KEEPING IN TOUCHWHEN it comes to trade shows and conferences, it is impossible to keep track of the hundreds of people plying you with business cards and empty promises to keep in touch.
And according to research, by the time
you get into your taxi home you are likely to have forgotten all but around 5 per cent of those you have been introduced to.
But that could be about to change with the launch of a trade show and events section of a business travel network.
The idea, from online business networking site skylounge.com, is that a business traveller can add new contacts to their network at a click of a button – giving them a good chance of being able to keep in touch with those important new pals.
And once you've added your new contact on to your virtual world, you will be alerted when they are attending the same event as you by way of an automatic e-mail.
"Being able to see who is attending or who attended an event creates an opportunity or a second chance," says founder Marcel van Gemerden.
Gazetteer is looking forward to avoiding those awkward "And who are you?" moments at its next conference.
GOOD DAYSwedish consumers
...WHO, unlike their UK counterparts, have been hitting the high street. Retail sales in the Nordic country rose 1.7 per cent month-on-month in February and were up 4.6 per cent from a year earlier, the biggest annual sales rise since October last year.
KILLER QUOTE"IN A development of the scale of Heathrow airport's new Terminal 5, some degree of teething problems are to be expected. However, the level of disruption passengers have had to endure this week is unacceptable."
Liz Cameron, chief executive of Scottish Chambers of Commerce.
(ANOTHER) BAD DAYKingfisher
THE B&Q owner's credit ratings came under pressure as Standard & Poor's said it might cut the company to "junk" status while Moody's Investors Service warned it was "too weak" for an investment-grade rating. S&P said Kingfisher faced difficult trading conditions.
FACT OF THE DAY$661bn
GLOBAL mergers and acquisitions slumped by almost a third in the first quarter, according to preliminary data from Thomson Financial, as banks reined in borrowing.
Global M&A volumes fell 31 per cent to $661 billion (£330bn) in the first three months of 2008. Buyout firms led the collapse in deals as their buying power evaporated and they saw a 77 per cent fall in acquisitions after six years' growth
The full article contains 433 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
