Archive for the 'Social Media' Category

03
Oct
12

Advice from the front line: Social technology, engagement and events

I was recently asked by Maddie Grant of SocialFish to answer a handful of questions about social learning. One, in particular, caught my attention. I’m including here both the question and my response. I’d love to see how many people are willing to add their advice (and life experiences) to this post.

What advice do you have for someone trying to incorporate social technology and engagement into:

- the formal online learning programs they manage?

During online learning programs, people try their best to multitask. This means that, realistically, they have only one eye or ear on the webinar. The balance of the time they’re likely checking and responding to email, surfing the Internet, looking over a calendar, drafting a memo or balancing a checkbook – or some combination thereof. The likelihood that you have 100 percent of their attention from start to finish is slim to none. Therefore, the best way to keep participants engaged – and therefore the best way to demonstrate return on learning – is to give them something meaningful and constructive to do throughout the program. This could take the form of a moderated chat (in the online learning platform), a question and answer forum on Facebook or Twitter, bonus content (behind-the-scenes pictures and interviews, as well as ebooks, worksheets, checklists, best practices and the like) pushed out via an online member community, live polling or an interactive technology solution for taking notes. Whatever the approach, ask the participant to do more than just listen.

- an online program to complement a live event? (Or a hybrid event.)

Whether the programs happen simultaneously or consecutively, the key is to bridge the two experiences. The onsite experience is generally most appealing because of the face-to-face engagement and inherent networking opportunities available. However, when those participants attending virtually feel as though they’re a part of the onsite experience, they will likely enjoy the format that much more and find it to be an efficient and effective use of both their time and financial resources. Hybrid events may be complemented by social technology in one or more of the following ways: live audio or video streaming, online presentations, live commentary or transcripts, online chat or discussion forums, live blogs, event photographs, event videos, and the integration of other social media tools such as Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.

- a face-to-face session or program?

For a face-to-face program, it’s important to complement and enhance the learning with social technology while not allowing the technology to detract from the overall goals and objectives of the event in any way. Because all of the participants are meeting together in a single location, some of the natural hurdles experienced in an online learning program are eliminated. Therefore, don’t use every technology available to you and your team. Rather, select a handful of solutions that will improve the learning environment while still leveraging in-person engagement. (Imagine any teenager glued to the television screen playing video games – or any sports enthusiast intently watching Monday night football. Getting them to sustain a conversation or take a break for dinner is nearly impossible. This should not be your intended outcome during a face-to-face program.)

So, my question to you is this: Respond to one, two or all three. Whatever you do, give us your best advice from the front line on this intersection of social technology, engagement and events.

27
Sep
12

5 places online you’ll find Event Garde this week

1. Website launch

We’re so proud this week to showcase our new and improved website. Check it out and let us know what you think. From services to clients and from testimonials to social media, it’s all there. Special thanks to the The Image Shoppe for breathing life into this project.

2. Meeting Minds

Following a presentation I delivered for Experience Grand Rapids on justifying conference expenses, writer Cami Reister developed this post chock-full of planner tips. Highlights include my thoughts on controlling costs, maximizing resources and demonstrating conference value.

3. Reno Tahoe Meetings

In this guest post, I discuss why partnering with a CVB is good for business. Included in this piece are no-cost, high-impact ideas for collaborating with a convention and visitors bureau in your next host city. And if that’s not enough, read it for the TripTik reference.

4. Defining statements

On the Just Zubris Weblog, a 2011 post I wrote (What’s your “defining statement”?) was featured as one of 10 entries focused on the topic of defining statements. (Seems as good a time as any to once again plug the book Growing Your Business! by Mark LeBlanc.)

5. Freemium

Finally, my friend Wade Slaghuis (an MBA student at Grand Valley) interviewed me last weekend for a class assignment illuminating the intersection of small businesses and social media (and we all know I’m no stranger to Facebook). This is the product of that interview.

03
Aug
12

Practice what we preach: Breathing life into curated content

On July 26, I had the good fortune of presenting a webinar for Higher Logic. Titled “Curating Conference Content to Promote Member Engagement,” this session delivered five simple, but effective strategies for curating conference content. A link to the presentation – complete with examples and case studies that may be easily adapted for implementation within your own organization – is available here for download.

During the program, a simple poll question was asked: “Does your organization currently curate content in some way following your major annual meeting?” Here, major annual meeting was defined as the meeting with the largest attendance, the meeting that produces the most revenue or the most strategically important meeting. To my surprise, 73% of attendees (65 voters) said their organization currently does curate content in some way following its major annual meeting.

With such a wealth of knowledge and experience to draw upon, you can imagine my delight when so many contributed to discussion in the attendee chat box throughout the program. So, I thought I’d conduct a bit of my own content curation and share with you highlights from the webinar chat transcript as yet another example of how organizations can curate content (and, subsequently, add value).

Organized by topic, following are lightly edited participant insights:

Blogs

  • We have individuals in each room provide input and then develop a blog post or update in a newsletter of what takes place.
  • We offered the 2-3 guest bloggers a comp registration to the conference and require at least 1 post a day. It seemed to work really well and we got a ton of interest for just 2-3 positions. The content that was provided was incredibly meaningful.

Handouts

  • Reframe the PowerPoint in other ways and post them in our knowledge center.
  • Sharing PowerPoints as PDFs after the conference and executive briefs from concurrent sessions.
  • We also offer speaker handouts for download to attendees (before and after the conference).
  • We send out an e-survey after the conference and offer materials on our website from the conference.

Online community

  • We ask presenters to upload their own session materials to our Connected Community.
  • Offering content from our conference in our e-prof development portal.
  • We are working on goals and measures for our online community.

Recordings

  • We offer for sale audio and video of conference sessions.
  • Podcasts, videos, meeting materials online.
  • We’re just starting plans to video.
  • We capture synched voice and PowerPoint presentations from sessions, but want to expand to the informal aspects of the conference.
  • We capture audio, video and presentations, and sell them to those who are unable to attend the conference.
  • We also share the videos from our plenary sessions with attendees and our members (when presenter contracts don’t prohibit it).
  • We have materials printed beforehand, and sell videos/materials after, but that is just the packaged product.

Twitter

  • We’ve been asked by members to begin archiving all tweets related to the convention.
  • We have experience using Twitter Fountain.
  • One conference displayed the Twitter feed during the plenary session.
  • We do live Twitter feeds on large LCD screens spread throughout the conference venue (screens also include housekeeping items like room changes and a general schedule for the day).
  • We add Twitter handles to badges.
  • Have a tweet up with special prizes.
  • We do have a good population that uses Twitter and our conference planning team specifically appoints members before the event to be active on Twitter.

Webinars

  • We currently offer sessions as webinars after our major events.
  • Have offered concurrent sessions as live webinars;  have the sessions archived for sale afterward.
  • We select key presenters from the conference and have them re-present as webinars post-conference. Our chapters will also ask presenters to come in and re-present.
  • Online learning, recordings of sessions, continuing education opportunities.
  • We’ve actually started working on the marketing campaign for our new on-demand product.

Other insights

  • Because many organizations are steering away from snail mail [see slide 18 in the PowerPoint presentation], your mailing piece is more likely to stand out a little more. It’s easier to delete an electronic piece.
  • Idea swaps would be a terrific idea for our association’s conference… and would lend well to post-conference learning.
  • We’ve been capturing content for some time. We have flyers ready and launch them the day of the seminar.
  • After one chapter event that featured speakers from the conference, we heard from several people they would make attending a conference a priority.
  • I am interested in capturing content that happened live at the event, whether it is during live presentations or conversations/interactions that happen during the live event.

Challenges

  • It’s always a challenge at my organization to capture takeaways and continue programming after the program ends.
  • We actually started capturing content last year. We did well with repackaging, but the number of sales was lower than we expected.  We’re trying it again this year.
  • We have recorded a session and then used it as a webinar for those who did not attend the conference. It didn’t work well, but it was our first attempt.
  • We plan to have some extra staff members at our conferences to capture content. We need extra people since the organizing staff member is often so busy administering the logistics of the conference!

Among the numerous ideas shared during this webinar, there were also a handful of questions that went unanswered during the Q&A portion of the program. Following are those questions and my responses:

  • How do you measure increase in engagement for events? What are you measuring? [The answer will be different for every organization, and is based upon the goals that you and your leadership team set. It may be higher attendance at the conference overall, it may be a higher percentage of attendees participating in a particular session/event onsite, it may be increased attendee satisfaction or it may be something altogether different – and less measurable or concrete.]
  • What type of feedback is received from non-participants when they get feed from the event? Are they more willing to participate the following year? [Whether they’re willing to participate the following year in-person or not is really of little consequence. If they’re participating at all – live or via the conference feed – they are engaging with your organization. This is a win-win all around. Remember, quality experiences yield loyalty and loyalty yields engagement. Once you've secured engagement, you can expect continued membership, as well as other subsequent purchasing decisions.]
  • How do you encourage attendees to participate in tweeting, posting to Facebook and writing a blog? [I think these are three separate questions – and should be handled differently based upon the characteristics of your target audience. If your audience isn’t active on Twitter, your conference incentives likely won’t be enough to get them engaged. Facebook, on the other hand, is a different story. Die-hard Facebook posters only need a bit of encouragement to share their favorite conference moments. With regard to blogging, see the ideas provided earlier in this post.]
  • Does he suggest having a dedicated person to execute some of these strategies? [If by “he” you are referring to me, then the answer is an emphatic “Yes!” No conference organizer has the time to dedicate to conference curation – at least not onsite. The right number will be different for each organization, though, depending on the breadth and depth of the curation you’d like to facilitate both onsite and post-conference. In addition to curation, you should also consider communication and marketing. It’s not just an “education” responsibility.]
  • We currently have paper evaluations – all electronic evaluations would be disastrous, but can you give me a few concrete actions to take to drive engagement and feedback? [Both the webinar and this blog post speak to concrete engagement examples, so I’ll tackle feedback here. Get testimonials from attendees while you’re at the conference. Record and share these testimonials following the event and when marketing the following year’s conference. Pictures and videos are especially effective. Following the event, hold a focus group to glean additional insights about the attendee experience. Above all else, be sure to actually do something with the information you gather.]

So, my question to you is this: Which of these ideas resonates most with you and your organization? How will you curate conference content during or after your next major annual meeting to promote member engagement? What challenges still exist in effectively sharing (e.g., communicating, marketing, leveraging) curated content with your members?

18
Jul
12

Curating conference content to promote member engagement

On Thursday, July 26, at 2 p.m. ET, it will be my pleasure to present a webinar of the same name for Higher Logic. You may know that Higher Logic is the leader in social media and collaboration solutions for associations, not-for-profits and member-based organizations worldwide – and, of course, Lauren Wolfe and I go way back as long-time members of ASAE’s Young Association Executive Committee.

Let me set the scene: Your toes are numb from standing for 72 straight hours. You’ve not slept in days. The most food you’ve eaten is a carrot stick from last night’s cocktail hour and half an egg roll. The annual conference finally draws to a close and the last thing on your mind is the resource and content treasures unearthed throughout the event.

Nevertheless, these are the tangible deliverables that can and should be used to optimize existing engagement activities. In addition to driving the development of timely follow-on educational programs, and aiding learners in linking theory (presented at the conference) with practice (challenges encountered on the job), curated content can also support organizational recruitment and retention efforts (by delivering quality products and services that members value).

Undoubtedly, there is a benefit to enriching the onsite conference experience with the addition of exclusive interviews, video, photos, news about the speakers, vendors and entertainment, and live Twitter feeds and Facebook posts. However, what I’m specifically talking about here is curating conference content that already exists.

Whether during breakout sessions, informal hallway conversations, networking breaks, meals, receptions, keynote presentations, special events or on The Back of the Napkin (à la Dan Roam), we can all agree that learning takes place both inside and outside of the traditional classroom. The trick is to capture those nuggets of wisdom, then curate, repackage, repurpose and leverage them.

Following is a high-level overview of the five simple, but effective strategies for curating conference content I’ll share during my July 26 webinar. Examples and case studies presented during this program will help illuminate real life examples that can be immediately implemented within your own organization.

  1. Schedule follow-on education. Popular education sessions could be repeated in person or online, or content previously presented in a breakout session could be teased out into a half-day or full-day program.
  2. Link theory with practice. A curriculum eliciting a call to action requires appropriate follow through and support. Association resources should be deployed to ensure all barriers to implementation are removed and successes celebrated.
  3. Keep the conversation flowing. Online communities could be formed and moderated to continue conference discussions long after the closing keynote session has ended, encouraging opportunities for further engagement and collaboration.
  4. Develop a library of resources. Speakers, vendors, attendees and staff could be invited to transform important topics presented at the conference into valuable resources such as blog posts, newsletter articles, white papers or videos.
  5. Aggregate social media content. Pictures from the event, as well as Facebook updates and Twitter posts from both the official conference feeds and the attendees at-large could be compiled into a meaningful story and shared.

Wow! Even I’m impressed. So, mark your calendar for July 26, 2-3 p.m. ET, and don’t forget to register (at no cost) by clicking here. By the way, if you’re still not convinced this will be worth your time, you may be interested to know that those attending live will be entered for a chance to win a complimentary 30-minute consultation with Event Garde LLC. Additionally, all participants will receive one CAE credit hour for their full participation in this live webinar.

In the meantime, my question to you is this: What would you add to my list of top five strategies for effectively curating conference content? What have you found to be most useful/beneficial in your own organization? As members of other industry organizations, what have you seen or experienced that’s uniquely piqued your interest?

27
Jun
12

What my 60 year old father reminds us about Facebook

This is my dad with his granddaughter (my niece), Bella, during a visit to North Carolina.

In the spirit of full disclosure, my dad doesn’t actually turn 60 until this October. Nevertheless, he’s nearly hit this extraordinary milestone, so I thought I’d give him the benefit of the doubt.

The story, itself, is pretty simple. I was traveling from Grand Rapids to Lansing yesterday in my mobile office. As is generally the case, I took this opportunity to call my mom for one of our weekly gab sessions. You know how those calls go: “Here’s everything important that’s happened in my life since last week,” and vice versa.

By the way, my sister and I both have a proclivity for doing this – and yes, mom, we know it makes you crazy, but it doesn’t mean we love you any less. I’ll take a moment here to publicly blame it on generational differences. Right or wrong, outside of client engagements, I generally text or Facebook or Tweet or LinkedIn way more than I actually pick up the phone to “catch up” with someone.

Anyway, I mentioned to my mother how surprised I was that:

  1. Dad set up a Facebook account.
  2. Dad and I were now friends on Facebook.
  3. Dad responded to a Facebook status update.
  4. Dad “liked” a Facebook status update.
  5. Dad “liked” my Facebook business page.

I’m surprised not because of my dad’s support. Rather, I’m surprised because prevailing assumptions in the association community is that Baby Boomers either aren’t on social media platforms or aren’t actively engaged with us in those spaces.

Certainly, my dad could be an outlier, but I don’t believe that to be the case. In fact, I think there are a number of people out there – just like my dad – who are beginning to take the leap. The only problem is that we’re not providing these individuals with the support they need to be successful in our online communities – and, more importantly, we’re not giving them unique, valuable content.

Here’s what I mean:

  • My dad needed help. So do your members. My dad just this year got an iPhone. I don’t even have an iPhone (I’m a loyal Droid fan). He’s certainly interested in experimenting with all of the features of his new phone, but the sales reps at his store only have so much patience and it’s not likely he’ll Google or YouTube directions. That’s where you can step in. A simple social media kit identifying which social media platforms your organization is on, as well as very basic tips, tricks and best practices for actively engaging with others in these communities.
  • My dad is watching. So are your members. Whether they’re still actively engaged in the workforce, have long since retired, have received life membership with your organization or volunteer for your cause a couple of hours a month, most associations have a subset of Baby Boomers they’ve written off when it comes to social media. I hear it time and time again: “They’re just not interested,” or “We’re not reaching them.” I think these are myths – and I think it comes down to sharing appropriate and informative content with this demographic.

Following are a few additional thoughts that have bubbled up for me since chatting with my mom:

  1. Know what social media platforms your members, volunteers, speakers, advocates and supporters are using – and don’t be surprised to find them there. With a steady stream of updates and valuable content, as well as an approachable identity, Facebook can be an important mechanism for membership development, sponsorship procurement, attendance building, reminiscing, recommending and more. (The sky really is the limit.)
  2. My dad has nothing but time on his hands. Yes, he is retired. And, yes, he still works full-time to stay busy (the man could not sit still for any extended period of time if his life depended on it). Nevertheless, he still has time to check Facebook and engage with his peers. Won’t you please set him up for success?
  3. Believe it or not, my Dad is using his iPhone to check Facebook posts, updates, news and information. I was sure he was using the computer, but that’s just not the case. My mom claims he hasn’t even turned the thing on in two weeks or more. This has strong implications for your website, as well. If it’s not yet mobile-friendly, it’s time to start moving in that direction.
  4. With a little help and the right content, I think there’s an entire group of individuals out there who are, first and foremost, loyal to a fault. In many cases, they’re either new to the idea of online communities or they just haven’t been actively engaged with their professional associations in this space. A little resources could go a long way to developing your fan base. Ultimately, I think you’ll find a pretty significant return on your investment.

So, my question to you is this: Has your organization found this Baby Boomer presence online? What have you found most successful in actively engaging this important demographic? What outcomes have you experienced as a result of this renewed commitment to more seasoned veterans like my dad?

17
Apr
12

What associations can learn from TV show “The Voice” and TV network QVC

Ha ha. I can only imagine what you’re thinking right now, but I promise there’s an important lesson here to be learned (at the very least, considered).

This past weekend, I had a bit of time on my hands. I started by catching up on past episodes of “The Voice.” For those that don’t know, “The Voice” is an American Idol-style singing competition inviting vocalists from across the country to compete in three stages of competition: the blind audition, a battle phase and the live performance shows.

Celebrity musician coaches include Christina Aguilera, Cee Lo Green, Adam Levine and Blake Shelton. Additionally, Carson Daly—best known for his gig as a VJ on MTV’s TRL—serves as the program’s host. What I find most fascinating, however, is that Christina Milian has joined the lineup this season as the show’s social media correspondent.

What does she do, you ask?

Well, that’s simple. Milian is tasked with bridging the on-air experience with the online experience, bringing viewers closer to the competition. Fans are able to experience and engage in each step of the process through exclusive interviews, video, photos, news about the coaches and artists, and a live Twitter feed.

At the other end of the spectrum, you have a television network like QVC. You may know that QVC is one of the largest multimedia retailers in the world. It broadcasts live in the U.S. 24 hours a day, 364 days a year, and presents approximately 1,150 products on air every week. Over the years, QVC has enjoyed record-breaking sales, has received countless industry awards and has donated millions of dollars to charity.

But that’s not the end of the story.

QVC established its Facebook page in July 2008 and its Twitter page in January 2009. Attracting a large social following, QVC now integrates these platforms into its live shows, instantaneously responding to customer feedback and inquiries. In fact, the most popular weekly shows have a designated social media host that engages with the audience right alongside the traditional program host.

And it’s about more than just chatting live with viewers (or getting them to buy more products). It’s about engagement. It’s about community. It’s about culture. It’s about branding. It’s about creating a dynamic viewer experience that’s fun, informative, unique and personal. And, ultimately, it’s this direct connection to the QVC staff that keeps viewers coming back each week (and, presumably, spending more money).

And these are just two simple examples of social media hard at work in our day-to-day lives (outside of the workplace). Other competition shows like “Dancing with the Stars,” “American Idol” and “Fashion Star” have also followed suit. This makes me think seriously about the opportunities within our own associations to better leverage the social media experience.

How would a dedicated social media correspondent change the face of your next program or event? Not only could this person reach an audience of interested individuals unable to attend your conference (both members and non-members), but he or she could further engage your onsite participants, as well. Think about it: behind-the-scenes interviews; videos, photos and news about the speakers; and a live Twitter feed. Everyone’s fascinated by the story behind the story. How could you effectively leverage this content (and curiosity) during your association’s major annual meeting?

And the conversation wouldn’t (and shouldn’t) be confined to the conference itself. Social media correspondents would reach out to and actively engage with both prospective and confirmed participants long before the conference started, and conversations would continue long after the conference ended.

All too often I think we leave out our voices in the social media experience, allowing our members to take the lead in this space. And I’m not recommending that we take over or dominate this important platform; however, I think we—as association leaders—can bring additional content to this space that will further enhance the conference experience (not to mention the infinite possibilities that exist here for content curation, transfer of learning and recruitment/retention opportunities).

So, my question to you is this: How could this model impact your association’s next major annual meeting? What affect would this outreach have on the engagement of your current (or prospective) members? What resources would it take within your own organization to designate and train a qualified social media correspondent? (And, more importantly, if you’ve experimented with a similar format, please let us hear from you! We’d love to hear your experience.)

29
Nov
11

Thanksgiving weekend takeaways for the association professional

If you’re anything like me (and you probably are), it’s taken a couple of days to get over the rush of the holiday weekend. It all started with Thanksgiving, flush with parade watching, overeating and skillful avoidance of family get-togethers.

Then along came Black Friday. And try as I might, I just couldn’t avoid the lure of 20 percent off my entire purchase at Bed Bath and Beyond. All I had to do was grace the frenzied workers with my joyful presence before 10 a.m. To make matters worse, I also visited three (count them, three) area Pier 1 stores to gather enough clearance dishes to assemble 12 complete place settings.

Finally, Cyber Monday. And although I didn’t indulge in the bountiful bargains, I understand that Cyber Monday sales were colossal. Online sales for the day were expected to hit $1.2 billion, topping last year’s $1.03 billion, according to early estimates. But that’s not even the whole story. More notably, Black Friday sales online were up 26 percent over last year’s numbers.

So, what does this all mean for the association community? Well, I’m no social media maven, but for the average-to-slightly-advanced social media user, it means lots and lots of people are in some way engaged in this space we call the Internet. And if people are online spending billions of dollars annually—let alone over the course of one holiday weekend—there must be a way to successfully engage these individuals with our associations, too.

In fact, I think it should stop each of us dead in our tracks, if even for a few moments, to consider how our organizations are currently engaging and harnessing the power of the Internet and this “fad” called social media. Specifically, how are we engaging members or clients via our Web site or through such communication channels as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and the like?

For me, this past holiday weekend offers five key takeaways for the association community:

  1. Mobile goes mainstream. With the number of new apps and mobile-enabled Web sites increasing each day, not to mention the volume of members now turning to smartphones for their news and information, it’s important for associations to stay ahead of this trend.
  2. Cash is king. Or, more appropriately, a good pricing strategy is king. I attended an ASAE-sponsored program earlier this year featuring Rafi Mohammed and he completely changed my perspective on pricing. If you’ve not yet read his book, The 1% Windfall, you should.
  3. Web analytics speak volumes. If you’ve not yet enabled analytics for your organization’s Web site, what are you waiting for? The information gleaned from this data can help you make important decisions regarding your Web site’s ease of use and functionality, not to mention start a broader discussion about long-term social media strategy.
  4. Old habits die hard. And what I mean here is that our members enjoy the path of least resistance. They like the way things always have been, so it’s important to maintain some element of continuity. On the other hand, members also count on you to blaze new trails. In this case, a new Facebook page or LinkedIn group may just be the common ground.
  5. Classics count. That’s right! Many of us have that member directory or industry guidebook that we’d rather not publish again and again, year after year; however, it endures as a mainstay for many of our members. The classics can, in fact, be our bestsellers. So, be sure to keep these publications fresh, innovative, accessible and (as we learned above) correctly priced.

So, my question to you is this: What methods have you found most successful in engaging members online? If you’ve not yet taken the plunge, what’s holding you back? As you consider your social media strategy for 2012, what one goal or initiative could you reasonably commit to pursuing?




meet aaron

Meetings innovator & professional development trailblazer. Founder & president of Event Garde. Passionate about The Food Network, hot yoga, blogging, old homes & unclehood.

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