what if social media dramatically changes events and exhibitions...tomorrow?

What if Social Media Dramatically Changes Events and Exhibitions…

Tomorrow?“MTO Tech Webinar Series"

by

Stephen Nold President

Advon Technologies

And

Jason McGraw Sr. V.P. of Expositions

InfoComm International

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Sir Martin Sorrell• WSJ: WPP Chief

Tempers Hopes for Ad Upturn Sept. 22, 2009

• WPP PLC, world's largest communications company

• Profit for the first half of 2009 plunge by almost 50%.

• “We describe the recession as L-shaped, which implies that it will never go back to where it was before….I doubt free-to-air television or, in particular, newspapers and magazines, will ever be the same again.”

Social media

Content/Conversation

Integrates technology, social interaction, and the delivery of words, pictures, video and audio.

Media/Tools

Social interface

I

customers

think are listen- Great!

But, are Yes -

they

ing?

InfoComm International

• 70 year old trade association, 5,000+ member companies, 70+ countries

• Representing the professional audiovisual communications industry

• Annual InfoComm Show, TSW 50 2009 Show Stats (Orlando):

• 29,222 total attendance, All 50 U.S. states, 90 countries

• Largest attendance ever on East Coast• 70% commercial attendees,

30% end-user buyers• 832 exhibitors• 446,000 n.s.f. of exhibits, special events, demo

space

InfoComm Results

• We’ve taken the plunge and are just starting to swim

• Launched groups on social sites Jan. ’09 prior to Jun. ’09 Show

• Twitter 600+ followers• Linked In 1,400+ members• Facebook 980+ members• YouTube 2,200 channel views

• Pushed out Show’s free pass codes

• With 100 redeemed on Linked In, most effective

InfoComm Results

• Word of mouth referrals from reg site = 600

• Added A2Z’s ChirpE Mobile platform two weeks prior to Show = 570+ users during Show

• InfoComm proprietary eCommunity groups = over 2,300 subscribers

• Given limited investment and minimal marketing, modest results to date

• Exponential growth predicted for 2010 show cycle

Intangible Value of Social Media

• Interactive engagement of your audience/prospects• Extension of face-to-face relationships, builds trust• Reach people you don’t even know• Get real time feedback on campaigns, issues• Conduct market research• Harness comments/testimonials to generate sales• Additional press/media coverage• New business opportunities will find you• Move from being the “voice” of your industry to a

“conversation” with your industry

InfoComm Resources

• Dedicated Staff E-Community Manager• Subject Matter Experts

• Tap Adjunct Faculty and Staff to Blog• Leverage Thought Leaders

• Forum leaders, “ask an expert”• Blog, reply, post comments• Authenticity

• Leverage, repurpose existing content• Edit (condense) for the web

• Build social media right into marketing plan from the beginning

• Test the waters – try out various platforms to see which ones work for you

Lose Control

• Transparency – what level of info will you share?

• Subject Matter Expert – knowledge broker– Allow others not under your control to speak for your

organization?• Next Wave of Word of Mouth Referrals

– Global prospects, variety of qualifications• Concerns/Issues

– Are you willing to take good comments with the bad?– How will you deal with negative comments in a

public forum?– Proactive – constant monitoring

Webinars MTO Tech Educational Webinar seriesBlogs Tradeshow Week, Event Tech Socialnomics – Social Media Blog Chris BroganEvents MTO Summit San Francisco, October 21-22 IAEE Expo Expo in Atlanta, December 9-11Books Socialnomics Trust AgentsWebsites MeetingTechOnline.com

Webinar Resources

Questions and Answers

To contact Stephen Nold and MeetingTechOnline stephen@advontech.comLinkedIn:    http://www.linkedin.com/in/stephennold Twitter: @stepnoldFacebook: http://www.facebook.com/stephen.noldwww.tradeshowweek.com/blog/stephennold512.310.0628

For more information on Jason McGraw and InfoComm Internationaljmcgraw@infocomm.orghttp://www.infocomm.org.