Location-based Services on the Upswing. More than 28 percent of American adults now use mobile and social location-based services, according to the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project. About 9 percent of Internet users set up social media services so that their location is automatically included in their posts — and that works out to 7 percent of all adults. Younger adults are more likely to use these services, as are those in households making at least $75,000 per year. Smartphone owners with more education are also more likely to use these services, with 66 percent of college graduates using them, compared with 41 percent of those who have not gone to college.

Tablets sizzle, led by iPads. Worldwide media tablet shipments jumped 88.9 percent in the second quarter of 2011 to 13.6 million units, reported International Data Corporation (IDC). Apple alone sold 9.25 million in its fiscal year third quarter, which ended June 25, 2011. That was a 183 percent increase over the same quarter in 2010 (sales debuted April of that year). Gartner projects that the number of iPad users could increase to more than 100 million by 2012.

TechTools from TBA Global made these predictions for iPad use at meetings:

➢ Conference keynoters will answer video questions from remote attendees on videoconferenced iPads, and location-sensing technology embedded in branded apps will tell brands about consumer behavior at mobile tour stops.

➢ Data collection will happen seamlessly and automatically, without the need for info kiosks, because attendees will download the event app onto their tablets, which will supply the brand with the intelligence they need.

➢ The “tablet network” will serve in the long term to connect everyone associated with an event, from owners to attendees. That kind of agility and responsiveness will create positive experiences and big wins.

Travel Managers Get Serious about Fees. The GBTA Foundation and Egencia’s 2nd Annual Corporate Travel Policy Benchmarking & Insight Study outlined what ancillary fees travel managers are most likely to reimburse for air and hotel:

Air: Will reimburse for baggage fees (91 percent of respondents), itinerary changes (73 percent), in-flight meals (47 percent), and in- flight Wi-Fi (35 percent). Fewer organizations will reimburse for preferred seating (13 percent), priority boarding (8 percent), or in-flight entertainment (3 percent).

Hotel: Will reimburse for parking (89 percent of respondents), Internet access (84 percent), airport shuttle (70 percent). Fewer companies will reimburse for late check-out (24 percent), early check-in (23 percent), fitness center (21 percent), mini-bar (9 percent), and entertainment (4 percent).

Of the 79 percent of travel managers who do not track ancillary expenses, 41 percent plan to in the next 12 months, and another 6 percent believe they will within the next two years.

U.S. airlines collected $1.38 billion alone from baggage fees and reservation change fees just in Q1 2011, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics. — Maxine Golding