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TIPS ON INTEGRATING SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE AT EVENTS. BY DAVE SERINO

In a recent whitepaper published by American Express called “The Evolving Landscape of Technology in Meetings,” planners and attendees alike noted that the use of social media was important to the success of their event, but we have seen the use of the social media applications like Twitter decline during events over the past few years.

Twitter has moved from an open engagement network, where people would exchange information and conduct dialogue publicly. This process would allow everyone in the Twitterverse the ability to observe conversation and join in with others at any time they felt was appropriate.

Just about 10 years ago, when I managed my first social media educational conference, Twitter was a huge focal point of the program. We positioned two large projection screens into the event’s main session, where attendees could read comments in real time via a conference hashtag on the “Twitter wall.” It was informative and often entertaining to have attendees share their comments and insight, all while the speaker was delivering their message to the entire crowd. It was a great way to have attendees active and engaged throughout the event. It also provided an opportunity for those actively engaging with content and other event participants to expand their online network and build personal brand.

As you may have recently noticed, Twitter has changed into more of a push or distribution network that features news, sports, current events and information. The openness and freestyle communication that built the network is no longer there, but that doesn’t mean event attendees want to stop communicating with each other during an event.

One trend that we have noticed develop during the Twitter evolution is what we call “dark social.” We consider dark social your personal and private network within a network. It is a list of trusted friends, colleagues and associates who share content via a private list or closed group within applications like Facebook, LinkedIn, Messenger, Snapchat or even via text. The messages that are exchanged are done in a trusted environment.

But event attendees still consider Twitter and social media an important communication outlet and feedback tool. So, how can we utilize the benefits of these mediums as attendee’s continue to gravitate to the practices of dark social?

We would recommend two options. The first is a mobile event app with the ability to include an “activity feed,” which is actually an old school Twitter wall that is self-contained in the application. It will allow attendees to participate in a running commentary about topics being discussed by speakers and panelists. It hits the dark social trend head on, allows the attendees the comfort level to speak among their peers, and also frees up their feed with random hashtagged tweets that some of their followers could deem irrelevant.

Secondly, a closed Facebook or LinkedIn group is another option. Although it may not be as nimble as a mobile app, it will still serve a similar purpose and could provide additional sustainability for post event communication, networking and relationship-building. This would be done through the sharing of information and content that reaches beyond the event.

We know that meetings and events will always continue to be successful based on the opportunities provided from our in-person and face-to-face interactions. And social media will play an integral part in events for the immediate future. We just need to commit to continue to follow industry trends and monitor feedback to insure that our programs provide the desired experience for those involved—in person and online.

DAVE SERINO IS THE FOUNDER AND CHIEF STRATEGIST AT TWOSIX DIGITAL AND IS A 30-YEAR VETERAN OF THE TRAVEL, TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY. HE HAS HELD MARKETING POSITIONS IN HOTELS, RESORTS AND CONVENTION AND VISITORS BUREAUS, ALONG WITH LAUNCHING TWO STARTUP VENTURES AND A NATIONAL SOCIAL MEDIA EDUCATIONAL CONFERENCE. HE ALSO DEVELOPED THE FIRST TOURISM-FOCUSED SOCIAL MEDIA MEASUREMENT AND RANKING STUDY TO BENCHMARK THE 50 STATE TOURISM OFFICES. DAVE SERVES ON THE BOARD OF THE WEST MICHIGAN TOURIST ASSOCIATION AND IS A MEMBER OF THE MICHIGAN CRAFT BEVERAGE COUNCIL’S MARKETING COMMITTEE. FOLLOW DAVE ON TWITTER @DAVESERINO FOR MORE INSIGHT ON DIGITAL MARKETING.