Note: This is part one of a series of articles addressing how to utilize social technology to strategically enhance the quality of meetings and events.

Are you confused about how to best utilize social technology to launch your event? Not sure which social applications are the best fit for your business scenario?  Well you are not alone!  Over the past couple of years many organizations have begun to introduce some aspect of social technology into their conferences.  The problem is many are doing so without an implementation plan.

In the absence of a strategy there are no advance expectations, therefore no context for measuring results.  Sadly, Executives, previously enthusiastic about using social technology, quickly abandon the idea claiming it is a waste of time (and therefore money) for their organizations.

A Trip With No Destination

Have you ever jumped in your car, with your suitcase, and a friend, and headed off on a vacation to some undetermined destination?    While that idea might sound fun, or exciting, it’s not very practical.  How do you know when you have arrived?  Realistically how do you pack for that kind of trip?  You don’t have any advance notion of what attire will be appropriate, nor the climate you will encounter, or which activities you will do.  Sounds silly and pointless doesn’t it?  Well, think of this hypothetical vacation as an analogy that can be applied to utilizing technology for events, without an implementation plan.

Social Technology, like a vacation, is a great idea, but without a defined destination, (strategy) the results are blurry, risky, and often disappointing.  There are no templates, or universal best practices for incorporating Social tools into a business setting.  A “one size fits all” approach certainly does not work.  Each organization must engineer a social technology event strategy centered around their desired business outcomes.

Understanding Customer Needs is the Key

While many businesses may be seeking similar business results what makes each situation unique are the influences and personality of the people involved in the process.  As customers impact most business outcomes it is critically important for businesses to understand their needs and preferred communication styles.  When developing a technology strategy for launching your event you should consider the following questions:

Question One:  How do my customers prefer to receive their information?

Do they prefer printed or electronic documentation? If your customers don’t read email or consume online content, then sending them information through those channels will be ineffective.  As scary as it sounds there are some people that still opt to receive their information in printed format through the postal service.

If online delivery of information is preferred, should it be automatic or on-demand? Do your customers prefer to receive conference updates automatically by Email, or would they rather control when and where they view their information?  Posting information to a blog, or social network and then offering an RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feed subscription to readers is a common approach.

Question Two:  Which Social Networks, if any, do my Customers use? You should have a conference presence in places where your customers socialize online.  Investing time to understand their cyber habits will help you to tailor your social technology strategy appropriately.

Do attendees hang out on Facebook? If the answer is yes, creating a conference fan page might be an effective strategy.  You can also create a “Facebook Event” announcement that customers can add to their online calendar.  Facebook is a wonderful place for people to interact with one another, post pictures, links, videos, and audio files.

Are attendees active Twitter Users? You can create an “official conference Hashtag” for the event.  The hashtag serves as a center for attendees to interact and share information with one another.  You (or they) can also schedule chat sessions to discuss hot topics of interest.  As a customer service hub for posting event information tweets and receiving/responding to questions you should setup an official Event Twitter account.

Are attendees active LinkedIn users? Initiate an Event group page there, where conference news, and collaborative discussions can take place.  Session speakers/instructors can initiate pre-event dialogues with attendees to build excitement and anticipation for the event.

Using Social Technology, with a focused strategy, will assist your organization in engaging its conference attendees well in advance of the event.  The time invested, by your organization, in learning about its customers online habits, will ultimately lead to an enhanced event experience, and greater customer loyalty.

Question:  What Techniques do you use, with your organization, to heighten awareness during the pre-event phase of your meeting(s)?  What components of your implementation strategy would you consider unique, or highly effective?  Please share them with us!

Note:  This article was first published on March 25,2010 at McCurry’s corner blog.

We all know a key strategy of a successful company is to build a great reputation.  More importantly businesses must work even harder to maintain credibility they have established.  When an organization attains excellence, clients hold them to that standard relentlessly.

In this new era of “Customer Service 2.0″ there are more communication channels available than ever before for customers to share their opinions.  They expect impeccable service and terrific products, and when they don’t receive excellence, their negative feedback will likely reverberate across the Internet.

“Social media empowers consumers to radically influence your brand — for better or worse. In fact, prospects and customers have the ability to participate directly in your marketing. As a result, one bad experience can result in a major dose of destructive marketing.”

– Rick Sloboda, “How to Approach Customer Service 2.0“

The Hotel industry is particularly vulnerable to social media feedback from customers.  In addition to Blogs, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter there are a significant number of noteworthy social technologies soliciting feedback, positive or negative, regarding the hospitality industry.  Some examples:

• Travel Review Sites — Trip Advisor, PlanetFeedback.com, TravelPost.com and epinions.com are examples of sites accumulating data regarding hotel customer experiences.  The use of these forums is widespread, and savvy travelers are embracing them.
• Location Based Applications — Another avenue of applications gaining momentum are the GPS-based tools, such as Foursquare, GoWalla, and Yelp.  These applications encourage users to write reviews of their experiences with hotels, restaurants and other establishments.
• Video/photo focused sites — YouTube, The world’s #2 social network, is a video-based tool.  Customers can film their challenges at a hotel and post the video for all to see in that network.  Photo sites such as Flickr or Picasso, enable users to publish photographs of one’s experiences.

Hotels can no longer sweep under the carpet service or product quality issues, as there are convenient, and “very public” channels for unhappy customers to express their frustration, and disappointment.  Wisely, many hotel companies now have “reputation management” plans in place.  This week the USA Today blog “Hotel Check-in published an article addressing this subject.

“Hotels are increasingly reading what you’re writing on TripAdvisor and other online review venues – and responding.  “

Barbara De Lollis, USA Today

In another article, also published by USA Today, Roger Yu shares that “Less than 4% of negative reviews on TripAdvisor get a response, according to TripAdvisor, which has more than 30 million reviews. But the review site says it saw a 203% explosion in responses from hotels last year.

So what can hotels do to proactively respond to their customers and protect their reputations?  Well, here are some suggestions:

• Search Engines — Use applications with a tracking feature to tune into the discussions taking place regarding your Brand.  One excellent example of this tool is “Google Alerts.”  Periodically the software sends email alerts to users, posting comments made using specific keywords identified during the setup process.
• Twitter — it is possible to create a search string and then setup an RSS feed posting all tweets addressing the keywords in that search string.  Alternatively, users can setup a search column in applications such as Tweetdeck which will do the same thing.
• Concierge Service — Many hotel companies are setting up accounts representing their brands on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn, referring to them as online Concierge services.  By promoting these sites, guests have a resource, even before they actually arrive at the hotel, to channel questions, concerns or service requests.  One example of such a service is Hyatt’s E-Concierge service.
• Custom Software — Some major hotel chains, such as Hilton, Starwood and Marriott are using analytic software to monitor the social sites for feedback regarding their hotels.  One such application is called “Review Analyst.”

In an already difficult economy, which has impacted the hospitality business deeply, hotels can ill afford negative customer reviews.  Hotels developing an efficient system for monitoring online feedback from customers will stand apart from their competition.  Most certainly, to ignore the cyber chatter will be  corporate suicide.

Question:  Is there a best practice that your hotel is using to keep an eye out on customers?  If so, we would love to hear about it!

This article was published in the January Issue of Meetings:  Minnesota’s Hospitality Journal.  You can find that article by clicking here.

Like many people, you probably have more tasks on your daily “to do list” than you can shake a stick at.  Have you added any Social media applications to your business toolkit?  More importantly are you engaging yourself consistently in leveraging their value in your business communications?

A comment I often hear from business colleagues is “I just don’t have time to put anything else on my plate, or I am too busy for social media.”   Sound familiar??  Well, read on…

In the past year a major shift has occurred in the way people do business.  The financial pressure of the poor economy combined with the continuous introduction of web 2.0 applications into the marketplace has generated a major focus on social media as an effective business solution.

The Meetings and Events business is particularly well-suited for use of social media.  Educational and informational content can now be delivered not only with face2face meetings, but also using added virtual components such as webcasts, or webinars.  Organizations are enhancing those digital experiences with back channel communications such as Twitter hashtags to create additional buzz and conversation before, during and after their events.

These communication channels are very effective and economical, and thus, their staying power is obvious.  New business models and markets for meetings and events are emerging as a result of these innovations.  Quietly, a paradigm shift (from skepticism to validation) of this technology has been occurring in many businesses.   Early Adopters are already miles ahead of their competition.  Looking ahead, the reality is organizations dismissing social media as irrelevant will begin to lose market share as their customers abandon them for more forward thinking business partners.

On a personal level, using social media applications a person may initiate and build new and existing relationships as well as share knowledge and experiences with other like-minded individuals.   If you haven’t already done so you would be wise to engage yourself with these business tools, and do so quickly!

Incorporating social media into your personal routine is more complex than just signing up for a bunch of these accounts.  You must commit yourself to “learning the ropes” for the chosen applications and then work vigorously to establish credibility for yourself within them.

The first step in the process is developing an action plan.  There must be a balance between the time you spend with SM and other job responsibilities.  Due to their interactive, dynamic and sometimes addictive nature, some people find themselves preoccupied with these tools.  Subsequently their overall job performance may suffer.  Needless to say, a mistake such as this could be career-limiting.  So, here are some tips on how to make your journey with social media smooth and successful.

Step #1 — Plan Well — Create a written statement outlining your vision of what you wish to accomplish with each Social media application.

Sample Plan:

• Facebook
  • learn more about clients’ background and interests
  • strengthen personal connections
  • make consistent personal touches with them
• Twitter
  • Collaborate with other industry Twitter users, exchanging information, relevant articles and perspectives on hot business topics.
  • Develop my personal brand and reputation in the online community
  • Build and maintain new & existing business relationships
  • Monitor the customer service of my company and respond to clients posting comments/complaints/issues.
• LinkedIn
  • Develop an online business profile validating my credibility as a business person and individual.
  • Participate in relevant industry Group communities demonstrating thought leadership and building personal reputation.
  • Strengthen existing industry relationships and develop new ones.

Step #2 — Schedule Strategically — develop a routine allocating certain times of the day for social networking.

Sample Routine:

• Early Morning (7am – 8:15am)
  • Visit Facebook page and review posts made, check message inbox and respond accordingly.
  • Socialize with Facebook friends online.  (water cooler talk)
  • Open Twitter and review tweet posts made by users followed.
  • Follow up tweets of interest (Retweet, or acknowledge value to author).
  • Review News feeds, and post relevant tweets with article links to followers.
  • Review growth of follower base from previous day.
• Mid Day (12noon – 1:15pm)
  • Check LinkedIn site for activity in member groups.
  • Respond to any discussions of interest and clip any relevant articles, posting them to Twitter for followers.
  • Review LinkedIn Inbox messages and respond.
  • Check Twitter messages, and review new tweets posted by users followed.
  • Follow up tweets of interest (Retweet, or acknowledge value to author).
  • Stop by Facebook to review any new posts and comment on those as appropriate.
• Late Afternoon (4-5:15pm)
  • Stop by Facebook to review any new posts and comment on those as appropriate
  • Check LinkedIn message inbox and respond.
  • Check Twitter messages, new posts and follower volume since the morning.
  • Follow up tweets of interest (Retweet, or acknowledge value to author).

Note: This schedule is theoretical, and depending on your work responsibilities and routine, could shift from day to day.

Step #3 — Learn the features of the Social Networking applications and use them prudently.

• Schedule Your Posts — Twitter has a few sister applications allowing users the flexibility of creating their tweet posts at their convenience and then scheduling them to be posted later.  One such application is called “Socialoomph.com“  There are many other applications like this available… the analogy I would use is that these tools function in much the same was as Tivo does for television.
• Tweetdeck – is a powerful external twitter client application (with Facebook interface) that enables a user to organize and filter through all the Twitter and Facebook posts they receive.  Here is a link to a really good article providing some tutorial guidance on this great tool!
• Manage your Online Friends — Each application has its own functionality for this process.  There is a time commitment to building these relationships so make good decisions regarding who you initiate an online relationship with.  If you have some folks on your friends list not contributing to the connection, then you may wish to evaluate whether they should continue being part of your network.

I firmly believe you will receive a return on your time investment into social media commensurate with the effort you put into it.  I am available to you as a resource, should you have further questions about incorporating these very important tools into your business routine.

Contact me anytime at:

Michael M McCurry, CMP

Phone:  847-825-0243

Cell:  312-961-5486

Email:  mike.mccurry@experient-inc.com

Twitter:  http://twitter.com/michaelmccurry

By now you have noticed Experient’s e4 blog has been relocated.  This past weekend we transitioned it from our previous site, on Wordpress.com, to our own self-hosted location.  The new blog is powered by a more flexible version of Wordpress, which is great news,  and Experient now has its own personalized blog domain name. (Experiente4Blog.com)

With the “self-hosted” version of Wordpress, our team has complete website design freedom, with no restrictions to customization or functionality.  Our Experient team is really excited as this change will enable us to provide you, our readers, with a more robust viewing experience.

As you explore this “new and improved” version of Experient’s e4 blog you will notice the following  new features:

• Subscription Bar — On the top right-hand side of the header you may subscribe to this blog by RSS (really simple syndication) either for the posts or comments feed.  You may also subscribe to receive updates by email.
• Social Media Follow — on this button located on the left sidebar of the blog, you may select to follow Experient on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.
• TweetMeme — In the article posting area there is small dialogue box listing how many times a particular article has been “Tweeted” (posted) on Twitter.  You may also “ReTweet” (forward) an article yourself by clicking the green tab below the dialogue box.
• Dynamic Photo Gallery — On the right sidebar is a gallery with rotating random photographs.  You can catch a glimpse of some visual highlights of our e4 2009 Conference, which took place in Washington DC at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center.
• Embedded Video — On the right sidebar, as well as within the posted articles we now will feature “videos of interest” as appropriate.  Please watch the video commemorating a Community Service Project the Chicago Experient Team did for Chicago Public Schools on August 21, 2009.
• Author Biographies — At the bottom of every blog article authors will have the option to post a brief biography about themself, as well as optional contact information.  This feature will assist you in connecting with people of interest in our community, to continue topic discussions and network.

We hope you will find this newest version of Experient’s e4 blog of even greater value than the past!  Stay tuned for more features to be added.

Do you know of a particular Blog feature that really adds value for readers?  If so please share your comments with us as we would love to learn from you!