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EVENTCHANNELER USING TWITTER FOR EVENTS [OMTAC EVENT SERVICES]

TWITTER IS A GIFT FOR EVENT AND MEETING PLANNERS!

As new and emerging technologies, channels and platforms lead to the evolution of the Event backchannel and a radical change in the traditional Event experience, at EventChanneler we believe the micro-blogging platform Twitter is a "gift" for Event and Meeting planners!

Twitter has huge potential to enrich any Event, whether a Meeting, Conference, Trade Show, Exhibition, Expo/Exposition or other Event. It is already in use at every Event, large and small, and having a considerable impact whether this is being recognised by the Event organisers, sponsors, exhibitors, suppliers and delegates... or not.

EventChanneler provides Event & Meeting Planners with consultancy and training services for understanding Twitter (its associated Applications & Clients and its many uses) together with guidance and support for it's implementation and strategic management before, during and after any Event.

If you are unsure what role Twitter can plan in your next Event and/or how to implement Twitter as effectively as possible for the benefit for your Sponsors, Exhibitors, Suppliers and Delegates as well as your bottom line and the future growth of your Event, EventChanneler can help.

Please scroll down to read more about using Twitter for Events and about EventChanneler's Twitter Event Services. (If you are ready to enquire about our services please click here.)

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SPOTLIGHT ON TWITTER - "ABSOLUTELY PART OF THE FUTURE"

[This is an excerpt from a longer article about Twitter and Social Media for Events, please click on the link to read the full article about how: Social Media, Micro-blogging (Twitter) and Webcasting are relevant to Events.]

Since its launch in 2006, the micro-blogging platform Twitter has enjoyed a phenomenal take-up around the world, particularly in North America and the United Kingdom.

As a free, open access communications channel available online and through mobile phones, it is a popular communications system enabling one-to-one and one-to-many conversations.

Twitter has particular relevance to the Events Industry and both the front and back channels at any event because of it's popularity amongst delegates/attendees and its suitability for communication and collaboration.

Inevitably a percentage of the audience/attendees at any event will be tweeting minute by minute, hour by hour but surprisingly many events are still not overtly or effectively exploiting Twitter for the benefit of the event and the various parties participating in it.

Twitter enables individual users to share information, thoughts and ideas, comments and criticisms with other Twitter users by sending a message to individuals and/or to groups of ‘followers’, while in turn ‘following’ other Twitter users, receiving the messages they send out to their groups of ‘followers’. Each message is restricted to 140 characters long and may include web addresses.

Importantly, Twitter users receiving a message (known as a “Tweet”) are able to easily forward it to their followers if they think it might be of interest. This is known as “Re-tweeting”.

In this way messages can spread virally through the Twitter network (known as the “Twittersphere” or “Twitter stream”) as they are repeatedly forwarded through groups of followers. This can have a considerable impact if popular messages are re-tweeted quickly through the Twittersphere.

Also of relevance to Event & Meeting Organisers, Twitter allows anyone to see and search the millions of messages that are being sent out through the Twittersphere each day and it is possible to ‘Tag’ tweets with identifiers (known as “Hashtags”, ie “#event”) so that Tweets about a particular subject can be followed and collated by anyone interested.

With over $100 million of investment capital to spend on new developments, we can expect Twitter to develop their micro-blogging platform considerably over the next few years.

One recent development of interest to Event Professionals is the introduction of the Lists API, enabling Twitter users to categorise and organise the people they follow into groups, and in turn share their preferred Tweeters. This filtering system offers various benefits for any Event Professional organising an event.

Undoubtedly Twitter presents challenges as well as opportunities for any Event professional but it should not be ignored.

If ignored or poorly utilised, Twitter can become a very negative and destructive forum for aggrieved delegates sharing their frustration, with their criticisms amplified many times through group following and re-tweeting etc.

There are a growing number of examples of poor practice where Event & Meeting Planners have failed to embrace Twitter and as a result of delegates tweeting:

• their speakers have been “roasted”,
• their programmes have been heavily criticised during and after the event,
• a negative impression has been given of their event both to those participating and those following the event from afar,
• Etc etc.

However if well-managed and integrated into an event strategy, Twitter can be a very positive communications channel, powerfully enhancing an event in many ways as underlined by the Heads of Events for international companies Swift and Dell who recently declared that “Twitter has proven to be a whole new world for our events” and “Twitter is absolutely part of the future”.

Twitter (and similar technologies/platforms) has a role to play in all aspects of an event. For example if we just consider the pre-Event benefits alone these include:

• Enabling Event & Meeting Planners to engage willing ambassadors and advocates in the pre-event build-up, promotion and preparations.
• Helping Speakers to check content relevancy and gather information and options while preparing their presentations.
• Serving as an inexpensive, highly effective promotion tool with followers of those planning to attend learning from them about the event and choosing to attend themselves.
• Providing an additional advertising channel for Sponsors and Exhibitors.
• Serving as a fast and efficient communications channel for updating registered delegates/attendees and prospective delegates/attendees about all aspects of an event, from the programme to the Sponsors and Exhibitors, from the venue to the travel arrangements and local attractions, from networking and community building to analysis and evaluation.

(The potential applications for Twitter during and after an event are too numerous to go into here without doubling the length of this article, but we would be delighted to discuss them with you.)

Those who are not using Twitter or who have yet to fully understand its range of applications may choose to dismiss it as being pointless and full of trivia. However it is self-evident that Twitter and related technologies are having a direct impact on events and should be embraced not ignored by Event professionals.

The failure to recognise the potential for Twitter (and related technologies) and the failure to utilise it in any Meeting, Conference, Trade Show, Exhibition, Expo/Exposition or other event will undoubtedly result in a loss of competitive advantage.

[This is an excerpt from a longer article about Twitter and Social Media for Events, please click on the link to read the full article about how: Social Media, Micro-blogging (Twitter) and Webcasting are relevant to Events.]

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EVENTCHANNELER'S TWITTER SERVICES

EventChanneler can provide you with consultancy and training services for using Twitter at your next Event(s) for maximum effect:

• to generate extra revenue, increase attendance and grow the Event over time;
• to provide Sponsors and Exhibitors with added value before, during and after the Event;
• to involve Delegates in creating content and designing the programme for your Event;
• to utilise Suppliers, Sponsors, Exhibitors and Delegates for marketing your Event using Twitter;
• to pro-actively manage the backchannel during the Event;
• to connect Speakers and Attendees and support both during the Event;
• to engage the Media/Press more effectively for Public Relations;
• to identify and address any problems during the Event;
• to facilitate networking between all parties during the Event;
• to collate additional content, run polling and improve Questions & Answers (Q&A) during the Event;
• to survey Attendees and assess the success of the Event;
• to market your next Event more effectively at low cost.

On meeting with you, as part of our initial consultancy, we will take you through a range of questions, issues and themes to consider, including:

• How do you implement a strategic plan for using Twitter before, during and after your Event?
• What are the resourcing implications for using Twitter pro-actively for your Event?
• What are the marketing, PR and communications benefits of using Twitter for your Event?
• How can Twitter benefit your Sponsors/Exhibitors (including advertising and promotions on Twitter)?
• How can Twitter help you energise your wider community of Staff, Press/Media, Sponsors, Exhibitors, Speakers and Delegates/Attendees?
• How is the Search facility (include geo-positioning) on Twitter relevant?
• How do you monitor and track relevant keywords on Twitter and use the information in your Event?
• How do you choose and use Twitter Hashtags ie. '#Event'?
• What about moderation and projection for Twitter during your Event?
• How can Twitter be used effectively for content generation, polling, evaluation, Q&A, creating new revenue streams etc?
• How can you “control” the information in the 'Twittersphere' and minimise negative comment and feedback about your Event?
• How can Twitter enrich your Event's content and programme?
• What support should you give to your Speakers and Delegates using Twitter?
• What about your Delegates who don't use Twitter?
• How do you integrate Twitter effectively in your Event (should you project, moderate etc)?
• How to process and (where possible) re-sell/re-package Twitter output from the Event?
• How to apply lessons learned from the use of new technologies at the Event to future Events to maximise the benefits of Twitter long-term?
• Etc etc...

Having considered with you the potential for Twitter for future Events (including strategic issues, objectives etc) EventChanneler can provide on-going consultancy and training for the selection and implementation, management and exploitation of Twitter at your next Event(s).

This includes on-site support during before, during and after Events if required, including Sponsor / Exhibitor / Supplier support, Speaker/Presenter training and assistance, in-event moderation, Twitter streaming and projection, Question & Answer (Q&A) facilitation, polling, feedback, review and analysis.

To discuss how EventChanneler can work with you to help you understand, manage and exploit Twitter for your next Event please email us by clicking here or call us on 0845 058 39 85 (Local Rate Call), providing brief information about your Event etc, we will then contact you to discuss how we can be of assistance.

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ANY QUESTIONS? CONTACT EVENTCHANNELER

If you have any questions please don't hesitate to email us by clicking here or call us on 0845 058 39 85 (Local Rate Call).

Thank you for your interest in EventChanneler and our Events Services, we look forward to hearing from you and to meeting you soon.

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