Event Advice: Managing Live Social Media

Photo: Courtesy of Indianapolis Super Bowl Host Committee

Less than a decade ago, social media barely existed. Today, this communication revolution is hot, word of mouth travels quickly. It's important to welcome, manage and engage your event attendees. Not only will social media enable you to receive instant feedback, it also generates awareness for your event.

Rishi Dave the Executive Director of Online Marketing for Dell explains how other businesses are using social media to engage attendees in Social Media at Live Events: Who's Managing Real-Time Interaction for Target, Dell, and Other Brands, in BizBash magazine:

• It's really important to have at least one social media expert present at the event to capture the activities, energy and what people are saying.

• At last year's inaugural Dell World conference, Dave included a Twitter stream and Tumblr feed, but also created an app that encouraged live questions and win rewards 

• Big brands that have sub-brands (i.e. Target Baby or Target Style) need to have a separate community manager and should be attending events such as promotions and product launches to communication with customers and key influencers.

• If you do not have a budget to hire an in-house social media team, look into companies like MKG that send out an external team to help drive engagement among attendees at your next event.

We can always work with you to make sure you are driving social engagement by setting up AV displays that include your Twitter feed and other social activities at your next event.