard.

I never fail to be amazed by what our product development team are capable of here at iVvy, and the other day was no exception to the rule! The team have been working long and hard on improving the functionality and features of our tools, and their last two updates have been nothing short of outstanding. So, I'd like to take this moment to let you know about the updates and congratulate the team on their hard work.

Abstracts

The first update saw some very nice changes to the Abstract management tool. It's now easier than ever to manage abstracts for your event - simply fill out one quick form, and your event's website is automatically populated with a page that enables prospective speakers to submit their Abstract for review.

Then, when the submissions come through, you can choose exactly who you want reviewing the abstract. By grading the abstract between 1 and 5 you'll get great feedback from the reviewers as to how worthy the submission is for your event. 

When you find a submission you want included in your event, simply tick a few boxes, and, wallah!, the session is scheduled and attendees can view the details on your event's website. It's so simple, and it's a great way of keeping all your abstract submissions in the one place.

Exhibition Booths

Now, I don't know what your experience with managing exhibition booths has been like, but sometimes I find them a real headache! So, we got the team together and planned how we can make the whole process easier for both you AND your exhibitor! We're proud to announce that the updates are now here, and they're ready for you to use.

One of my favourite changes is how flexible the system has become. When you enable Exhibition Booths for your event (don't worry, there's help guides available for this) you can decide to reserve the booths by "type", or by "individual booth".

Reserving by "type" means that the exhibitor tells you what type of booth they want (for example, a booth in the Food and Beverage section) and then you allocate the exact booth. However, you may want the exhibitor to choose the exact booth they want. In this instance, you'd choose "Individual Booths" and the exhibitor indicates to you which booth they want - all you have to do is reserve it for them!

No doubt there'll be some more changes coming in the future, but in the meantime, we're really keen to hear what you think. Don't forget that we're uploading help articles every day to improve your iVvy experience, so if there's something you want to know please don't hesitate to contact us.

 We love events here at iVvy - we love organising them, we love seeing you organise them, and we also love attending them - which is why we had such at great time as an exhibitor at the Pacific Areas Incentives & Conferences Expo this year!

The PAICE Expo, held in Auckland, New Zealand on the 15th of September, was a great way for Australian and New Zealand based incentive and conference organisers to meet with each other and source suppliers for their business. There were representatives from a number of international hotels and resorts, cruise and tour companies, and tourism boards, and we ended the day with a long list of new friends.

Of course - being our first time exhibiting - we were a little nervous, but the atmosphere was fantastic, and everyone we had the pleasure of meeting were as enthusiastic about the expo as we were. What’s more, we had a huge number of people show a keen interest in our Events Management system, so it was also a massive confidence booster.

This is just the first of what will be many events for the team at iVvy, so stay up-to-date with our activities by signing up to our newsletter or following us on Twitter or Facebook.

ATTENTION frustrated Event organisers! The day you've been waiting for is here! The solution to all your software headaches, iVvy, has officially launched today.

iVvy is an online event management platform designed to help conference and events organisers increase their efficiency and ROI by managing all aspects of an event in one place. Sounds quite simple, but nothing else like it exists in the events industry.

iVvy features:

• Event and delegate management - it's the Swiss Army knife of events software, with tools to manage everything from speakers, sponsors, budgets and tasks, to sessions, waitlists, name badges and agendas.
• Ticketing and online registration - create a dedicated website for your event in a few clicks (no developers or programming skills required) and accept online registration and payment from your guests.
• Access it anywhere - iVvy is an online software platform so you can login and manage your event via your computer, smartphone or iPad from anywhere in the world, even on the day at the venue.
• Email marketing and promotion - hassle-free email invitations for your contacts with a range of professional templates and handy scheduling and automation features to save you time.

We're planning to revolutionise the events industry with this software, so we've really put in the hard yards to get this point:

"This type of platform has been  long overdue for delivery to market, and it is so exciting that we can now deliver this fully integrated solution to our first channel being the professional conference organizers. "

"Having been in the Events Industry, I know all the challenges with the other software that's available, so iVvy is designed to eliminate all of those problems," said Lauren. 

"It's the perfect solution because it's all online, can be accessed from anywhere, it's simple to use and is cost-effective for small and large events - no other software can offer you this much control and flexibility," she said.

We've already had a few conference organisers testing iVvy for us and they love the results they are getting with it.  One of our current users is the Franchise Association of New Zealand, and their Events Manager Brenda is a huge fan:

"I just love how easy it was to pick up the system and use it without much help - and I'm usually a bit of a technophobe", she said.

"In the past we have used a combination of Excel and sticky notes, and now I would never go back to that because this is just so much more efficient."

"I think I've saved days, if not weeks, just by having everything in the one system and because I could send email invitations so easily, our sign ups were higher than ever and therefore so was our ROI," Brenda said.

If you're ready to throw out your spreadsheets and experience iVvy for yourself, you can sign up for a free trial here.  We're pretty certain you'll be hooked after that, so you should check out the pricing options here as well.