Event Profs Can Use an Easy Win

Oh my beloved #eventprofs ... it's been a trying, yet remarkable year as we've seen the conference world literally turned upside down and as we wind down 2009 and look forward to what is sure to be a wild 2010, the verdict is certainly still out on best practices when it comes to integrating social media as part of the fabric of your event.

You know you need to on some level simply because the best events out there are doing it, and doing it, and ... dare I say, doing it well (props to LL) ... but you battle internal bandwidth issues and you've got a ton of work on your plate already, so diving into the newer world of Event Apps. powered by Social Media starts out as a priority, but slowly fades to the background as you get closer to standing up the tents and putting on your 3 to 4 day event. Before this happens to you ... consider the VERY easy win that is CrowdCampaign.

This uber easy to wield App. allows you to create and launch branded contests that get your attendees and others who might be interested in your show participating with your event "brand" and by doing so, proliferating your content for you.

Check out how Web 2.0 is using this tool to Crowdsource best questions for their keynote speaker here: With almost 5,000 page views, 15 proposals and scores of votes, this is participation!

Then there is Tech Cocktail and the ingenuitve way they are getting sponsors excited and participating with their upcoming December event. Kudos to their team for this stellar idea that in just 2 days garnered over 2,700 page views and has generated a passionate battle for this free sponsorship spot! Check out the action and these great startups here:

Two great ways to get your attendees, perspective attendees, sponsors and possible sponsors for your event picking up YOUR social megaphone and sharing your content with their connections.

Call me to discuss how you can apply this tool to your event, but I encourage you to dive in boldly and use this tool to generate buzz, best ideas, proposals, questions for your keynotes, suggestions, and more. The top #eventprofs on Twitter continuously talk about handing some aspects over to your attendees and we couldn't agree more ... BUT, if you are going to hand over part of the reigns ... don't you at least want the horse adorned in your branding and with the ability to track all the pertinent metrics relevant to your world?

You have an event in late '09 or '10 ... you need a way to get true participation, conversation, interaction, and buzz going ... CrowdCampaign is the tool.

It starts at free and goes up to very affordable as most events will find they can get everything they want, the branding, the analytics, the size contest they need for $395. Plus, the events world is where we were born of ... If you're an event (organizer) or a non-profit, email me and I'll send you a discount code for 20% off your first CrowdCampaign.

This tool makes it easy ... and I think EVERY event organizer out there can use a little bit of easy after the last 12 months our industry just went through.

Good Luck!

Clinton
the Social Collective
clinton.bonner@gmail.com

Crowdsourcing For Your Event - There's an App. for That

Crowdsourcing, it's pretty much everywhere and if you don't know about it yet, and how it can be applied to your world, I encourage you to learn. Jeff Howe, coined the term, "Crowdsourcing", and does a nice job explaining this technique and various applications here: http://crowdsourcing.typepad.com/ - The unintended consequence of Crowdsourcing is the unreal social media proliferation it can create when a buzz-worthy competition is launched.

So let's talk about your world, your event, and your brand. How can YOU apply Crowdsourcing at your next event? Luckily, there's an App. for that, and it's called CrowdCampaign. For the sake of transparency/disclosure, my company (the Social Collective) created this App. I "assisted" our lead dev. in creating and iterating through this creation, and yes, it is stellar, uber easy to use, incredibly effective, and refreshingly inexpensive. ENOUGH SELF PROMO #Agreed

Back to YOU, your event and how you should be implementing Crowdsourcing at your next conference or gathering. We all know attendees and sponsors love to participate and be part of the process, so let them do exactly that, just make sure you are doing it in the social arena where their participation translates into proliferation. Here are some ideas for your next event:

• Crowdsource the best questions your attendees want the keynote(s) to answer ~ furthermore, if your keynote has an impressive social graph to reach out to, talk to him/her during the courting process and let them know your intentions and that their social support of this initiative is part of the gig. This is GREAT for their personal brand too, so get them on board and leverage their massive audience to get new eyes to your content, your contest, your event.
• Crowdsource for proposals and topic suggestions - Ask the crowd what is relevant to their world and what they want to learn about at your event. Take it a step further and offer up some speaking slots and panel positions for best ideas. #SXSW is KING in this arena, their panel picker is an annual event unto itself at this point.
• Ask the crowd who they are most excited to see live and why? If you've got an array of talented speakers, find out who your attendees are pumped to hear and get them sharing this excitement with their peers. If you run an expo, find out what new tech., or gadget, or service, or product the crowd is most excited to learn about. Just ask them, they will voice their opinion.
• Ask the crowd "What's the #1 Take Away or Best Idea learned and how they plan on implementing it?" Your attendees sharing stories on how they intend to apply what they learned at YOUR event, that is SM gold.
  
• Post-Event, use Crowdsourcing to extend the life of your event and ask the crowd "Who Wow'd YOU at XYZ '09 and Why?" OR "What's the one thing YOU would love to see XYZ Event incorporate for our 2010 Event and Why?" Either is a huge win and will naturally extend the life of your physical event.
  

Now you just need the tool to make this super easy. And that tool is CrowdCampaign. Our App. allows you to stand up branded, unique competitions that gets your attendees and sponsors promoting for you and alongside you. We leverage Twitter wisely and the results are contests that elicit REAL participation and buzz.

Call or Ping me to sched. a demo and learn more about CrowdCampaign. Your event needs more participation. This is the way to do it simply, inexpensively, and in a branded package that gets eyes and ears on YOUR event.

Clinton
the Social Collective
clinton@thesocialcollective.com
860.608.9074
http://twitter.com/clintonbon