Hashtags Make Twitter Work Harder

Sure, it’s interesting to following friends and colleagues on Twitter just to see what they’re up to. But many of us are vexed about the actual usefulness of the tool. Still others have shied away from incorporating Twitter into marketing plans because it can’t be easily controlled. Yet, that’s the real beauty of the tool: microblogging is a grassroots tool that allows you to collect attendee feedback and capture emerging trends in their infancy.

To get the most out of twitter for your next meeting or event, make the application work harder for you in just two steps.

Step 1: Create a hashtag. A hashtag is a shortened version of a few related keywords that allows people to categorize their posts. A sample hashtag for the XYZ Annual Conference might be #XYZ2010. Twitter’s functionality allows clickable searching by hashtag, and allows you to sort out only posts related to your event. To be useful, keep your hashtag short and descriptive – remember, these are people who have to communicate their entire thought in 140 characters or less!

Step 2: Publicize your hashtag in all conference materials. Ask some of your energetic supporters, volunteers, speakers, or staff to blog about your event regularly (once per week or more) and include your hashtag. The more interesting their tweets, the more likely they’ll be retweeted (forwarded to others) and the more publicity you’ll get.

Onsite, publicize your hashtag in all materials: in the program, on the conference bag, on the back of staff shirts, on slides during the plenary session …. well, you get the picture. Encourage attendees to tweet about the sessions they’re in and their experience overall. The feedback you collect will be piecemeal, but honest and timely.

Data mining of attendee and member tweets can show you entirely new dimensions of their needs and expectations – and allow you to provide products and services that meet those needs and expectations before anyone else. Regularly monitored, Twitter is like an ongoing virtual focus group. Get tweeting!

SUSTAINABILITY IS ABOUT HELPING PEOPLE UNDERSTAND WHAT’S POSSIBLE

Hospitality communities and organizations nationwide place a high priority on forming a viable sustainability event and are being assisted in furthering this goal by webcasts and universities offering continuing education where the focal point and emphasis is to devote our planning to long-term sustainability – not just one year, one city at a time.

On October 5, President Obama signed a new Executive Order on Federal Sustainability, which challenges all federal agencies to lead by example in energy and environmental performance. The Order gives them 90 days to set a 2020 greenhouse reduction goal and also sets targets for efficient, sustainable buildings, reduced petroleum use in vehicles, water efficiency, waste reduction, purchasing green technologies and products, and supporting sustainable communities. Council on Environmental Quality chair Nancy Sutley added that "...by putting Federal purchasing power to work – more than $500 billion per year in goods and services – the government can build on the momentum of the Recovery Act to help turn good entrepreneurial ideas into great American enterprises that create jobs.

That’s great for the down the road … but, hey -- The hospitality industry continues to lead the way on sustainability at hotels, convention centers and the cities they borrow for the week by demonstrating the important and significant benefits of exercising ‘environmental best practices’. Most designated sustainability officers offer guidance, encouragement and solid support for implementing effective sustainability policies prior to and during your conference.

Hot Wheels - A Simple Solution

We have all been there... It’s 9:00PM, you’re waiting for a reception to end and you figure you might as well set out all the signs and boards for the next morning. The last thing you want to do after a long day of being on your feet is hand carry heavy pocket signs around to 3 different floors. At a conference earlier this year, we came up with an easy and convenient solution for this daunting task. It’s simple really, a trashcan with wheels.

We have tried several different options, such as bell carts, but these can get cumbersome to be moving around quickly and hard to maneuver. In some cities, union requirements prohibit the use of bell carts. Trashcans are lightweight and the wheels allow for easy turns.

All you have to do it stack signs on top to make a flat surface. Then you can just wheel around to the space you are using the next day and put out the signs appropriately. This saves on having to make multiple trips back and forth to the office to get more signs, you can get it all done in one quick shot.

This system also works when having to move heavy things to a different location without having to get the hotel involved. For example, you have a box with all of the heavy awards in it. You can use the trashcan as a dolly. Just place one signboard over the top to create a flat surface and you’ve got a dolly to carry your awards to the ceremony without having to carry them individually or break your back.

Using a trashcan instead of a bell stand also aids in transporting easels to breakout rooms. Laying these flat on a bell stand can potentially be hazardous, but standing the easels up straight in the well of the trashcan allows for easier transportation.

Although this seems like a simple solution, we sometimes do not think of utilizing materials that are at our fingertips in these situations. Rather than going through the trouble of obtaining a bell cart to use for the week, these industrial trashcans are usually already present in your meeting office to begin with. Using a trashcan to move items around might seem unconventional but really, its practical, mobile, and gets the job done quickly and efficiently.

The Myth of Facebook Marketing

We are often asked whether clients should try to incorporate social networking into their meeting marketing. Facebook, in particular, comes up frequently -- it seems that the application has received so much press in the past three years that for some people it’s synonymous with social networking.

Facebook should not automatically be part of the conference marketing strategy for an association or professional association, except in select cases where the value proposition is clear. Most 30+ professionals use Facebook to stay in touch with friends and family, sharing photos and stories about their personal lives. We hesitate to join professional groups or fan pages because we like to keep our personal lives private.

As the age of your demographic increases, putting one’s personal life out on the internet for all to see becomes even less appealing. If you’re doubtful, consider the fact that ASAE has over 22,000 real-life members but just 338 Facebook fans. The Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA) has over 6,000 members but just over 400 Facebook fans. These organizations are spending precious resources managing an outreach platform that is reaching just a tiny percentage of their members.

Unless your meeting is geared towards twentysomethings -- or it’s in a market segment where Facebook is common currency -– creating a professional group on Facebook is likely to be disappointing. Though social networking and viral marketing can be successful for many conventions, Facebook is not the right fit for most groups. Stay tuned to the blog for ideas about effective social networking tools that are successful for event marketing.