Speecheo named inaugural winner of IMEX America/Event Manager Blog Technology Start-Up Competition

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Avatar of Linda Hohnholz
Written by Linda Hohnholz

Celebrating the increasing role technology is playing in the meetings industry and attendee experiences, IMEX America and Event Manager Blog joined forces to create a competition to find and showcase

Celebrating the increasing role technology is playing in the meetings industry and attendee experiences, IMEX America and Event Manager Blog joined forces to create a competition to find and showcase the most innovative event tech start-ups in the current marketplace.

The first-ever winner of this new award, Speecheo, was declared yesterday afternoon at an event where 10 finalists had the opportunity to pitch their products or services to a panel of judges and attendees serving as both an educational and competitive format. CrowdMics earned an honorable mention as winners of the โ€˜peopleโ€™s choiceโ€™.

The initial call for competitors drew a strong response bringing nearly 30 start-ups forward to put their hats in the ring.

The 10 finalist companies were:

1. Attendify, event apps that drive engagement.
2. Crowdmics, turns smart phones into event microphones.
3. Eversnap, collects guest photos and video via devices and apps.
4. GruupMeet, collaborative event management.
5. InitLive, mobile volunteer management.
6. Planning Pod, event management online tools and app.
7. sli.do, Q&A platform for live events.
8. Speaker Sponsor, matchmaking between speakers & small business sponsors
9. Speecheo, speaker effectiveness app
10. Topi, event networking and connection app.

The panel of judges included Miguel Neves, Senior Online Community Manager at IMEX Group; Julius Solaris of Event Manager blog; Dahlia El Gazzar, CEO of the Meeting Pool; Liz King CEO of Liz King Events and Brandt Krueger.

The panel reached their decision based on standout innovation, meetings industry value-add, cost, uniqueness and more. The winner will receive promotion through various IMEX publications and the Event Manager Blog and will also benefit from free booth space on the Tech Pavilion at IMEX America 2015.

โ€œEvent technology just keeps getting bigger and bigger, more pervasive and more important for planners and for attendees, so having a tech start-up competition as part of a meetings and events industry show is an important new angle,โ€ said Miguel Neves, Senior Online Community Manager at IMEX Group. โ€œToday IMEX America provided a public platform to some great new companies and the crowd clearly enjoyed the immediacy of the event too. It was worthwhile and a lot of fun.โ€

About the author

Avatar of Linda Hohnholz

Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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