Fork In The Road Blog

Events: Technology. Design. Strategy.

Cloud Computing and Crowdsourcing from MTO Summit

The MTO Summit, October 21-22 in San Francisco was the hub for discussions on event industry technology. Much of the discussion focused on social media and social networking applications and integration. Two interesting technology providers, Fantail Consulting and The Social Collective were on hand to offer new perspectives and solutions for social media pains.

Michael J. Hatch, president, Fantail Consulting (formerly with A2Z, Inc.) discusses the cloud computing consultancy services that his new company is offering. This technology holds promise for event organizers looking to provide remote applications and networking capabilities to its community of stakeholders such as attendees, (both face-to-face and virtual), exhibitors, sponsors and others that could overload a conventional Web server. In the above video, Hatch talks about lowering costs and increasing operational efficiency using cloud computing resources.

Clinton Bonner of The Social Collective discusses the capabilities of his company’s crowdsourcing application called Crowd Campaign. All you need is a good contest idea, a few hundred dollars, at least six weeks lead time and 500 or more Twitter followers. Event organizers benefit in three ways–the tweets generate a viral effect (i.e. information about your event is passed along as contest prizes stimulate participation), users contribute valuable content (opinions, case studies, YouTube videos, etc.) in exchange for a chance to win and revenue streams emerge (as sponsors hitch their logos to the Web landing page).

A Meeting Planner’s Place in the Virtual World

What does a meeting, exhibition or conference planner have to do to get ahead these days? Whether you’re still employed, looking for a job or as so many career coaches say, “building your skill set,” you can’t ignore the phenomenon of virtual (online) events.

As a meeting planner myself, I can understand how some conventional planners would view online events (webinars, virtual trade shows, TelePresence experiences, MUVE environments, etc.) as competition. After all, who needs to know how to set a room theatre style or how many bran muffins to order for breakfast, when your attendees are spread throughout the country?

Planners are misguided, however, if they feel they can avoid the virtual movement or relegate all of the tasks to a technology provider. There is ample need for qualified planners on a strategic and logistical level when planning a virtual or hybrid event.

Meeting planners bring a unique perspective to online events including an understanding of the objectives and the experience that comes from planning live meetings and trade shows.  They are the conduit between senior management or the client and the virtual technology provider.

There is a niche that can be uniquely filled by meeting planners because virtual events are designed to emulate the face-to-face experience and not the reverse.

The execution of a virtual event requires much of the same acumen that a professional meeting planner or exhibition manager possesses including:

  • Content management (speaker selection, presentation topics, content capture)
  • Event registration
  • Pre-event audience promotion
  • Post-event attendee evaluations
  • Return on investment or objectives analysis
  • Selection and supervision of sub-contractors
  • Exhibit/sponsorship sales (trade shows)
  • Translation services (international meetings)

Planners of the future will need to know about the features, benefits, technology and execution of online events in addition to the elements of conventional meetings in order to keep pace with the profession. Some specific areas of knowledge will include:

  • Virtual meeting platforms (differences, features, functionality, suitability)
  • Blended meetings
  • Social networking integration (Twitter for Q & A, for example)
  • RFP preparation for virtual platforms
  • Internet/satellite connectivity requirements
  • Streaming/live content vs. archived content
  • Perceptions of virtual meetings
  • Production/staging of virtual events
  • Costs and potential revenue streams
  • Mobile device integration
  • Attendee guides

Where then does a meeting planner go to learn the ins and out of virtual meetings? MarketingProfs offers some great advice on virtual conference planning. Although the content is only available to premium members for a fee, they have a two-day free trial membership that is worth signing up for.  

Another resource is Julius Solaris’s EventManager blog. He has a couple of good posts there including “Job Title: Webcasting Manager,” which touches on the role of event managers in executing virtual events.  

Technology providers themselves are valuable resources. Vconferenceonline has recognized the value of educating meeting planners about online conferences. They will present a free webinar developed specifically for meeting planners on Thursday, October 29 from 12:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. EST.

Katherine Elliott of Vconferenceonline shared the content of the webinar, titled Virtual Event University, with me. Here’s the run down of topics that the speakers will cover (straight from her email):

1.    Meeting Planners and Virtual Events – an excellent combination

  • Why virtual events need a planner

2.    Why is a virtual event safe?  What’s in it for you? (financially and otherwise)

  • You be the expert/”savior”/cutting edge
  • Develop an “experience” for your client and their audience
  • Small learning curve – don’t have to learn new technology
  • Economical
  • Less risk and more control
  • All but the handshake–increased attendance, flexibility

3.    Obtaining and planning content

  • Content is still king
  • Securing speakers, high profile or otherwise
  • Contracting, considerations

4.    Marketing your event

  • Alone or with a physical event
  • How to present yourself and the event
  • Involve speakers and sponsors early

5.    Using the new media (digital media)

  • Where’s your place?
  • What about social media?

6.    Misc/best practices

  • How to work with other events
  • What kinds of events can you offer?
  • Can you charge?
  • Exhibitors/sponsors
  • Involving the CEO in marketing and/or keynotes

Virtual Event University is free of charge.  It will also be archived after the presentation on October 29th for a short time, for planners that want to view it in stages or refer back to it later on. I expect that Vconferenceonline’s main objective will be showcasing their technology in addition to providing great content, but I think it’s a fair trade.

The Takeaway: The economic turnaround may not be fully realized for at least another year. Many planners are struggling already with the loss of business from regular clients and the major cutbacks in the corporate and association arenas. At the same time, virtual events of all types are ramping up. Technology providers are moving into the space quickly. It is incumbent upon meeting planners–those with CMPs, CMMs, CEMs and those without–to learn all they can about virtual events and stake their own claim in the virtual world.

 

Money, Money, Money, Money, MONEY: Social Media Revenue Streams for Trade Shows and Conferences

You may not remember “For the Love of Money” by the O’Jays from listening to your own records, your parent’s or watching Soul Train on TV, but that’s what the quest for social media ROI reminds me of. Once the business model for social media provided event organizers with new revenue streams, it suddenly became more than a “shiny new object.”

For a cool multi-sensory blog experience, try playing the song in the background while you read this post. 

Smartphones

The Follow Me app from Core-Apps is a great example of the types of revenue opportunities available on smartphone platforms. There are two flavors of Follow Me. One is Web-based (an Internet connection is required but the app is free) and includes a show floor map, exhibitor search function, trade show alerts and local merchant/exhibitor advertising capabilities. 

An interactive, full-featured application that does not require an Internet connection costs $1.99 and includes all of the features of the Web-based application plus interactive scheduling, links to friends, interactive mapping and routing and the download of exhibitor brochures.

Follow Me offers revenue opportunities including application sales (downloads), exhibitor banner ads, click-through coupons, enhanced exhibitor information, local merchant advertising. Core-apps charges a one-time overhead fee but allows event organizers to recoup the fee at 50% of the captured revenue until the fee is recouped and 30% of the revenue after the overhead fee threshold is met.

ChirpE from A2Z, Inc., is another Web-based mobile application that offers revenue generation opportunities for exhibition organizers. It replaces the printed exhibitor guide eliminating some or all of the printing costs. 

ChirpE allows attendees to access exhibitor and conference session information, create a personalized itinerary, receive updates on event buzz (text messages posted on a ChirpE channel by a designated Community Reporter) and schedule changes.

ChirpE users can e-mail exhibitors directly and access exhibitor Web sites. Event details and personalized itineraries are synchronized in real-time between Facebook®, ChirpE and the event Web site. It also integrates LinkedIn® and Twitter® as well. 

A2Z, Inc. charges exhibition organizers a fee to access the premium version of the ChirpE platform, however a basic version is offered free to existing clients. Attendees can access both basic and premium services at no charge. Additional revenue can be generated through sponsorship opportunities and banner ads placed on ChirpE screens and notification emails.

Private social networking platforms 

It’s fair to say that most of the event-centric social networking platforms such as Zerista, Pathable, Crowdvine, TheSocialCollective and others offer revenue streams to event organizers. John Kanarowski of Zerista was kind enough to send me some specific information on the revenue options for his platform. “Keep in mind, these are incremental revenue opportunities that are not available to event organizers on general purpose social networks [such as Facebook and LinkedIn and YouTube],” he says. 

The primary revenue sources that Zerista offers event organizers include: 

  • Sponsorship of the entire networking platform for a specific event. Zerista packages custom banners, welcome messages, links within event related emails and data on exhibitor and attendee usage and interest patterns in the sponsorship offering. 
  • Exhibitor upgrades to a “virtual booth” within the event networking platform. The virtual booth is “an online space that provides additional communication and networking features,” Kanarowski says. Organizers can bundle the virtual booth upgrades into premium booth packages.
  • Access to conference content by virtual attendees. Zerista’s platform offers solutions for running a blended event (live and virtual) or virtual only event. Zerista’s platform allows the distribution of streamed and archived content as well as an ecommerce engine to sell and manage online access. 

Virtual Tradeshows and Conferences 

Aside from the usual sponsorship and advertising opportunities such as banners, sponsorship of the various components (speakers, rooms, networking, prizes, etc.) booths and other content that virtual events offer, VConferenceOnline is also offering a turnkey program to independent meeting planners. 

VConferenceOnline’s philosophy is that there are certain tasks that meeting planners have to do whether the conference is live or virtual such as coordinate speakers, manage content and handle registration. The company is developing an online conference called Virtual Event University scheduled for some time in October. The conference will define the role of the meeting planner in online event presentation and outline specific revenue opportunities such as a mark-up on the cost of the event. 

Twitter 

Twitter has infiltrated the minds of the entrepreneurial event marketing types with and without the use of third-party platforms. The Friday Pint blog highlights some of the Twitter-based revenue opportunities. “… at least two new sponsorship opportunities emerge: for starters, invite sponsorship of your tweetup. Forward-thinking trade shows have already benefited from displaying live tweets on a large screen at their event – offer sponsorship of the screen. Plus, a post-show write-up of the key themes emerging on twitter during the event sent to all attendees offers additional branding opportunity.”

The Takeaway:  If part of an event organizer’s social media strategy involves developing new revenue streams, there are seemingly unlimited ways to slice and dice the social media pie of offerings. Most of the opportunity lies with third-party event-centric platforms. Additionally, the limited ability to generate revenue streams from Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube and others may make them less attractive even though the initial out-of-pocket costs are lower. Don’t blame me if the O’Jays song is stuck in your head now.

Three Perspectives for Developing a Social Media Strategy for Events

It’s true. Social media is mesmerizing. Who hasn’t stayed up until 3 a.m. reading funny posts and writing on their Facebook wall? Jason Baer refers to social media as a “shiny object” in his MarketingProfs webinar. In other words, it’s so exciting to some people (like me) that it’s easy to get caught up in what the tools can do and overlook the long-term objectives.

Event organizers and their advertising agencies are beginning the arduous task of mapping out strategies for social media that complement the traditional media they are accustomed to, while overcoming their fears about misdirected tweets and customers bad mouthing brands for the entire world to read.

Here are three perspectives from technology and social media strategists that can help with the strategic mindset that event organizers (trade, corporate and public events) need before diving into the pool or deciding which floatation devices to use.

It would be logical to assume that events that focus on digital media, social media, blogging, etc. would have strategies for using the tools on which the conferences are focused. That is precisely the case with the DigitalNow Conference produced by Fusion Productions in partnership with the Disney Institute. In the case study posted on the Fusion Web site, producers outline the strategy (great tips at the end of the case study) as well as the progression of tactics they employed over the years.

The Takeaway:  DigtalNow organizers were smart not to bite off too much in the beginning. As the conference matured and the platforms became available, Fusion added tools that suited their needs. They also developed the DigitalNow Offsite Participation Guide for remote participants who lack the visual cues and human helpers that face-to-face attendees can avail themselves of on site. Finally, they dealt with the dreaded negative comments posted on their LinkedIn group and everyone came away with happy thoughts.

In his July 30 webinar presented by MarketingProfs, Jason Baer of Convince and Convert outlined a seven step framework for developing a social media strategy for B2C marketers but it is equally effective for B2B audiences in an exhibition or conference context as well. After all, event attendees are social media consumers too.

Quoting K.D. Payne, the “queen of social media measurement and metrics,” a successful social media program uses humanization and approachability to influence how customers perceive the company, says Baer. Think of companies as events and customers as attendees and consider the following:

1.  Determine your “pitch” in 120 characters. In the abbreviated world of social media, “You have to be able to communicate what your company is about in a succinct way,” Baer says.

2.  Answer the question, “What’s the point?” In other words, says Baer, determine why you are engaged in social media to begin with and how it fits into your marketing and communications approach. The ultimate objective needs to be awareness, sales or loyalty. “You need to choose among these objectives before deciding on a strategy and a micro-decision process,” Baer explains.

3.  Decide what type of relationship you have with your audience as each relationship type dictates a different strategy. Baer advises choosing the categories in answer to the question, “What does your audience know about you?”

  • Nothing—Have never heard of your brand
  • Awareness, no action—Have heard of your brand, but never purchased a product
  • Single action—Used a product once
  • Repeat action—Enthusiastic about the brand, repeat user
  • Advocates—Recommending your brand to others  

Baer suggests that social media strategists choose only one or two of the groups so that the execution doesn’t introduce mixed messages. 

4.  Determine how your audience uses social media in order to connect with them in the most appropriate ways. Baer suggests using the Forrester Social Technographics Ladder® to map audience demographics to social media usage in the following groups:

  • Creators—Write blogs, upload their own videos, upload their own music
  • Critics—Post ratings and reviews, comment on other blogs, contribute to Wikis
  • Collectors—Use RSS feeds, add “tags” to Web pages or photos, vote for Web sites
  • Joiners—Maintain profiles on social networking sites, visit social networking sites
  • Spectators—Read blogs, watch video from others, listen to podcasts, read forums
  • Inactives—None of the above

Baer advises to reach out to no more than three groups at a time with a chosen strategy.

5.  Declare your company’s “one thing.” Baer advises that marketers determine the one characteristic, trait or passion that makes the company unique. “Find out what conveys passion about your brand. “Ask an agency, your customers or maybe just listen and don’t think,” says Baer.

Baer offered “one thing” examples for different brands. Volvo is associated with safety. Apple stands for innovation. Nordstrom identifies with customer service and Disney with magic.

6.  Determine how you will be human. Making a human connection with customers is the hallmark of social media. “People are always more compelling than logos,” says Baer. He offers suggestions including photos and blogs of employees posted on the Web site. “Find employees within your company and make them the star of the show,” says Baer.

7.  Determine what success will look like ahead of time. Choose three metrics, based on the objectives of awareness, sales or loyalty, to measure whether the social media strategy has achieved the desired outcome. Baer recommends the following:

  • If the objective is awareness, then measure web traffic, web referrals, search volume trends, followers/friends/fans, social mentions, share of voice, etc.
  • If the objective is sales, then measure web traffic, time spent on the company Web site, bounce rate, repeat visits, content acceptance rate, followers/fans/friends, social mentions, share of voice, social connectivity within sales funnel, etc. 
  • If the objective is loyalty, then measure the time visitors spend on the company Web site, repeat visits, content acceptance rate, followers/fans/friends, repeat social mentions, share of voice, recommendations and reviews, social connectivity among purchasers, customer service metrics, net promoter score, etc.

The Takeaway:  Being “the” place to network, learn about new products and gain important insights, as was the claim of exhibitions and conferences over the years, is no longer the most valid value proposition in a world where social media platforms offer similar benefits for participants. Event producers have to develop strategies that provide for the existence of social media tools and, more importantly, for the ways that customers choose to consume information, engage each other and contribute content that shapes the way events are structured.

A final perspective, offered by 360i, is outlined in the Social Marketing Playbook. It helps marketers use “key insights and clear objectives to use as a prism for assessing which platforms have the necessary scale and engagement opportunities for [their] brand.”

In chapter two of the playbook titled, “Developing a Game-Winning Strategy,” the firm provides a four-step approach for developing a brand strategy using social media including:

  1. Establish a “strategic lens” by defining objectives and evaluating opportunities.
  2. Create a social media architecture including conversations taking place between the brand and consumers, chatter between consumers facilitated by the brand and organic dialogue among consumers.
  3. Develop a unifying theme that resonates with customers and inspires them to take action.
  4. Find an authentic voice in social media spaces by researching the customs of the social channel and conveying the company message within the “lay of that land.”

The Takeaway:  Event organizers need to look upon social media platforms not as competition with but as enhancements to the face-to-face experience. The best way to do that is to identify the opportunities that present the best chance to extend live meetings and work within the structure of those opportunities.

 

Why National Speakers Association Chose Facebook Over Private Social Networking Platform for 2009 Convention

When the National Speakers Association (NSA) considered social networking platforms to enhance their 2009 Convention, they compared private and public options. Platform features, cost and attendee preferences were among the top considerations.

The main goal for NSA was to build community. “Community is a huge part of our organization. We look for ways to learn from each other and connect. [A social network] was a way for our attendees to learn who was coming to the conference in advance and get to know people ahead of time,” says Cara Tracy, director of professional development for the Tempe, AZ-based organization.

The private platform that NSA reviewed was full-featured but relatively expensive (fees were based on the number of anticipated users). Because the organization had never used a social networking platform for a meeting before, it was difficult to predict usage.

The NSA compared the features and costs of the private platform under consideration to Facebook, a public platform with fewer event-centric features but free to use for the association, its members and conference attendees.

Facebook carried with it the added advantage that many NSA members and conference attendees were already on Facebook and would likely continue to use the platform long after the conference concluded (unlike the private platform that would eventually expire).

NSA’s IT department set up a Facebook group called “National Speakers Association 2009 Convention Attendees” several months in advance of the convention. 387 people joined the group. The convention was held in Phoenix from July 18-21. The most recent post on Facebook was August 22, 2009.

“People were using the Facebook group for things we hadn’t anticipated like calling for volunteers or searching for room mates,” Tracy says. Although NSA didn’t establish any goals for usage in advance, they were pleased with the outcome and plan to establish a group for the 2010 convention as well.

NSA also set up an “event” in LinkedIn asking attendees to RSVP for the convention even though formal registration was still required. “We used LinkedIn to get an idea of how many people were planning to attend the conference. It also gave us a way to communicate with those that responded on LinkedIn but didn’t actually attend. We think our members sometimes tune out email. This is another way to reach them,” Tracy explains.

For more immediate communication with attendees, NSA set up a Twitter hash tag as a way to communicate updates and reminders before, during and after the conference (for example, “the early bird registration deadline is coming up,” book your hotel rooms now,” “wear your name tags to the opening reception,” “the bus is leaving from the ballroom foyer” and “don’t forget to complete your evaluations”).

The Takeaway: Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and other public platforms are ways for associations and other non-profit groups to become acquainted with social networking at low cost (the manpower for setting up and monitoring the groups should be considered as a cost) and relatively low risk. Although private platforms provide many more benefits, for some associations such as NSA, the value proposition isn’t as solid as private platform providers would like it to be. It may be that once sponsorship opportunities proliferate on private social networking platforms and become low cost revenue streams for event organizers, that the return on investment of private platforms will become obvious and the adoption rate for more budget-conscious associations will accelerate.

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