Facebook Apps: Event Connector

I'm doing this one for a new acquaintance who messaged me over on Facebook this morning.

Pete Warden has a Facebook app he's put together called "Event Connector".  It's basically a widget that announces to the world that you're going to some event and will compile a list of friends and friends of friends on Facebook who have also stated their intent to attend the same event.  You can also place the widget on TypePad and Blogger blogs.

I don't yet see a payoff in mainstream conferences (although certainly niche tech and social network events should be all over it).  But it would be a boon for local and regional events near universities or those that target students or recent grads most likely to be Facebook users.

And yes, that would include consumer shows.

Comments

[Rich W]

Jon,
As you're new over here, might be useful to know this used to be a regularly updated pretty popular blog, but I gave up on it once we opened a coffeehouse. That said, I just commented on Confabb over on Sue Pelletier's blog. Interesting product you've got - some ideas I'd talked about couple of years ago, but always wondered if conference attendees could = community. Anyway, looks like you're building something interesting - would love to know where you're headed (APIs with Facebook/LinkedIn, etc., opensource, etc.). Best of luck with it.

[Jon Mandell]

It's good to see more players getting into this arena. The meetings industry is a >$120 billion dollar business--just in North America alone and it's only getting stronger.

Over at Confabb, (www.confabb.com) we've had a blog badge available since the springtime. It automatically updates to let others know which events you're attending or just watching.

Confabb's already the largest socially-networked and searchable database of conferences and events on the Web. The tools we've built on top of this resource make it easier for you to plan for, attend and then make the most out of the relationships you've built at a show long after the show packs up and everyone goes home.

Give us a whirl and let us know what you think.

Thanks,
Jon

[Pete Warden]

Thanks for the link Rich. I agree with you whole-heartedly, it definitely requires some preconditions to be successful. a lot of attendees on Facebook, an event where meeting people is a big goal, and an organizer who's willing and able to promote the event through Facebook.

For something more advanced, I would recommend the folks over at EventVue, http://www.eventvue.com/ . They're looking at creating a much more fully-featured system, and you can sign on to their beta.