On ASAE’s Acronym blog, Scott Oser, president of Scott Oser’s Associates, a multi-channel marketing company, asks, “Is Social Media Hurting Face To Face Events?” Sue Pelletier, MeetingsNet Web editor, Face2Face blogger and editor of Association Meetings Magazine responds with a comment on Acronym blog and asks on her own blog: “Social Media: Friend or Foe of Live Meetings?”
Reflections on Scott’s post
Scott intimates that social media is the cause of poor content at the recent meetings he’s attended. He further ponders whether the purpose of face to face meetings has changed. I was stunned that he was asking if the purpose of face to face meetings has changed. What was the original goal of the meeting? What was his goal in attending those meetings? Perhaps Scott’s purpose of attending the meeting has changed since the content is no longer meeting his needs or expectations. But it’s not social media’s fault that the conferences are not meeting his needs.
Reflections on Sue’s post
Sue discusses her frustration with a full plate and her love/hate relationship with social media. She craves the relationships, tips and learning yet has tasks to accomplish with running a magazine. I think we all deal with work/life balance whether it’s social media, work, our volunteer efforts, families, etc. She further states that she doesn’t see any conflict with social media and meetings.
My take on Social Media & Meetings
Those that know me, follow me in Twitter or have engaged in chat with me know that I see social media as a tool that with the right planning and intentionality can augment face to face meetings. I’ve been using aspects of social media to extend my attendee/member experience for many years. Now, there are just more tools available to use. I actually think that some of the foundational priciples of Web 2.0 should be and can be integrated into meetings and conferences. I don’t mean the technology tools, I mean the underlying concepts of those tools like audience engagement, moving from monologue to dialogue, sharing and audience driven content (audience seen as experts and speakers) as examples. See the tools as ways to help enable those concepts, not an end to themselves.
Social Media Enriches Meetings
Contrary to popular belief, social networking sites tend to augment, rather than replace, offline interactions. One of the reasons why social media sites are so successful is their focus on supporting offline networks over online-only relationships. Ultimately, I believe we all crave community and connections, and technology, especially social media platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, Ning and Twitter, has given us new ways to connect with others, no matter where they are. It’s those connections that we crave.
Instead of thinking of social media as one more thing to do, think of it as an enhanced way of doing the business you’re already doing. And, think of social media as a way to extend the learning and meeting experience for your attendees.
Hi Jeff,
I am glad that my post has generated conversation because although I did want to make a point and give a perspective I did want to cause a little controversy and get people thinking and talking about how social media is impacting face to face meetings.
I am stunned that you were stunned that I asked if the purpose of face to face meetings has changed. From my experience the reason for the existence of most face to face association meetings is top-notch education. Yes there are always good networking opps at association conferences and conventions but in many ways this is a tangential benefit or a “bonus” of being at the event.
Historically the majority of people decide to attend a meeting based on what they will learn there, not on how good the networking possibilities may be. This is not true for everyone and that is why I say “the majority of people.” There are people that do go to meetings based on who will be in attendance and how many opps they will have to meet these people but from my experience those people were not the norm.
I think that some of this is due to the way events have been, and continue to be, marketed. When you hear about a seminar or a conference the number one thing you hear about is how much you will learn. In many ways we have been trained to accept paying a large sum of money because we know that we will benefit through access to knowledge and information provided by speakers. For most people it is now ingrained in us to make attendance decisions based on that.
Personally my reason for attending is now mixed. I do go to meetings based on the education and am very frustrated if the level of education, and type of education, I receive at an event does not meet my expectations. That said I am starting to realize that much of the value I receive at meetings is through the connections I make at the meeting in the hallway, at receptions at tables in session rooms before speakers start to present, etc. The bigger question to me is do meeting organizers know what their audience is looking for and if more and more people are coming for the connections and the networking do they know how to tweak their meetings and their marketing to take advantage of that (i.e. Networking opps are almost always over a meal when you only get access to the people sitting at your table when your mouth is full or at the end of the day over drinks when many people are exhausted from sitting in sessions all day yet there is almost always a full slate of sessions every day of the conference during the 9-5 time period Are they willing to make networking events more prominent and in times that some might consider may “prime time?”). If they don’t now, or don’t know that soon, will social media fill more of the knowledge flow that people are now coming to face to face meetings to get. I think that in many ways it already has so meeting organizers really need to figure out their business model and tweak their face to face meeting strategies accordingly.
Scott:
Thanks for stopping by and leaving your comments. I appreciate it.
You have some great points and feedback. A good meeting, event, conference planner should begin with the end in mind, focused on the goals for that meeting. Because education is a passion of mine, I focus on the education design of a meeting and how to engage you as a learner as much as possible. If you came to an event that I planned and didn’t get your learning needs met, then I failed! That monkey would rest on my back!
I do think some meeting planners are incorporating more Web 2.0 concepts into their events with Peer2Peer table discussions, unmeetings and unsessions, Really Live Chats and such. Let’s hope more read your comments here and begin to think of how they know what their attendees want.