ALA Counts on Mobile Messaging for Emergencies
September 11th, 2007 Posted in Mobile Security
Twice a year over 15,000 people come together to attend ALA Conferences; Mobile Messaging™ technology from CellTrust takes care of health and safety alerts.
As the name implies, the American Library Association (ALA) is all about libraries and information. The ALA is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with more than 65,000 members. Promoting high quality library and information services and public access to information, the ALA offers professional services and publications — and organizes bi-annual conferences that bring together 15,000-20,000 attendees at various venues across the U.S.A.
“We first used the SMS service from CellTrust at our New Orleans conference that took place not long after Katrina,” explains John Chrastka, Manager for Membership Development at ALA. “Believe it or not, this was during hurricane season. Obviously, we wanted a solution that could alert the attendees about the potential of any severe weather condition in the area — and if necessary, inform them about the best evacuation routes.”
Fortunately, the weather in New Orleans remained calm. But the ALA considered the Mobile Messaging service a huge success and will continue to offer the service at future ALA conferences and events. The organization is now successively adding further Mobile Messaging services to support ALA Alert, and ALA Store, where members are notified of special coupon offers. The high point will be the announcement of this year’s winner’s of the ALA children / youth book awards — considered the “Academy Awards” of the book world — via Mobile Messaging.
“CellTrust is a good fit,” adds John Chrastka. “Both the level of service and the price made it a clear choice for the ALA.”
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