7 Ways to Tweet Your Event to the Top

Campaign Highlights and Tips When the staff of Falls Church, Va.-based 1105 Government Information Group—an integrated information and media provider for the government information-technology market that produces print, online, event, custom media and research products—was planning the launch of its Open Government & Innovations (OGI) Conference in Washington, D.C., last year, they knew they wanted social media to play a significant role in the event. 1. "We actually [hired] someone [to] work with us who is an expert in social media," says Christina Condos, 1105's vice president of events. "She gave us a lot of really good advice as far as how to do it, and then it was a lot of trial and error, because some things work better than others with different audiences." 2. A tactic that helped encourage conference attendees to tweet throughout the event was a "TwitterBoard" that was set up in the main room where most of the larger sessions were held. The board displayed a live feed of tweets about the event. "It was really very interesting to see the comments [that were being tweeted]. There were people commenting who were in that room, but then also people who commented that weren't [at the event]," says Condos. "It worked. ... It made the event bigger than it was because it brought it outside the convention center." 3. Because the OGI conference generated so many tweets, and as a way to further the discussion after the event was over, 1105 compiled all of the tweets from the event into a "TweetBook," which the company made available as a PDF file to be downloaded for free on the event's website. "I've seen a lot of events do it since then, but I believe we were one of the first," notes Condos of the TweetBook. "I think that TweetBook was really valuable," she continues. "It started a lot of people thinking about ways to engage beyond the normal talking head at an event." 4. Additionally, 1105 generated revenue by selling sponsorships for both the TwitterBoard and the TweetBook. While Twitter helped to buoy the OGI Conference's success, Condos believes Facebook and LinkedIn generally are "much more valuable" for business events. Condos' staff is active in LinkedIn groups related to the event, which it utilizes for speaker acquisitions, and maintains a Facebook page for the OGI Conference. "I think as time goes on, we'll develop a more defined strategy," Condos says. "We're trying to figure out where the value is." 5. Condos advises that it's key to have your event staff encourage both speakers and exhibitors to tweet and use other forms of social media to create excitement beyond the traditional promotion of the event. While 1105 does not currently have a full-time staff member devoted to social media marketing, she believes it's an important position that many companies will be adding to their staffs, if they haven't already. "We don't have anyone dedicated to it [now], but I see it coming," she says. 6. In the meantime, to help Condos' current staff with its social media efforts, interns have proven to be helpful. "They're communication majors, and this is a big part of their schooling," she says. "They've been extremely helpful in getting us in the right direction because it's inherent to them. That's their age; it's like they've never known anything different." 7. Condos also stresses the importance of promoting events through social media year-round. "[Social media] makes events a lot more interactive, which is key, and it makes the events live a lot longer because there's so much discussion [outside of the actual event]," says Condos. "If you look at the press after [the 2009 OGI Conference]-and there was a lot of it-we got a lot of people saying it was one of the best events they had attended that year. I think a lot of it was because of the constant engagement, and not just in terms of promoting and banging them over the head to exhibit and attend, but engaging them in their opinion and their point of view. "I think if you're working in events these days and you're not looking at [social media], you're not going to make it," she continues. "The reality is [that] e-mail blasts don't work like they used to-[although], obviously, you still have to do them. Direct mail is expensive. ... There's only so many ways you can communicate with both sponsors and attendees. You have to try new things, and we're trying to be out there doing that because we think it's really important." PE

Emerging Technologies

7 Ways to Tweet Your Event to the Top

Janet Spavlik

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Janet Spavlik