The National Confectioners Association announces a mobile smartphone app with enhanced features for this year’s Sweets & Snacks Expo, to be held May 21-23 at McCormick Place in Chicago. The app features a map-your-route floorplan and interactive exhibitor/product searches as well as exhibitor brochures, product information for easy download, a full listing of the show schedule and events and real-time show alerts.

Users can connect seamlessly with colleagues through “friends” and profile features. There will also be social media interaction with a live feed of tweets including #SSE13. Also new this year are sponsor ring tones and wallpapers.

“We have gotten great feedback about our expo app in years past, both from exhibitors and customer attendees, and we are excited to build on this enthusiasm by bringing our attendees an even more relevant and all-encompassing experience,” says Larry Graham, president of NCA. “The app remains active for a year after the show, which allows users to engage one another, follow product launches, receive updates and view interactive content relevant to the confectionery and snack industry.”

The app enables attendees to plan their day by selecting keynote sessions and events on their personalized calendars. It also provides tradeshow contacts and exhibitor descriptions, profiles of meeting activities and a place for users to take notes.

The app is available for download from the event website, www.sweetsandsnacks.com, by pointing a mobile browser to http://m.core-apps.com/SSE13 and from on-phone application stores as a native application for Apple and Android device users. It’s also available as a hybrid web-based application for BlackBerry and a web-based version for all other smartphone users.

The app’s gold sponsor is The Hershey Co. Additional sponsorships are available.

For information about the 2013 Sweets & Snacks Expo, visit www.sweetsandsnacks.com.