Welcome to CPO Rising’s first installment of its technology update series on the meetings and events management space. These updates will highlight solution provider updates, acquisitions, updates to platforms, awards and accolades, new capabilities and other exciting ventures within technology market for this complex category.

Active Network leads the technology pack in terms of activity over the last quarter on two very different but critical fronts. On September 30, the global events management solution, with clientale that ranges from household brands to state governments, announced that it was being acquired by private-equity firm Vista Equity Partners for $1.05 billion.

While a move such as this could spell a shakeup for a software company, Active is moving full-steam ahead with its standing in the industry as a top provider. Only a few days ago, the solution announced its new SMART EVENTS Cloud, a unique offering that integrates a wide range of events management capabilities under a single cloud-based umbrella. A meeting-centric take on the “marketing cloud,” this new offering automates a series of processes under what Active calls the “events cloud,” including registration, sourcing and spend management, size-specific tools (for large or small meetings), speaker / exhibitor management, online communities, and social media integration.

The foundation for the SMART EVENTS Cloud is Active’s analytical platform, which can track, monitor, gauge and analyze all aspects of contemporary meetings management, providing that “Big Data” sheen that is much-needed in the events industry.

Certain Software, another provider in the events management technology industry, has been brewing something significant over the past six months that has culminated with the arrival of its “Event Success Hub.” Certain’s events management platform sits in the center of a hub of technology and service partners, all who offer various capabilities within the marketing stratosphere of modern meetings management. Certain is utilizing the term “event lifecycle” to describe the wide range of processes and functions that play into the notion of the “Event Success Hub.”

The solution provider also announced its partnership with Marketo, a cloud-based marketing automation firm. This partnership allows users of either platform to integrate events and meetings into the revenue cycle, a significant factor in today’s market considering that events are an ideal means of not only driving customer-based revenue, but also improving relationships with key clients.

Certain also recently announced its acquisition of Check-In Easy, a mobile application that assists event planners with check-in and registration processes. The acquisition allows Certain to extend its functionalities to include more on-site event management automation.

Event management software provider Cvent, went public in an IPO that raised $117 million in August (Ticker: CVT). Shortly after its IPO, the company announced its OnArrival mobile application, which streamlines key processes in the registration process, specifically enabling users to create attendance reports within the application.

Some quick hits in the meetings and events management industry:

• Travel management giant Travelport recently struck a partnership with SignUp4, an event management automation provider. The partnership allows the travel management company to exclusively distribute SU4’s events management software in the Latin America region.
• BCD Meetings and Incentives (BCD M&I) named former CWT Meetings and Events executive Fernando Lonergan as senior director of the Asia/Pacific region, who will aggressively focus on expanding the firm’s Australian presence.
• Hogg Robinson Group (HRG Worldwide) and Citi announced its joint meetings portal, which will allow HRG users to pay event-related expenses utilizing a Citi virtual payment card. Users of this portal will also have access to spend data for event planning and management.

Tagged in: Ardent Partners Research, Christopher Dwyer, Complex Categories, Events Management, Solution Providers, Technology