Power Up

If choosing meetings technology seems a daunting -- and expensive -- task, consider the many web-based programs and services now available for free or a nominal fee. The following tools can significantly enhance your meeting without even nicking the budget.

1. Blogging

This might just be the fastest and cheapest way to get the word out about up-to-the-minute changes to your meeting and to give your event a voice. Link the organization’s website to a blog, and direct attendees there for updates.

Get an expert member or speaker to write posts, zeroing in on content of interest for attendees. Or set up the blog as a discussion forum for attendees. This does, however, require a moderator to keep inappropriate content and restricted information off the site.

Blogger (www.blogger.com) is free and has a number of useful functions, like adding both photos and audio files to posts. Typepad (www.typepad.com), another popular blogging service, now costs anywhere from $4.95 to $14.95 a month.

2. Calendar functions

Sure, PCs and Macs come with adequate calendar and scheduling programs; they work just fine when you’re networked to the people you need to reach. But what if you need to access calendar data for people outside your immediate organization or you want to publish a schedule of events online? The basic free services from Meeting Wizard (www.meetingwizard.com) and Trumba Calendar (www.trumba.com) offer just this functionality. Both companies make money by selling customized versions and upgrades of their programs.

For coordinating meeting dates, Meeting Wizard handles all the tasks: sending basic e-mail invitations, summarizing responses, switching dates, and sending confirmations and reminders. Meeting details can be saved directly into Microsoft’s Outlook calendar.

Trumba Calendar allows users to put an event calendar on their sites, including links to each event’s web page. The program supports iCal and RSS feeds (see sidebar), allowing participants to receive notification when content has changed.

3. Conference calling

Set up a 50-person conference call in a flash using the following companies, which make their money by offering an 800-number for participants to use. The call organizer pays about 10 cents per minute per phone. If participants agree to pay for the call using their own long-distance service, the conference call is free to the organizer.

Here are a few companies to try.

* Free Conference (www.freeconference.com) creates no-cost calls for as many as 100 people and lasting up to three hours. A recording costs $10 and is available only when using the company’s 800-number service.

* FreeConferenceCall.com (www.freeconferencecall.com) allows free calls for up to 96 people lasting up to six hours. The service also offers a free recording.

* At Quality Conference Call (www.qualityconferencecall.com), there is no time limit; up to 250 people can call in.

4. Event management

Can free tech tools handle registrations, surveys, e-mail marketing and more? Indeed yes, thanks to Express Planner. Visit www.expressplanner.net, click on “tools,” register and go. The registration element even processes credit cards using Payflow Pro and other merchant services.

Offered by a consulting company called PureThink LLC, the software was built solely by John Mark Suhy, vice president of technology for the Herndon, Va., firm. Extras on the website include forums for support, user feedback, new-feature requests and more.

PureThink makes its money through consulting and an ad that appears just on the planner pages (attendees do not see it). The meetings management tools also can be customized for a fee.

5. Google Earth

Google’s satellite map (earth.google.com) is incredibly useful for site selection; whether it will save time is up to the user’s self-control (it’s addictive). The free program opens with a map of Earth against a backdrop of the galaxy. Zoom in and cities come into focus, then buildings and, in some areas, even people.

In a city under consideration, find the convention center, then overlay the list of hotels Google provides for a great guide to the area. In remote locations, the resolution is pretty lousy, but for U.S. cities, the program is probably the best one around for mapping.

6. Photo sharing

The Internet simplifies the process of exchanging and printing photos. Official event photos can be uploaded and attendees can post their own shots for all to see. Individuals then can order their own prints for a very low price.

Though photo sharing isn’t complicated, choosing a service can be. Sites with both uploading and printing capabilities include Snapfish (www.snapfish.com), Kodak Easy-Share Gallery (www.kodakgallery.com) and Shutterfly (www.shutterfly.com).

7. Podcasting

First, a definition: Podcasting involves recording and making available for download to an MP3 player interviews, seminars, speeches and any other audio content specific to your event or organization. Your audience should be able to subscribe to the podcast through an RSS feed (see sidebar), and the content should be updated regularly. A single speech available for download on your site does not qualify as a podcast; it’s just an audio file.

The best free software for podcasting is Audacity Music Editing Studio (www.thinkall.com), according to guru Tim Bourquin, founder and CEO of the Mission Viejo, Calif.-based TNC New Media, which runs the Podcast and Portable Media Expo. After plugging a simple USB microphone (about $15) into your laptop, “hit ‘record’ in Audacity and start talking, and you’re recording your podcast,” says Bourquin. He warns, however, that if you want to record from the floor or do spot interviews, you’ll need a quality portable recording device, such as the Microtrack 24/96 from M-Audio (www.m-audio.com; available online for about $350), which records onto a flash card.

A clever IT person within your organization might be able to figure out how to offer your podcasts with an RSS feed. Otherwise, use a site like Liberated Syndication (www.libsyn.com), which hosts podcasts for as little as $5 a month.

“Once you have people subscribed, don’t let it lapse,” says Bourquin. “Keep uploading and you’ll keep momentum going between shows.”

8. Room diagramming

One of the gray ladies of meetings software still is a bargain for free. MeetingMatrix (www.meetingmatrix.com) has been helping planners figure out where to place chairs, plants, stages, cameras and other items for more than 10 years.

Once MeetingMatrix Silver is up and running, tap into the room diagrams of more than 1,000 venues that have been certified through the Professional Conven-tion Management Association’s Space Verification Program (gcma.sitevisit.com). Or do the drawing yourself if your venue hasn’t been measured.

9. Text messaging

Only a few nimble-fingered professionals can tap out a text message from their mobile phones with any efficiency. For the rest of the world, Google has a new free service for Firefox users that allows you to send text messages from the web to a mobile phone -- very useful for communicating with people without disrupting a session. (Sign up at www.google.com/tools/firefox.) The drawback: The sender needs to know what cell-phone carrier the receiver has.

Want to let all the attendees know the keynote lunch has been pushed back an hour? Blast text messages to any number of attendees with software by Bigfoot (sms.bigfoot.com). Whereas Google’s service is free, Bigfoot charges a few cents per message, per recipient.

10. Webcasting

Yes, you can even send live video over the web for free. New from Advanced Video Communications is Stickam (www.stickam.com), which allows users to add live webcasting to their sites. For example, the Anime Expo used the technology recently to broadcast a live feed from the main hall. There’s no software to install. You just need a compatible webcam (listed here: www.stickam.com/howto/camera.do). Stickam will archive past videos, and the broadcast window can be embedded into your website.

YouTube Director (www.youtube.com/director), for uploading videos that run longer than 10 minutes, also is free for those who want to offer video of seminars and speeches once the event is over. Links to YouTube content can be embedded in your website, allowing the video to play in your space. Data can be marked as public or private, to be shared as you wish.