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Six Ways to Improve Conferences

Try to keep these people engaged (140 Characters Conference by David Berkowitz via Flickr)

Today's Social Media Insider, originally published in MediaPost

In May and June, I participated in 13 events as a moderator (six), panelist (four), and featured or keynote presenter (three). They weren't evenly dispersed; May brought a stretch of four events in two and a half days, while June had a span of three events in three cities within 48 hours. It was both thrilling and tiring, and I'm glad I get to return to the day job for a while.

Along the way, I came up with a few thoughts on what can make events even better for all participants going forward. Some organizers have a real knack for this; Jeff Pulver in particular deserves a lot of credit for his thoughtful considerations that he incorporated into his 140 Characters Conference. Ultimately, participating in so many events spanning a range of topics mostly around social media topics gives me a way to cross-pollinate some of the best of what I've seen. Here's what can be done:

• Mix it up. A number of events suffer from panel syndrome. When you have a large number of panels one after the other, they all start to sound alike. Get some solo speakers, even for short presentations as interludes. When you have a panel, also request speakers sit in the order they're listed in on the screen. If someone's a minute late to a session or distracted with an email during introductions, it's impossible to tell who's who without that arrangement. It's even harder for panels with four or five white males. As one of them, I can tell you from the back of the room, we all do look alike, especially with the social media uniform of the blazer, button-down, dark jeans, and loafers (sometimes we wear khakis).

• Include speakers' Twitter handles on screen during their sessions and in the programs if the events have anything to do with social media. I've been lobbying a few event producers to do this, and I'm hoping it will become standard practice soon. The people tweeting about events are providing pro bono exposure, often to hundreds or thousands of others. It's even more effective if those tweeters can refer directly to the speakers' handles. Speakers are especially likely to have handles, and it makes it easy for speakers to continue the dialogue with tweeters after the session.

• Know how to pace a panel. The 140 Characters panel with Rick Sanchez and Ann Curry was remarkable for a number of reasons (Ann Curry may be the best panelist I've ever seen). One first I witnessed there was that Pulver let the conference go twice as long because the audience was so engaged (watch Part 1 and Part 2). Most people I spoke to felt that panel alone made the conference worth their while. Another event I attended was so off schedule that by the afternoon, they couldn't find speakers since no one had a clue when they were speaking. Delays need to either be accounted for (like with a shorter lunch) or clearly communicated. Organizers should be conscious of extending some sessions when people are hooked, even if it means cutting others short when they fall flat.

• Rework name badges. I'm not the first to say this, and I do see thoughtfully designed badges more often, but the majority of events I go to force unnecessary squinting. Priorities should be given to first names and companies. If it's a really geeky event, Twitter handles merit the same prominence. The smallest amount of space should go to the event name -- everyone knows what event they're at, and if they don't, the organizers have bigger problems.

• Treat bloggers like the press, or don't include them. If you want people blogging about the event, give them the same courtesy you would to credentialed journalists, ideally with reserved seating and easy access to panelists. I declined to attend one event as a blogger when they tried setting restrictions on how much I could blog, as they feared live blogging was conveying too much information. I emailed the organizer, "If people who aren't there think they can get their money's worth from an event by reading a transcript, perhaps you should cancel the events and sell the transcripts."

• Follow up with shareable content. For social media events, participants are especially likely to be active across social channels. Let them promote your event for you. Post multimedia to services where photos and videos can be embedded, tagged, and downloaded. Aggregate links to others' multimedia and blog posts in a single area. Provide a convenient list of everyone who was tweeting about the event.

Several of these suggestions include ways to extend the experience beyond the event itself. Here's one thing organizers don't need to do: create a new social network just for attendees of that one event. With rare exceptions, they're a waste of time, and participants would be better served with groups on existing networks like Facebook and LinkedIn.

Event organizers aren't the only ones who can keep providing more value to attendees. Speakers and moderators can also step it up, and they may be addressed in a future post. Share your other suggestions in the comments.

Conference Blogging Policies Need Updating

Conference blogging continues to fill a strange niche. In many ways, conference tweeting is overtaking it; far more people actively tweet events these days than blog them. Events I’ve participated in have taken a mixed approach to welcoming bloggers, from those that treat bloggers like press to those that don’t welcome them at all.

I was going to take part in one event recently as a blogger, and then I saw this message:

There will be reserved seating for bloggers in the front of the ballroom. Please note that live video streaming of the event is prohibited. And while we welcome your comments and analysis of the event via your blog and Twitter, out of respect for the hundreds of people who have paid to attend the conference, we request that you do not live blog a “running transcript” of the event.

In short, the policy rubbed me the wrong way. I had a long exchange with the person who sent it to me, and the policy held firm. I wound up not attending the event.

Here’s an excerpt of my response:

…When I have to sit there and wonder if I'm covering a session too much because it's really interesting, it's just not worth my time, and it sets a really bad precedent. It's like I'm getting censored because I type too fast and the content's too good… While many bloggers wouldn't care about the restriction since they wouldn't try to live blog it, it does set a dangerous precedent.

Meanwhile, if people who aren't there think they can get their money's worth from an event by reading a transcript - not even a verbatim, completely comprehensive transcript at that - perhaps you should cancel the events and sell the transcripts. That's not where the value is, and as a blogger I'm only adding to it, both for those who attend and those who don't, rather than taking anything away and diluting the value.

I’m leaving the name of the event out as I don’t want to malign the conference organizer or the event, both of which I respect. But I do want to hear from others who have blogged conferences if you’ve seen policies like this or any other. Do you know of any event policies that others should emulate? Have you ever declined attending an event as a blogger because of its policy?

Watch the 140 Characters Conference Start to Finish – with Color Commentary

Missed the 140 Characters Conference? Didn’t want to just watch the sessions on Blip? Now it gets even better. In what seems like a first, at least for anything I’ve seen, it’s airing start to finish for two days online. Here’s the email I just got from event producer Jeff Pulver:

The 140 Characters Conference will be re-broadcast on June 29th (Day 1) and June 30th (Day 2) starting at 11AM EST.

The re-broadcast can be watched over at http://140conf.com/watchit

My hope is that some of our speakers will be able to join the re-broadcast and tweet their thoughts (include #140conf) during the time of their scheduled talk, providing a "director's cut" feeling for people who are watching the re-broadcast. I am looking forward to this re-broadcast and will be joining the conversations when the re-broadcast starts at 11AM (EST) on Monday.

I’m going to take part during my session (Tues at 12:27pm, to be exact), and with any luck some of my fellow panelists will join in.

A Playbook for Planning Ahead - Behind the Scenes of Marketing the Social Marketing Playbook

I was traveling this week so I didn't get to post this week's Social Media Insider until now. The column appears after the embedded Playbook, which you can freely download and share.
360i Social Marketing Playbook

One of the best lessons you can learn while engaging with social media is that you can never plan too early, as it's hard to tell when you'll really reap the fruits of your labor. If you're actively building a brand through social media and you're doing it right, you will be incredibly grateful down the road.

I'll share an example of this from a company I rarely talk about here directly -- my agency, 360i. It's where I've worked as Director of Emerging Media (or related roles) for over three years, so I've been able to witness the agency's evolution firsthand. Earlier this month we released our first Social Marketing Playbook, a freely available 56-page guide for marketers on developing and executing social marketing programs.

I wasn't the lead on managing this project, nor the lead on marketing it; this was a collaborative effort by a dedicated group in our social media and creative practices. Admittedly, the interest in it was greater than expected, as it reached 10,000 downloads within a few days of its launch, and it continues to be a draw. As a marketer, it's easy to look at the end result and say  there was a great marketing push for it, while others might chalk it up to luck; there are countless other ways to interpret what happened. The most important work we did, though, was in the months and even years before it came out. Self-serving as the story may be, I hope it's at least a good reminder for the value of planning ahead with social channels.

Distributing the Playbook relied on two efforts where agencies are notoriously weak: marketing themselves, and using the tools they're promoting to their clients. For 360i, this meant building out a blog and a Facebook presence in 2008, and joining Twitter in early 2009. With Twitter, we weren't the first agency to join, and there are many others using it well. By the time we did it, though, we had evaluated it through our own strategic lens (a concept explained in detail in the Playbook) and answered these four critical questions:

1.       Could we use it to meet our objectives?

2.       Could it leverage our arsenal of assets?

3.       Could we use it to abide by the social media rules of the road?

4.       Could it provide a significant value exchange?

Twitter, the blog, Facebook, and other channels like Slideshare, Scribd, Flickr, and LinkedIn all met those criteria. There was a fifth criterion that also had to be answered for all of them: Did we have the resources to use them effectively? I'll spare an impossibly objective or unbearably vainglorious analysis of how we did, but all of this was working at least well enough before the Playbook was written. There was also a clear architecture for it, with the blog as a hub, and all of the spokes, including our corporate site, relating coherently to the hub and to each other.

Twitter proved to be especially important for the Playbook's release, with the blog as the hub for much of the linking. We had our own version of brand ambassadors, myself included, who helped get the word out. Scribd, the document-sharing site, was a useful tool, one that Guy Kawasaki chose to tweet. A digital word-of-mouth program helped inform some influential bloggers, tweeters, and executives, though almost all of those relationships were established well before the Playbook was planned.

At Jeff Pulver's 140 Characters Conference last week, someone in the audience asked the panel I was on what we'd advise a brand like Domino's Pizza, which endured a brief but viral brand hijack by a couple of its own employees. I responded that brands need to establish open communication channels as early as possible so that they're ready to use when a major event happens, whether it's a promotion or a crisis. While relatively few brands will go through crises that make headline news, almost all brands -- even agencies' brands, as I've learned -- can benefit from building up a presence well in advance of when it's needed.

In Search of the Next Big Thing at Digital Media Conference

This is cross-posted at 360i’s blog.

At Digital Media Conference 2009 in Washington, DC, I moderated a panel called “What’s Next in Social Media?” The discussion invariably turned to ‘the next big thing.’ At least, it did because as the moderator I could ask it, and as a bonus I didn’t have to answer.

No one on the panel was willing to draw a line in the sand and say, “This is it.” I tried asking the question I get all the time: “What’s the next Twitter or Facebook?” Still nothing. And this was a smart bunch, including Ben Ilfeld, Co-Founder & Operations, The Sacramento Press; Chris McGill, Founder, Mixx; Haroon Mokhtarzada, CEO & Founder, Webs.com; and Bev Yehuda, VP, MultiVu, a PRNewswire Company.

Some of the speculation turned to Google Wave, but expectations were all over the map. The panelists seemed to agree that it would be something – but will it be something that early adopters would love, or will it cross that proverbial chasm?

There’s also this sense that we’re still learning how to use what we have. Twitter and Facebook Connect are two platforms in their infancy. Many sites and platforms are becoming more useful as they adapt to work well from various devices. New tools keep emerging to make it easier to make your information and identity portable, while aggregating whatever you want where you want it. It’s tough to say what this will like.

The panel closed with a discussion around changes in communication. As @sophieci tweeted while quoting the panel, “Twitter=protocol which furthers asynchronous behavior. Easier to multitask with this kind of solution.” Haroon also noted Yammer became an effective tool to communicate internally and keep track of conversations. Despite all the talk of what’s next though, Ben Ilfeld asked the room how many checked their corporate email while at the conference, and everyone raised their hands. He just wanted email to work better. if that’s what’s next, and Google Wave may even play a part in it. Okay, it’s not all that Jetson-esque, but we’re still waiting for our flying cars, so Outlook and the BlackBerry may still be a big part of the future of social media.

140 Characters Conference Panel: Video Edition

For what should be the end of my 140 Characters Conference coverage, I’ve posted the video from my session. You can find a lot more at Blip.TV. Lastly, you can read one more recap I posted on 360i’s blog, covering the event in less than 1,400 characters.

"twitter as the GPS for the Greater Social Media Mesh"

Participants:

Aaron Strout (@AaronStrout) - CMO, Powered, Inc.

Brian Morrissey (@bmorrissey) - Digital Editor at Adweek

David Berkowitz (@dberkowitz) - Emerging Media Director, 360i

Hadley Stern (@hadleystern) - Vice-President, Fidelity Labs

Peter Fasano (@pfasano) - Principal/Lead Catalyst, Mass+Logic

Watch: http://blip.tv/file/2269763

 

Technorati Tags: 140conf

140 Characters Conference Multimedia Recap

It was an honor to be part of Jeff Pulver’s first 140 Characters Conference. I’m still trying to figure out what it was, what happens, and what it means. It was a two day conference on Twitter, one of a bunch of Twitter conferences going on.

If you consider going in the future, know that it’s not about marketing. I was on a panel with others from the marketing world [ Aaron Strout (@AaronStrout) - CMO, Powered, Inc., Brian Morrissey (@bmorrissey) - Digital Editor at Adweek, Hadley Stern (@hadleystern) - Vice-President, Fidelity Labs, Peter Fasano (@pfasano) - Principal/Lead Catalyst, Mass+Logic ]. Other marketers were there too. But we were the odd men out (yes, all men in this case – sorry).

The event was about transformation. How is Twitter transforming journalism, television, music, relationships, and, yes, marketing? What does it really mean?

There is the risk of an echo chamber effect. People there were on Twitter. This wasn’t a how-to seminar. It’s hard to say what it was. But anyone who sat in on the Ann Curry panel knew they were witnessing something big. She is quite possibly the best panelist I’ve ever seen, with her passion and authenticity. A clip of the end of the session is below, so you can get a taste of it (you’ll also see Rick Sanchez from CNN and Clayton Morris from Fox and Friends – see more coverage on Twitter as a news Gathering Tool on my blog). I’ll share the whole session if I see it somewhere, and you can just fast forward to anytime Ann opens her mouth. Oh and follow her on Twitter.

On that note, thanks Jeff Pulver and congrats on the event. The YouTube clip is below, followed by a slideshow of Flickr photos. You can also see those photos on Facebook if you want to tag yourself or friends in any.

 

 

Technorati Tags: twitter 140conf "140 characters conference" events

Fresh Eyes on Social Media

Here's today's Social Media Insider originally published in MediaPost

If you think you've read everything you need to know about social media, maybe you should get your eyes checked. When you go, with any luck your optometrist will be Nathan Bonilla-Warford, O.D. in Tampa, Florida, as he can teach you a few things.

Nathan reached out following last week's column about my optometrist uncle,  who said my article was posted on an optometrists' forum. His email signature included links to his Web site, Yelp listing, Facebook page, and Twitter account, and he later revealed he's a blogger too. I thought his practical experience as a business owner grappling with social media should be shared with others. Here's an exclusive interview with Dr. Bonilla-Warford.

Social Media Insider: How did you decide to tweet? What's it doing for you?

Dr. Nathan Bonilla-Warford: Another optometrist turned me on to it. Because I blog, it was a no-brainer. It gets my message out about news and events. Twitter has led to new patients and new sales. Now that I have been tweeting for a while, I truly see Twitter (social media more generally) as "The Chamber of Commerce for our generation."

With Twitter you get to see the people behind the business a bit more and, in this day where we are all fed a steady diet of overhyped, irony-dripping marketing, it is nice to see real people. Add local tweetups to the mix and it is awesome, especially for a small business like mine that likes to work in barter when possible.

So I love it. And being the ONLY eye doc in Tampa Bay who tweets, I've got that self-selected demographic all to myself -- for now. And I am taking advantage of it while I can.

SMI: How much time does it take you to manage your social media presence?

NBW: Well, my wife thinks it takes me a lot of time. Really, though, social media is so integrated with other tasks such as administrative and leisure time that it is hard to quantify the time put in. Perhaps 30 minutes a day total, apart from stand-alone marketing time. I don't think of it as taking a lot of time, because it is fun and rewarding. An important note is that this really only applies to maintenance of social networks. Setting up a new presence DOES take time and effort at first, deciding on what image to present, literally and figuratively, and what the written and unwritten rules are of the new network.

SMI: Are any social media channels more important than others?

NBW: I'm not a guru on this subject, but I think it all depends on your goals and perspective. I pretty much see my blog as the central hub of the Web presence and then other systems/networks making use of that content. However, this is changing as I am becoming more active on Twitter. I am starting to dislike Facebook due to all the quizzes and applications, but I know that it is still popular.

SMI: Is it just you managing it? Do you have anyone in your office helping you?

NBW: I have talked about this with other optometrists. Historically, optometrists are not great at delegating. I'm not sure why. I have introduced social media to my office staff and asked them to participate by writing blog posts. I would like to get them more involved and tweet about office events and allow me to focus more on clinical topics, but we are not there -- yet.

SMI: Who's your target audience? Is there a certain demographic?

NBW: The target audience is tricky. Initially and ideally, the target audience is people (specifically mothers) who live in the area and who are patients or potential patients of Bright Eyes. However, we also provide specialty services of infant & pediatric care, vision therapy and orthokeratology, and there is not a large number of these specialists using social media nationwide. So I am simultaneously creating a national and international audience of people who are interested in this niche care.

This has caused me to realize that I have to create different entities to address these audiences, and I am now working toward this, in conjunction with national professional organizations within these specialties. To some degree, I am leading them to it, because they are thinking about the message spreading from more conventional channels.

SMI: What's your advice to other business owners about using social media?

I think that virtually any business could benefit from social media. There is a small, local house cleaning company that I think is doing a great job (@serranocleaning ). I plan on using their services in the future. Ikea opened a new store in Tampa, and they have been the example of "doing it right" with @IKEATampaFans. They listen to tweets and encourage exchange without spam.

So to any business, especially one that deals heavily with human interaction such as sales or consulting, I would say, "Come on in, the water is fine." But do spend a little time dabbling with a personal account to think about what style and approach works for you, before you commit.

I also feel very strongly that businesses should separate their personal and business social media identities. I know others disagree with me on this point, saying, "You are your brand." But I just think it is confusing if you are using your office/business name and then sending a bunch of tweets that have no relation to your core concept. I'm not saying to refuse to show some personal side because that is a good and important aspect, but to keep it relevant to your brand.

Twitter as a News Gathering Tool at 140 Conference

Twitter as a News Gathering Tool

Participants:
Ann Curry (@AnnCurry) - News Anchor on NBC's Today Show and host of Dateline NBC
Rick Sanchez (@ricksanchezcnn) - Host of the 3PM weekday edition of CNN Newsroom
Ryan Osborn (@todayshow) - Producer, NBC Today Show
Clayton Morris (@claytonmorris) – Anchor, Fox and Friends (he shared a pic from his POV of Scoble from the stage)

Moderator: Robert Scoble (@Scobleizer)

Earlier posts referred to “Fox News Guy” as Clayton was added to the program. He’s properly credited here, thanks to Michelle Batten.

Robert mentioned history of his approach to TV. Recently there was a letdown.with the coverage of CNN.

Rick: I want to go after the word “disruptive.” I’ve wrapped my arms around everything that is social media. It’s a compliment that people were looking to us at CNN for protest videos, when others like MSNBC and Fox weren’t either. We did cover it in every single hour of the day on Saturday – some just 40-second increments. The power of the picture of people rioting in Tehran was so powerful everyone wanted to see it, even when there wasn’t much actual news unfolding. “At no time did we drop the ball on covering the story itself.”

Ann: We did an hour on Iran the Sunday before the election wasn’t because of social media but because we recognize you need to know what’s happening. You need to know change is coming to Iran. Journalism is a battle. I see the fights for foreign coverage to be more present. We are interconnecting on so many levels – economically, politically, through wars, etc. It was remarkable covering the Obama campaign and then the campaign in Iran - “there was really not that much difference between the Obama generation and the [Iranian reform] generation.” “The connectedness is that you in America had an idea about the Iranian people.” Most common response: “Oh my God. I had no idea. They’re really a lot like us.” A mistake: it’s a problem to go in constantly telling how Americans see a story. “I want you, [wherever you are], you shoot that story like it’s your mother… and you tell it in that way… I think it’s the road to really fully becoming global.”

Rick: In Twitter there’s almost a consensus that Iran’s election was illegitimate, but there’s no smoking gun from mainstream journalism about what improprieties happened.

Clayton Morris: I don’t think anyone has an answer for how the convergence happens.

Ann: It’s important to say when we report something it is true. I’m not sure everything I read on Twitter is true. But sometimes stories that are important to hear do not get reported. Got into Twitter when North Korea was firing missiles and others weren’t reporting on it. “There’s a lot of nuance” regarding what words you use and how you report. “You have to guard against misinterpretation constantly” no matter how you’re broadcasting. It’s about understanding your reader. “One word can completely change how people will interpret something.” “Reporting is a service job. It’s not a business – I know it is… It’s about taking care of people.”

Rick: “Social media is not something to be used as a gag.”

For more: read about my ongoing relationship with Rick Sanchez (including when I accused him of using it as a gag).

Ann (responding to comment that business of journalism is what destroys it): Here’s what gets me pissed off.  The reason I have to fight to go to Darfur, etc, is because it’s hard to get the majority of Americans or a significant number of Americans to care about Darfur.

Rick: If today Britney Spears is caught shoplifting topless and we don’t do it (Ann: I”m not doing the interview) – they will have a million viewers to our 20,000. 

Technorati Tags: 140conf,events,conferences,twitter,news,ann curry,rick sanchez,cnn,nbc

CNN’s Rick Sanchez Goes from Mocked to Hero to My New Bud

CNN’s Rick Sanchez and I have had a pretty crazy relationship.

First I mentioned how he brought out the best and worst of cross-platform journalism thanks to integrating social media comments in ways that didn’t always add to the value of his show.

Then Rick actually responded on his own blog, and even on his TV show, in as transparent, humble, and authentic a way as anyone could ever do.

I came around and shared what a great listener he is. Yes, I’m still impressed.

Now, at 140 Conference (the Twitter event here in NYC today), I got to meet him, and even enjoy a photo op. Couldn’t resist. We even look a bit alike.

Gotta love social media – and how cross-platform has taken us through blogs, Twitter, TV, and ultimately an in-person meeting, which is what it should really all be about. It doesn’t get more social than that.

 

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