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.