When a Natural Disaster Strikes

Last week, I was managing a 2,400-delegate international conference in Atlanta. The conference went superbly, with very few unexpected events or unplanned disruptions.

Just as we were planning our departure, however, Mother Nature threw a monkey wrench into things with the eruption of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajökull volcano. This particular conference is approximately 40% graduate students and 25% European delegates, for whom being stranded unexpectedly poses financial and logistical stresses.

Convention managers are under no obligation to accommodate stranded attendees in a natural or other disaster. Like many organizations, however, this group felt obligated to their community and asked us to provide logistical and financial support for people who were truly stranded. Though this conference does not have a written emergency plan, our team immediately took action in the following ways:

• Pushed out accurate information early and often, using Twitter and the conference hashtag. Circulated a new Twitter hashtag to allow stranded conference travelers to keep in touch with one another.
• Contacted the hotel immediately to confirm the availability of hotel rooms at the conference rate through the weekend.
• Set up a stranded traveler help desk to provide moral support and resources.
• Provided a roommate matching service, pairing empty beds with needy travelers.
• Developed an official meeting point outside of the conference venue, with basic necessities such as meals and work space.
• Set up an information page on the conference website (check out our page at http://www.chi2010.org/v/) with continuously updated information and resources.

Today, five days after the first eruption, nearly 200 delegates remain in the US awaiting flights back to Europe. Our communications plan continues to evolve, but because we were able to respond quickly our delegates had accurate information while they scrambled to make plans.

Why Social Media Matters

The world of social media changes every minute. Whereas it used to be enough to put together a blast email campaign, your conference delegates are increasingly turning to online tools such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn to find information and make decisions.

Many meeting managers struggle with the relevance of social media. We hear, "Sure, it’s exciting. But the learning curve is steep and I’m already busy. How does it benefit me? My organization? My attendees?"

A recent article titled “10 Ways that Social Media Will Transform Events in 2010” provides a concise list of why event managers should work to incorporate social media into the planning process. Just a few highlights include the ability to:

• Gather real-time feedback and address attendee concerns in real time.
• Facilitate peer-to-peer learning and audience-to-speaker learning rather than just traditional speaker-to-audience learning.
• Extend the reach of live events beyond the boundaries of time and space.
• Create dynamic online communities that allow attendees to connect with people of similar interests.
• Reach audiences never before possible.

Read the full article here.

Personalize your Convention Experience with Boston’s iPhone app

Today, the Boston Convention & Exhibit Center announced the launch of a proprietary application for iPhone and iTouch users that combines center navigation with a robust set of add-ons including built-in social networking capability. Named “myBCEC,” the application is a personal concierge for your phone with information about wayfaring around New England's largest building, local restaurants, hotels, and retailers, transit and travel information, and a custom Twitter client designed specifically for events.

The iTunes application description notes that “the myBCEC app is a mobile concierge for visitors to the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center, one of the Top 10 convention centers in the nation. The myBCEC application combines networking and navigation in one united platform." Features include:

• Wayfinding around New England’s largest building
• Nearby restaurants, hotels, retailers,
• A Twitter client customized for events
• Real-time transportation information for departing flights from Logan Airport, MBTA (subway) alerts and traffic alerts; and
• Visitor information about the venue.

With this app, Boston is leading the way in becoming more accessible to visitors through their mobile devices. Other centers are sure to follow. The app is compatible with iPhone and iTouch, and available to download for free at:

itms://itunes.apple.com/us/app/mybcec-for-boston-convention-exhibition/id347104218?mt=8

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!

Get More out of your Conference with Swift Mobile

There’s not been a lot written about convergence in the meetings industry. Most of us stay connected though our mobile devices (iPhones, Blackberries, and the like), but we’ve not been able to use our trusty handheld device to connect with others during a conference. Until now.

Enter Swift Mobile for your smartphone: a veritable paintbox of features combining conference content, social networking, and mobile geolocation in the palm of your hand. The Swift application – which works best on the iPhone but is also supported on the mobile web and accessible by any wireless handheld device – allows users to create a personal profile to share information about themselves and connect with other convention goers with similar interests.

Swift allows conference delegates to navigate through educational content on their phone, essentially providing the conference program in the palm of their hand. The application also combines conference-related Twitter posts (“tweets”) into a single, relevant stream that can be customized for each user. Real-time feedback lets attendees keep tabs on other sessions, even those that they aren’t able to attend. In this way, Swift expands the conference experience beyond the limits of physical space and time.

On the revenue side, Swift offers branding opportunities for sponsors on the splash screen as well as long-range potential publications phase-out. Exhibitors and sponsors also have access to fee-based tools including polling, video publishing, and user messaging.

The Swift Mobile application is still in beta testing, but the implications for long-term use in the convention industry are encouraging. Keep up the good work!

Twittering Onsite: A Real-Life Case Study

In an earlier post, I wrote about the utility of Twitter for communication with attendees onsite at conferences. Well, last week I used Twitter’s GroupTweet mechanism for the first time to communicate with conference delegates. Here’s what I learned during the test.

1) Twitter is only useful if you have critical mass. Even at a conference for a computer-related association, just 101 of our 2400+ attendees signed up to follow the conference feed. If you are planning to use Twitter for critical announcements, ensure that you have other mechanisms in place for those who don’t participate.

2) Mobile access is a must. I admit, I am an early adopter of the iPhone and rarely go anywhere without it. I was able to use the Twitterfon application to send updates while on-the-go, which made it easier for me to stay in touch with the group. Folks with another mobile device such as a Blackberry or PDA can find similar freeware. Text message updates are also possible though do deplete your monthly text allotment. I would never have been able to manage the feed if I had to run back to my office to post the updates.

3) Updates can be time-consuming. Even with my handy iPhone app, I had to make a conscious decision to keep Twitter at the forefront of my mind to remember to post the updates.

4) Network access speeds the pace. I was lucky that our convention location had good, reliable wireless access throughout the space. This allowed me to make updates in real time, instead of texting my updates to the Twitter server and waiting for them to be posted.

I’m not convinced that Twitter will replace morning announcements or the message board right away, but overall I would say that our use of this communications mechanism was a success. Considering using Twitter for your next meeting? Click here to visit our conference feed and see how we used this free tool to improve communications to and between delegates.

Reach out and "Tweet" Someone

Twitter is a free social networking tool designed to answer the universal question, “What are you doing right now?” The site lets you send short messages (called “tweets”) to people who sign up to follow your activities. If your colleagues follow your tweets, you can let people know that you’re running late, schedule a lunch date for later in the day, or invite your co-workers out for a drink – all en masse. Think of it as an instant message sent to lots of people at once.

But the real beauty of Twitter is that it’s short and sweet: tweets are limited to 140 characters, which can be submitted online, by email, or from your mobile phone. Beyond simply being interesting, some organizations are harnessing Twitter to connect with conference delegates, and to connect them with each other. Creating a Twitter site for your conference ties attendees together, creating a back channel where attendees can communicate with each other about sessions or activities.

Twitter also allows developers to create add-on applications that build on their platform. One outstanding example is GroupTweet’s group message broadcasting. Want to let attendees know that there has been a time change, or that the break is open? GroupTweet is an efficient way to get the word out, sort of like putting your message board in the palm of your attendees’ hands.

Twitter also provides a forum for you to monitor and respond to attendee comments and concerns in real time. You’ll definitely end up with more data than you need, but it’s an excellent tool to remind your attendees that you value their input and care about their experience.

Taking (Social) Networking to the Next Level

Many of us are familiar with social networking sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and MySpace. Savvy planners who want to connect people beyond time and physical space are increasingly looking to social networking tools like these to build communities and forge relationships. Although I have been part of these online communities for several years, I had never really considered that they could also increase the effectiveness of my conferences.

Last spring, however, I planned a convention in Florence, Italy that introduced some social networking tools to engage their army of student volunteers. As technology association this client is often ahead of the curve, but they struggled to connect with 150+ students traveling from all over world.

A social networking tool seemed like the perfect fit, so we established a Facebook group approximately nine months before the conference began. Although it was intended primarily as an information tool, the students also utilized the discussion board to make travel arrangements and rent apartments together. Within just a few weeks, the group had taken on a life of its own – totally driven by the students. By the time they arrived onsite, the students were excited to meet the virtual friends they had already made.

Onsite, we utilized a Twitter stream to inform the students of breaking news, changes in schedules or tasks, and even what was being served at the coffee break. Last year’s experience was so successful that we’re rolling out the Twitter stream to all attendees this April. We are also considering beta testing an emerging technology called SWIFT (www.imswift.com), designed to connect attendees in real-time onsite though the use of their mobile devices.

In the coming years, I anticipate that social networking will become an integral part of managing any conference. With just a little extra advance planning, these easy – and often free! – tools can be used to generate excitement and connect people who are spread far apart geographically.