Fork In The Road Blog

Events: Technology. Design. Strategy.

Day 2 of Trust Agents: How to Overcome Fear

In the second of several video clips from the Q&A during the Women Tech Council meeting, Trust Agents Chris Brogan and Julien Smith discuss how to overcome fear and some other ideas for you to think about. I love how they take on any question whether related to social media or not. These responses in particular helped me better understand Chris and Julien as people.

Julien recommends embracing the uncomfortable and teaching your mind to overcome certain things. He says to give in to the desires of your future self (the one that is already better than your present self) and make decisions based on him or her.

Chris breaks “fear” down in categories such as the business fear of having to let employees go because he didn’t make his numbers, not knowing how to do a job (the difference between men and women), and not having a college degree.

In the context of social media and face-to-face events, there is still a lot of uncertainty associated with bringing social networking platforms, technologies and methodologies into the marketing mix. There is fear around privacy, investment of time, costs, negative comments, loss of control, lack of expertise, exposure, difficulty measuring ROI, and the risk of failure in such a transparent environment. After all, not only were we put in the hot seat by the recession, some of us were burned beyond recognition (lost jobs, companies out of business, marketing strategies obsolete).

Here are some of observations about the event industry and how to use social media more effectively to overcome our fears.

Stop speculating. Organizations have been accustomed to short term returns. If you invest X amount of dollars in audience promotion or booth sales, you will get X number of attendees and exhibitors for this year’s event. Social media success requires a long-term, sustained, and creative investment of time, energy and money without the expectation of immediate return. It requires that someone in the organization be working the social media levers all day every day and never asking the question, “how long will this take?” Instead they should be asking the question, “what can I do to help my customers today?” The result will be less fear (it’s more comfortable to help), more loyalty.

Quit trying to force twenty pounds of old school sales and marketing into a five pound social media bag. I see event industry companies and show organizers on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook every day selling their wares the old way on a new channel. I recently witnessed an individual on my #eventprofs Twitter “channel” being drummed out of there (by group consensus) because she was continuously selling her educational program and not contributing in any other way. There is an underlying mindset, philosophy, and liberalism of thought that underpins social media behavior. Organizations need to learn the rules of the road to prevent the much scarier scenario of driving off a cliff.

Stop the faux “I feel your pain” efforts. Over the years, I’ve written about exhibitor advisory boards and volunteer committees formed by organizations in an effort to get “feedback” from their customers. It’s a great idea on paper. In reality the same groups that allow these committees to “contribute” also restrict them from having any power to effect change. Second, the members of the committee are usually the large exhibitors, the biggest sponsors and the companies with the most “value” to the organization. They don’t necessarily represent the broader constituency.  Social media channels can empower customers, provide honest feedback, and represent a broad customer base more effectively than committees. When the community knows you have their back, they respond with increased loyalty.

Community first. Brand later. The reason why so many organizations are playing catch up in social media is that they are still trying to form a community around their brand. They soon learn that the only time their community members are jazzed about their brand is when they are at the show, being wined, dined and entertained. What about the rest of the year? Companies need to use social media strategies year round. Having a strong community helps companies overcome the fear of social media in so many ways–loyal, trusted customers ready and willing to offer honest feedback, promote their brand, and guide their continuous improvement is invaluable.

Be more human. (Yes I stole this from Chris Brogan). Be open to smaller group interaction. Stop marketing to thousands of people at once and try talking to only six people at once (I stole that from Mitch Joel). Maybe scale back the mega-events. Here’s what’s happening in the events industry. Attendees who are unhappy with boring speakers, the lack of personalization at large conferences, the same meeting formats over and over, and feeling like a number (thanks again Chris) are having tweetups, creating their own meetings (eventcamp) and burning up the Twittersphere talking about how to fix broken conferences and trade shows. Smart organizations will attempt to use social media to understand why this is happening and improve their own products.

Be very afraid. Be very afraid to overcome your fear? Yes. Here’s how. RD Whitney of Tarsus Online Media told me that one of the things that keeps him up at night is putting resources, time, and energy into creating a great event only to have the community siphoned off by some “guy” in his underwear at the kitchen table blogging about the same subject and getting people to listen. Wisely, RD uses social media to remain vigilant and ultimately mitigate his fear because either there isn’t anyone doing a better job than he is (the goal) or he figures out how to work with the underwear bloggers that have new and interesting ideas to support his community.

The Takeaway: In the end, these observations all point to the same mandate for overcoming the fear of social media–Listen, learn, and evolve or your customers will do it without you.

Are you afraid of anything?

Day 1 of Trust Agents: How to Fail/Succeed at Blogging

I had the pleasure (for the first time) of hearing the Trust Agents Chris Brogan and Julien Smith together on the same stage during the Women Tech Council meeting last week. During the Q&A Session, I captured some video (I’m a writer not a videographer) on their responses to questions from the audience. These are relevant topics for the event industry as well as the business community in general. Here’s what they said about blogging failure and success and some other tidbits for you to think about.

In the video, Julien mentions a blog post he did about the “Six Pixels of Separation” blog by Mitch Joel (another excellent speaker at the conference). It illustrates Julien’s approach toward blogging and growing a large community. As the blog comments indicate, this approach isn’t for everyone but it’s something for event organizers and event technology developers to think about if “more qualified eyeballs” is a goal for your blogs.

Chris Brogan offers some more good advice in the video like:

  • Make sure you have a great “About Me” page
  • Use a real picture (no cartoons or Simpsons’ likenesses)
  • Be sure to include a call to action in your post
  • Make your posts “meaty” but brief
  • Don’t write about your products
  • Write about subjects that can help people

Here are some other things to think about:

Joyce McKee of the Lets Talk Trade Shows blog developed a Webinar called “Is There a Blog in Your Future?” It is an excellent tutorial on blogging. Joyce also recommends grading your blog using Alexa rankings and the free information you can get from grader.com. “My blog score was in the 30’s a while back and now is 95.26 – not bad!  And that was due to posting more frequently,” she says.

At Fork in the Road, I’ve learned a couple of helpful things about good content, increasing my search engine rankings, and what I have observed from really good blogs like Midcourse Corrections, Engage 365, Event Coup, Social Fishing, McCurry’s Corner, Interactive Meeting Technology, Corbin Ball’s Tech Talk, and several others and in our industry such as:

  • Don’t hire an intern to blog for you unless they are technically good writers AND know your industry. I would rather read great content than great writing.
  • If you’re going to moderate comments (which I highly recommend) be quick about approving the good ones. People that comment want to see the fruits of their labors right away.
  • Always comment back to those who comment on your blog. It’s a dialogue.
  • Tie your blog electronically into your Twitter and Face Book accounts so you get automatic updates there.
  • Interlink to other posts in your blog. Google really likes this.
  • Put Google Analytics code in your blog for a fun and free way to see whether you’re getting traction with your community.
  • Write for a particular audience. In the writing world, we call them “personas.” Create a typical reader profile (Joe is a 38 year-old event organizer who loves reading about social media but doesn’t have the expertise to put it into practice, etc.). Refer to your profile when you are writing. If Joe would find it interesting, it’s probably a winning post.
  • Don’t blog just to talk out loud and grab search engine love. Plan your posts. Make them relevant and add a little humor.

There is lot’s more content coming from the Trust Agents.What do you event industry bloggers think? What has worked for you?

Thought Leaders Explore How to Change the Status Quo at MTO Summit – Part II

March’s MTO Summit in Chicago still has me thinking about some of the interesting perspectives that were shared during the conference. Here are some of the ideas that made me sit up a little straighter in my chair.

Mobile Apps

  • Event organizers aren’t necessarily interested in the new sponsorship opportunities (too many already) available with mobile apps.
  • Organizers prefer to work with trusted advisors (their registration contractor or general contractor) even if those advisors know little about the application they are selling.
  • Organizers want technology providers to partner with each other to come up with a combined solution (instead of the one-off apps and devices that do separate things).

Attendee acquisition

Taking a cue from affiliate marketers, organizers can leverage existing exhibitors and attendees using badges or contextual links (with promo codes) embedded in emails specially-designed for them to send to their clients and colleagues. When the codes are used, the exhibitor or attendee (affiliate) gets credit/cash/incentives.

In a wrap-up session on attendee acquisition, R.D. Whitney of Tarsus Online Media summarized our breakout group’s findings (from an unusual camera angle because I was trapped by other group members). Check out the video where he discusses the use of complex search streams, Webinars, affiliate programs, guest passes, requiring speakers to participate in community discussions, public relations SEM, contests with flip video, Twitter, and virtual events as attendee acquisition tools.

Data mining

Mark Ragan sparked a lively (somewhat controversial discussion) about mining the Internet for prospects. Using software from Broadlook, event organizers can “scrape” (not my metaphor) the Internet for contacts and email addresses and then feed prospects with daily e-newsletters (which they can opt out of). Such a practice creates brand awareness and a level of familiarity with the prospect that opens the door for future “offers.”

The data mining controversy stemmed from the idea of “pushing” information (one man’s info is another man’s spam) out rather than the social media principal of attracting interest with cool content and then creating a two-way conversation based on mutual interests.

Distributed Events

With discussion about large events shrinking to bring a more personalized experience to the trade show and conference floor, the idea of a distributed event was intriguing. Social Media Week debuted in New York in February 2009. It is a global platform for connectivity, collaboration and learning about emerging trends and interesting social media topics, says Toby Daniels, the conference founder. Venues were spread all over the city (and later, all over the globe), with each host creating a different “experience” for attendees. Daniels explains how it worked in this clip.

The next MTO Summit is scheduled for November 9-10, 2010 in Washington, DC. Now that MTO Summit has merged with TSNN, I am hoping the content and the brainpower will be as good or better than ever.

Thought Leaders Explore How to Change the Status Quo at MTO Summit – Part I

If there was any common thread running through MTO Summit in Chicago last week, it wasn’t the technology innovations or even the focus on execution. The room was full of people talking about new ideas and how to do something different without damaging what (if anything) is still working in the event world. In fact, there was so much great information that I‘m breaking this post up into two parts. Here is part one.

Chris Brogan, social media consultant, author, speaker (I wouldn’t be at all surprised if he was also a gourmet cook, Broadway star and base jumper), kicked off the conference with his take on changing things up. Here is some of the paraphrased wisdom he dispensed:

CB on the importance of focusing on marketing strategy: “It’s not about the tools. It’s about what we do with them and how we connect. Have a marketing strategy that integrates social media sometimes. Let’s do marketing, sales and prospecting and use these new tools.”

CB on the importance of acting human and treating customers humanely: “It used to be a little easier because we all used to be willing to accept being a number. We were OK with being on a conveyor belt as a customer. It’s about putting the ‘human’ back in your business. No letter from my Mom starts with ‘having trouble viewing this.’ We’re using blogs and Twitter to be seen and heard. You don’t get a lot of complaints on a survey.”

CB on social media: “Social media tools allow us to do what we want to do really well. No one wants to join a social media group for Diet Coke. After the first post, ‘I like Diet Coke’ or ‘really? So do I.’ What’s left to talk about? The number one opportunity is that social tools allow us to share what we like. Social media is like Hamburger Helper. It augments what you’re already doing. “

CB on marketing for events: “Be brief. What are your marketers doing writing 2,000 word missives to get you to come to the show? We are a world that lives on a 140 characters now (actually 120 so we can retweet). We process in the WIIFM (What’s In It For Me) factor. The audience does too. I implore you to look at your marketing language. Make it stick by holding up a mirror to yourselves. “

CB on Using Twitter for Sales: “Ask—how do we share? How do we extend? How do we search? Search for the data (search.twitter.com) on Twitter and then execute on it. Sniff on Twitter for new press releases. Find out about the prospect before you call. Twitter is a sales channel and a prospecting tool. Use it to make fast decisions and small decisions.”

CB on who should handle social media in your organization: “The job of social media isn’t just for the guy in the t-shirt and a goatee. It’s everybody’s job.”

CB on social media metrics: “One of the things about social media metrics is that there are lots of numbers that don’t mean anything. The only metrics should be did I or didn’t I increase revenue or reduce spend? Keep looking at how to get the dollar number bigger.”

CB on webcasting and free content: “Webcasting your event is just another way to get your audience to wish they were there. Think like entertainment people. Friends don’t let friends launch bad Webinars.”

CB on mobile apps: “We as a culture are connected to our phones but we’re not taking advantage of the mobile web. We live on our cell phones but design for our laptops. Flow content between shows. Don’t only design for the iPhone.”

CB on what he does for large companies: “I Look at channel development, lead generation, and conversion. My advice is tool agnostic. Start with an objective. Look for a revenue number you can move. Use a simple execution that will move that revenue number quickly.”

CB on how to distribute your time on social media channels: “Break social media down into three things: listening (1/2 hour a day), connecting (1 hour a day) and publishing (1/2 hour a day).”

CB on cats and soap: “Cats bad. Nubby soap weird.”

The takeaway: Obviously it’s time to try something new. What are you doing differently in your organization? How are you using social media to augment your existing processes? Are you still rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic or leaping off the bow?

Mobile Ning on Steroids? The Latest on Mobile Apps and Social Networking Platforms for Events

This Thursday, March 25 at 9:30 a.m. CDT, I will be moderating a panel at the MTO Summit in Chicago on mobile apps for events. I was initially thinking that the discussion might center primarily around applications that bring the traditional attendee “needs” to life on a Smartphone but recent product releases pairing social networking and other capabilities with mobile phone access might bust this discussion wide open.

The first wave of mobile apps for events focused on bringing the event directory, agenda and floor plan onto the mobile screen and answering the primary questions of the attendee such as: Where am I going? Which exhibitors should I visit? What time is lunch?

In the current round of mobile innovation, social networking platform providers have introduced mobile iterations of their community-building tools. These extensions allow mobile phone users to access private networking platforms and perform other tasks such as agenda-setting, wireless information exchange, schedule sharing, etc.

Today, Zerista rolled out what they call the “World’s First Mobile Community Platform” at the Demo 2010 Conference in Palm Springs. Zerista’s new platform is mobile Ning on steroids as event organizers and other groups can create their own instant communities (like Ning) and incorporate features like Twitter, Foursquare and Eventbrite into one tool. It allows you to:

  • Build your own communities optimized for mobile use with any desktop computer or Smartphone
  • Utilize social networking features and communications through a private community channel, as well as external channels like Twitter
  • Allow users to “check in” from wherever they are, providing instant access to community-specific locations
  • Manage event invitations and issue tickets

Although Zerista is still in beta testing with this product, I can see the advantages for small or informal groups as well as large organizations hoping to appeal to the needs of their various customer segments (with customized communities for each group). Plus, since no one wants to carry his/her laptop around to use the platform, mobile phone access is a huge positive for keeping everyone on the same page especially during an event.

The Takeaway: Mobile accessibility and functionality is the newest and perhaps most exciting extension of social media platforms for events. As event organizers map their event objectives to the apps that are available, they need to look beyond satisfying the attendee’s basic needs and put community management on the list of goals. With the latest round of innovation, event organizers have a wide range of options to consider. How are these new mobile apps meeting your event objectives?

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