Meeting News - February 16, 2009 - (Page 39)

MN Webcast Report Marketing 2.0: Time to Get the Word Out the Web Way ost meeting planners dabble in social networking in their personal lives but haven’t quite uncovered the best ways to use it for business. The power of Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, and other applications was the subject of the first of three sessions at the most recent Virtual Meeting World hosted by MeetingNews and Successful Meetings. In the session, entitled “Get the Word Out the Web Way,”Corrie Dosh, SM’s destinations editor; David Meerman Scott, author of The New Rules of Marketing and PR; and Jon Mandell, cofounder of Confabb.com, discussed how to leverage these tools for event success. Meerman Scott implored planners to stop thinking like marketers, public relations professionals, or advertisers and, instead, “think like a publisher and create really interesting things online.”He noted,“You can now deliver content at the precise moment your attendees need it.” For example, organizers of the Singapore Tattoo M Show, a new event clearly for a niche market, was able to lure 15,000 attendees to its first show—well beyond its original projection of 5,000—in part by creating a Facebook group called Tattoo Artistry prior to the show. The group’s popularity, combined with Facebook networks’ viral ability, made the inaugural show a tremendous success. Dosh noted planners could create smaller Facebook groups for external parties, attendees, and speakers, or break out groups by special interest. To maintain an appropriate tone, she suggested planners limit who is able to comment on the group page. Mandell suggested planners helming a group or event page introduce themselves in other industry group pages and become an active member there, both to grow the network and understand how Facebook is best being used by others. All panelists agreed that the microblogging tool Twitter is ideal for planners. Before an event, Twitter can be used to garner feedback from attendees on the location, program details, and speakers of interest—this makes the attendee part of the planning process. During the show, use a unique tag that allows people to follow the event (e.g., #virtualmeetingworld) and use “Tweets” like a realtime discussion group. Meerman Scott noted a recent event he attended used Twitter to field questions from people around the world. He answered a question from someone in New Zealand, but the event was held in Boston. Mandell encouraged planners Tweet about the industry in general, as well as include some personal details, because it makes one seem more like a friend than a corporate entity and keeps people interested in following the Twitter feed. “The line has been crossed—get over it,” said Meerman Scott, of the blurring between personal and professional lives.“People live their lives online . . . There’s no reason I should care that people know that I’m a surfer.” H —Kinley Levack Join us on THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2009, at 2 PM EST / 11 AM PST for a FREE Succcessful Meeting and MeetingNews Webcast Learn How To Tap Into The Lucrative SMERF Meetings Market SPEAKERS Andrea Doyle, Senior Editor, Successful Meetings SMERF (SOCIAL, MILITARY, EDUCATIONAL, RELIGIOUS AND FRATERNAL) MEETINGS WERE ONCE CONSIDERED THE DREGS OF THE MEETINGS INDUSTRY. IT’S A MARKET WHERE AFFORDABILITY REIGNS AND QUIRKY REQUESTS ABOUND WITH THE POTENTIAL OF CAUSING MORE HEADACHES THAN THE BUSINESS IS WORTH. However, that is no longer as case. As the corporate meeting market tightens and the trade association market dwindles, smart meeting planners are realizing that targeting SMERFs can mean big business. But how do you successfully tap into this market and facilitate top notch events to keep these demanding groups satisfied? Believe it or not, many of the same rules that apply to the mainstream markets also apply to SMERF groups, with some added care. The cardinal rule is to know your group. SMERF meetings, many of them, are not as heavily driven by business needs but more by social and personal ties, so in that sense these types of meetings are more recession-proof than most. Join Successful Meetings and MeetingNews magazines for this live, interactive Web Seminar, sponsored by Visit Jacksonville, and hear from industry experts how you can gain a better understanding of the lucrative SMERF meetings market. Attend this online-only event and learn how to develop appealing RFPs to win over SMERFs and how to execute successful events for this group. Lawrence E. Scovotto CAE. Program Coordinator - Friends of Florida State Forests, Florida Division of Forestry, Forest Management Bureau John Reyes, President, CEO - Visit Jacksonville MODERATOR Elliot Markowitz, Editorial Director, Nielsen Business Media, Webcasts/ Digital Events REGISTER NOW AT: Sponsored by Presented by www.nielsencast.com The Authority on Meetings & Incentives www.VirtualMeetingWorld.com www.meetingnews.com February 16, 2009 MeetingNews 39 http://presentations.inxpo.com/Shows/Nielsen/01-08/Registration/FromClient/index.html http://www.Confabb.com http://www.nielsencast.com http://www.VirtualMeetingWorld.com http://www.nielsencast.com http://www.meetingnews.com

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Meeting News - February 16, 2009

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