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TD Ameritrade launches mobile app for annual conference

TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. has partnered with Pyxis Mobile to develop an application for attendees of its 2010 National Conference at the Rosen Shingle Creek Resort in Orlando, FL.

Pyxis Mobile developed the application to be used across Research In Motion?s BlackBerry, Apple?s iPhone and Microsoft?s Windows Mobile devices. MyNational lets attendees view agenda and session information, a full list of exhibitors and news alerts.

Attendees can also provide real-time session and conference-related feedback with the application.

Mobile Marketer?s Giselle Tsirulnik interviewed Christopher P. Willis, executive vice president in charge of marketing and strategic alliances at Pyxis Mobile, Waltham, MA, about the application. Here is what he had to say:

Why is this news important? What will Pyxis do for TD Ameritrade?
TD Ameritrade understands the value of putting information in the hands of their clients and partners. MyNational 2010 puts real-time conference data in the hands of attendees, sponsors and even TDA's own staff, making it easier to navigate the conference and get the most value over the run of the event.

The application provides up-to-date agenda information, exhibitor information and speaker information, as well as all conference feedback survey questions.

Pyxis Mobile has productized the delivery of on-site conference applications that run across today's most used mobile device operating systems.

In this case, Pyxis Mobile worked with TDA to define the content, and then delivered a hosted mobile application that will support users throughout the run of the event.

What?s the strategy and why is mobile ideal to fulfill the strategy?
Conference attendees invest substantial time and money to travel to events. At the same time, event organizers and sponsors create a program jam-packed with interesting and educational content.

Pyxis Mobile's myConference Mobile helps to maximize the conference experience for all constituents:

For attendees, access to agendas, session overviews and conference room maps ensure that attendees attend ? and can find ? the most relevant sessions.

Additionally, in-app social networking from Twitter and Facebook, as well as local information on where to eat and what to do, provides a richer experience than has ever been available.

For sponsors, myConference Mobile is a great opportunity to expand your onsite branding and goes well beyond signage and print ads, allowing attendees to hyperlink from your in-app listing to additional rich web-based information.

For the conference, myConference Mobile makes the process of delivering conference feedback real-time, easy, convenient and fun. List a few questions or mobilize the entire feedback process, making it easier for attendees to communicate with conference organizers.

And, post-conference, the application serves as a configurable marketing reminder to attendees of the conference, and plans for the following event.

However, there is a marketing strategy involved for Pyxis Mobile as well.

Through the delivery of conference applications, Pyxis Mobile gains quick exposure to large pools of prospective customers, helping to build our brand as a mobile software leader. This exposure is an important aspect of our overall branding strategy.

Do you expect mobile to play a big role in the B2B space going forward?
For 10 years, Pyxis Mobile has played a major role in business to business mobility.

Our customers use the Pyxis Mobile platform to deliver applications that extend their internal data systems to their employees, their partner channels and even their customers. The use of mobility in the conference space is something that has evolved in the last 12 months.

However, we are seeing accelerating growth in this area as the word of our applications spreads. And the value of myConference Mobile extends not only to the users listed above.

As mentioned above, the value to Pyxis Mobile lies in the brand awareness created through the use of the application.

In 2010, thousands of conference attendees will download and use our software, helping them to understand the value of mobility in business and introducing a company that can help them to achieve their own mobile success.