California Apparel News

Online meetings have become an increasingly popular way for technology companies and their apparel industry clients to conduct training sessions and impromptu gatherings. High costs and slow technology, however, have often gotten in the way of making such meetings a viable option.

But with some new players and revamped cost structures, conducting an online meeting, or “Webinar,” is becoming more accessible and cost effective for the smaller companies that make up the apparel industry.

Boston-based researcher The Yankee Group estimates that online meetings will become a $700 million market this year, up from $480 million last year. The group said companies are seeing the benefits of the service compared with traveling, e-mail and teleconferencing.

Market leaders WebEx Communications and Microsoft Corp. have been the main providers, but some smaller companies have found the companies’ systems to be too expensive and difficult to learn. One apparel company said the main complaints were about speed. But other technology companies, including Lectra and PAD System Technologies Inc., have used the systems to their advantage.

Santa Barbara, Calif.–based Citrix Online, a division of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.–based Citrix Systems Inc., recently launched www.gotomeeting.com, a meeting site geared for smaller companies. The site gives users an “all you can meet” price plan of $49 per month for unlimited meetings of up to 10 guests. (A 20- guest plan is slightly more expensive.) That’s well below the $375-permonth starting price of WebEx and Microsoft. GoToMeeting is currently limited to use on PCs.

The main feature behind Citrix’s product is its next-generation screensharing technology, ideal for instruction and Microsoft PowerPoint presentations, said Matt Reid, senior product marketing manager. A meeting host can conduct demonstrations of virtually any application. The controls— namely a keyboard and mouse—can be turned over to any meeting participant. The parties communicate through teleconferencing or through chat boxes. The learning curve is fast and simple, Reid said.

“We basically asked everyone what they disliked about the available products, and they came back with mainly two things: the expense and the fact that the available technology was difficult to use and hard to adopt for the average user,” Reid said.

GoToMeeting’s pricing plan is aimed at users who conduct lots of spur-of-the-moment training sessions or presentations and who would worry about per-minute usage charges. Microsoft and WebEx charge between 33 cents and 35 cents per minute for their pay-per-use programs. “The return-oninvestment can be made up almost immediately,” Reid said.

Armonk, N.Y.–based IBM Corp. is also entering the online meeting arena with a new product geared for small to medium-sized businesses. Big Blue’s Lotus Web Conferencing Service is accessible with an Internet connection, browser and phone. IBM manages the computer networks that host the conversations. By implementing a hosted service, the company expects it can maintain costs that are about 20 percent lower than those of the market leaders.

An IBM spokesman said the company is in final tests and will begin offering the service next month.

The product is a spin-off of IBM’s Lotus Instant Messaging and Web Conferencing software, which companies have been using for their networks. Customers who sign up for a Web conference receive an e-mail directing them to a specific Web address. Once they have signed on, users are asked to provide their phone numbers. The system then calls out to users’ phones and hooks them into the Web conference. Participants on the road can take part just by dialing in via an IBM operator. Up to 100 people can participate.

The software-as-service approach can appeal to small and mid-sized companies that do not have the money or expertise to manage complex network systems, IBM said.

San Francisco–based Macromedia Inc., known for its Flash technology, this month opened up its Breeze Live hosted Web conferencing service to smaller companies by adding a pay-as-you-go pricing model. The system, built around the company’s Flash technology, can now be accessed for 32 cents per minute. It features application sharing, white boards, integrated audio and video, and live chat.

Macromedia also debuted a smaller-sized monthly hosting plan that costs $75 a month per seat for unlimited meetings. Both 5- and 10-seat plans are available.

PAD System Names New GM

Montreal-based CAD/CAM company PAD System Technologies Inc. is looking to beef up marketing efforts aimed at the apparel industry. The company has named Vahid Tizhouch general manger, a newly created position.

Tizhouch is responsible for implementing marketing and sales strategies in North America.

For 10 years, he served as president and owner of Montreal-based Agence Planete Claire, a fashion photography agency that supplied work to leading Canadian magazines, including Flare, as well as illustration and publicity services.

Tizhouch most recently oversaw PAD’s Los Angeles training fair at the California Market Center. He will work to coordinate future Los Angeles events with Kristine Gloviak, vice president of sales and marketing.

Nano-Tex Names New Execs

Eileen Abajian and Rita Ratskoff are joining the business development team of Emeryville, Calif.–based Nano-Tex, LLC, which develops textile treatments and enhancements for the apparel industry.

Abajian was named vice president of business development for the West Coast. She came to the company from DuPont’s Invista division, where she was a business development manager for accounts including Levi’s Dockers, Banana Republic, North Face, Bebe and Eddie Bauer.

Ratskoff was named vice president of business development for the Midwest. She also worked at Invista with accounts including Target Corp., Sears, Roebuck and Co., Kohl’s Corp. and Lands’ End.

The new sales executives will market company products such as Resists Spills, a stain-resistant fabric enhancement; Coolest Comfort, a quick-drying fabric enhancement; and Cotton Touch, a soft synthetic- fabric enhancement.