A couple of recent blog posts by Chris Brogan and Scott Gould on the subject of conferences made us stop and think about how we fit into the range of actions that make a successful conference or meeting. We have been talking to many conference and corporate meeting planners in the last few months and the feedback seems to revolve around some common themes:
- The ROI from attending needs to be clear
- Conferences need to evolve with the times
- Delegates want actionable information
- Delegate value networking and want to leverage face to face time
- Engaging content is more effective then broadcast content
With this in mind, I thought we should share some experiences we have observed first hand from conferences we have attended over the last year which made the whole experience better for us personally. I should disclose that some of these points overlap with efforts we have made when supplying Weaves to our customers.
Social Media
Social media is a great method for collecting real time feedback at events. Some of the best conferences I have attended involved social media in every talk. Here are a few ways you can too. Please note that this assumes your audience are users of social media. If they are not, don’t bother, your time will be better spent handing out feedback forms at the end.
Twitter & #
By now Twitter has established itself in the media landscape. Its’ simplicity is its strength and it is and can be applied in a growing array of contexts. Here is the quick checklist to using twitter and hashtags at your conference:
- Choose a hashtag for your delegates to use (e.g. #sxsw – check http://wthashtag.com/ to see if it is already being used)
- Register a short event specific twitter username on twitter.com
- Market the Hashtag before the event (website, sales literature, on site banners….everywhere!)
- Ask people to Tweet when they buy a ticket
- Promote the hashtag during the keynote and on all literature
- Show the stream on a screen using a product such as Twitterfall, Twitter search or even a branded stream product (which can be sponsored)
- ReTweet comments and questions
- Follow all your attendees
The benefits are in the content created by your crowd. Some of the things people might tweet are:
- Snippets of wisdom provided by speakers
- Reactions to statements
- Questions for speakers or organizer
- Delegate chatter between themselves
- Answers to speaker questions
- Linking other people (outside of conference)to the content
- Feedback on the conference
- Generating buzz about the conference (before, during or after)
Check out this presentation for more info on how people are using twitter at conferences.
Linkedin Events
Linkedin is a great tool for professional networking and has a comprehensive events section. If you are targeting professionals for your event you can use Linkedin to market and promote your event as well as provide links to more information and content to enhance delegate experiences. Creating and event is easy and allows you to aggregate your delegates online in one place. You can also link your twitter stream to provide real time chatter on the event.
Networking Time
Networking time is the key attraction for every event. Most delegates want to meet other people who can share information and contacts. As an organizer you can facilitate a better networking environment by taking some deliberate steps.
Ask people to Introduce themselves to the people next to them.
Provide information on the audience
Attendee lists are good but you can do better. This is where Weaves can play a central role. One of the main benefits of using a weave is to make the audience visible. Delegates can discover who is in the room and select the people they need to meet to fulfill their objectives from the conference.
Ask people to declare what they want form the conference
One of the questions we often ask of conference delegates is “What question, if answered, would help you in your role at your organization?”. This focuses the delegates mind toward a specific goal. By answering a simple question the delegate will be able to judge if the conference has provided value.
Speakers & Content
Know your audience
Conference speakers often prepare for their appearance without taking the time to research who will be in the room. Sometimes they do not have time but in most cases the information simply is not available. This separation is a big problem and should be a key part of the conference planners briefing when advising the speaker. Knowing your audience allows you to shape the talk and structure it accordingly. Conference planners should provide as much information as possible about the delegates and not hold back, the reward from sharing information will be clear in the quality of the content delivered at the event.
Avoid overlapping content
As a speaker, there is nothing worse then attending an event and seeing most of your speech covered by previous speakers. As a delegate it is just boring. One way to avoid this by having the theory based talks at the start and the case studies toward the end. This sets the scene and allows the conversation to evolve form the strategic to the tactical actions one can take. Investing the time in structuring the range of topics covered and providing a good balance of thought leaders and real world examples this can be avoided.
Broadcast content vs engaging content
Scott Gould recently wrote a great blog post about the Social/Broadcast Matrix (A model for examining channels and content types in many contexts). He defines this as:
Broadcast is one way. It is static. It does not change according to new information.
Social is multiway. It is dynamic. It changes according to new information.
Most speakers deliver a broadcast style experience that does not allow the audience to get involved. Some of the best talks I have witnessed engage the audience and involve them in developing the conclusions. This processes is clearest in the Unconferencestyle meeting where the content would not exist without the full engagement of the audience. Social media can facilitate this process in a real time manner and its use at conferences is set to spread and evolve further.
Ask a question
When delegates attend a conference they bring their perspectives, experience and agendas with them. One way to make an event more social is to ask a question and ask the crowd to answer it. By asking the question of the crowd, you can focus minds, provide context and create a sense of collective achievement by fostering an environment that forces people to talk to each other and digest the content you provide. The question itself is almost irrelevant. It’s the consequences of setting it that can yield results. Delegates are more engaged, have a central theme to gather around and can network more effectively as a result.
Story telling
As a speaker you know your subject inside out, you’ve given the talk before, been working on it for years or been responsible for educating people at your organization. Don’t assume your audience is familiar with the language or context of the content that you are delivering. By using real world stories you can escape the theory and talk about the actionable information that your audience can take away and put into practice tomorrow. Itemize the tactical actions rather then fuzzy strategy points. Story telling allows people to relate to your content quickly and will be more memorable.
We would like to build up a list of suggestions for meeting and conference planners to use. Do you have any suggestions? We look forward to hearing from you!
