Most modern-day meeting attendees keep their mobile devices at the ready at all times, and for good reason: Smart phones and tablets connect users to their home office, clients, email, and a wealth of information via social media and web browsers.

The emergence of advanced mobile technology has certainly been a positive one for corporate travelers and conference attendees who need to stay connected to the outside world, but it is important that audience members keep a few simple rules in mind when merging mobile with meetings.

1.    Refrain from speaking on the phone during the meeting. Smart phones have text and email capabilities, so use them! Communicate with your contacts by texting, not by talking, when someone is at the podium.

2.    If you absolutely need to take a call, leave the auditorium or conference room to do so. Even in a large meeting room, your voice can be distracting to others around you.

3.    Wait until a lull or break in the meeting to check Twitter, Facebook or Google+. There is a lot to keep track of going on in the world outside the walls of the meeting room, but you should wait until an official break in the meeting before firing up your social media apps or mobile browser. As an exception, if attendees and presenters are using a Twitter hashtag to tweet about the event, feel free to use your mobile device to join the conversation.

4.    Try not to keep your phone out and in use for the duration of a meeting while you are waiting for an email, call or text. Instead, check your phone every 10 or 15 minutes or make sure your phone is set to vibrate so you can be aware of your incoming email without interrupting others.

5.    Make sure no one is aware of your phone’s presence but you. That means completely silencing or turning off your phone if you are planning on leaving it out in the open, or placing it on vibrate if you will be keeping it in your pocket. Never leave your ringtone on – that is the most basic “don’t” in the book.

As more and more professionals make mobile devices an integral part of everyday business, Reno Conventions has taken steps to integrate mobile use into meetings with new Eldorado Reno and Silver Legacy meeting assistant apps. These apps help create a more productive experience for attendees of a Reno conference.

Created with the help of leading app developer MacroView Labs, each multi-platform app allows you to quickly and easily distribute relevant meeting or Reno event information to attendees on the fly. Give the audience schedule information, speaker biographies, programs, materials, convention maps, feedback surveys, attendee lists and more using the apps’ custom capabilities. The apps, which are compatible with iPhone, Blackberry, Android and other devices, allow users to broadcast event information to social media such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Foursquare without opening other clients.

Apple users may download the app at:

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/id392018779?mt=8

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/id394461393?mt=8

Android users can download the app at:

https://market.android.com/details?id=com.mvl.eldorado

https://market.android.com/details?id=com.mvl.silverlegacy&feature=search_result