TARGETED INVITATION DELIVERY
Data about a plurality of events is stored in an event database, including information for selecting who should be invited to the event. Data about a plurality of members is stored in a member database, preferably including members' preference criteria specifying the type of events in which each member likes to participate. The member information is matched against the invitee selection criteria and the event information is matched against the member preferences criteria to determine which members should be invited to each event. Based on results of this match process, e-mail invitations to the selected events are sent to the members.
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This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/734,811, filed on Dec. 11, 2003, which will issue on Feb. 18, 2014 as U.S. Pat. No. 8,655,672, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/432,873, filed Dec. 11, 2002, the contents of each of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.
BACKGROUNDThe present invention relates to the distribution of invitations for a plurality of events.
In many fields, particularly among practioners such as doctors, companies and institutions that wish to disseminate information about their products sponsor events to promote those products. These events are typically promoted to members of the target practioners. For example, in the medical field, drug companies that wish to promote a new drug may run such a symposium where a speaker presents a paper about the benefits of the drug to a group of doctors. Other examples in the medical field include CME events, dinner meetings, webcasts, and teleconferences.
In fields with a large number of practioners and a large number of products, it can be difficult for the sponsors to get information about such events to the relevant target audience, especially since convention approaches such as cold calling and spam emails can be perceived as a nuisance by their recipients. In addition, it can be difficult for the practioners to keep abreast of events that they would like to participate in.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention facilitates distribution of invitations for a plurality of events to a desired sub-population of practioners within a field. In some embodiments, recipients can specify what type of information they are interested in receiving.
The embodiments described herein preferably area implemented using a central Internet-based server. Conventional computer hardware (e.g., Windows, McIntosh, and Linux-based machines) communicate with the central server via the Internet. Inter-based e-mail and/or alternative communication mechanisms. The hardware and software for implementing these servers and computers, as well as the mechanism for their communication is well known to persons skilled in the relevant arts. Accordingly, this application focuses on the data structures that are implemented in the server, and the communication between the server and the members (i.e., the users). It is envisioned that instructions for performing the process steps described herein will be stored on computer-readable media (e.g., optical, magnetic, or semiconductor media), in any conventional manner.
The illustrated embodiment also includes a member information database 13. This member database 13 includes information about the people who are to receive the invitations that are generated by the system. The member database 13 may initially be populated by importing information from another database in the relevant filed. For example, if the system is used to deliver invitations to medical doctors, a preexisting database of medical doctors could be used to pre-populate the member database 13. In some embodiments, a mechanism is provided by which a new user can register and add his or her information into the member database 13, preferably via conventional web-based interface (not shown).
The event database preferably also includes recruitment information (also refereed herein as invitee selection criteria) which specifies characteristics of desired target audience. Those characteristics could include generalized information such as the recipient's specialty, or particular information that identifies specific individuals that are to be invited. Examples of fields that are suited for invitee-selection include, for example, Customer ID, First Name, Last Name, Degree, Address, City, State, Zip Code, Phone Number, Fax Number, Email Address, Specialty, ME Number and DEA Number.
Once the event database 12 and the member database 13 have been populated, the Detect Matches process 14 examines the contents of the two databases 12, 13 and determines which of the events match which of the members.
Matching may be implemented automatically by comparing the topic of each event (which appears in the event database 12) to the specialty of each member (which appears in the member database 13), and searching for matches between events and members. For example, a member database for doctors might include each doctor's specialization (e.g., cardiology, orthopedics, pediatrics), and the event information in the event database 12 would contain fields that match those specialties. The Detect Matches process 14 would compare the appropriate fields in the event database 12 and the member database 13 to find matches. For example, the Detect Matches process 14 might match a pediatric cardiology event to pediatricians and cardiologists, but would not match that event with a member whose specialty is oncology.
Matching may also be implemented based on sponsor-directed invitee-selection criteria, which permits event sponsors to target promotion of their events to their desired audience. This may be accomplished, for example, by providing appropriate fields in the event database 12, and searching for matches for those fields in the member database 13. The fields are preferably populated using any conventional user interface (e.g., a web-based interface). Examples of such fields could include an area of specialization (e.g., cardiology, orthopedics, etc.), to permit promotion of an event to all interested members with that specialization. See, for example, event #1 in
Events may also be promoted to specific individuals by specifically listing those individuals that the sponsor would like to invite to the event. This approach may be implemented, for example, by providing fields in the event database 12 for listing individual names of the desired recipients (or another unique identifier such as an e-mail address or a license number). See, for example, event #3 in
Matching may also be implemented based on the preferences of the members. In these embodiments, the members enter the type of events that they would like to hear about in an appropriate field in the member database 13. The Detect Matches process 14 compares the values entered into those fields with corresponding fields in the event database 12 and designates those events with corresponding criteria as matching. See, for example, member #1 in
Thus, three alternatives exist: In the first alternative, the Detect Matches process 14 may be configured to flag matches based only on the selection criteria contained in the event database 12, and comparisons of those criteria to information contained in the member database 13. In the second alternative, the Detect Matches process 14 may be configured to flag matches based only on the members' preferences contained in the member database 13, and comparisons of those preferences to information contained in the event database 13.
In the third alternative, the Detect Matches process 14 is configured to flag matches based on both (a) the selection criteria contained in the event database 12 and comparisons of those criteria to information contained in the member database 13; and (b) the members' preferences contained in the member database 13 and comparison of those preferences to information contained in the event database 13. With the third alternative, any invitation that is received by a member would satisfy two conditions: the event's sponsor wants the invitation delivered to the member, and the member is also interested in receiving that particular type of invitation.
For the example data shown in
Once a set of matches is obtained as described above (as reflected in
The member database (shown in
After the member has made their selections, the member clicks on the submit button which submits the member's responses to the central server via the internet. In an alternative embodiment, members may log into their account via the Internet, and access their invitations using a suitable web-based interface.
Preferably, response to the e-mail will direct the member's browser's to a website that manages the members' responses. Access to this website may be protected using conventional mechanisms such as password protection. On the website, members may be provided with the option to filter, sort, search, accept, decline, and/or delete all their invitations, using any appropriate user interfaces.
Optionally, the system may be programmed to track accepted invitations and send a reminder e-mail at a predetermined time before the event (e.g., one day for live events, or one-half hour for webcast events).
Optionally, members' responses may be reported to the sponsors to help the sponsors manage attendance at their events. Certain responses may call for updating of the event information. For example, when an in-person event only has room for a limited number of participants, the event can be marked “closed” after the maximum number of participants have registered for the event (and optionally removed from all queues). Optionally, if a sponsor recognizes that one of their events is not receiving sufficient interest, facilities for updating the event's description (e.g., by modifying the title) or the invitee-selection criteria (e.g., to broaden the target audience) may be provided. New emails would then be queued after the update has occurred.
Optionally, appropriate feedback may be returned to the member by the Manage Responses process 18 (e.g., by sending a confirmatory e-mail to the member to indicate that registration for an event has been successful).
On the response, side, at the snapshot of time represented in
The above-described embodiments are advantageous to sponsors, because it enables them to target their events to those recipients that they find most desirable. They are also advantageous to the members, because the members can tailor the events to which they are invited by entering their preferences using, for example, a conventional web interface. An example of a web-based data entry screen that members can use to input their preferences is shown in
This arrangement is convenient for members, because all of their invitations are consolidated from multiple sponsors into a single place. In addition, the members do not have to sift through mountains of span to find events in which they are interested. Because of these advantages to the member, it is expected that members will make use of the service. This, in turn, increases the system's usefulness to sponsors, because it helps the sponsors get their invitations in front of their target audiences.
While the present invention has been explained in the context of the preferred embodiments described above, various changes may be made to those embodiments and various equivalents may be substituted without departing from the scope of the invention, as will be apparent to persons skilled in the relevant art. For example, a similar system could be used to market other products and services besides the “events” discussed above. One example would be to use a similar system to disseminate samples of drugs to the appropriate recipients. Other examples, both in and outside the medical field, can also make use of similar systems. In such cases, the sponsors would use selection criteria to select their target audience, and the audience would use member preferences to select the offers that they would like to receive. The matching of which offer is to be directed to which member, however, would be implemented using similar principles.
Claims
1. A computerized system for selectively distributing invitations for a plurality of events to a plurality of members each having an electronic mailbox, the system comprising:
- an event information database having (a) a plurality of event records, each event record storing event information for an event of a plurality of events, and (b) feedback information based on tracking of a plurality of member responses to invitations, wherein the event information stored in each of the plurality of event records includes one or more corresponding invitee selection criteria;
- a member information database having member information for each of the plurality of members;
- at least one computer processor coupled to the event information database and the member information database and configured to: for each event of the plurality of events, analyze the stored event information obtained from the event information database for the corresponding event, the stored feedback information obtained from the event information database, and the stored member information obtained from the member information database to identify, for each member among the plurality of members, targeted events among the plurality of events; and generate and send, based on information about the targeted events, an electronic invitation message to the electronic mailbox of each member of the plurality of members for which targeted events were identified, wherein each electronic invitation message invites its corresponding member to all of the targeted events which were identified for that corresponding member.
2. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more corresponding invitee selection criteria comprises an area of practice.
3. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more corresponding invitee selection criteria for each of the plurality of events is selected by a sponsor of the respective event.
4. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more corresponding invitee selection criteria comprises an identifier that uniquely identifies an individual member.
5. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more corresponding invitee selection criteria comprises a list of identifiers, each of which uniquely identifies an individual member.
6. A computerized system for selectively distributing invitations for a plurality of events to a plurality of members each having an electronic mailbox, the system comprising:
- an event information database having (a) a plurality of event records, each event record storing event information for an event of a plurality of events, and (b) feedback information based on tracking of a plurality of member responses to invitations, wherein the event information stored in each of the plurality of event records includes one or more corresponding invitee selection criteria;
- a member information database having member information for each of the plurality of members, wherein the member information for each of the plurality of members includes one or more member preferences;
- at least one computer processor coupled to the event information database and the member information database and configured to: for each event of the plurality of events, analyze the stored event information obtained from the event information database for the corresponding event, the stored feedback information obtained from the event information database, and the stored member information obtained from the member information database to determine, for each member among the plurality of members, all events among the plurality of events to which that member should be invited based on at least one of (a) matches between the member information and the one or more corresponding invitee selection criteria for each of the plurality of events, (b) matches between the event information and the one or more member preferences for the respective members, and (c) the stored feedback information; and generate and send, based on invitation information indicating which events among the plurality of events each of the plurality of members should receive an invitation to, an electronic invitation message to the electronic mailbox of each member of the plurality of members identified in the stored invitation information for receiving an invitation, wherein each electronic invitation message invites its corresponding member to all of the events determined for that member in the invitation information.
7. The system of claim 6, wherein the at least one computer processor is configured to determine that a given member should be invited to a given event when (a) there is a match between the member information for the given member and the at least one invitee selection criterion for the given event and (b) there is a match between the event information for the given event and the member preference for the given member.
8. The system of claim 6, wherein the at least one invitee selection criterion comprises an area of practice.
9. The system of claim 6, wherein the at least one invitee selection criterion for each of the plurality of events is selected by a sponsor of the respective event.
10. The system of claim 6, wherein the at least one invitee selection criterion comprises an identifier that uniquely identifies an individual member.
11. The system of claim 6, wherein the at least one invitee selection criterion comprises a list of identifiers, each of which uniquely identifies an individual member.
12. A computerized system for selectively distributing invitations for a plurality of events to a plurality of members each having an electronic mailbox, the system comprising:
- an event information database having a plurality of event records, each event record storing event information for an event of a plurality of events, wherein the event information stored in each of the plurality of event records includes one or more corresponding invitee selection criteria;
- a member information database having member information for each of the plurality of members, wherein the member information for each of the plurality of members includes a notification preference specifying how often each member would like to be contacted with invitations;
- at least one computer processor coupled to the event information database and the member information database and configured to: for each event of the plurality of events, analyze the stored event information obtained from the event information database for the corresponding event, and the stored member information obtained from the member information database to identify, for each member among the plurality of members, targeted events among the plurality of events; and generate and send, based on information about the targeted events and the notification preference of each member of the plurality of members, at a preferred time an electronic invitation message to the electronic mailbox of each member of the plurality of members for which targeted events were identified, wherein each electronic invitation message invites its corresponding member to all of the targeted events which were identified for that corresponding member.
13. The system of claim 12, wherein the one or more corresponding invitee selection criteria comprises an area of practice.
14. The system of claim 12, wherein the one or more corresponding invitee selection criteria for each of the plurality of events is selected by a sponsor of the respective event.
15. The system of claim 12, wherein the one or more corresponding invitee selection criteria comprises an identifier that uniquely identifies an individual member.
16. The system of claim 12, wherein the one or more corresponding invitee selection criteria comprises a list of identifiers, each of which uniquely identifies an individual member.
Type: Application
Filed: Feb 14, 2014
Publication Date: Aug 14, 2014
Applicant: WEBMD, LLC (New York, NY)
Inventors: Sundeep BHAN (New York, NY), Jeff FENIGSTEIN (New York, NY), John ALFANO (Farmingdale, NY)
Application Number: 14/180,919
International Classification: H04L 12/58 (20060101);