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Connections.
As important as the plug is to the outlet so the electricity can flow.
As important as the computer programming is to the wireless cell tower so our cell phones work. As important as the water faucet is to the plumbing so we can have fresh water. As important as the heart pumping blood to the brain. As important as human touch is to a newborn child.
I’ve been having some fuzzy thinking in the corners of my mind lately about conferences, community and connections. Those thoughts have come to center stage and gained a more compelling clear focus after weeks of reflection of conference attendance.
I am struck by what I remember the most from my past five conference attendance–my connections with others.
- I recall having dinner at the Virtual Edge Summit with Oracle’s Paul Salinger, Cisco’s Digital Strategist extraordinaire Kelly Graham and Lumen Consulting’s delightful and humorous Desiree Lehrbaum as we talked about virtual and hybrid events and the future of the meetings industry.
- I remember a passionate and energetic conversation with the brilliant Michael Westcott and introspective Paul Salinger as we deconstructed Byron Reeves’ keynote presentation, Total Engagement, and how the online gaming industry would impact work, and virtual and face-to-face events.
- I consider the hallway conversations with American Bankers Association’s Director of Professional Development J P Stephenson, introNetwork’s CEO and Co-Founder Mark Sylvester and introNetwork’s President and Co-Founder Kymberlee Weil on the impact of social media and real time feedback for events and conferences.
- I reminisce of a dinner with Dave Lutz and Bonnie Wallsh as we compare notes about association meetings and share experiences about presenting for conferences.
- I recollect when the Godfathers of #eventprofs, Michael McCurry, Mike McAllen, Greg Ruby and J-Lev, Jessica Levin, first got together at the Grand Hyatt at PCMA’s annual conference for drinks and discussion.
- I could name countless other conference connections as well.
Why do I remember these people and our meetings more than the conference’s content or speakers? What did I experience with them that I didn’t experience sitting passively listening to a conference presentation?
I believe it’s because we were able to connect on an intimate level through personal conversations. In most cases we were connecting on a radical, deep-seated and revolutionary level–even while engaging about the conference’s content.
Connections–when people of likeminded communities and tribes regularly intersect and their lives are better because of that association. We need more opportunities in conference to create and grow these valuable connections.
I envision a community of people who intentionally mingle in settings at conferences and events where intangible nutrients are passed back and forth with each other, creating a type of soul force and special intimacy called a connection. Sometimes, these individuals have developed and maintained online connections and come together offline to pour into each other the resources that they each have and share. Sometimes it is the first time they meet.
Scott Gould talks about a similar concept in his post and video “Are We Building Community or Connections?” He further expands on these thoughts and how to move from crowd to community to connected to committed to core.
Imagine what could happen if conference organizers capitalized on these community connections and became the conduit for more of these experiences. Imagine if conference organizers could help attendees move from the crowd to community to connections to committed individuals to a cause. This is not something that can be created in a speed networking session where you try to get as many business cards as possible as fast as you can. These connections cannot be created in a conference luncheon roundtable that is constantly interrupted by sponsor videos, awards and announcements.
Instead, these connections are developed in discussions, where individuals gather in small groups to gain a deeper understanding for extended periods of time–at least sixty-minutes and in many cases ninety-minutes.
Most conferences are full of attendees dutifully going to sessions, sitting besides unknown individuals, participating in a variety of conference experiences and never truly connecting with another individual. Maybe attending a conference or event, more than anything else, means relating to several other attendees differently. Maybe the center of the conference community is connecting with a few.
I suggest that it’s time to take a hard look at what is being passed back and forth in our conference relationships–business cards, handshakes, eye contact, content–and ask ourselves, what is being withheld that, if given, could change our personal and professional lives. It’s time to consider a radical understanding of attending a conference that centers on releasing the power in each other to change lives. It’s time to see each attendee as an individual that has resources to share and give with others. It’s time to understand our conference community connections in a way that excites us with its potential to liberate, strengthen and encourage just a few closest to us and to touch the deepest, deadest, most terrifying part’s of attendee’s souls with life-giving power, direction and encouragement.
So how as conference organizers and owners do we do that? How do we encourage and facilitate meaningful connections so that we do not live as terrified, demanding, self-absorbed islands, disconnected from community and desperately determined to get by with whatever resources we brought to our island with us?
I have some ideas. I’d like to hear your ideas first. Am I off my rocker for wanting a better way? What do you think?
This post is my contribution to the free eBook, Social Media For Events 2010: 7 Event Experts Weigh In On The Year Ahead compiled and created by Lara McCullouch-Carter.
Click image to download free eBook.
The Four Cs Of Conferences And Social Media
Many novices and skeptics find social media confusing, much less trying to integrate social media with their events.
Why is this? First, novices and skeptics often focus exclusively on the social media tools. They think social media means playing with Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. Since social media encompasses many types of tools, each with their own characteristics and learning curves, a toolkit approach to social media becomes overwhelming and perplexing.
Second, the term “social” is an umbrella term used for a lot of things like social media, social networking, social technologies, and social web. Even social media practitioners can’t come to an agreement on the terms. The absence of a common established vernacular confuses people.
I suggest that professionals take a tools- and terminology-agnostic approach. Instead of getting distracted by the tools and terminology, focus on the underlying themes of social media that are relevant to strategic event design. I call them the Four Cs Of Conferences And Social Media: Content, Collaboration, Community and Cumulative Value. I combine those four Cs with the Four Cs Of Conference Attendees: Consumers, Curators, Contributors and Creators.
Content
Every conference or event has specific content and information that is going to be shared. Conference attendees consume and curate that content. Some take the content, repurpose it, share their reflections and then distribute it via a variety of social media technologies–like blogs, Facebook, Flickr and Twitter. Some create new content about their experiences and share it with their networks. Focus on developing and sharing meaningful, relevant content.
Collaboration
Every conference has an unwritten goal that the event serves as the catalyst aggregating the actions of individuals into meaningful collective results. Collaboration occurs on three levels: conversation, co-creation and collective action. If there’s a buzz about the content, attendee’s discuss it with each other and ultimately with their social networks. Sometimes their collaborative efforts create a tipping point and the information goes viral, on to the social web. When this happens, event professionals reach nirvana, assuming it’s positive of course.
Community
Every conference session (general session, workshop, breakout, luncheon) is a dormant community. Each workshop collects the attention of attendees interested in its content and those attendees typically want to discuss it. Often that community remains latent unless ties are strengthened and engagement is welcomed. A vibrant community has size and strength, and is built around a shared, meaningful social object–like content, experiences and ideas. Tapping into the value of the community can lead to positive results.
Cumulative Value
Conferences and the social web enable us to aggregate individual actions and to use sophisticated research algorithms to extract meaning from them. This collective intelligence is based on implicit and explicit actions usually through the form of reputation and recommendation systems. Amazon and Netflix measure browsing (implicit), buying (implicit) and ratings (explicit). Conference organizers can track agenda attendance (implicit) and evaluations (explicit) for example. If the collective intelligence is then shared back with the community, the members find more value in the community, and the community grows even more. Then the cycle repeats.
Final Thoughts
The best conferences and social media initiatives leverage all four layers moving from content to collaboration to community to cumulative value. Consider these Four Cs in the design and strategy phase of your planning before moving to the logistics and tools.
How would you integrate these Four Cs into your conferences, events and social media initiatives? What has worked for your events when integrating social media? Share your thoughts and reflections with us.
Online conference eCommunities were the rage in 2009
Did you offer one for your annual meeting attendees? I did.
So what are they? Online eCommunities are virtual communities of people that primarily interact via the Internet for social, professional, educational or other purposes.
Online Conference eCommunities have become a supplemental form of communication between people who are attending the same conference. The registrants of the face-to-face event use special online social software to connect with each other.
Online Conference eCommunity users can:
- Create profiles
- Connect with others attending the conference before, during and after the conference online
- IM
- Participate in text-based chat rooms and forums
- Schedule itineraries
- Setup times to meet with exhibitors or vendors
- View live or archived presentations
- Share photos from the face-to-face event
- View venue and tradeshow floor plans
- Setup appointments with exhibitors and vendors
- And a host of other features
Many online conference eCommunities integrate with social networking platforms like blogs, Facebook, Flickr, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube.
From free to low-cost eCommunities like MeetUp and Ning, to customized features of Social Collective and Zerista, there are ample opportunities for you to provide conference attendee engagement experiences through an online conference eCommunity. If you are thinking about adding one to your 2010 Annual Meeting or Conference attendee offerings, here are 14 online conference eCommunity providers for you to consider.
Offers Facebook and Twitter integration, attendee communication interface, conference scheduler, detailed session and speaker information, mobile interface, video and audio integration and more. Not as robust as other eCommunities but includes some unique conference organizer features. Clients include BizBash Expo & Awards, BlogWorld 2009 and Exploit Labour Conference.
Offers Facebook and Twitter integration, blog aggregation, customizable conference eCommunity website, attendee itinerary planner, attendee profiles, IM, speaker and session rating system, attendee communication interface, mobile interface, third-party registration support of EventBrite, RegOnline and Laser Registration, and more. Clients include PCMA 2010, Web 2.0 and IA Summit.
Offers conference attendee registration package through partnership with Acteva, Eventbrite and RegOnline, social media integration with blogs, Facebook, Flickr, Twitter and YouTube, customizable conference micro-website (full conference website), attendee profiles, IM, embedded video and audio, mobile interface, and more. Clients include Defrag, Mashable’s US Summer Tour 2008, and Mass Technology Leadership Conference.
An often over-looked platform that is well known in eLearning circles but lesser known in the events industry. Provides opportunity for a full, exclusive, online virtual conference complete with attendee registration, eCommerce, attendee profiles, IM, live audio, video and Webinar integration, virtual vendor showrooms, blog feature and more. Limited customization for look and feel as compared to other eCommunities. [We currently use iCohere at my work for our exclusive walled industry eCommunity for our nonprofit members.] Clients include ASAE, National Defense University, US Forest Service and WorldVision.
Offers a turnkey event attendee registration package, eCommerce, social media network integration, customizable border for micro-website, attendee profiles, IM, message board, and more. Mostly used by local self-organized groups.
Used more for member eCommunities than conference communities but can be customized for conferences. Integrates with Association Management Systems like Avectra, offers RSS integration, customizable eCommunity website, user profiles, IM, attendee communication interface, resource library, and more. Clients include MPI CLC, NMC09 and OmniPress Conference 2.0.
Offers full integration with social media networking platforms like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, customizable eCommunity website, user profiles, IM, surveys and pools, user communication interface, mobile accessibility, and third-party event and registration support through widgets.
Built on the Pathable platform, Offers Facebook , LinkedIn and Twitter integration, customizable conference eCommunity website, attendee itinerary planner, session handouts and slides, attendee profiles, IM, surveys and polls, attendee communication interface, mobile interface, third-party registration support of EventBrite, RegOnline, eTouches, Certain or Cvent, and more. Clients include American Public Health Association, DAC and IEEE.
Offers Facebook , LinkedIn and Twitter integration, customizable conference eCommunity website, session handouts and slides, attendee profiles, IM, surveys and polls, attendee communication interface, mobile interface, third-party registration support of EventBrite, RegOnline, eTouches, Certain or Cvent, and more. Clients include MPI WEC09, NMC09 and OmniPress Conference 2.0.
Offers a turnkey conference attendee registration package, eCommerce, Facebook and Twitter integration, customizable conference micro-website (full conference website), attendee itinerary planner, attendee profiles, IM, exhibitor and sponsor fan pages, crowdsourcing application, speaker rating system, detailed session and speaker information, embedded video and audio, mobile interface, eMarketing capabilities and more. (Yes, this is the conference platform that I used in 2009 and plan to use again in 2010.) Clients include IAEE, SxSW 2009 and SxSW 2010.
Integrated with Facebook, Flickr and Twitter, operates as a conference aggregator for several social network streams, attendee profiles. customizable site, live event audio and presentation streaming, and ability to use moderate Twitter hashtag tweet for chats, questions and image magnification. Clients include International Foodservice Distributors Association, Microsoft Tech-Ed LA, and TEDTalks.
Free community platform that includes user profiles, chat, photo galleries, polls, community calendars, in-line video embedding, blogs, RSS feeds, customizable skins, and more. Similar to message boards.
Offers a turnkey conference attendee registration package, eCommerce, Facebook and Twitter integration, customizable conference micro-website (full conference website), Digg-like rating feature, online fundraising, membership management, attendee profiles, IM, detailed session and speaker information, and more. Clients include GMIC, SITE Chicago and Healthy Start, Healthy Future’s Life With A Baby.
Offers customizable conference micro-website (full conference website), detailed session and speaker information, attendee itinerary planner, attendee profiles, IM, exhibitor and attendee scheduler, exhibitor virtual booth, embedded video and audio for virtual attendance, integrated webcasts, virtual tradeshow, interactive venue maps, interactive tradeshow floor, integrated Google maps, and more. Clients include Democratic National Convention 2008, SxSW 2009 and SxSW 2010.
I am sure there are other eCommunity platforms as well. Which have you used?
Today, StoryCorps, an independent nonprofit whose mission is to honor and celebrate one another’s lives through listening, is celebrating the National Day Of Listening.
In honor of the National Day Of Listening, consider how you listen to your conference attendees onsite, during the conference?
How do you listen to your customers, members and conference attendees?
We’ve all experienced it. The hallways of the conference are buzzing with chatter about the event. Attendees are discussing what’s working, what isn’t, why the organizers planned it this way, what they are happy about and what’s discouraging them.
As meeting and event planners, we often wish we could be a fly on the wall listening to everyone’s discussions all at once. With today’s social media tools, we can engage in discussions with our registrants before, during and after the big event. Now, we can capture those hallway conversations and respond in real time. So, where do you start?
1. Create and encourage a culture of listening.
Listening is something that every staff member can and should do, and the organization’s principals should lead by example. Staff should listen in the hallways, invite feedback on evaluations and encourage attendees to provide comments and concerns to any staff member both face to face and through the social media tools available. The event is all about attendee, not you the meeting professional.
2. Develop a system for capturing feedback and ways to respond.
a. Setup an event presence in Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube and other social media tools.
In today’s web world, people go to several different sites to find information about an event. They no longer turn only to your organization or event website. They turn to their friends, colleagues and compadres. They also turn to the social media tools they use and you can help them by setting up “listening and chatting posts” within each social property. Twitter Tip: When using Twitter, identify one person to manage each event account and encourage them to list their name in the profile. For example Jeff4CVG09 meaning Jeff for CONVERGE 2009.
b. Decide who will be the champion for each account, keep the information updated and communicate to people within that network about the event.
Encourage the champions to provide outstanding customer service and do the right thing for the attendees when challenges arise. Let your team members know that you will back them with their decisions to provide outstanding customer service to the attendee.
Read the remander of my post, The Art Of Listening And The Science Of Responding on Event Manager blog.
Happy Listening!
Recently I wrote Meetings And Events As Systems Thinking: The Contact Sport.
I talked about viewing each meeting or event within the larger context of a system using the analogy of a sports season.
Here’s another way to think about your annual conference, event or meeting: part of a community ecosystem.
An ecosystem (or ecological system) is a collection of organisms and the environment in which they live. Ecosystems contain dynamic interactions between plants, animals, microorganisms and their environment. These interactions work together as a functional unit and everything is interrelated.
Ecosystems can vary greatly in size. Some examples of small ecosystems are tidal pools, a home garden, or the stomach of an individual cow. (Yeah, that’s gross but it shows the variety of ecosystems. And, we’ve all attended conferences that felt like all the content and experiences were regurgitation—and not in a good way—of stuff we’ve already had.) Larger ecosystems might encompass lakes, farm fields or forests.
So now, take that concept of the ecosystem and consider your annual face-to-face meeting. Attendees at your event are part of a larger community. The face-to-face meeting is just one event in a specific time that is part of the larger series of community events and experiences. Dynamic interactions occur between attendees, customers, employees, exhibitors, members, sponsors, vendors and the conference organizers throughout the entire year.
Instead of seeing the annual event in isolation as a one-time occurrence, conference organizers could view it as one touch point within a variety of touch points. Then, the event professional might consider connecting that annual event to other face-to-face and virtual events. Conference organizers would think about integrating content through Webinars, blogs, eCommunities and enewsletters. Event organizers might think about yearlong over-arching themes, users’ experiences and global outcomes.
In this model, organizers would build an integrated, spiraling experience across four seasons and the customer would have many opportunities to digest, ponder and consider the content. Learning and retention would increase. Attendees would design customized experiences with multiple ways to connect with others and the content.
So how do you plan such an event?
Valeria Maltoni identified the components of social integration. Applying her model to the community ecosystem for events, it might look like this:
- the community planning and engagement team (includes content, marketing, meetings and technology members)
- meetings/events experience delivery team (these are the folks that would design online and face-to-face experiences and include player from AV, education, entertainment, logistics, speakers, tradeshow, etc.)
- attendee touch points (webinars, conference eCommunity, eMarketing, online chats, virtual experiences)
- content and experience development
Final thoughts: Ecosystems will fail if they do not remain in balance. Ecologists see an ecosystem as a fundamental life-support service upon which human civilization depends.
It’s time to view the annual face-to-face event as a way to help create a more sustainable community. Don’t see each meeting or event as an isolated production unit that produces specific outcomes that only occur once each year. Instead, view them as ways to generate the life-blood, pulse, oxygen, water, and nutrients for sustainable growth of the community ecosystem. Then you’ll create a healthy community wanting to consume each experience you provide.
So, how could you plan your next event differently with an eye towards creating a sustainable community ecosystem for all of your stakeholders and players?
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