As BOBtv, Best of Business Television, prepares for a second quarter 2013 launch, the company behind this online video hub for live meeting content, bxb Online, has signed an agreement with Visit Dallas to be one of its founding destination partners.
As a destination partner, Dallas will be able to offer meeting clients discounted rates as well as the infrastructure and resources for extending their face-to-face meeting content to BOBtv, explains Tony Lorenz, founder, bxb Online. Video content from meetings in Dallas will be highlighted as “featured content” on the appropriate BOBtv channel, increasing exposure for both the destination and the meeting client. The partnership is designed to allow destinations to offer clients not only a physical venue, but a digital experience as well, says Lorenz.
"Becoming a founding destination partner with bXb Online will allow us the opportunity to enhance our customer experience while expanding the attendee experience,” says Phillip Jones, president and CEO of the Dallas Convention and Visitors Bureau.
In the coming weeks, four or five more founding destination partners will be announced, selected based on the technology infrastructure at their venues, embrace of the concept, and other factors.
BOBtv plans to have 15 “networks,” one for each industry sector in the CEIR Index, but the first, when it launches in the second quarter, is tentatively titled Business Events. It will have content from its three founding partners—American Society of Association Executives, the Professional Convention Management Association, and the International Association of Exhibitions and Events—as well as other industry organizations, including Meeting Professionals International. There will be channels on each network, explains Lorenz, so for example, on the Business Events network, there will be channels representing different segments of the meetings industry.
According to Lorenz, the company will make an announcement in late February or early March about other organizations joining BOBtv.