chriskelley.org

Wiring up an event for social media

I am in the middle of working with our user group on getting the groundswell ignited from users that attend the event. The main objectives are to get the vast majority that are consumers to just take a look at the blogs that will be covering the event (our corp blog, the user group’s blog and a few user blogs that we know of and will find out about during a blogger meet-up at the event) as well as perhaps start a twitter account to get updates, perhaps even on their mobile phones. We are also trying to get the smaller group that will actually create and share content to use a tag on all of their content (pics on Flickr, vids on Youtube, slides on Slideshare.net, tweets and blog posts) so we can more easily find it and roll it up.
Below is a quick first pass at how I see this working. Any ideas on how to make this simple for the majority and powerful for the minority are welcome (click for full size. I used Mind Manager by MindJet to throw this version together):

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8 responses to “Wiring up an event for social media”

  1. Susan Cinadr Avatar
    Susan Cinadr

    Even when I click the image, it is still too small. Can you email it to me?

    Reply
  2. Chris Avatar
    Chris

    I have seen twitter used for that at Mix08. Nice because of mobile phone integration. Easy to get account too and lots of tools to aggregate and deliver one stream of content.

    Reply
  3. jharr Avatar
    jharr

    I think you’ve got the vital touch-points there for sure. When I’ve been involved with this and what I’ve learned from working with the master event blogger Josh Hallett, it’s vital to have a hub and a clear aggregate of these efforts. So in your case for a big event your corp blog plays a key role in aggregating the UG content and also giving details on tagging and methods for sharing. The burden comes back to the corp (especially in a market where these practices are still maturing and gaining acceptance) to show the path.
    If possible it seems like an event like this (particularly with it’s training elements) would benefit from a thoughtful discussion apparatus, a place for users, etc. to share insight outside the flow of “ooos & ahhhhs” blog posts.
    On a technical note I’d also consider a tumblr-style aggregator for pure observers to subscribe to that can consume the stream of content from all these sources. That way you cover your ‘one-stop-shoppers’.

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  4. Chris Avatar
    Chris

    Absolutely agree on the role of the main blog (in this case two – one from us and one from the user group) as cruise director for the whole event.
    What have you seen that works as a platform for the discussion apparatus you mentioned?
    I was hoping to use eventtrack.info as the one stop shop. As long as things get tagged, it seems to find content from a wide variety of sources.

    Reply
  5. jharr Avatar
    jharr

    Not sure – I’ve seen some ad hoc social networks per event, but they tend just be glorified discussion forums, which may be an acceptable method. Something where people can share ideas and/or plans for dinner, etc. Something sans overzealous signup.

    Reply
  6. Burhop Avatar
    Burhop

    I second the tumblr idea since it does mobile and looks good on Internet Explorer. On the otherhand, if you publish your keywords, rss feeds, etc. there is no reason people can’t do some of there own mashups of the event.
    You might also plug in some google analytics http://www.google.com/analytics/ where you can to see what people are using most.

    Reply
  7. Chris Avatar
    Chris

    So how does Tumblr do content roll-up? Is it still up to the author to just post what they think is interesting or is there the equivalent of ‘track’ or some way to connect it with feeds?

    Reply
  8. Burhop Avatar
    Burhop

    Tumblr can track feeds but also provides specific tracking of twitter, Del.icio.us, Digg, wordpress, VOX, Blogger, youtube, vimeo, etc.
    Some of these have different options like linking or importing. You can also hook up Google analytics.
    Only thing I don’t like about Tumblr is that you can’t comment. But to aggregate thats not a big deal.

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