Archive for » July, 2009 «
Have you seen the recent debate about social media speakers?
I’ve been watching the debate from the sidelines and decided to weigh in with my comments here. After all, it is about me as a conference and event organizer and what we event professionals are supposed to be doing.
I’m also going to use this post to kill two birds with one stone. I was tagged by Liz Strauss to connect a brain leader with a social force in her post Will You Try Some New Media Brain Alchemy. Suzanna Stinnett started this tag with Cloud Alchemy: A Thinking Heart. Stay tuned for my meeting of the minds at the end of this post as I introduce female social media strategists to #eventprofs and some of my speaker bureau connections!
Imagine more female social media strategist on the professional speaking circuit and at your next conference.
Now back to the debate about social media speakers.
Here’s a quick overview of the debate. TSG (The Speakers Group Speakers Bureau) released “Their Top 10 Social Media Speakers To Know.” Blogger Geoff Livingston fired back with “Women Snubbed in Top Ten Speakers List, Industry in General.” Both blogs have resulted in a firestorm of criticism and comments about inadequate representation of female social media speakers. Valeria Maltoni responded on her blog with An Opportunity For Speakers And Organizations with next steps on how to proceed instead of blame and pointing fingers.
First, some disclosure. I personally know TSG and have spoke on the phone with Shawn for years. He’s pitched speakers to me in the past although I never contracted with his bureau. I also am a fan and regular reader of Geoff Livingston’s Buzz Bin/CRC/Tanaka and Valeria Maltoni’s Conversation Agent. And I’m working on a an October conference with Liz Strauss where Geoff Livingston may will be a presenter/panelist. [Conference has been postponed to 2010 at this time.]
My view on the social media speaker debate.
I’m a professional event and conference planner that has hired more than 2,500 professional speakers in the past 10+ years. Diversity is always one of my top priorities when selecting speakers. I may create a draft event schedule and will play with it for days trying to ensure that I have a balance of male, female and different races in my speakers along with the right topics and the right fit for my audience. Then I have to check speakers’ availability and negotiate fees. I don’t always get the right balance or my first choice of speakers but I try hard. Often, I am frustrated by my lack of knowledge about female speakers on specific topics or those that are within my budget.
My suggestions to all social media strategist and speakers
I would encourage more social media bloggers and strategists to reach out to speaker bureaus and event professionals, and let them know of their desire to speak. Speaker bureaus pitch speakers based on those speakers that have signed agreements with them for representation, those that have voiced an interest in securing speaking gigs or those the bureau reps have personally seen or met. It’s not a bureau’s fault that they are not representing more speakers or listing more speakers of a certain type. They can’t promote people they don’t know or those that have not reached out to them.
How many of those female social media strategists listed in Geoff Livingston and Valeria Maltoni’s blog have reached out to speaker bureaus and asked for representation? How many have contacted the international, national or state associations of meeting and event professionals to let them know of their interest in speaking at their conferences? [Sidebar: The meeting and event professionals industry is dominated by women, not men.]
How many of these social media strategist, both female and male, have a one-sheet, a short marketing video, headshot, presentation descriptions, fee schedule and marketing materials about their presentations? These are all necessities within the professional speaking industry just as a computer, web hosting company, domain name and blog account are a necessity for bloggers.
Subject Matter Expert Does Not Equate To Professional Speaker
Just because someone has spoke at a bloggers conference, a social media event or SxSW does not mean that speaker is the right fit for traditional audiences. Just because someone is a great writer, blogger or author does not automatically qualify them as a great speaker. I’ve seen many industry speaker experts fail and flail with their presentations. Event professionals struggle with finding SMEs that cross the divide and deliver a homerun presentation with great content and outstanding delivery skills.
Assuming that all event professionals like me are aware of the “who’s who” of social media speakers is a false assumption. I’m probably the anomaly here because I have a personal interest in Web 2.0 and the social space. I seek out subject matter experts that have great content and can deliver a great presentation. There are plenty of opportunities for social media speakers yet unless conference organizers know about these speakers; it’s less likely conference organizers will find them.
Both Industries Are Foreign To Each Other
The professional speakers and events industries are probably foreign to most social media explorers, strategists, Ungurus and bloggers. Just as the social media industry is foreign to most meeting and speaker professionals. So it will take both industries reaching out to each other so that a broader diversity of speakers appear on conference agendas. Ultimately, that’s a win for conference and event attendees.
Time To Build Bridges & Create New Media Brain Alchemy
So in honor of building bridges, furthering discussions, creating new media brain alchemy and having people meet each other: Toby Bloomberg, Marcia Connor, Allison Fine, Kami Huyse, Tara Hunt, Beth Kanter, Charlene Li, Amber Mac, Valeria Maltoni, Jane Quigley, Liz Strauss and other female social media speakers, meet #eventprofs, the Twitter community of meeting and event professionals. You can find us every Tuesday at 9 pm EST and Thursdays at 12 pm EST in Twitter having a conversation about meetings, events and even social media issues. Please feel free to reach out to us using the #eventprofs hashtag. You’re welcome to join us anytime and we’d love to pick your brains about social media and events. We’d be more than willing to help you make more connections with meetings and events professionals.
And social media strategists please meet:
Andrea Gold of Gold Stars Speakers Bureau
Broker Agents Speakers Bureau
Convention Connection Speakers Bureau
Darrin Powell of International Speakers Bureau
Gina Schreck of Snyapse3Di
Katie Hiebert of Speak LLC
Keppler Speakers Bureau
Julie Homesey of Five Star Speakers and Trainers
Impact Speakers Bureau
Robert Swanwick of #SpeakerChat & SpeakerInteractive
Shawn Ellis of The Speakers Group
Sheldon Senek of Eagles Talent Speakers Bureau
And there are many, many more that I have not listed here. Also, please read David Meerman Scott’s Ranking of Speaker Bureau Websites.
Finally, social media strategists, please meet the following professional associations for the association, events, meetings, and training industries. You should know these associations as they cater to the decision makers at many organizations who hire professional speakers. Look for their call for speaker proposals as well so that you can begin to reach out to these industries and secure more speaking gigs outside of the social media industry.
ASAE (professional association of association executives with state and local chapters)
ASTD (professional association of training and development professionals with state and local chapters)
International Federation for Professional Speaking (chapters around the globe)
Meetings Professionals International (with international chapters)
National Speakers Association (with state chapters)
Professional Convention Management Association (senior level meeting and event professionals, with regional chapters)
Social media strategists and speakers, I hope to see you at a future conference or event either face-to-face or through live streaming. Break a leg!
PS, please feel free to add more social media strategists and speaker bureas in the comments section of this blog. It is in no-way a comprehensive list and there are many more people worthy of recognition.
Are social networks having any positive impact on conference and event attendance?
Are registered attendee lists motivating others to attend?
Conference attendee lists luring others to register
On the blog Interactive Meeting Technology, Samuel J. Smith discusses 20 Reasons People Attend Conferences. He lists typical reasons why people attend conferences. Several others have added to that list too.
As someone who plans events for a living and as a conference attendee, I’ve noticed a couple of trends affecting attendance:
1) People are deciding to attend and register for the conference at the last minute.
2) More people are making their decision to attend, not based on the conference content or speakers, not based on exhibitors, not based on the venue location, not based on the costs, but based on who else is attending.
I’ve recently read blogs, Facebook updates and tweets of colleagues that have waited until one to two weeks before a major event to register. (Interesting these people are posting their conference registration on their social network profiles.) I’ve even made the decision to attend some local events within the last week before that conference’s official start date.
Why? When I ask colleagues and friends why they wait until the last minute to register, I get a variety of answers and one seems to bubble to the top. “I waited because I wanted to see who else was attending.” When I dig further, I get this answer. “I wanted to see if any people from my online social networks were attending.”
I know that exhibitors, sponsors and suppliers base their decisions to attend on whether their target audience is there. Yet, I’m not used to hearing people say they waited to register to see if people from their online social networks were attending. I know that there are a multiple of reasons why people actually attend an event. Yet if a peer’s attendance is a trigger, I want to capitalize on that.
Some technology conference event planners tell me that WOM from trusted friends is their most effective driver of conference registration. It’s not the speakers, content, email, direct marketing, venue location or registration price. It the fact that the attendees want to see people from their online social networks at a face-to-face event. They want to participate in social, informal and peer learning with their social community. (That’s another discussion too.] And, these technology event planners are tracking who the influencers of attendee event are.
Blogger Jason Keath recently wrote Why I Travel To Conferences Last Minute. He discusses that he attends events to invest in people and relationships, not because of the great speakers or content.
Keath says, “I invest in people. If you know me, you know I love to travel and I don’t go to conferences for the content. I go purely to see the people. Occasionally I wander into a session or keynote when I have to, but it is reluctantly.”
The social aspects of a conference, both registered attendees from his social networks and the ability to participate in social onsite, lure him. Community and individuals already attending draw him like a magnet to that event.
Could it be that social media, social networking and the social web are having a broader impact on events than we realize? Many event organizers fear that social media and virtual events are cannibalizing event attendance. [That’s a different discussion.] Could it be that social media is actually expanding and increasing event attendance? Is social the new conference black? Should event organizers leverage social networks to drive new attendee registration? Are registered attendee lists the new appeal?
Have you made a decision to attend a conference purely based on who else is attending? Do you wait until the last minute to register for an event based on others in your social network are attending?
What do you think?
We need more weddings, events and meeting that are unpredictable and unforgettable like this. Made me smile and the staff ran into my office to watch. Yes, this is how to do it! [And look, they filmed it and put it on YouTube for the entire world to share! That's using social media!]
Has your annual conference, meeting or event become predictable?
Predictable Meetings, Routine Conferences
When was the last time you attended a conference or meeting that was unforgettable and full of surprise?
Predictable: can be prophesied; can be foretold; to declare or indicate in advance; especially: foretell on the basis of observation, experience, or scientific reason.
Ok, we’ve all been there and can spout the schedule of the annual conference like our own phone number and address. We know it by heart. Heck, we even plan them. Right?
It starts with an Opening General Session (OGS), where everyone is seated, theatre style facing the front of the room. At the front of the room is a stage with a couple of screens for image magnification. Entertainment opens the session followed by customary welcomes and then a keynote presenter or two, maybe a panel. Or, the OGS may have two or three brief keynote presenters each following each other interspersed with sponsor commercials.
Following the OGS, there are breakouts or concurrent sessions. Most of those rooms are theatre seating as well and people passively listen to speakers or panels. Then there is a break followed by more breakouts. Next is lunch, seated in rounds of ten or twelve. After lunch comes more concurrent sessions.
This pattern is repeated for a couple of days with little variation except that there is a couple hours to visit the tradeshow each day and their might be a couple of evening receptions.
As conference attendees, we all know the drill. We know what is expected of us, where we are supposed to be and when to turn off our imagination or thinking. Our senses are rarely engaged with the exception of hearing and seeing. We file in each room like good attendees and sit in our chairs, partially engaged.
I remember as a teenager going to a summer camp in Saranac Lake, NY. It was an unforgettable experience, full of surprise and wow moments. The typical summer camp schedule was turned on its head from the moment I arrived on the bus, being faux hijacked by camp counselors, forced off the bus at the camp entrance and then marched around to see the camp’s facilities.
As we strutted like little kids giggling with glee through the grounds, we had no idea what lied ahead. Suddenly, two of my friends were no longer in line behind me. I turned around and saw them speed by me on the camp’s water chutes, in their full clothes. I then felt the tap on my shoulder and three guys grabbed me and pulled me into the woods. They asked if I could swim, if I was afraid of heights and if I was ready for the unexpected. Little did I know that I was going to be put into a harness to experience parasailing on the lake in front of my peers in the first 30 minutes on campgrounds.
There was nothing typical about my experience at that camp. Camp organizers might wake us up at 2 am in the morning for a surprise bonfire, marshmallow roast and impromptu fire walking experience. Or we had a lunch where we had to decide what order we wanted our food and utensils by deciphering and prioritizing a menu written in odd code. Nothing like trying to eat green beans without a plate or fork.
My entire experience at that camp is embedded in my mind and I can still see, feel and smell some of its events. Why do I vividly remember it and still giggle with glee as I recall the experience?
It was unpredictable. It was safe yet thrilling. It was unexpected. I was encouraged to relax, enjoy and go with the flow of the finely tuned well-orchestrated experience, with the focus on me the attendee.
Why aren’t annual conferences and meetings like that? Why have they become so predictable and status-quo? Is it because we have become adults and must be adult like. Is it because we fear change? I’ve tried a few things in my years of planning and organizing conferences, some with great success and some not.
What could we do to shake it up a little? How could we create an annual conference that was unpredictable, unexpected and had a huge WOW factor? How could we become less predictable?
What have you done?
I listen to my friends as they retell stories of their families and loved ones that have been laid off from work recently. Recession has taken its toll. Their voices are riddled with fear, fear that they are next, fear that the economy will cause them to lose their houses, fear that they’ve not saved enough, fear that they don’t have enough, fear of the unknown.
For it is fear, more than anything else, that seems to define our age.
Fear can drive our inner daily conversations. Fear, worry and asking why can become stopping places for failure.
Rajesh Setty’s book, UPBEAT: Cultivating The Right Attitude To Thrive In Tough Times addresses the need to surround yourself with upbeat conversations. Setty gives some great advice on how to turn the Recession into an opportunity to create a better job, better life, better world. As Setty says, “UPBEAT will help you quickly find the right rhythm to thrive in this great environment.” UPBEAT talks about how to THRIVE during tough times.
Here are my Top Ten Gems From UPBEAT.
1. Recession is here and everyone is invited to the party. Attendance is mandatory and you have been given your free ticket.
2. You can control and develop an UPBEAT attitude that’s recession-proof.
3. Continuously engaging in conversations that lead to nowhere is a sure recipe for disaster. It is a “license for inaction.” [Watch the conversations you have with yourself as well.]
4. If our daily conversations are weak, we may end up starting a “sympathy exchange” movement.
5. You need to be on a diet that is lean on unproductive behavior.
6. Being flexible is to be open to change and to new ways of doing things.
7. Adapting is to make new ways of doing things YOUR ways of doing things.
8. Once you adapt, you will not be conscious of the fact that you are changing, as the new methods and practices have become your methods and practices.
9. Always remember the golden rule: Give first! If you forget to give, you become extra baggage in others’ lives.
10. If there is one metric that makes sense, it is the “extra capacity” that you add in the life of another person in your network. With you being in their life, their life should be significantly better than without you being in their life.
Bonus: This is your time to increase your investments in yourself.
You can pick up your own copy of UPBEAT by going to Amazon. You can also follow Rajesh on Twitter @UpbeatNow or read his current posts on his blog Life Beyond Code.
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