Most of us think about technology on a mostly two-dimensional plane as we flick our way from screen to screen on touch glass. But today's tech includes applications that are far from flat, says major-events expert Ann Windham.

"What if you could control all primary aspects of major events like trade shows, big weddings and awards ceremonies through your iPad or smartphone; imagine shutting everything down at the end of a long and exhausting night by pushing one button on your phone - that's just some of what's possible with today's software," says Ann Windham, president and CEO of Imagine Xhibits, Inc. (imaginexhibits.com/events).

Lights, climate control, projectors and monitors, curtains, fountains and much more can be controlled with an app, and the data that you take away from trade shows can be used to quickly follow up on sales leads, says Windham, who will be showcasing this cutting-edge technology July 9 at Trade Show Technology Summit 2013, to be held at the Irving Convention Center at Las Colinas in Irving, Texas.

The summit will show attendees how to manage technology such as QR codes, mobile apps, virtual trade shows, social media, on-line asset management, interactive media and live stream video on electronic devices as simple as a mobile phone, she says.

"We'll show planners the newest event management tools for efficiency and streamlining tasks before, during and after their event. We'll also have hands-on, educational workshops to show them how to use management," she says.

Windham shares three of her favorite new technologies:

• Pre-show - Event Management Software: This one-stop source for managing every detail about your event - from Fed Ex tracking numbers to vendor contact information to photos from the show - even allows you to manage multiple events from any location. "In the past, we carried all the details for each show in one huge binder. If you were at a show in Texas and someone called with a question about the show in Oregon, you wouldn't have that information handy," Windham says. Event management software relies on cloud storage, so members of your team can access it from their smart phone or iPad no matter where they are. Another benefit: You've got just one place to input all that data.

• During the show - Remote Sensors: Sensors built into the walls of an exhibit allow you to control all of the electronics from your smart phone or iPad. Not only does it save time, it's an easy way to add valuable theatrics during a demonstration. "Say you're standing at the back of the room and you realize the speaker can't be heard, you just turn up the volume on his mic, right from your your iPad," Windham says. "Or, if you want to create special effects using lighting and room temperature, you can dim the lighting and drop the temperature." Her favorite feature? At the end of a long day, rather than walking from one device to the next, shutting off each, you press just one button and turn everything off while walking out the door.

• Post-show - Sales Leads Follow-up: Seventy percent of percent of exhibitors who capture sales leads at trade shows don't collect qualifying information, according to the Center for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR).Scanners collect only the most basic data from visitors to each booth - there's no way of knowing whether they were a "hot" lead ready to buy, or someone who stopped by for the free T-shirt, Windham says. Now, however, event management software allows exhibitors to include qualifying information every time a visitor's badge is scanned. "At the end of the event, you can quickly see who your hottest leads were and send them an email or postcard before you've even left the event," Windham says.

For planners who've been hamstrung by personnel cutbacks in recent years, these new tools are lifesavers, she says.

"The days of 'The Jetsons' has arrived."

About Ann Windham

Ann Windham is the president and CEO of Imagine Xhibits, Inc., a full-service trade show marketing company that offers custom design exhibits using modular components. Windham's company offers customers more than 50 percent savings on operating expenses; expert face-to-face marketing consultants that will work to increase ROI with four-step marketing; quarterly seminars offering continuous education by certified trainers; in-house design services for custom structures, graphic design and brand development; turn-key services and exhibit management program for all logistical needs; and a one-stop shop for meeting planning, promotional products, collateral web-site and more.

ROMEOVILLE, IL (06/18/2013)(readMedia)-- Lewis University announces Dean's List honorees.These following students were among those honored on the Lewis University Dean's List for spring semester 2013.

Erie resident Kimberly Teats was studying Biology at Lewis University.

East Moline resident Jake Dopler was studying Finance at Lewis University.

To be eligible for this honor, students must have completed a minimum of 12 semester hours of credit with a grade point average of 3.25 out of a possible 4.0.

Lewis University is a Catholic university in the Lasallian tradition offering distinctive undergraduate and graduate programs to more than 6,500 traditional and adult students. Lewis offers multiple campus locations, online degree programs, and a variety of formats that provide accessibility and convenience to a growing student population. Sponsored by the De La Salle Christian Brothers, Lewis prepares intellectually engaged, ethically grounded, globally connected, and socially responsible graduates. The seventh largest private not-for-profit university in Illinois, Lewis has been nationally recognized by The Princeton Review and U.S. News & World Report. Visit www.lewisu.edu for further information.

ICC Team Wins Top Collegiate Team

EAST PEORIA, IL (06/18/2013)(readMedia)-- The Illinois Central College livestock judging team recently competed in the 2013 National Picture Judging Contest sponsored by the National Swine Registry. Open to youth and adult participants, the contest includes divisions for 4-H, FFA, and collegiate teams. Participants had to rank classes of swine from photos published in the Registry's December 2012 issue of Seedstock Edge.

Dayton Coyne, of Milan, IL, member of first place team.

The team is coached by Grant Grebner.

Of the 23 collegiate teams who competed, Illinois Central College teams placed first and fifth overall. Western Illinois University placed second, and teams from Black Hawk College - East Campus placed third and fourth.

Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa has been looking into how hospitals are using a discount prescription drug program, known as 340B.  Certain hospitals appear to be making sizeable profits from the program at the expense of Medicare, Medicaid and private health insurance.  An in-depth report from Kaiser Health News this month explored financial bonuses given to the leaders of several non-profit hospital systems for reasons including expansion of hospital operations.  Grassley staff research found that each system except for one discussed in the articles has at least one 340B-eligible hospital.  One of the medical systems in the Kaiser Health News coverage, Carolinas HealthCare System, was among three North Carolina hospital systems Grassley looked at as part of his interest in the 340B program.  Grassley made the following comment on 340B eligibility and hospital executive bonuses.

"Hospitals eligible for the 340B program are supposed to have a high indigent patient population.  If some 340B-eligible hospitals have significant money available for executive bonuses, that raises questions about how they allocate their resources.  Are they doing everything possible to help uninsured patients receive health care, including affordable prescription drugs?  I intend to continue looking into how hospitals are using the 340B program and how their uses affect other programs in the health care system."

The Kaiser Health News project on hospital executive bonuses is available here.  Grassley's earlier correspondence with the federal agency in the charge of the 340B program, the Health Resources and Services Administration, is available here and here.  Grassley's letter to HRSA citing the three N.C. hospitals is available here. Grassley's letters from the three hospitals are available here, here, and here.  Proprietary drug pricing information is redacted in some instances. Grassley's follow-up letter to the Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte is available here.

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