BOB.tv is live. The “Best of Business” Web site debuted August 5 with its first network focused on B2B events. Eventually the site plans to create business content networks for a variety of industries.
Founded by bXb Group LLC, Chicago, the events network will aggregate videos and other content related to “work, career, and life” in the B2B events industry. “There has been explosive growth of video content. Many times it's buried on the Internet and underutilized,” said Tony Lorenz, CMM, co-founder and CEO of bXb Group at a press conference during the American Society of Association Executives 2013 Annual Meeting and Exposition August 3–6 in Atlanta (which had the largest association executive attendance since its 2008 meeting, with 2,900 registered, out of a total of 5,080 attendees).The network solves that problem, he says. “BOB.tv makes [the content] readily available. It will reach far more people, and we make it really easy to use.” Users who tune into this no-cost site will find hundreds of videos plus other media in three main “channels”: your work, your career, your life. The content, which has been curated by industry experts, can be searched by keyword or sorted by type of media (video, infographics, blogs, webinars, slides, etc.), user rating, or other general categories. For example, content in “your work” is categorized under the words “strategize,” “promote,” and “execute.”
ASAE, which signed on as a founding supporter of BOB.tv more than a year ago, will include content from its Atlanta meeting on the network, including archiving a live webcast from the show floor August 5. The broadcast, sponsored by BOB.tv, featured session leaders reviewing takeaways from their presentations and comments from ASAE’s president and CEO John Graham, CAE, on association demographics and other topics. In addition to ASAE, the network’s founding partners include the International Association of Exhibitions and Events, the Professional Convention Management Association, and Meeting Professionals International, all of which have agreed to contribute content.In addition, bxb Group has lined up six strategic partners—the Center for Exhibition Industry Research, the Convention Industry Council, Dallas Convention & Visitors Bureau, Experient, Exhibit Surveys, and Virtual Edge Institute—plus a variety of additional content contributors.
Commenting on the new network, Paul Van Deventer, president and CEO of MPI, said, “The debut of BOB.tv marks a milestone for the events industry. MPI has long championed bringing the industry together through partnerships that provide greater value for our community. And BOB.tv is one more example where, through these industry partnerships, we are able to offer meeting professionals easy access to high-quality educational content and industry programming.”
The events network, a beta test for other vertical industries, will have no advertising or subscription fees. Eventually, the company expects to charge user or subscription fees for use of the other industry networks.
