Often speakers and attendees will have built up a huge online influence and will already be profiling their activity as part of their usual routine. By encouraging their participation in online forums as part of the programme; your potential reach and exposure can expand to hundreds of thousands of individuals and add considerable value to your pre, during and post session value.
Web Connectivity
Factor wireless broadband into your event budget. Let attendees know it is there to connect with their networks and consider some incentive for the most creative comment or the most retweeted post. Ask attendees to respect the resource by not downloading large or unnecessary files (no one likes a hog that takes advantage of free wireless to download personal stuff like movies). Most, if not all conference venues will have this facility available but bandwidth does cost.
Devices like smartphones and tablets such as iPad are portable and likely to be at events in increasing numbers. Their short battery life will mean attendees will be scrambling for power outlets so be sure to have lots of outlets catered for. A dedicated and secure iPhone charging service during lunch breaks is a nice touch. (a bit like a coat check for the digital age).
Native Twitter users will be posting regular updates as a matter of habit. This will likely include things they are finding interesting (and not so interesting) to engage external networks while sharing information and ideas with other delegates. Incorporating a hashtag in each tweet makes for a powerful information resource for both internal and external participants. Every tweet has the potential to initiate interactive dialogue and capturing ‘gold nuggets’ of information in succinct 140 character updates.
Hashtags
If you don’t know what a hashtag is then you need to, your audience will expect you to provide one. They are basically a string of text/numbers that follow the hash symbol (#). This enables Twitter users to filter content into a search string. No-one owns a hashtag so it pays to use something not already in use. An example of a popularised hashtag is #eqnz which is still used in Twitter conversations about the Christchurch Earthquake.
Be sure to promote your chosen tag early in online and print material related to your event, give regular updates on Twitter using it and be sure it is prominently displayed at the live event.
Visible Tweets
In keeping with the Twitter theme a visual aid to engage more participation is invaluable. Some conferences have a search column in Twitter (use Twitter Search) or Tweetdeck displayed behind the presenter so the audience can see or give real time feedback giving the audience a more interactive role.
Another great resource that is visually captivating is Visibletweets.com This free web based tool allows you to enter search terms, such as your hashtag, and it will display the tweets in a range of colourful formats.
This of course is not without its risks as it can be impossible to moderate this live feed so there could be negative or mischievous placement of comments.
Trending
One advantage of many people using Twitter at the same time and using the same word (such as the hashtag) is that twitter recognises this as a “Trend” and uses various ways to notify other Twitter users of what is popular. An excellent visual tool that you can use to display this to an audience is Trendsmap.com which graphically displays real-time trending words in a customisable map format.
This global communications phenomenon with 700 million active users should not be ignored. You could have a generic business page or a page set up specifically for the event. Do not confuse this with your profile as this is a separate and more personal forum.
Encourage event participants to post comments, images, and videos on the wall during and after the event. Keep the page updated as presentations happen so attendees can like or add comments to the appropriate posts.
Geo-Location – Checking In
Growing in popularity as a result of the GPS capable devices such as smartphones and iPads delegates are able to check-in to a venue.
Foursquare is extremely popular in Australasia allowing people to not only check-in but also to upload comments to their Twitter and Facebook accounts announcing their immediate location and activity. The platform allows users to give and receive tips on immediate or nearby points of interest and to see who in their network is in the immediate vicinity.
Facebook Places was recently introduced to New Zealand and offers most of this functionality within its own network and is becoming increasingly popular.
Webinars and live video feeds
Webinars are live web broadcasts. The advantage of a webinars is you can promote well in advance and people are able to register their attendance. We have successfully run events where presenters from other countries have presented live to an audience or a live presenter has broadcast to a live audience with an external audience listening in and watching the same PowerPoint presentation.
Live video casting platforms such as Ustream and Justin.tv means you can cost-effectively make your event live to a global audience using technology as simple as a web connected computer and webcam.
YouTube Channel
Video is a powerful medium. If a picture tells a thousand words then a video displays a thousand pictures. Load segments of video to a dedicated channel on YouTube. Being the second highest used search engine behind Google is reason enough to take this forum seriously.
Video capture is increasingly easy and affordable with most phones now being video capable. Ask attendees to upload videos and supply you with links so they can be added as ‘Favourites’ on your channel. The key advantage of having your own dedicated YouTube channel is it can be branded and video played in a managed order rather than at random.
Post Event Activity
We are motivated when we leave a good event full of new ideas, new contacts and a new perspective on our own personal and professional challenges. The best time to capture those ideas is as soon as you return home. Writing a report to the board or your superiors is one thing but sharing your ideas with your own networks is rewarding.
Use your social platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn to share your immediate thoughts and learning. Ask your network to make comments and give feedback to expand on your thinking. Cement the connections you made during the event by connecting with them on LinkedIn and following their twitter accounts.
One of the most powerful mediums for information capture, design and architecture is the blog, the very forum you are reading this in. Blogs allow us to give more detail than the size restrictive posts offered by Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn and are extremely search engine visible. You can embed images and video and place links to external resources that become a permanent record in a personalised information timeline. Blogs allow for comments to be made (and they are always appreciated) and the content to be aggregated into other sites using RSS technology.
Encourage your delegates, speakers and attendees to write a blog post. Most Bloggers are looking for new content to add to their sites so this should not be a big ask. Give them a theme to write on and leave the rest to their own creativity. When they have done it get them to post the links on to your Facebook page and do Twitter updates pointing people to these valuable resources.
It’s all about the content
Be sure to recognise and thank those who took the time to contribute to the resources mentioned above. Do so because they have not only attended your event but have been a valuable participant and contributor to its promotion, its value and its legacy.
If you have any other ways you think could enhance an event, and we know there are many, please add your comments below.
Nice one, Craig. A cool checklist on How to create a socially successful event. Takes a bit of doing but over time, if one can learn to tick all the boxes - it certainly enhances the end result.
ReplyDeleteIf I may add what I've learnt via Social Media Club Auckland's monthly events, the whole "SendInvitation-Update-Reminder-FollowUp" process is essential to the success of your event. The pre-event activity is as IMP as the post.
Cheers, Amar
Thanks for the comment Amar. Its a good point you make about the pre and post event activity. One of the added benefits of Social Media is it help align and engage with people on their terms. What would you say are the platforms that give the most influence from you experience's?
ReplyDelete