As promised, on July the first, we launched a new feature in Conference Manager™: A module for issuing tickets. Using this module, you can design a ticket for your event, containing your own pictures and logo, dynamic merge fields, fixed text formulations and the ticket number listed as readable text / barcode. The ticket is emailed to the participant, as a separate PDF, upon signing up.

When your event takes place, using a bar code reader connected to a computer and having Conference Manager™ open in a browser, you can easily register participants as they arrive. If participating isn’t free, you are alerted if the participant is in deficit. Alerts also occur, if a scanned ticket has already been redeemed or if the ticket belongs to a participant, who has been deleted from the event.

If the scanned tickets are valid, the participant is marked as “participated” upon scanning, enabling you to easily send out questionnaires etc.

You can connect as many bar code readers, as you have licenses in Conference Manager. The module can also be used without barcode readers, if you enter the ticket numbers manually, as the participants arrive.

Note: If you already have an ongoing event and you want to use the ticket module for this, it is not too late. Just design your ticket and email the already registered participants a message from within Conference Manager™, that they must follow the link from their initial receipt, in order to download their personal ticket.

If you have questions regarding the upgrade, do not hesitate to contact Pernille, who is ready to assist you by phone: +45 8883 2020.

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Now it’s time for yet another free upgrade of Conference Manager™. Below details are outlined. Read full story here

Category Changes and modifications in the creation of events

We've hidden the complexity of open, closed and combined events for you as organizer. Now you only have to indicate at attendance category level, whether participants must be invited or whether they are allowed to register directly on the website, without being invited.

We have enabled you to allow registration of unnamed participants as well as group signups (block entries). The advantage is mutual: Participants can register without specifying exact details of the person to be participating and you, as an organizer, are guaranteed the basic amount per registration.

Furthermore, we have enabled for “invited participants” to signup other participants in categories that do not require invitation, on the same order.

As a final change to attendee categories, we have given each category a textual description field.

“Signup website” changes

The signup website has been completely redesigned - in flow as well as function. Everything has changed - for the better ;-). But especially the process of handling more signups on the same order, has been in focus. In particular this applies when choosing between options, accommodation and programme for each participant in the order.

We have prepared the “signup website” so that it is possible in an upcoming version of the admin, to download the stylesheet in order for you to style it completely, at your own wish.

"Special comments" field is moved to the last page, as we have seen that participants wrote all sorts of things in this field that was obvious further down the signup process.

At the last step of registration, we have introduced an “availability check” that checks if previously vacant allotments have taken before submission of order. If so, the participant are offered to be moved to the queue list, if activated.

"No accommodation" feature can be disabled, so that events require accommodation. At the request of customers we have also implemented for the course organizer to be able to set a price on "no accommodation" if this "room type" is offered.

Read full story here

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On March 4th, “Mødedagen” took place at Bella Center in Copenhagen. We were there in booth 076 and what a day we had! Thanks to everyone who came by us to hear more about Conference Manager™.

We were very happy to see all the interest that was paid to us and we were busy talking to guests all day. Now we look forward to following up on all contacts. We are hoping to see many of you again as customers and/or at our free demo events in our building.

In April we will draw the winner of the beautiful bike which was exhibited at the booth.

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Coupling of the attendee list with the payment list.

Since payments in the payment list are coupled to the payer and not to the single participant, until now it has been difficult directly from the participants list to see, if payment has taken place. This is made even more difficult by the fact, that more participants are often registered for an event simultaneously and sometimes the registration is made by a person, who is to pay but not to participate herself. To solve this problem we have added a new column on the list of participants, called order ID. The colour of this field will reflect if payment has been made at all. If the balance is negative, the field will be red. If balance is positive or zero, the field will be green.

From the order ID there is a link directly to the payment it self.
When participant lists are exported to Excel, the payment status will be exported as well. We do not determine whether participants with a negative balance should be allowed to participate or not, but through this new feature, taking this decision has been made easier for you.
Improved search options and enhanced filtering are other functionalities implemented into the payment list.

Online payments – It is not getting easier than this!

For those of you who already have a payment solution embedded in your Conference Manager™ license, the administration of payments is already easy. With the introduction of "multi capture” though, it is getting even easier. Through “Multi capture” you are able to redeem all card payments simultaneously. This way, money is quickly safe in the bank, enabling you to earn interest. Furthermore the use of online payment saves you from a lot of administrative tasks.

The disaster in Haiti also made its mark on the Conference Manager™.

For information should be noted, that approximately 120,000 DKK were donated to the victims of the disaster. The money has been donated to “Medecins Sans Frontieres”

Encryption of registration process.

Separate info fields for organizers of events.

Fields have been made to hold information about the organizers of the event. Often the organizer is identical to the company that holds the license, but for those who have our PCO license (with the opportunity to manage events for others); these fields enable specifying details about the organizer. The organizer will figure as responsible under "Payment Terms" and "Conditions for registration".

As a part of this update, we have also made it possible at event level, to register a payment agreement so that money paid using online payment module is inserted directly into the client's account rather than the account of the PCO license holder.

Conference Manager™ - international
and in all flavours!

With our new websites www.conferencemanagerpro.com and www.conference-manager.eu Conference Manager™ is now targeting the international markets for management of conferences and events.

As part of our partnersale strategy for Conference Manager™, we have enabled, that styles, colours etc. are completely customizable. If you want the system in red, green or blue shades, or to agree on a common branding strategy with Conference Manager™, this is now possible.

Optimization of code.

Media archive on namebadges.

Finally, the media archive, at the request of our users has been added to the namebadge designer.

Let your own website be portal for your ongoing conferences.

We have developed an API (Application Programming Interface) which allows you to have your events listed, and constantly updated, on your own website, without having to involve a programmer each time a change occur. Through Conference Manager™ you are in control of which of your open events are to be listed through the API. By embedding the API on your own website, your participants are able to see coming events, images of the websites, the number of participants already registered, available seats, dates etc. See an example of an implemented API at Nyborg Strand here. API costs DKK 2500, - per year.

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It has happened! May Britt Skounsø, which is a known face in the conference industry - and over the past 5 years has had the exclusive right to sell a competing product on the Danish market, has chosen to end the reselling of that product and move to Conference Manager™. May Britt Skounsø will be responsible for sales of Conference Manager™ and get to work with the rest of the team which today counts 15 employees at the office in Virum.

In Conference Manager™, we are incredibly pleased to initiate this cooperation with May Britt Skounsø, who enjoys a high reputation among many of Conference Managers™ customers.

May Britt Skounsø can be contacted on mobile 2615 7500 or via email: mbs@conferencemanager.dk

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To members of "Danske Konferencecentre" are here a new offer.

There are many good reasons to tell all your customers that you offer them a free version of Conference Manager™, and we would like to help
you do this!

Book us for your event!

This way, clients will get a thorough walk-through the system and learn how much it can and how easy it is to use. This will make a great reason for them to show at the event, as they will get a valuable, professional output of the day. You might even yourselves have a few colleagues who will benefit from being put up-to-date on the system.

We will bring our own pc. All we need is internet access.
Contact us at info@conferencemanager.dk for further information or to book us.

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This is what the letter from Soliditet A/S stated, when they recently released the names of the 3.8% of Danish companies who have achieved this prestigious AAA-rating.

The AAA-rating means that Conference Manager™ Inc. has en extremely good ability to meet any outstanding inquiries.
The rating can only be achieved if all three (solidity, growth and liquidity) can be rated AAA.

We are very proud to be one of most solid 3,8% of Danish companies - and we are pleased to see this as a consequence of our conservative strategy of developing with an extreme focus on our customers.

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Once again its time for a free upgrade of your Conference Manger license, containing new exciting functions and a chance in prices to your advantage!

0 kr or nothing

We have been asked by many users to be able to filter price information away from enrolment website and PDF receipts when the amount is DKK 0, -. We have hitherto considered it as an "information service" that it costs 0 kr to join, but we now offer both options. So viewing the amount of DKK 0, or alternatively nothing. You specify this information in the website set up and naturally you can also apply this to all your existing events.

"In English please"

Language versioning of websites is often a challenge. Partly because of dynamically incomplete sentences, inverted word order tests, expert language, etc. But also because the translators do not always have the right context, in which the text is to be translated. This will often result in some very funny phrases. We are now through context-related fixes and the first event in English is already up and running. So, if you choose 'English' as the website language in Conference Manager™, we provide a framework for your international event. Note: This only works for new events as ongoing events in their basic structure is set up in Danish. 

CMS system (your own pages) to the enrolment websitet

"CMS" system to the websitet is also a module that has been sought after by many. With this module you now have full control over an infinite number of pages on the website. You can design and set up text and menu items. The possibilities are many. You can set up pages as you like for each page associated editor. And did you find it difficult to frame the requested template with your own design, you can use one of our predefined, or just build on one of these in your own re-design. For example, you can create a main menu item called "Our sponsors" which links to a sub page where every sponsor is described by name, logo and link to their own individual sub page where they can be fully described.

Even if you create your own templates, it will still appear in the style that you have set up for your enrolment website. Thus through the page-designer you have full control over your new templates.

Photos sell the product ...

We have chosen to implement the media file into the configuration of rooms and options. On the options section, it has always been possible to create a narrative description of each option. Now you can supplement with a picture. At the rooms you have until now only been able to specify what type of room offered. Now you can make a full description of the room and upload a picture of it. Both things will make your website more enrolment appellant.

As part of the media file, we have also implemented a new "crop" feature that allows you to crop an image to view this cut. By clicking on the image so it appears in larger text, or possibly in the full version, ie. the original non cropped version. This pruning functionality is also implemented into the images you upload to the agenda.

New Website Design Flow

A new and significantly more intuitive flow is set up for website design. We have removed the approval procedure from each tab and created a comprehensive "validate" button. You are guided through the design, and if there are changes you have not saved the system will make you aware of this. In the new design we have included an editor, so the receipt page that appears when people have signed up, can also be tailored by you. Would you like links, images etc. on this page, you can merge it in there.

Colour picker, which you use to set colours for your subscription website, has expanded with the functionality to "contrast control". Previously you could by unfortunate choice of colour combinations, write with blue writing on blue background. When you save your website look, we now perform a contrast control on your chosen colours, which ensures that you do not come in this unfortunate position.

New main menu structure

Menu items in the main menu are reshuffled so that their position now reflects the typical chronological course of the event: planning, creation (event) Website (setup) Invite and remind, Participants and administration of them, and follow-up evaluation.

HTML Editor in all mails

To all e-mails sent by you in Conference Manager™, there is now an editor available. Hence you can now arrange text in bold, italic or underlined print, add images, bullet points, links, and more. Overall design is still controlled by the template, you have set up in your website.

Own terms

When registering for an event, the participant will need to accept a set of conditions. Several customers have asked for the possibility of making their own terms to be accepted by the participant when registering. We have also included this in the upgrade.

Review of "personal info" fields

Finally, we have opened up to option of editing the "personal info" fields you initially create when setting up the conference.
Unused fields can be deleted. Applied fields can be edited. For "personal info" boxes, containing predefined choices (dropdown box) unused fields can be deleted, used fields can be edited (for spelling errors, etc.). And new ones can be added.

Three banners with possible acquisitions services

Finally we would like to mention, that we in the Conference Manager™ administration, has made three banners for our potential acquisitions services.

One is the payment gateway for collecting card payments over the Internet.
The second is for printing services, where you can buy everything from name tags templates for your own use to complete, printing services where we design, print, pack and deliver name signs, ready for use.

The third is for graphic assistance, when you contact one of our graphic artists they can quickly assist you with imaging, design and setup of a unique and razor sharp website for your event.

Be su to check our sercices - it's cheaper than you think and the
quality is top.

On behalf of the team behind the Conference Manager ™

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Here you will find some info regarding the new features, which we have worked very hard on lately. The new features have just released in your version of Conference ManagerTM.


Attach PDFs in mails.
Certain E-mail programmes/firewalls do not allow attached PDFs to be delivered. We continue to transmit the PDFs, but we have now activated them online also. This way the participants, who are not able to receive their receipt of enrolment as an attached PDF, can now get it online via a link in the E-mail in stead. Naturally the individual participants enrolment is well protected behind a unique link.

Terms and conditions
Our lawyer has made a new set of conditions, which is considerably shorter than the present one. It fulfil all requirements for online enrolments. It is aimed at the specific event and thereby is not as wide, as the previous one. At enrolment the participants must agree to receive Emails from you concerning the event. This is to avoid protests from the receivers about spam.

Duplicated participants
When uploading participants in the future you must indicate wheater you wish to allow multiple appearances of the same Email address. This is to secure you from doubble registrations but at the same time allow you to do so if you wish. The uploading time for the participant lists are reduced with several hundred procent since we have optimised this whole process. Also a time line is indicated when uploading Emails so you will see how the upload is proceeding. This is especially helpful when uploading many addresses. We have tested it in an publication with about 30.000 receivers.

Nametags
The nametag designer module has been optimized and improved. E.g. alignment of texts in the different nametag areas and the way divided lines are managed. Finally we have tested it on events holding 20.000 names. It took a couple of minutes to make the PDF but those few minutes can then be used to fill 2000 pieces of paper in the printer, it is necessary for such an operation ;-) Remember: We offer both delivery of media, full printing service and printing of name tags on RFID cards (electronic name tags). For RFID name signs we rent out hand held computers which makes it possible to scan the participants card and collect information about them while you are in contact with them. For more information please look here:
http://conferencemanager.dk/video_elektronisk_navnekort.cfm

Queue list
On the arrangements overview we have included a new column which shows the number of participants that may be in queue for a spot on your event. If a spot is liberated and others are waiting in queue you will instantly receive a message, so that the event can become fully booked again as soon as possible. There are no prioritization of the people on the queue list. The choice is yours. But we have included the hour for their registration in the queue, so that if you wish to give access after "First come, first served" this is possible.

Advanced participant lists filtration
Finally we have made a totally new participant list overview with advanced filtration so that you now, easier than before, can seek and find the relevant participants. You can search for members in a certain participant group, from a list of selections of options in drop down boxes or for participants with "certain comments" attached. If you search for specific parts of names, the result of participants will be returned with a specification of where the match happened (the search string occurrence is underlined with yellow marking).

New server
At last but definitely not least we got the latest bought server activated last night which is a strapping fellow in its field without going in to too many technical details. With this server we have finally filtrated the defect cycles which in previous week gave us certain difficulties when putting more rams in.

Right now we are working on delivering this to you: Just coming up is the English version of the event/enrolment website. It is being tested at this moment. The same is the case for the CMS system for your website which makes it possible for you to make an unlimited number of sub pages for your website.

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We have just introduced three new developments which are included into your Conference Manager™ license completely free of charge.

This concerns invitation lists, media archive and table stands.
Where invitations until now have been directed towards individuals with personal email addresses, we now with the invitations lists focus towards mailing lists, company- and association mail addresses as well. When uploading email addresses all you need to do is concentrate on stating whether the address is personal or part of a list - hereafter Conference Manager™ automatically handles the complex parts, by ensuring, that the recipient gets the right link for the website.

Via the media archive it will be possible for course organizers to upload material directly to the download section of the application website. The files can then be attached to agenda points, so that they can be downloaded directly from the agenda. Moreover, the agenda can, via the media archive, now be supplemented with images , for instance a photo of the speaker. This, of course, also comes through on the participants' application receipt, where the photo will figure on the agenda and links will be included to the download section.

The media archive will be developed further continuously, as an example, among other, it will be possible to attach files to mails sent from Conference Manager™.

Finally, we have through elaboration of our name-tag designs made it possible to design 

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Conference Manager™ are launching the English version of the system, and hereby are opening up to all the English speaking markets.
Since the decision of developing the system, it has been our goal to become the world leading supplier of Conference Managing systems and hence this is a very important milestone to be able to launch the English version.

We are initiating this by demonstrating the system at the international Congress of IACC 2009 - Navigating the Perfect Storm. The event is held in Kolding.

Over the course of the 4 days this event is taking place, the participants will have their own personal electronic name tag. In addition to being an ordinary name tag, it will also give them access to a number of interactive activities, such as looking up personal agenda, electronic vouchers, registration of which events that was attended and ability get tickets in the lottery etc. 

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The company behind Conference Manager™, Info-Connect A/S, has since 1999 been delivering secure payment solutions from the platforms WebPay and FRIpayment. In connection with our continued increased focus on the conference business, in 2008 we decided to dispose of FRI payment as well as WebPay.

This resulted in the fact that pr. August 3rd 2009 we have sold FRIpayment and Webpay to the publicly traded company DIBS (www.dibs.dk) which exclusively deals with payment solutions. With the handing over to DIBS, FRIpayment and Webpay customers get a qualified provider of payment services and Info-Connect gets a forward moving possibility to focus all our efforts on what really matters to us - Conference Manager™!

It will still be possible, though, to use the integrated payment module in Conference Manager™ via a DIBS solution - and our close collaboration with DIBS will continue in the following many years. As a result, we have - and as part of the handing over - promised to be at the disposal of DIBS in connection with support and consultancy services linked to the payment solutions.

Should you wish to see the press release from DIBS and Info-Connect you can find it here, just as I will be available in answering whatever questions you may have.

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Conference Manager™ is putting the finishing touches to the newest module: the electronic registration of participants.

It is the pure, the conference participants will be equipped with an electronic name card, which can identify them. Guest Card can be designed using the built-name card designs and can include logos and picture elements and of course any information that you have assigned the participant. Moreover, the name card equipped with a unique electronic identification.

Then you will be able to use the name card to register:

• What activities a guest has participated in.

• In the bar, the example used to check if the guest has free bar.

• You can check all the participants before the rises aboard the bus, so you ensure that only participants who actually need to have access.

• At workshops and fairs, you can electronically record who you talked to, take notes on. person and record the material must be sent.

The possibilities are endless - and you can even launch it directly into the Conference Manager ?. If you have questions related to setup and use, we sit by the phone ready to help! All customers receive 1 year of free support when you buy before 1 June 2009.

Here you can see the hand-held terminal and an electronic name card, which has not yet been printed name.

The price of the finished printed name cards around. 10 dollars if we are to print and present electronic tag in them. If you will be responsible for printing, you can also buy an Evolis Dualys 3 card printer and associated RFID cards - Conference Manager ? has a printer driver that can run directly with this system and encode RFID cards with one stone.

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Now you have the possibility to create the name tags all by yourself through Conference Manager™. We have given you the possibility to use your photos and graphic elements such as for instance logo on your name tags.

Create a templet, choose group and weave the name tags. The system will do all the work and show you a finished document that fits standard conference tags. We have gathered a list of what formats the system knows already - all you need to do is order the correct formats and place them in the printer.

You can in the same way design your own place cards, door signs and the like - easy and simple - and completely without having to deal with advanced Word/Excel weaving tasks.

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Course organizers, businesses and private persons now have the possibility to access Conference Manager™ directly via conferencemanager.dk.

Previously the product has been used exclusively via conference centers and event offices, but we are now changing that.

Customers directly at Conference Manager™ get the possibility to use the system, no matter on which conference center they choose to hold their event, e.g. if the event is held on private location - and regardless whether they use an event or congress bureau to handle the practical tasks or not.

Read much more about Conference Manager™ on this website.

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We have over the past few weeks worked intensively with the planning of a course where conference chiefs and responsible for the conference get training on one of our more than 90 conference centres at Danske Konference Centre (www.dkbs.dk).

The training contains the holding of a conferences with IT support for the planning process. The employees shall also obtain knowledge through the course at a level so that they are able to support the conference centres' end-customers.

An end-customer (company or private person), can be admitted to use Conference Manager ? in a special version when the end-customer holds an event in one of Danish Conference Centres' member centres.

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1. October it was officially decided that Info-Connect will focus much more on our core business and less on peripheral products. This is because we now have for many years been a 10-15 man and had a good and stable growing circulation, but not seriously relieved - and it can be difficult when you do not have a razor sharp focus.

So Jack and I decided (with the Board's support) that we urgently want to focus the business so that we end of the year has only one segment back in business: hotel and conference market (including the casino, for historical reasons in that branch).

Thus, it is our clear goal to become the leading supplier of conference management products in the world - and not only to the professional portion of the market, but also companies which organizes events of all kinds.

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