Tuvel Communications Blog: Technology Archives

September 21, 2010

Do Virtual and Hybrid Events Cannibalize F2F Events?

I recently had the pleasure of attending EventCamp Twin Cities - without leaving my office. How? I attended the virtual event, held in tandem with the live, face-to-face (F2F) event in the Twin Cities. I was extremely impressed by the entire event and particularly the virtual side. Thanks to technology partners like Intefy and Sonic Foundry, as well as awesome organizers like Samuel J. Smith of Interactive Meeting Technology, Ray Hansen of Appevision and EventCamp Twin Cities virtual host Emilie Barta, my experience as a virtual attendee was as if I were right there in the room, participating with everyone else. I came away from EventCamp Twin Cities filled with excitement to attend (in person) the upcoming EventCamp East Coast in Philadelphia.

I even tweeted during the event about my excitement...

...which got this response from @suzannecarawan:

It definitely made me think. Since we work with many event organizers on social media, outreach and community building for their events, this experience made me wonder about how well virtual and hybrid (mix of virtual and F2F) events could work for larger conferences. I think that the possibilities would be endless and present enormous opportunity to engage not only past attendees who could not make it to the event, but new audiences interested in the content on offer. I recall a song from my Girl Scout days we used to sing at the end of troop meetings: "Make new friends, but keep the old/One is silver and the other gold." Build new relationships, build upon existing ones.

Unfortunately, there seems to be this assumption that virtual and hybrid events will cannibalize attendance to the live event. In reality, virtual and hybrid events (when done right) can actually help increase attendance to subsequent live events by broadening the event’s reach and generating interest from new audience bases. Read about the case of Cisco and the phenomenal results they achieved from their hybrid events – where 55% of virtual attendees were "net-new" and 35% said they’d attend a live event. Another example of hybrid events that work is the IN Zone at TS2 2010, where the "Continuing the Conversation" virtual audience grew by 106% as they watched interviews conducted by Emilie Barta and participated in discussions via social media channels.

What we have to get past is the notion that virtual and hybrid events will become a reason for attendees not to pay. Instead, they’re a reason for those who cannot attend the live event to still participate. Why would you want to alienate those who cannot attend in person just because they’re not paying the big bucks to do so? Hybrid events present a huge opportunity to engage a portion of your audience during a live event that you wouldn’t have engaged otherwise. They may already be following your event via Twitter, Facebook, blogs or other online news sources – why not acknowledge those folks and invite them to participate where they are?

Plus, if your content is strong and valuable enough, you might even consider charging a fee to attend virtually, or even offering a tiered model with free and premium virtual attendance. In fact, according to a recent survey of 112 associations conducted by Tagoras, only 2-3% of groups that are planning virtual conferences for the first time say they will offer it for free – in fact, most are looking to charge as close to the price of the F2F conferences as they can. Michael McCurry of Experient wrote an excellent article exploring revenue models for hybrid events, which I highly recommend reading if you’re considering “hybridizing” your event.

So - are you convinced yet, or do you still have reservations? What have your experiences been with virtual and hybrid events as related to your live event attendance?

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Technorati Tags: virtual events hybrid events virtual conferences TS2 social media

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July 14, 2010

2 Event-Friendly Location-Based Apps that Go Beyond “Checking In”

Location-based services are the newest trend in social networking, and as such the big players in the space (Foursquare and Gowalla) are getting all sorts of attention and scrutiny. While many users of such services love broadcasting their whereabouts to their online friends and earning badges and titles of distinction in the process (Player Please badge, anyone?), others are a bit wary of them and their usefulness – and are especially concerned with potential privacy issues.

Businesses, on the other hand, are starting to find value of their own in using location-based services as a marketing tool. Even event marketers are starting to experiment with location-based social networking to promote a conference, specific exhibitor, or special sessions – something we did for this year's NAB Show.

The only problem is when it comes to events and conferences, services like Foursquare and Gowalla aren't quite ready for prime time. While the concept of checking in to an event or exhibitor booth in order to drive traffic and generate interest is definitely cool, the functionality is not conducive to a conference setting due to two big issues:

A venue page is built based on a single address – where several different events may take place over time.

Lack of interactivity and ability for attendees to do what they would be naturally inclined to do at a conference – network with each other.

Recently, I had conversations with folks from two different location-based apps that have set out to change all of that.

SCVNGR

scvngr logo.jpg

Location-based gaming app SCVNGR looks like it's really going places (and racking up some points at those places, too). The Google-backed start-up combines the concept of "checking in" to venues with the fun and interactivity of an old-fashioned scavenger hunt. Players discover cool new places, find fun new things to do, share their activity with friends and can even earn virtual (and sometimes real-world) rewards. Upon visiting and checking in to a venue, users of the app are required to complete a "challenge", which could range from taking a photo to something more complex. Users can rack up points for completing challenges, which could be used to win prizes.

What impressed me most about SCVNGR is the applications in a conference setting are endless and benefit not only attendees, but also exhibitors. Conferences can create custom "treks" consisting of 20-35 locations, taking people on a certain path around the conference or expo. Imagine offering this to exhibitors as a value-add to drive traffic to their booths while interacting in a fun and engaging way with attendees/prospective customers, or even using this as a way to promote certain sessions or guide people through conference tracks. You might even create a social media hub at your event with a digital "leader board" displaying attendee names and their scores, along with photos that have been taken or other media created in the process.

It's free to create places and challenges at those places, however the creation of treks (what will link all those places and challenges together into a complete, branded experience) is only available to enterprise clients of SCVNGR. With the creation of custom treks come features like the leader board, an activity screen, analytics, game design and turnkey support.

Double Dutch

Double Dutch is really touting itself as the location-based app for events, and for good reason. It's a white-label app that is custom-built for an event – which does away with the inherent issue I mentioned above with checking in to a conference (or specific location at a conference) with Foursquare or Gowalla. This means individual booths and sessions can be built into the app for attendees to check in to within the confines of the event venue itself, and they have the option of broadcasting their conference whereabouts to only other attendees.

Double Dutch can also be used by attendees to interact with each other and at different sessions. For instance, they can use it to rate speakers and even submit questions to them via RSS. A gaming element can also be built into the app and used in much the same way as Scvngr, incentivizing attendees with custom-branded stickers for completing tasks like checking in at exhibitor booths and sessions, taking photos and even rating speakers. For those of you in exhibitor sales and marketing, these stickers can be sold to exhibitors as a way to market their presence.

Double Dutch clients can also create leader boards and have access to an analytics dashboard to monitor activity, speaker feedback and how people are engaging with the app. They can also use the Double Dutch API to connect Facebook, Twitter and blogs to the app – allowing attendees to post their whereabouts and reviews to those places if they choose. The fact that it combines the gaming element with additional ways for attendees to interact with each other and with exhibitors and speakers makes this a valuable tool for event marketers.

Double Dutch is currently available on iPhone only at the moment, but should be available across all platforms soon.

The Verdict?

I think both of these apps have massive value to offer for event marketers and organizers – both from an attendee and exhibitor standpoint. There are costs involved in working with both Scvngr and Double Dutch, but I also think the potential for generating ROI on either one is huge, not to mention the opportunity to engage attendees directly with fun games, event networking and built-in feedback loops.

Have you used either of these apps for an event? Tell us about your experience!

Continue reading "2 Event-Friendly Location-Based Apps that Go Beyond “Checking In”" »

Technorati Tags: location-based apps event marketing geolocation social media SCVNGR Double Dutch

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May 19, 2010

HOW TO: Use Foursquare for a Conference (or an Exhibit Booth)

Tuvel Communications is the online PR firm for the NAB Show, and in addition to being the "voice" behind the show's social media outposts (Twitter, Facebook pages, LinkedIn group), we also devised and implemented creative pre-show and on-site social media promotions to engage attendees, drive registrations and generate excitement.

This year Foursquare became a major player in the social media game, and although we did not implement a full-scale location-based program, we did monitor how people were using Foursquare at the show, plus we came up with a last minute on-site contest that utilized the geo-location social network. What we learned was quite interesting and makes all of us here at Tuvel very excited about the possibilities Foursquare presents for the event marketing and conference business(s).

What did we do?

We created a Foursquare page for the NAB Show using the address of the Las Vegas Convention Center, where it takes place every year. Here's how to do this:

Log in to Foursquare, or create an account if you don’t have one already. If you don’t have a smartphone, that’s OK – you can still create an account without it.

Set your location to the city where the event is taking place.

Click on Add Things at the top of the page.

Click on Add a New Venue.

We came up with a last-minute contest to drive traffic to a particular session (namely, a session called "In Conversation With: Stan Lee", moderated by comedian and G4 Channel personality Chris Hardwick). We wanted attendees to check in to the session for a chance to win a copy of "The Amazing Spider-Man" comic book, autographed by creator Stan Lee himself. So, we created a Foursquare page by following the steps above and including all the pertinent details for the session (session name, event name, room number) in the Name field. We then promoted the contest the morning of the session via Twitter, Facebook and a post on the official NAB Show Blog.

Foursquare Page - NAB Show Stan Lee Session

What did we learn?

I mentioned earlier that throughout the show, we were monitoring how attendees were using Foursquare on-site. We found that in addition to people checking in through the show page we created, others were creating their own NAB Show pages on Foursquare and checking in through those. We also found that some exhibitors had created Foursquare pages for their own booths, using the same method outlined above (they used their company names and booth numbers in the Name fields).

I recently talked about our use of Foursquare in a discussion on the Engage 365 Community, and a great comment was made by John Barber that "the more event Foursquare pages that are added by your method, the longer becomes the flat list of places that all come up at the venue's main geo-location." This is a great point, and I would certainly not say our implementation method was in any way foolproof. This, however, is more attributable to the limits of the tool itself. When it comes to Foursquare's use at conferences, it's definitely not ready for prime time (although I hope to see that change soon).

As for our Stan Lee session contest, we garnered a grand total of 15 check-ins. Considering that it was a last-minute guerilla marketing tactic with literally a morning's worth of marketing to promote it and where we were basically experimenting with Foursquare's use at an individual conference session, I would say it worked pretty well.

Have you ever seen Foursquare used (or used it yourself) for event marketing? What were the results and how did you gauge them?

Continue reading "HOW TO: Use Foursquare for a Conference (or an Exhibit Booth)" »

Technorati Tags: Foursquare social media NAB Show geo-location location-based social networks event marketing

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May 10, 2010

11 Lessons Learned: Social Media & Event Marketing

Here at Tuvel Communications, we have executed conference and expo social media programs for clients like the NAB Show and 1105 Government Information Group. We've learned several lessons along the way, and I thought it would be useful to get these thoughts down on digital paper to share with you so can be better prepared when it comes to social media marketing at events.

Start early. It takes time to build a relationship. You don't want the first communication from your event to be about passing a promo code along! We always try to keep in mind the old Internet adage to give and then take. We typically like to begin outreach efforts 6 months prior to an event.

Create excitement! Content doesn't create excitement, people do. We were recently charged with driving attendees to an expo. People love to win, so we created Twitter raffles and contests. People got really excited about winning a conference ticket. We also ran a recent Facebook promotion where 'likes' (aka: fans) were asked to post photos from past shows. People got excited about posting and seeing each others photos (especially the ones from shows 15 or more years ago).

Don't underestimate the power of face-to-face. This is really a lesson learned from Netpreneur/Coffee & DoughNets days. Developing an online relationship can be cemented by a face-to-face meeting. Nothing beats the interaction we see at client events. Strong online community building and networking done prior to the show complement offline meetings. Even better is if attendees are located in the same market as the event and you can bring them together before and after the show.

Feedback and buzz are huge! Our company is metrics focused. Whether it's 'ROI', attendee increases or exhibitor traffic, we look to the numbers to partially determine our success. Other program metrics include size of the communities and how well they're engaged, profile traction, website analytics, and promo code tracking.

Having said all of that, don't underestimate the importance of feedback from conference organizers, attendees and exhibitors. It's easy to feel excitement in the air when you hear comments like "you guys are doing something different this year" or "there really is a lot of activity, I notice it."

Think through, take a deep breath and consider implications before acting. We recently identified a potential conflict when an attendee at a client event set up a blog that was inadvertently being mistaken for the 'official' show blog. We took a very deliberate 'honey vs. vinegar' approach of not reacting in a negative or aggressive fashion. Instead, we began building a relationship that eventually led to shared traffic. It would have been fool-hardy on our part to do anything else.

Don't be afraid to try new things (or, you never know unless you try). At a recent client event, show organizers were nice enough to offer us a vacant booth, which we turned into a Social Media Suite. We got some perplexed expressions and strange questions for sure. Traffic was light, so on day two of the conference, we made a CVS run, dressed up the booth and held a Tweetup. We produced a Twitter chat for another client, unsure if anyone would even show up for the party. We ended up doubling registrations as a result of the hour-long chat.

Beware of technology (or, the best laid plans...). We had a great on-site social media plan for a recent event, only to find out that lack of stable wifi prohibited us from uploading any photos, tweeting or posting. On another occasion, we were all set up for a Twitter chat only to have chat tools slow down to a screeching halt. Moral of the story: don't be surprised when inevitabilities of technology happen.

Be patient. It takes time to get traction. We 're big on momentum and were dismayed when a couple of recent promotions didn't get off to a quick start. It took time for the word to spread and traffic to build up. But, we soldiered on and both promotions ended up going well. Thankfully, we didn't pull the plug before they took off.

Always follow best practices. This goes without saying, but I figure it's worth repeating. Following best practices in terms of transparency and communication isn't only the right thing to do-- it's just good business.

Its not just the numbers, it's who they are and where they're doing it that also count. We'd trade larger groups of passive readers for a handful of passionate supporters any day.

Ask for referrals. We execute word-of-mouse campaigns. As soon as someone posts or passes our message along, we ask for referrals - bloggers, moderators, social networkers and list owners in their network. These folks might be interested in our communication and nothing beats an introduction!

What lessons have you learned from your event social media marketing efforts?

Continue reading "11 Lessons Learned: Social Media & Event Marketing" »

Technorati Tags: event marketing social media marketing social media for conferences outreach word-of-mouth marketing

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April 29, 2010

Marketers: Do You "Like" Facebook's Open Graph?

With last week's pivotal announcement of Facebook's Open Graph, the "one graph to rule them all" as it’s been referred to rather humorously (and yet, at the same time quite ominously), the Interwebs have been all abuzz with talk of how this will affect the web as we know it. While the ubiquitous term "Web 2.0" refers to the next generation of the web - an increasingly social entity due to social media and networking sites like Twitter, YouTube, and of course Facebook - the question on many minds is how the web will evolve with the introduction of Open Graph and whether it will now become one big social network.

As an online marketer, however, I've been more interested in how Facebook's new set of Open Graph features can be used to extend the reach of a brand and its content. Gone is the ability to become a "fan" of something, whether it's a brand, product, or business. If you have a formerly-known-as-"fan page" (not sure what it's called now – just a "page"?), then your fans are now people who "like" you. Kind of reminds me of those little notes we used to pass to each other in school ("Do you like me? Check Yes or No").

Using the new set of social plugins provided by Facebook, "Like" and "Recommend" buttons can now be integrated into virtually any website - so if you're signed in to Facebook and you visit a website with these buttons perched next to its content, you can share that content with your Facebook friends with just a click.

On top of that, Facebook now also has widgets that display content your friends recommend and like on a website. For instance, when I visit CNN.com, I can see from the Facebook widget on the homepage the articles with which my friends have interacted in some way – recommended, liked, shared, and commented on.

Can you imagine the possibilities here? These widgets can be integrated into blogs, news sites, e-commerce sites, and online communities in so many different ways. While there has been a bit of a backlash in response to Open Graph regarding privacy concerns (aren't there always when it comes to Facebook?), I see this a positive boon for marketers and the social web as a whole.

Your turn: What are your thoughts on Facebook's Open Graph and its marketing possibilities?

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Technorati Tags: Facebook Open Graph social media social media marketing content marketing

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April 23, 2006

Couponing and RSS

Adotas RSS Breathes New Life into Coupons

One thing helping RSS become more mainstream (if it hasn't already!) are offerings that people can use. We all know the time savings and efficiency that RSS brings but vertical use will speak volumes.

Here is an interesting article on how couponing is taking advantage of RSS. Add this to music, and news and it won't be long before consumers see the light!

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April 18, 2006

Who Cares about Visitors Connecting by Dial-Up?

(heard about it on The Escape Blog)

Nick Usborne and Marketing Experiments has a piece on Dial-up service and all I can say is 'Amen'! I just spent the good part of a week on dial-up and it was painful. Broken images, downloads that never downloaded, 'files not found' all make for a tedious experience. The biggest drag, outside of frustration, is time wasted. Forget deep linking on a dial-up. You can also forget image heavy websites like The Washington Post.

Nick makes a great point though about the 35% of us that exist on dial-up. This all reminds me of a Guy Kawasaki line about eating your own dog food.

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July 20, 2005

Ajax

Steve Rubel is talking about Ajax and advertising. I first heard about Ajax from Venturepreneur, in a funding conversation. Both of these folks mention Adaptive Path. Janice Fraser, Adaptive Path CEO, had a great essay on Ajax's tipping point.

Something is happening right now, and the developer community has an electric gleam in its eye.

More: It's a Whole New Internet.

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March 09, 2005

Recommendations on RSS/Really Simple Syndication Readers?

A recent post to the AdMarketing list:

Hi everyone-

On a recent trip, I pulled up my RSS/Really Simple Syndication newsreader only to find that all of my web feeds were missing! This means that all of the content that I was automatically getting at the press of a button was gone for good. These days, loosing your web feeds is kinda like loosing the inbox. I was using the FeedReader newsreader...

Anyway, does anyone have recommendations for a newsreader that you like? Some of the popular brands: feedster, bloglines, newsgator. If you send me recommendations directly or even post them to my blog, I'll return a list of AdMarketing favorites. There are many newsreaders out there (link to a list follows). It would be good to see what other AdMarketers are using.

March 07, 2005

Why doesn't KMWorld have an RSS feed?

Recent meetings with government contractors has led me to KMWorld; a good place to find out about trends and technologies in the knowledge management space.

I'm thrown for a loop though. One place that I surely thought to have an RSS feed would be a publication on knowledge management and collaboration! Problem is that they don't have a feed, making it more difficult for me to get to their content.

I could always order the print publication but may risk tossing it in with the other magazines that "I don't have time for". This is a good magazine-- I'll have to try and remember to visit the website each month.

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March 03, 2005

XBRL

I was at a business lunch today and there was a fellow there from Business Wire. He told me that XBRL/eXtensible Business Reporting Language is very hot when it comes to distributing news. More:

XBRL is a language for the electronic communication of business and financial data which is set to revolutionise business reporting around the world. It provides major benefits in the preparation, analysis and communication of business information. It offers cost savings, greater efficiency and improved accuracy and reliability to all those involved in supplying or using financial data.

XBRL stands for eXtensible Business Reporting Language. It is one of a family of "XML" languages which is becoming a standard means of communicating information between businesses and on the internet.

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