IMGuest – The Business Traveler’s Social Network

IMGuest is a tool that businesspeople who travel regularly can use to meet likeminded professionals while they’re out on the road. The social networking tool shows its users which other people have checked into the hotels they’re staying at, and then uses mobile networking tools to bring those individuals together for networking opportunities and real-world connections.

If you’ve ever checked into a hotel in a city where you know no one, then IMGuest is for you. The business traveler’s social network encourages people to sign up for its service and then check-in on their mobile phones when they arrive at their destination hotels. Once you’ve checked-in, you can see which other guests are staying at the same hotel – assuming they’ve also checked-in with the app. Have a look at various profiles until you stumble across one that looks interesting, and then send a message to set up an in-person meeting with that user in the lobby or hotel café. IMGuest is an app that is aimed squarely at business travelers, so there’s a good chance any person you meet through the app will be a road warrior just like yourself.

Hotels that use IMGuest can promote themselves as business-traveler-friendly spots by signing up for a paid account. Doing this allows hotels find out more about the guests who have checked-in. Using this information, hotel managers can arrange networking meet-ups and interact with guests in a way that was never possible before. For road warriors and other professionals who travel regularly for work, IMGuest is a web-app that could prove to be useful in a number of different ways.

Practical Uses:

• Connect with people who are attending the same conference as you
• Find people with similar professional interests and business goals to connect with
• Meet fellow road warriors while traveling for work
• For hotel managers, cater to business clientele by creating guest message boards and arranging networking events

Insider Tips:

• Login to IMGuest through Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn
• IMGuest works on Androids and iPhones
• Hotels can add a widget to their websites to encourage guests to check-in with IMGuest
• People who use IMGuest can connect by sending messages to each other through the site

What we liked:

• IMGuest can be used to make business travel slightly less isolating
• IMGuest is a good way to network and make business connections
• Hotels can use IMGuest to reach out to guests who are traveling for work
• Singles can use IMGuest to meet other people staying at their same hotels

What we didn’t like:

• The use of IMGuest is still limited among business travelers, and it won’t be especially useful until more professionals begin using the service.

Alternatives:

• Foursquare – https://foursquare.com
• Sonar – http://www.sonar.me

Company Info:

• Launched: September 2011
• Privately Held
• Headquarters: London, England, and Tel Aviv, Israel
• Founded by: Yossy Mendelovich and Asaf Engel
• Web site: http://imguest.com

Costs:

• Free for users
• Special pricing for hotels with Premium accounts