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.