Event Coup is a multi-author blog for event lovers. We talk about event planning with attention to technology, the environment, social media and web 2.0.
EventHive it's an awesome tool which facilitates live discussions among audiences and speakers during presentations.
For sure a great instrument for your next conference so your audience can interact live with your speakers, just enter the #hashtag. They can ask questions, vote for the ones more popular or answer questions peer to peer. Also speakers can make pools in real time and get the results straight away and show them to the participants via Powerpoint (no need of extra equipment). Besides EventHive offers to integrate the schedule of your event, sponsorship opportunities, create buzz via twitter and facebook and more important engage your audience. I definitely need to give the credit to Albert (@alcchow) a student who created this amazing application for his first conference, that I'm sure will be of a great use for #eventprofs and more.
Last week I hosted the first event industry TweetUp of the year at Madame Tussauds. Well over 150 guests attended from caterers and venues to corporates including JP Morgan Cazenove, Ernst & Young, Wellcome and Credit Suisse as well as marketing agencies such as RPM, Tamar and Market Sentinel.
A special presentation commissioned for the event was shown during the evening which explained in less than 2 minutes 10 key reasons why social media is important to the events industry.
For those savvy in all things social media none of this will be too surprising but for the many people, including the majority of those event professional who attended the Madame Tussauds event and are not yet using social media, this presentation gave a jolt of future shock.
Transcript from What the HELL is social media - in 2 minutes
Social media is an umbrella term which defines the activities that integrate technology, social interaction, and the construction of words, pictures, videos, and audio.
(Wikipedia)
More simply it just describes the millions of conversations people are having with each other on-line across the world 24/7
Why the HELL should I care? Here are 10 really, REALLY good reasons…
REASON #1
Because social media is now the number one online activity beating porn and personal email to the top spot.
(Nielsen Wire)
REASON #2
Because 2/3 of the global internet population visit social networks.
(Nielsen, Global Faces & Networked Places)
REASON #3
Because time spent on social networks is growing at 3x the overall internet rate, accounting for 10% of all internet time.
(Nielsen, Global Faces & Networked Places)
REASON #4
Because online including social media has become the most influential source in helping consumer make purchasing decisions.
(Weber Shandwick Inline Research)
REASON #5
Because millions of people are creating their own content for the social web.
Your competitors are already there.
Your customers have been there for a long time.
If your business isn't putting itself out there, it ought to be.
(Business Week)
REASON #6
Because the next 3 billion consumers will access the internet from a mobile device.
People will update anytime, anywhere.
Imagine what that means for bad customer experiences!
(Wired Magazine UK)
This is called the super-fresh web
The ‘super-fresh’ web will force brands to engage with its customers
REASON #7
Because Facebook is now the operating system of the social web. It has won the social networking war
If Facebook were a country it would be bigger than the USA and 3rd largest in the World
Facebook added 200 million users in less than a year
Facebook adds ½ million users every day
On target for ½ billion users by December 2010
5 billion: The number of minutes spent on Facebook each day
1 billion: The amount of content (web links, news stories, blog posts, notes, photos, etc.) shared each week on Facebook.
Additional note: 350+ million Facebook users as of January 2010 out of which 50% log on everyday.
(Facebook)
REASON #8
Because Twitter believes it will have 1 billion users by 2012.
If this happens it will become the pulse of the planet
- Notes: Notes on my iPhone/TextEdit on my Mac/Evernote
TextEdit over all of them because it's the most simple, but I love Evernote as well
- Budgets/Hours of work: Google documents spreadsheet
Especially for Event budgets, when they are on going, I have it everywhere and can update it without losing anything
All these tools have really boosted my creativity, leaving the space in my head, every-second, to Think and not just Remember.
NOW. The important part of this article.
These are tools that I use during the "planning phase" of the event, what about on-site operations?
I have not found a solution that is comfortable for me yet. An effective tool to keep time schedules, contracts, contacts, checklists, to-do lists, and other important documents. The only way by now has been: a folder where all the printed stuff is inside. (not much green either)
The problem? Onsite operations often mean practical things to do: a chair that has to be moved, a case that has to be placed, a staff guy to help, and it means also "run" sometimes. Well, with all this things going on and the pressure of the day, it's just not comfortable, especially when I forgot where I left it!
So, here's the point... Could the iPad (and the innovation that the iPad has brought to the market, that means all the competitors that will develop similar products) be THE device that we, event managers, were waiting for???
I am optimist about that and already see myself with one of those iPad in my hands... Thoughts?
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