Leading into the end of 2015, there still are plenty of deals taking place, with companies such as Experient, Convention Data Services and SmithBucklin signing contracts recently.

The Association of Equipment Manufacturers and Experient have renewed their partnership for CONEXPO-CON/AGG 2017, the largest show in North America for the construction industries.

Experient will be the official housing, registration and lead retrieval provider. At the show, Experient will be implementing eventBit, its newest addition to a suite of unified event technologies (registration, housing, mobile app and lead retrieval) designed to capture event analytics.

eventBit is Experient’s proprietary BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) technology that will transform the event experience for show organizers, exhibitors and attendees alike. With eventBit, each individual attendee badge is equipped with a BLE transmitter that sends signals to receivers strategically placed throughtout the entire venue. 

These receivers collect data and transmit it back to an eventBit dashboard that enables AEM to see 100 percent of the activity at their event, and the interactions of their attendees and exhibitors, in a way that was never possible before.

In addition, exhibitors not only have the leads they collected, but also analytics of all booth visitors and how long they stayed. Best of all, attendees get immediate recommendations for other exhibitors and sessions to consider, based on their actual behaviors.

“For the past 18 years, Experient has been providing leading event technology for AEM events,” said Dana Wuesthoff, AEM’s senior director of Event Services & Technology.

She added, “And now we’re thrilled at the advantages eventBit will bring to CONEXPO-CON/AGG & IFPE 2017 to provide better data to help connect attendees and exhibitors. This technology will enable us to offer an enriched trade show experience for attendees and enhanced metrics for our exhibitor members’ ROI.”

eventBit will be unveiled at Experient booth #108, at IAEE Expo! Expo! Annual Meeting & Exhibition 2015 in Baltimore, Maryland on December 1-3.

AMT—The Association For Manufacturing Technology, has renewed their contract through 2020 with Convention Data Services (CDS), their preferred registration partner.

The contract calls for CDS to provide registration and lead retrieval services for AMT’s annual events as well as their premiere event, IMTS—The International Manufacturing Technology Show (http://www.imts.com).

The International Manufacturing Technology Show is one of the largest industrial trade shows in the world, features 2,000 exhibiting companies and attracts more than 114,000 buyers and sellers from over 112 countries. The event is held every two years in September at McCormick Place, Chicago.

“IMTS thrives by partnering with pioneering companies such as CDS, which brings the latest advancements in registration, lead retrieval and customer service to the show. AMT is thrilled to continue our relationship, and we look forward to bringing more innovations to the industry,” said Peter Eelman, vice president, Exhibitions and Communications at AMT—The Association For Manufacturing Technology.

“CDS is so pleased to extend our relationship with AMT. Our dedicated team of professionals will continue to support this strong partnership with fresh ideas and new technology to engage their members and exhibitors,” said David Lawton, executive vice president of Sales at Convention Data Services.

SmithBucklin, an association management and services company, was selected by the Vacation Rental Managers Association (VRMA) to provide full-service association management. VRMA's headquarters will be in Washington, D.C.

Founded in 1985, VRMA is the professional trade association of the vacation rental property management and hospitality industries. VRMA leads the way in innovation, promotion, education and advocacy in the vacation rental industry, worldwide.

Members include hundreds of the most well-established vacation rental managers and suppliers, representing tens of thousands of professionally managed vacation rentals, condos and villas.

"We chose SmithBucklin because we wanted a partner that best understands and shares our mission and vision," said Ben Edwards, VRMA president. "SmithBucklin has the collective talent, experience and enthusiasm to help unlock the possibilities and potential of our diverse, global membership."

"Among the many reasons we are excited about this opportunity to work with VRMA is the alignment we see between the services and resources we can offer the association and the opportunities and aspirations that VRMA has expressed to us," said Matt Sanderson, executive vice president and CEO, Business + Trade Industry Practice. "We are confident that the unique combination of SmithBucklin's scale and depth of capabilities can help VRMA reach its potential."

SmithBucklin will work with the VRMA Board to develop a strong strategic vision for the organization. The team also will lead all aspects of the association's operations, including growing and developing the membership base, managing the annual conference and events, expanding the organization's government relations efforts and overseeing its marketing and communications.