Summary: If you've ever been interested in an event planning career, this is an opportunity to obtain advice from 8 experienced event planners based in Italy, Canada, Australia, the UK, and the USA. They'll share how they launched their event planning careers and give you valuable tips that you can use immediately to start your career or take it to the next level even in a tough economy.

Event Planning: Starting and Building Your Event Planning Career Even in Tough Times

I am one of the Group Managers for the Event Planning and Management Group on LinkedIn. By far, a question that comes up frequently on our discussion boards is "How do I become an event planner?" Our profession is changing rapidly and it is going through some very challenging times. Breaking into the event planning business is no longer just a matter of taking the right courses and sending out resumes. Also, due to the economic meltdown, many experienced event and meeting planners have been laid off. Businesses are struggling. Even experienced event planners are assessing what they need to do to build a thriving career or grow their business in a tough market.

Today, I'm speaking with event planners from various countries. They've have worked in a variety of areas in the event planning profession. Some are independent, some work for companies, and others run their own businesses. Some have a lot of experience and others are fairly new to the business. Some are busy. Others have been laid off and they are seeking their next opportunity. Their experiences will help us gain some insight into what it takes to launch and build an event planning career in a turbulent market.  I will also share some of my own experiences.

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Please read what everyone has to say. Then, post your questions, comments and reactions. I've invited all participants to stop by and answer your questions so we should have a very lively and interesting discussion.

How to get Started in Event Planning & Take Your Career to the Next Level

Event Coup is pleased to welcome:

• Ann Craig, an experienced travel planner with experience in the incentives, and association markets (hereafter referred to as Ann C.)
• Arleen Edwards, CMP, a professional meeting planner
• Maria Allen, Co-Director Allen O'Brien Consulting
• Deborah Langley, Event Manager with Event-ism Twitter: @EVENTISM
• Noel Kirkner, Alumni Programs Coordinator at Cabrini College
• Michaela Karsten, General Manager, Far & Near Events Twitter: @FarNearEvents
• Patty Olejnik, a Meeting, Incentive & Event Planning Professional

I'm Anne Thornley-Brown, a regular contributor to Event Coup. I own Executive Oasis International.

Thank you for taking the time to answer some questions about your career as an event planner and pass on some tips.

First of all, where are you based?

Ann C.:   I am based in Chicago, Illinois

Arleen:   Great New York City Area.

Maria:   Tauton, United Kingdom My business partner and I are based at our homes in Somerset, UK, although we travel to London regularly for meetings with clients and take contracts overseas too.

Deborah:   Melbourne, Australia

Noel:   I work outside of the Philadelphia metro area on the Main Line.

Michaela:   I am based in Siena (Tuscany), Italy

Patty:   Greater Chicago Area

Anne:   I am based just North of Toronto in Canada.

What is your specialty?

Ann C.:   I'm more of a generalist than having one specialty and that was on purpose. Throughout my career I have worked in coordinating, planning, procurement, operations, and sales. I have worked with meetings, incentives, conferences, and events.

Society of Independent Show Organizers Event in Hartford, Connecticut

Photo Credits: Arleen Edwards

Arleen:   I've worked as a special event and meeting consultant and the director of conference services at a Convention and Visitor's Bureau

Maria:   While we dabble in medical, financial and academic work, our primary source of income is security (Government and Military). The majority of our events under Chatham House Rule, while you may be familiar with it, I have included the definition [below] just in case.

"When a meeting, or part thereof, is held under the Chatham House Rule, participants are free to use the information received, but neither the identity nor the affiliation of the speaker(s), nor that of any other participant, may be revealed".

The Chatham House Rule may be invoked at meetings to encourage openness and the sharing of information. If an attendee flouts this rule (depending on the sanctions laid down by the event hosts), they will probably be barred from future events and their personal reputation and that of their organisation will be tarnished. As senior Government officials attend many of our events, we have to liaise closely with the local police authority and/or personal security officers. Their requirements vary but they may need to know the routes we are traveling to transfer guests or restaurant locations, the layout of buildings, being able to security scout a venue before hand etc. Our role is to ensure that as many avenues as possible are covered so that should anything go wrong, a pre-arranged set of actions takes over.

Deborah:   Adding a touch of the theatrical to every event. Be it welcome entertainment or even just a touch of magic through the use of butterflies, lights or amazing decor.

Deborah Langley, Event-ism Photo Gallery

Noel:   Currently I work in higher education as an alumni event planner.

Michaela:   Event logistics, event planning, budgeting, and event management. I focus on corporate meetings and incentives in Tuscany and in the rest of Italy. I help executives:

• choose the type of event that will accomplish their corporate objectives
• increase brand awareness
• develop new business
• nurture customer loyalty
• drive growth through the execution of meetings and incentives

Event in Italy

Photo Credit: Michaela Karsen, Far & Near Events

I am very strong on location research and planning everything inside the location (of course, that is my background). I serve mainly Italy and any other destination with help of local DMCs of course.

Patty:   I don't have a specialty per se, I'm very good at coordinating and leading programs from conception to post-evaluation, including budgeting, logistics and onsite management. I've worked in various areas of the hospitality industry including meeting and incentive planning for the corporate and association markets, hotel convention services, and destination management services

Anne:   First and foremost, I am a business consultant. I own Executive Oasis International. My firm helps companies design and execute strategies to succeed even in the midst of turbulence. One of the main vehicles we use to deliver this service is the design and facilitation of team building retreats. Our expert facilitation weaves business exercises, cases and, at times, outdoor recreational activities together to create business simulations. After a while, some companies started asking us to strip the facilitation away from our business simulations and use the experiences we design for luxury corporate events to reward their people. So we now specialize in team building retreats, corporate event planning and incentive travel.

How long have you been an event planner?

Ann C.:   I have been an event planner for over 20 years.

Arleen:   I plunged into event management 12 years ago from a career in finance.

Maria:   I have almost 4 years of experience in event planning.

Deborah:   5 years

Noel:   Almost 5 years

Michaela:   I have been working in the meeting and events industry for 6 years now.

Patty:   I've now been in the hospitality industry in the Chicago area for more than 20 years.

Anne:   I fell into it gradually so let me think. My first paid event planning work was for the Canadian Society of Social Workers, way back when I was making the transition from a career as a professional social worker to business. I did some project work for them over 15 years ago that involved planning and organizing meetings. I had almost forgotten about that. I don't even remember how I got those projects.

What were you doing before you became an Event Planner?

Ann C.:   I was in horticulture before becoming an Event Planner.

Arleen:   While I loved working in finance, I wanted to work with people and decided to make a career change. My first question was - What can I do that would be personally and financially rewarding? Let's face it, I still had to pay the bills.

Maria:   Prior to this, I was in the military, a deputy practice manager for a Dr's surgery and an EA, all of which lend themselves to a degree in covering the required attributes to be an event planner.

Deborah:   I was working for a Theater Company.

Noel:   I had held an internship with a large catering company, but my real experience came through working in fundraising.

Michaela:   I worked as a reception manager in a luxury hotel where one of my duties became event planning.

Patty:   I was in college.

Anne:   I was a professional social worker, a training and development specialist, and consultant.

How did you launch your event planning career?

Ann C.:   A friend of mine asked me to interview with her boss, who was opening a travel and event management company.

Arleen:   First, I researched what career resources were available to me at my place of business. This is a great way to take classes free of charge. I took the Myers-Briggs interest inventory test, workshops in communication, networking, computers and anything else relevant to my professional development. I took several inventory tests to see if the results were consistent.

Second, I researched each career choice from the tests and I inventoried my skill base for transferable skills. This helped me make my decision to enter the event/hospitality industry. I also looked within my company for opportunities that matched my goals and lifestyle. I had two young children and work-life balance was important. Luckily there were some.

Third, I contacted people within the company and requested informal information meetings. To my surprise everyone I contacted was receptive. I was even able to shadow someone for half a day. These meetings proved to be invaluable to me. I discovered that no one would hire me without experience and my transferable skills were not enough.

Fourth, I enrolled in a meeting and event management certificate program and began my formal education. Next, I used my company's volunteer database to find requests for event volunteers. I found a volunteer opportunity, but my assignment wasn't what I expected. I made it my mission to talk to the Director of Conferences and make my presence known. After the event, I persisted and the director agreed to take me on as an unpaid intern.

I became a working mom, part-time student and intern. It wasn't easy and it took time but my efforts paid off. I successfully transitioned from finance to event management within my company. My internship has lasted 12 years and I have traveled across the country with the same group producing a multi-day conference. P.S. This is only part 1 of my journey.

Maria:   Quite by accident! Fundamentally, I was asked to assist in an administrative capacity for a 3-day security based conference in London. The attendees were from the higher end of management, along with senior military officers, government officials, academics etc. When I pitched up on the day of the event, the event manager told me that it was a difficult day for them and they had to disappear for an hour to collect their thoughts (this was an hour before the delegates were due to arrive), I decided that there was no way I would be party to a disaster - so I took over. Talk about flying by the seat of your pants! At the end of the conference, I was approached with 2 job offers and someone commented on how well my team and I worked together - up until that point, we had never even met.

Deborah:   In my role at the theater company I organized a number of forums and then did some work for the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne (equivalent to the Olympics... sort of) and just fell into a role as the event manager at a corporate booking agency / event company

Noel:   Working at a non-profit was my first real experience in event planning.

Michaela:   I got involved with meeting planning while working in a luxury hotel. I coordinated the hotel staff, created the function sheets organized the staff pre-con meetings and managed the final master account for each event.

I followed a master course in event management while still working in the hotel and read many, many industry books. I worked on automotive events, corporate meetings, incentives and private parties. After one year and a half I decided to resign and start my own business.

Event in Italy

Photo Credit: Michaela Karsen, Far and Near Events

Patty:   At the end of my freshman year of college I didn't have a summer job yet, so when a family friend asked me to work at his booth at the National Restaurant Association Show in Chicago, I did. He was selling computer programs to manage meeting registration and catering business. He hired me for the summer to help him follow up on leads. That led to an internship doing the registration for an international association meeting the next year. That led to my first job after college graduation as the convention coordinator at that association. I moved into hotel convention services, destination management and into corporate planning. I was very fortunate to find a career I love!

Anne:   As said, it was gradual. I had a contract with a theatre company to develop training material to accompany one of their school productions. Showcases were a very important part of booking school tours. While a co-worker had primary responsibility for planning and organizing showcases, it was a team effort in which we all rolled up our sleeves and helped to plan, organize and run these.

I have been very active in various professional associations and volunteered for their Toronto Chapters. I was a member of the committee that planned the monthly evening meetings for the Canadian Society for Training and Development on a volunteer basis for over 4 years. During an economic downturn, volunteers were harder and harder to find. So, we became a committee of 2. I was responsible for planning and organizing all aspects of half of the evening meetings each year. This was valuable experience in working with venues, dealing with caterers, recruiting speakers, and promotion. I also volunteered to help at some of the conferences.

Building on this experience, I was invited to volunteer to serve on the board of the MBA Women's Association. I was the Programming Director and responsible for planning, organizing and promoting all of the monthly meetings and events.

I've also volunteered on the corporate side of the field at Toronto Polo Club's "Polo for Heart Tournament" for many years. This gave me a behind the scenes look at what it takes to pull together large events.

Winter Team Building in Ottawa

Photo Credit: Anne Thornley-Brown, Executive Oasis International

While I was working as a management development specialist full-time, I was responsible also responsible for some planning meetings, handling logistics for training sessions including hotel, meal and meeting arrangements, award dinners, and planning off-sites including a conference in Montreal for internal trainers.

Cooking Event in Toronto

Photo Credit: Anne Thornley-Brown, Executive Oasis International

Once I launched my own company, it was just a matter of time before clients asked if I could fully plan the meetings and retreats in addition to facilitating them. Based on my past experience, it was a pleasure. After a while, existing clients asked me to plan stand alone events for them and new clients approached me to plan their events.

I had worked as a summer flight attendant while attending university. While I was facilitating retreats and workshops in Canada, Jamaica, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Oman, Egypt, Japan, Singapore, and Malaysia, I was becoming familiar with resorts, hotels, tours, and attractions. Incentive travel was the next logical service for my company to offer. We now offer 1 stop shopping to plan retreats, events and sales incentive trips from start to finish including hotels, meeting facilities, transfers, tours, recreation, and galas at featured destinations worldwide.

Luxury Beach Event in Oman

Photo Credit: Anne Thornley-Brown, Executive Oasis International

On what social media sites have you been active and how have you been using them to further your career and/or grow your business?

Maria:   We only use LinkedIn, primarily because it is a professional networking site and not full of 'fluff'. It enables us to carry out some research on individuals and a medium for putting people/businesses in touch where we feel it would be of mutual advantage to both.

Deborah:   I am active on Twitter, Facebook & LinkedIn. I enjoy the discusion groups of LinkedIN and post status updates on Facebook & Twitter to promote my business, promote events and comment on things that interest me.

Noel:   For Cabrini College and the Alumni office we use social media in a variety of ways. Cabrini uses Facebook to promote events to alumni and students through different fan pages that are created by different departments on campus. We also use Facebook for admissions by reaching out to potential students through fan pages and groups. We currently use LinkedIn as our career networking tool and have held 4 events thus far this year for our alumni promoting networking.

Michaela:   I am active on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. I use LinkedIn to create a network in and out of the event business. I try to establish a relationship with my connections. Groups on linked in increase my visibility, help to grow my network and to establish relationships with people. I promote my business on LinkedIn mostly by being active in my groups. On Twitter I write small messages, mostly giving tips on activities and recreational team events that my company organizes. I now have started as well on giving tips about event management. I use Facebook for my personal social contacts only. Furthermore I am registered on many other social media sites like video, Xing, UYNX, and so on, just to increase visibility on search engines etc.

Patty:   I'm following the standard - using Facebook for personal social ties and LinkedIn for business. As I'm in the midst of a job search, I am "linking" to as many people as I can directly and through groups. When I apply for a job, I research how I'm "linked" to the company and follow up through my links. I'll let you know how it goes! ;)

Anne:   The first site I was on was Ryze. I have a Facebook profile and my blogs show up there. I am not very active on Ryze or Facebook. I am very active on LinkedIn. In addition to my involvement with the Event Planning and Management Group as a Group Manager, I own 2 alumni groups and a team building group. I have posted and answered questions in Q&A, posted events, and started a couple of polls. I have, in the last few months, made a point of really being active on Twitter and decided to really "go for it" to see if it works. I share entries from my blogs and other blogs, news articles, tweets about horse riding, polo, Olympic sports, acting, hobbies, personal interests, and of course, Jamaica. I've participated in #eventprofs chats a couple of times and they have been really super. I also have 2 Second Life profiles. One for fun and the other that I intend to eventually use to do some on-line coaching, table top sessions and seminars.

What benefits have you obtained from social media use?

Maria:   Quite often, businesses and individuals don't have the time or the thought pattern to carry out this research themselves. By making the link for them based on information people digress through general conversation, and creating an introduction, this encourages people to send work back our way because they have been able to; gain funding, progress a project, find individuals prudent to their work, create a symbiotic relationship with another organisation etc.

Deborah:   I have benefited greatly from social media. I think the best example of this would be a photographer I meet via social media, we have engaged in cross promotion and link shares because we both liked each others styles and work even though we have never meet face-to-face as we live in different states.

Noel:   We have really been able to connect with the alumni through facebook, especially the younger alumni. They seem more engaged with the College and the attendance at our events as increased slightly. We have also forged new connections between alumni who have lost touch.

Michaela:   My first clients! It is very difficult in Italy to enter corporations because they prefer to work with people or companies they know or have been recommended by people they trust. I started without any contacts so this is an important step for me. Further more I became part of the board of directors of a local business club born on LinkedIn and this group helps me a lot to promote my business to local companies. Another benefit is that people have heard or read about my company even though they don't know me. I received RFPs from my tweets and confirmed events by attending networking events organized by LinkedIn groups.

Patty:   It's actually added to personal interaction. I've gotten together with people I wouldn't have run into without reconnecting on Facebook. Social media has added a fun, new dimension and I can't wait to see what's next!

Anne:   I can only trace 1 specific piece of business to Ryze. Other than that, so far I have never been asked to submit an RFQ or obtained any business from social media. LinkedIn has helped me re-connect with former colleagues. Twitter has generated a couple of opportunities for me to be interviewed by the media. Through LinkedIn and Twitter, I have had some opportunities for guest blogging including Event Coup. Twitter and LinkedIn have definitely boosted traffic to my own blogs, that's for sure. The main benefit of LinkedIn has been learning how to generate traffic for blogs and boost visibility on the Internet.

What 1 piece of advice would you give someone who wanted to get started in event planning?

Ann C.:   My one piece of advice for someone who is getting started these days is to get your degree in hospitality, tourism, travel and obtain industry certifications. These were not as available or desired when I first entered the industry, but they are today. When I first began in the industry, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone else as a career because the hours were long, the pay was small, and the opportunities were few. I'm happy to say that the industry has progressed and one can definitely have a career/business in event planning. The hours are still long but the pay is a little better. There is a wider range of opportunities, and the people associated with the industry are the best!

Arleen:   Volunteering is a wonderful way to gain experience, solidify your career commitment and build your network.

Maria:   Advice? Stick to the market you know, at least initially. While the fundamentals of event planning can cross over into almost any sector, if you know your audience, you can speak their language and make them feel safe and confident.

Deborah:   Volunteer, Volunteer, Volunteer. There is nothing better than practical experience.

Noel:   Usually when people think of event planning they think strict social or wedding type events, however there are several different types of event planning. Non-profit fundraising is a great way to get your foot in the door and get a well-rounded experience in event planning. The best advice I can give to someone who would like to choose this as a career is to make sure you are willing to be flexible.

Michaela:   To get started in event planning I advise people to get a degree, do an internship, and get started from there.

Patty:   I completely agree with Noel; flexibility is a key trait of successful planners. For those just getting into the business, I recommend gaining a broad base of experience before choosing a specialty. You may find you like food & beverage, or destination management, or perhaps stage production of general sessions. There are so many facets of this industry.

Anne:   Especially in these turbulent economic times, demonstrating the value and ROI of meetings and events will be critical. For this reason, I would advise someone starting out to get a business degree first and some solid business experience at a company that places high value on events. It really doesn't matter if it's sales, marketing, customer service, or technical experience, really get to know how businesses operate. Develop a bottom-line orientation.

The next step would be to get to know the professionals responsible for event planning in your company and in your company's industry. Volunteer to become involved in planning events and meetings for your department, company, professional association, or alumni association.

The importance of flexibility and rolling with the punches has already been stressed. When you're volunteering, demonstrate your flexibility, multi-tasking skills and ability to remain cool under pressure. If possible, try to make a lateral move into event planning or event marketing in your company. A lot of really experienced professionals have been laid off and the market is flooded with event and meeting planners at the moment. So, I think that the approach I am suggesting will get you further than taking an event planning or hospitality certificate and then trying to land a "dream job" in event planning when you have no business experience. While you are working full-time, you can take event planning and hospitality courses part-time. Many companies have Educational Assistance Programmes that will reimburse your tuition.

Most of all network, network, network. As you've seen from the experiences that have been shared already, personal contacts can open many doors. Don't be afraid to share your career goals with friends, relatives and colleagues. Ask for their help.

What 1 piece of advice would you give to an event planner who wants to take their career or event planning business to the next level?

Ann C.:   My advice on taking your planning career or business to the next level is be open to learning all facets of the events industry; learn the good ways and how to change the bad ways to good; stay open to new and better trends for the industry is constantly evolving; and stay connected as this is a very relational industry.

Event for Society of Independent Show Organizers in Hartford, Connecticut

Photo Credit: Arleen Edwards

Arleen:   The path to reach my goal was sometimes difficult but not impossible and I encourage you to never give up.

Maria:   As for taking it to another level - network and be ballsy! If you don't try, you will never know.

Deborah:   Ask yourself "Do events excite you? Do you get a buzz when talking about possibilities? Do you think outside the box? Can you come up with unique ways of doing things? Will you go above and beyond? Are you willing to work long hours for little recognition?" Then just do it! Take risks and get yourself out there.

Noel:   No matter what industry you will be doing event planning in, you must be ready to give up a lot of free time and be willing to roll with the punches. The most important thing I have learned so far in my career is that what can go wrong will and you always have to be prepared and ready to go with the flow.

Michaela:   Before you set up your own business, make sure you already have a mailing list (contacts) of possible clients. It is really hard to start with no contacts as I did. Further more know exactly what you sell (offer) and have a good network of referenced suppliers.

Patty:   For those looking to step up their career, they need to find the ROI of the events they produce and use it to get a seat at the boardroom table.

Anne:   This is also one of the toughest times to move your career to the next level but it's not impossible. Focusing on fun, fun, fun without really helping clients dig deeper, pinpoint specific objectives and a clear business need for each event is risky in this economy. You'll be vulnerable whenever the budget needs to be scrutinized and trimmed. Be prepared to speak in terms of the ROI of the services you provide and skills you offer.

Network and get to know as many executives as you can. Executives will ultimately make the decision about what events add value and sign-off on who to hire. If you have any opportunities to volunteer for any events where you can meet executives and build your network of executive contacts, seize them.

I would say whether you are working full time or part-time boost your visibility by writing a blog, articles and press releases. Don't just focus on event planning publications. Also, write for publications in your industry. In your writing, demonstrate that you understand the business issues your company's industry is facing.

Tools & Resources to Get you Started

• Career Corner at Meeting.Net
• MPI's Certified Meeting Professional (CMP) Information
• SITE Society of Incentive & Travel Executives
• How to Start and Event Planning Service - Entrepreneur Magazine
• How to become an event Planner

Next Steps

As we've seen based on this discussion, there is more than one route to a career in event planning. However, there are some common themes including:

• Volunteer, roll up your sleeves and show initiative. Volunteering really gives you a chance to build your network of contacts and see how events come together.
• Network. We have seen over and over again that contacts open doors.
• Don't think corporate is the only way to go. There are opportunities with associations, in the military, with theatre companies, at colleges, in hotels, and in the food and beverage sector.

It isn't easy to break into event planning or to take your career to the next level right now but don't get discouraged. It may take you longer than you expect to reach your goals but hang in there, the economy will re-bound.

If you have any questions, please use the comment section. If you have questions for specific people I've interviewed or for me, please identify by name the person to whom you are addressing each question.

Opening Photo Credit: On Stage Lighting License

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 3^rd 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

(Twitter)

REASON #9

Because one way marketing has had its day! 

Stop thinking “campaigns”. Start thinking “conversations”.

Listening first, selling second

REASON #10

Because in almost all cases social media is free. 

All it will cost you is time.

Social media playtime is officially over   

This presentation was inspired by the genius work of…

Marta Kagan author of WHAT THE F**K IS SOCIAL MEDIA

Read her blog http://bonafidemarketinggenius.com

Follow her on Twitter http://twitter.com/mzkagan

Erik Qualman author of SOCIAL MEDIA REVOLUTION

Read his blog http://socialnomics.net

Follow him on Twitter http://twitter.com/equalman  

You don’t have to be a science fiction nerd to enjoy the event that is the movie Avatar.  If you haven’t seen it you soon will be one of the only ones. It is a movie event not to be missed.  What can we learn from this Movie event?   In our economy, obviously companies and associations don’t have 500 million laying around for their next event.  Now, more than ever we are in a mode of showing return on investment for attending or putting on meetings and events.

We are in a time of low attendance at movie theatres just like we are experiencing at events/meetings.   Avatar made going to the movies, a must see. It is a memorable event which engaged the audience for the whole experience.   Avatar took some risks on how it’s “always done” and it paid off big.  How can you take some strategic risks to engage your audiences? Use new innovative concepts or break the mold with new event technology?

Here are some ideas I put together about James Cameron and his team who designed the whole Avatar event.  I hope it might spark some dialogue for you and your meeting professional friends & teams.

1) Story

The movie Avatars actual story is pretty typical:  heroes and villains.  But it has a solid theme and engages you for the full 2.5 hours of the movie. This comes from storytelling, planning and pacing. Avatar left no stone unturned and the presentation was really well thought out.  Event organizers and speakers can learn from this.  Put yourself in the shoes of your attendees and tell them a story.  Make them comfortable and deliver the story in the most engaging and impactful way possible.  What is the theme of your event as a whole? How can you make a story out of it to engage attendees?  You might feel uneasy too bring it up in the planning meeting, but someone needs to step forward and start the creative conversation.   What sort of action are you looking from your audience when they walk out the door at the end of the conference? Are you presenting problems and then solutions for your audience?

One awesome thing I saw with the marketing of Avatar is the big story behind the story.  Not about the movie itself, but how it was made.   The story surrounding the making of this epic movie took on a life of its own. This was the talk of many articles in all sorts of magazines and the web.  Building excitement and drama.  Would the high cost be a bomb?  The side story of the brash James Cameron taking his Titanic money and doing it his own way, giving mainstream Hollywood a run for its money really build the buzz.  This moved the Avatar brand much faster, got the media and people talking about it before anyone saw the first Pandora resident.  (Pandora is where the movie takes place) Of course the movie had to deliver and it did.  Great use of stories to build buzz. Think about drama or story you can put around an event or meeting.  What will get your attendees excitied.

2) Environment

James Cameron broke the old mold of bringing a new type of movie to the theatres. Not many theatres can show the film in 3-D so he made different versions of the digital prints for all types of theatres. The movie is beautiful. Plus ask anyone and they will say if you haven’t seen it in 3-d then you really haven’t experienced it.  Then the next person will say if you haven’t seen it in  3-D IMAX giant screen you are missing out.  So this means people will see it once or twice before the dvds come out.   As Maartin Vanneste talks in his book Meeting Architecture you must have an architect for the content and experience of the attendees.  Someone has to lead the event.  All the wonderful food and comfortable venues is really important but what do you want your audience to see and feel? Most ballrooms are built for weddings. Those giant Chandlers are testament to the fact. How can you make the room reflect your story?   How can you immerse them in an environment to help them absorb the messages or content?  What innovative concepts can you infuse?  Spend an equal or more time developing the story and environment of the event or meeting.  Can you make sure the look and feel of the event is impactful and special?  James Cameron used 3-d and rich visuals to transport us to another place where we learned all about this strange world of Pandora. Think about your next presentation or stage; build and environments around your content. Play off the environmental design; Make it rich in visuals not text.  Use video, audio and images to cement ideas and points. Use technology to engage and inform and get your attendees talking and setting the stage about the environment you are presenting. When I saw Avatar it was a total event.  The large IMAX screen at the Metron in San Francisco the full audience and that exciting buzz.  It was a total experience.

3) Experience

Today just leaving the house for any reason has to be event based. With blue ray players, the internet, cable, everything can been seen, bought from home. James Cameron designed something that made people go to the theatre in droves.  Event professionals need to keep this in mind. Make every event an experience by knowing what your audience wants and listen to them. Be creative.  What do you want attendees to walk away with? This is where listening comes in and the internet has many free and paid listening tools for this. You can build a dedicated audience using these tools.  Listen in to your audiences with easy to set up tools like Google Alerts,

Twitter search, Twendz.  Use the free Google Analytics tools to see where your audience is coming from and go there and listen. I did a tutorial with Radian6 a while back and it was a simple listening tool and gave me more information about my industry and events then I could ever use.  But was fantastic! Listen and build the experience.

4) Technology

You can’t escape the technology these days. It is not going away and will become more prevalent in events and meetings to extend the content of events before and after and during the face to face meeting. Embrace it.  James Cameron’s team utilized some unbelievable technology to design and produce Avatar.  You are dropped into a 3-D world of amazing visuals and excitement.  But Cameron’s team also utilized the web to build community and buzz around the event before it was even released.  Are you dipping your toes in Social Media and the web for your events or conferences?  Are you keeping up to date on the new technology to educate and engage in your sessions?  What about taking audience polls, using video and animations to provide for all types of learning? Always searching for new technologies is so important. Especially to engage younger audiences. The are rapidly going to be your audiences soon. So start experimenting.

Are you thinking about a mobile application for smart phones? Games for mobile devices?  How about a game for all the gaming consoles homes these days? Getting the budget to produce these types of media for your event might be out of reach but it will get cheaper.  Good thing about many of these new tools is they are updatable.  Maybe you could use it year round. Ramp up before the next meeting with updates to the technological tools. Might be a great way to engage audiences. Think about included twitter feeds, audio, video podcasts, streaming and community forums.  My friend Gary Rosenzweig  has been making games for all sorts of companies.  What a great way to have your attendees learn your content.  Build a game around it! Embrace technology.

5) Social Media and the Internet-

Avatar utilized social media and the web to build a community and buzz about the event like seasoned gorilla marketers.  Avatar made these tools focusing on the opening of the movie Avatar to be a can’t miss event.  You can use these same tools below for your event or conference and most are free.  Your costs will be the time build strategy, the community and keeping them alive by being there engaging and listening to your event or meetings community.  I know it will pay dividends for you.  Most of all, experiment with different strategies. Many new companies are becoming specialists in this area for events. I heard some very cool things from a company called Velvet Chainsaw (Jeff Hurts new employer)

this week that are moving in the direction of providing solutions for events and conferences in this new area.

What did Avatar exactly do via Social Media?

Facebook page: Facebook is rapidly changing to fit your business needs. They have new updated features making it very easy for your attendees to engage and interact around your event.  Plus unlike most other web tools everybody seems to be on Facebook from your grandma to your 12 year old.  Avatar has 700k members that James Cameron’s team engages with.  Last year David Merman Scott had an excellent post about a conference that utilized Facebook to increase attendance. 

 Twitter page:  Is a newly adopted event technology and a great way to connect with your audience to get them spreading your message.  Make sure you have a conference hashtag and is it available on all web and printed materials so your audience can start the conversation as soon as possible.

 Webcasts: James Cameron teamed up with MTV/Facebook to use a webcast where questions were submitted by a virtual audience and James Cameron and some of the stars were interviewed.   Are you doing pre conference webcasts, podcasts, videocasts to start engagement with your audience?  Build the community this way. Have a few webcasts to build awareness and engagement. They are a great way to listen to your audience and have a two-way communications channel to start testing your events story, and make sure you are on the right path.

 Live Streaming: One very cool thing is utilizing free streaming technology.  Avatar used the free service UStream for the red carpet premiere of the movie so fans could feel the excitement live.  Think about streaming your event to attendees who cannot attend.  This will build your attendance if it is a good event because people will want to be there in person. Trust me, nobody would like to sit in front of a computer for a whole event instead of actually attending. So build use it to build awareness and community.  Many have chat rooms attached to the service so make sure you interact with the virtual audience. Some live streaming methods: iphone, Quik, Justintv, livestream, vivu.tv. Ask your production company about ways you can do this to get the quality you are looking for. Many paid options are out there also which buys you more quality and piece of mind.

6) Avatars are blue but green people are also needed-

One of Avatars messages is environmental destruction.  I don’t want to write any spoilers in case you haven’t seen the movie but just don’t take from the city you are visiting. Or in Avatars case, the planet you are visiting for your event or meeting.  Don’t fly in with your big carbon footprint, extra large shoes and trash the city you are holding your conference or meeting in.  Be as green as possible. Community service is always a great way to give back. In the movie Avatar character played by Sigourney Weaver is trying to do this with the Navi people.  You already know to reduce your carbon footprint, recycle, use local foods, turn off air conditioning in ballrooms at night. (and your hotel room when you leave it) Water stations instead of plastic bottles etc. If you want some tips on this contact Johanna Walsh or Midori Connolly who are my green people friends. I am constantly learning from them both. And they both live here on earth.

Some other ideas (not Avatar related) 

If your meeting or event is corporate having a Linkedin group is a good idea. Flickr which is an image based community is also a great way drive traffic to your event.  Plus a great place for your attendees to find pictures from past events and current ones.  Make sure you have a YouTube channel— YouTube is the second most popular search engine on the internet.  I heard recently from Brett Bumeter that Google search is reading the titles in videos now.  So think about putting as much content on your free channel on Youtube as you can.  A great way for your community to find more information and get educated and informed about your event.  Remember use the conference #hashtag. Hav it on everything print collatoral to email signatures.  Another huge add is community based software that can be attached to your site.  MPI uses Pathable.com and a conference I recently attended PCMA in Dallas Crowdvine was fully utilized.  They are great ways to engage your audience. You can make direct connections to other attendees, start conversations, and work out your schedule.

So in closing this out hopefully you will take some of these tools and build on ideas to infuse story, emotion, environmental experiences, event technology, social media to build community, education  and engagement in your upcoming events.   Maybe take some risks like James Cameron did with technology and story. It seems to be paying off for him.  He spent 500 million to make the Avatar movie.  He had a 232 Million dollar opening weekend and it made one billion dollars by the end of 2009.  I think it is the highest grossing film of all time at the time of this posting.

What if you were able to have a 500 million budget for your next meeting? (or 500 Thousand?)  What risks would you take?  Iove to hear if you have used any of these tools at your event or meeting?

Maybe come tell me in person next week at EventCamp Feb 6th in New York City at the Roger Smith Hotel?

Should be an awesome time learn, share and converse about social media, event technology and the innovative concepts we all want our events and meetings to utilize!

Also, go see Avatar. If you need someone to go with you call me. I would love to see it again.

Cheers!

Mike

We are hearing lots of talks about Facebook and Twitter, and with a good reason, they are now on the crest of the wave. Anyway, when we talk about social media, we intend a lot of tools and websites (from my point of view we are talking about all the "NEW" internet). 

Thinking about that, I would like to spend a couple of words about Youtube and Flickr.

It is definitely the main place to view videos, it is popular, people are there, so, why not try to use it to find new people interested in your service. 

One idea, thinking about Entertainment booking companies, should be to put your artists on the web, show a demo of their performances, a sneak peak. It could be a good place to show the material to the client, in a second, but not only that. There are a lot of crap videos around, bad quality, few views... so, why the agency itself does not help to create something cool, something To-View, something viral? It could be a massive tool to promote the artists under the name of the Agency. That could be done with other suppliers like lighting. And, moreover, using Youtube could be an interactive/fun/original/creative experience to find the right artist. You could use Youtube Annotations to "guide" the viewer to find the one that he has in mind, need inspiration on how to use annotations creatively:

look here, here, here, here, here

How to start?

- open an account with the agency's name

- help artists to realize cool video (they are your content)

- upload videos and promote them

- organize the videos using right titles, tags, descriptions, categories, playlists

- use Youtube and be constant on your activities

It is a great place to keep, show and talk about pictures. An idea could be to use it as a "Showroom" of your venues. Let's say you are an event agency that provides venue research service, why don't use Flickr as your place to show the pictures of different venues? As above, it could be a great tool to have a quick view of the place, it would enhance the experience of the client but, also, it could improve your effectiveness avoiding useless inspections other that bring more visitors to your website. I am thinking in particular to wedding planning agencies, especially for destination weddings.

How to do that?

- Sign up on Flickr with the agency's name

- Use great pictures, or do them with a prof photographer (ask the permission to the venue first)

- Use the right titles, tags and notes

- Search groups where you can find people interested in your material

- use Flickr and be constant on your activities

These were just a couple of ideas to don't forget that: if you want to use social media to promote your event business, you have to be in the places where people are, not only the ones that are more popular in this moment. And you, what other tools and techniques use for you event service?

Summary: This is part 3 of Event Coup's three part guide to social media marketing basics for event planners. Ready to share your blog on Twitter, Facebook and other social media sites? We'll cover the basics and show you exactly how to do it, step-by-step, with videos and detailed instructions.

Sharing your Event Planning Blog on Twitter & Facebook

Social Media Marketing Tools for Event Planners: Blogs, Twitter & Facebook is the 3rd part of a 3 part series to help event planners implement their social media marketing strategy. Event Coup has a lot of advanced content about social media. This series has been focusing on the basics. The list of resources we cover in this article won't be exhaustive as the purpose of this series is to cut through the noise and help you get started quickly and easily.

In order to use the tools we'll be discussing, it's important for you to have handy:

• a shortened version of your URL (if you're going to update your status on LinkedIn or manually tweet about your most recent blog update)
• the full URL and a summary for each of the blog entries you're ready to share
• your RSS Feed URL

If you're not where to get these, we covered this information in parts 1 and 2. If you haven't read parts 1 and 2 or if you need a refresher, you can access them here:

• Part 1:Social Media Marketing Strategies for Event Planners - Webites, blogs, LinkedIN
• Part 2: Social Media Marketing for Event Planners: RSS Feeds & More About Blogs - Preparing to Share your Event Planning Blog with RSS Feeds & Blog Summaries

Twitter for Business

Twitter, the most well known, real time micro-blogging platform, is becoming increasingly useful for business. With just 140 characters, business owners can stay in touch with customers, share relevant articles, give product and service information, and get the word out about blog updates. As business people lead increasingly fast paced lives, focused and targeted tweets can be a highly effective method of capturing short attention spans and communicating key information about your business.

Getting Started on Twitter

If you're not on Twitter, here is a short tutorial for setting up your Twitter profile:

Adding Twitter to Your LinkedIn Profile

Recently, LinkedIn upgraded its functionality. You can now:

• list the URL for your Twitter ID directly in your profile
• tweet your network updates by selecting the Twitter button and clicking on "Share" whenever you want to tweet a new update. The first time you do this, LinkedIn will sync your profile with Twitter.

  You can decide if you want to tweet your LinkedIn network updates (recommended) or if you want update your network update on LinkedIn every time you tweet.

Twitblogs: When 140 Characters Just Aren't Enough

Twitblogs is the perfect Twitter companion. Once you’ve created your Twitter profile, you can use your Twitter ID and password to log into twitterfeed.com in a new browser.

Customizing your Twitterfeed

• Click on advanced settings
• Select your update frequency for your feed - this will determine how often Twitterfeed checks for updates. Vary the frequency so that all of your feeds don't tweet at the same time.
• Under post content select "Include Title".
• Make sure that "Post Link" is selected and use the default URL shortner bit.ly so that you can get click through statistics whenever you log in
• Select a couple of prefixes and suffixes. For event planning tweets, consider using the hash tags #eventprofs and #linkevents (If you aren't familiar with hashtags [#], scroll down and you'll be able to access a video tutorial at the end of this section.)
• Then, click "continue to step 2".

Selecting a Service: Twitter

• In the "Publishing to" list, select Twitter
• Click on the list to authenticate your Twitter account. Select allow.
• Click on create service
• Click on "All done"

You're all set. From now on, whenever you update your blog, Twitterfeed will tweet the title of the blog entry, a shortened URL and any suffixes that you selected. To add other blogs or share articles from a publication that is relevant to event planning, use the same steps that you used to create your first Twitterfeed.

Remember to follow Twitterfeed on Twitter - @twfeed.

Next Steps for Using Twitter for Event Planners

After you've set up your Twitter account and registered with a number of sites that will automatically tweet your blog updates, it would probably be helpful to get an assessment of how your use of Twitter is progressing and suggestions for improvement. An excellent site that will help you do this is:

Twitter.grader.com

You can even arrange for Twitter.grader.com to send you a weekly report to help you track your progress.

If you would like more information about how event planning professionals can use Twitter, here are some other extremely useful resources:

Review of Twitter Basics & Some Advanced Content

• Twitter for Event Planners by Pathable @pathable

Advanced Twitter Content

• Event Coup's popular Twitter Tools For Event Planners by Kena Siu @KenaSiu
• How to embed twitter in your event by Julus Solaris @tojulius
• 11 Websites to Schedule your Tweets Online for Free by Sean Larue @seanlarue
• 12 Twitter Tools Every Event Marketer Should Know About by Ian McGonnigal @iandavmcg

Hash Tags [#] for Your Events

Hash tags are bookmarks. They make it possible for people searching for tweets about specific topics to find it easily in Twitter. You can create a hashtag for a specific events, share it with participants and include it in all tweets related to this event.

This video provides a tutorial about Hash Tag Basics:

#eventprofs

#eventprofs is the hash tag for a thriving commmunity of progressive event planning professionals that connect on Twitter share ideas, debate topics and collaborate. The eventprofs wiki has full instructions and details for participation. The #eventprofs "hashtag group" on Twitter has online chats twice per week. You can follow this group @eventprofs on Twitter http://twitter.com/eventprofs.

Facebook for Business

At one time, many dismissed Facebook primarily of interest to teenagers, college students and companies targeting those demographics in their marketing. The face of Facebook has changed dramatically and more and more companies are creating Facebook profiles and using Facebook to connect with existing and potential customers. (That is one of the reasons that I always advise clients to pay attention to what’s hot among teenagers and college students. Young people tend to be early adopters and they will often provide clues about marketing trends and tools. If you don’t have a teenager, beg, borrow or steal one.)

At the time of writing, the insidefacebook.com directory listed 21,655 companies with Facebook profiles. Without leaving the first part of the A’s, some of the organizations listed on Facebook include AT&T, Abbot Laborotories, Abercrombie and Fitch, and Alvin Ailey Dance Theater. Your event planning company can no longer afford NOT to be on Facebook.

Getting Started on Facebook

If you haven’t created your Facebook profile yet, go to facebook.com and register. This interactive video will show you the basics for getting started and building profile.

As you build your Facebook profile, it's important to manage your content by removing what you don't need and getting more content that is relevant.

Sharing Blog on Facebook

Sharing Your Blog on Facebook with Networked Blogs:

Networked Blogs is a powerful application for sharing you blog on Facebook. All you have to do is go to networkedblogs.com when you are logged into Facebook.

Networked Blogs Basics

• Click on the "Register a New Blog" link.
• Enter the blog name.
• Enter your blog URL (not RSS).
• Enter your 3 most important keywords in the "Topics" fields.
• In the description field, enter a brief, keyword rich synopsis about your blog.
• Click "next".

Publishing Your Blog to Your Facebook Profile

After you click on next, you will see a summary with details about your blog.

• Click on Feed Settings - add your RSS Feed URL
• When prompted, select "allow" so that Newtowrked Blogs can share information about your blog on Facebook

Every time you post a new blog entry, it will appear in Networked Blogs and on your Facebook profile. Your Facebook profile will also list all the blogs you write in the lower left corner of your Facebook profile.

Here is more information about Networked Blogs:

This article has focused on how to share your blog on Facebook. If you would like more advanced content about using Facebook for event planning, here are some resources:

• 5 Powerful Ideas For Using Facebook For Events by Ian McGonnigal @iandavmcg
• Facebook Simplifies Event Planning by Adam Ostrow @Adamostrow

Next Steps

This brings us to the end of our 3 part series about basic of social media marketing strategies for event planners. This series was intended to be a tutorial to point you in the right direction and help you get your website, blog, and LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook profiles set up quickly and easily. If you have any questions, please post them in "Comments". Subscribe to Event Coup so that you will receive immediate notificaiton about advanced social media content for event planners.

Photo Credit: Anne Helmond

Online conference eCommunities were the rage in 2009

Did you offer one for your annual meeting attendees? I did.

So what are they? Online eCommunities are virtual communities of people that primarily interact via the Internet for social, professional, educational or other purposes.

Online Conference eCommunities have become a supplemental form of communication between people who are attending the same conference. The registrants of the face-to-face event use special online social software to connect with each other.

Online Conference eCommunity users can:

• Create profiles
• Connect with others attending the conference before, during and after the conference online
• IM
• Participate in text-based chat rooms and forums
• Schedule itineraries
• Setup times to meet with exhibitors or vendors
• View live or archived presentations
• Share photos from the face-to-face event
• View venue and tradeshow floor plans
• Setup appointments with exhibitors and vendors
• And a host of other features

Many online conference eCommunities integrate with social networking platforms like blogs, Facebook, Flickr, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube.

From free to low-cost eCommunities like MeetUp and Ning, to customized features of Social Collective and Zerista, there are ample opportunities for you to provide conference attendee engagement experiences through an online conference eCommunity. If you are thinking about adding one to your 2010 Annual Meeting or Conference attendee offerings, here are 14 online conference eCommunity providers for you to consider.

BizBash SCHED

Offers Facebook and Twitter integration, attendee communication interface, conference scheduler, detailed session and speaker information, mobile interface, video and audio integration and more. Not as robust as other eCommunities but includes some unique conference organizer features. Clients include BizBash Expo & Awards, BlogWorld 2009 and Exploit Labour Conference.

CrowdVine

Offers Facebook and Twitter integration, blog aggregation, customizable conference eCommunity website, attendee itinerary planner, attendee profiles, IM, speaker and session rating system, attendee communication interface, mobile interface, third-party registration support of EventBrite, RegOnline and Laser Registration, and more. Clients include PCMA 2010, Web 2.0 and IA Summit.

eventVue

Offers conference attendee registration package through partnership with Acteva, Eventbrite and RegOnline, social media integration with blogs, Facebook, Flickr, Twitter and YouTube, customizable conference micro-website (full conference website), attendee profiles, IM, embedded video and audio, mobile interface, and more. Clients include Defrag, Mashable’s US Summer Tour 2008, and Mass Technology Leadership Conference.

iCohere

An often over-looked platform that is well known in eLearning circles but lesser known in the events industry. Provides opportunity for a full, exclusive, online virtual conference complete with attendee registration, eCommerce, attendee profiles, IM, live audio, video and Webinar integration, virtual vendor showrooms, blog feature and more. Limited customization for look and feel as compared to other eCommunities. [We currently use iCohere at my work for our exclusive walled industry eCommunity for our nonprofit members.] Clients include ASAE, National Defense University, US Forest Service and WorldVision.

MeetUp

Offers a turnkey event attendee registration package, eCommerce, social media network integration, customizable border for micro-website, attendee profiles, IM, message board, and more. Mostly used by local self-organized groups.

NFi MemberFuse

Used more for member eCommunities than conference communities but can be customized for conferences. Integrates with Association Management Systems like Avectra, offers RSS integration, customizable eCommunity website, user profiles, IM, attendee communication interface, resource library, and more. Clients include MPI WEC09, NMC09 and OmniPress Conference 2.0.

Ning

Offers full integration with social media networking platforms like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, customizable eCommunity website, user profiles, IM, surveys and pools, user communication interface, mobile accessibility, and third-party event and registration support through widgets.

Omnipress’ Conference 2.0

Built on the Pathable platform, Offers Facebook , LinkedIn and Twitter integration, customizable conference eCommunity website, attendee itinerary planner, session handouts and slides, attendee profiles, IM, surveys and polls, attendee communication interface, mobile interface, third-party registration support of EventBrite, RegOnline, eTouches, Certain or Cvent, and more. Clients include American Public Health Association, DAC and IEEE.

Pathable

Offers Facebook , LinkedIn and Twitter integration, customizable conference eCommunity website, session handouts and slides, attendee profiles, IM, surveys and polls, attendee communication interface, mobile interface, third-party registration support of EventBrite, RegOnline, eTouches, Certain or Cvent, and more. Clients include MPI WEC09, NMC09 and OmniPress Conference 2.0.

Social Collective

Offers a turnkey conference attendee registration package, eCommerce, Facebook and Twitter integration, customizable conference micro-website (full conference website), attendee itinerary planner, attendee profiles, IM, exhibitor and sponsor fan pages, crowdsourcing application, speaker rating system, detailed session and speaker information, embedded video and audio, mobile interface, eMarketing capabilities and more. (Yes, this is the conference platform that I used in 2009 and plan to use again in 2010.) Clients include IAEE, SxSW 2009 and SxSW 2010.

Twubs Conference Suite

Integrated with Facebook, Flickr and Twitter, operates as a conference aggregator for several social network streams, attendee profiles. customizable site, live event audio and presentation streaming, and ability to use moderate Twitter hashtag tweet for chats, questions and image magnification. Clients include International Foodservice Distributors Association, Microsoft Tech-Ed LA, and TEDTalks.

Yuku

Free community platform that includes user profiles, chat, photo galleries, polls, community calendars, in-line video embedding, blogs, RSS feeds, customizable skins, and more. Similar to message boards.

Wild Apricot

Offers a turnkey conference attendee registration package, eCommerce, Facebook and Twitter integration, customizable conference micro-website (full conference website), Digg-like rating feature, online fundraising, membership management, attendee profiles, IM, detailed session and speaker information, and more. Clients include GMIC, SITE Chicago and Healthy Start, Healthy Future’s Life With A Baby.

Zerista

Offers customizable conference micro-website (full conference website), detailed session and speaker information, attendee itinerary planner, attendee profiles, IM, exhibitor and attendee scheduler, exhibitor virtual booth, embedded video and audio for virtual attendance, integrated webcasts, virtual tradeshow, interactive venue maps, interactive tradeshow floor, integrated Google maps, and more. Clients include Democratic National Convention 2008, SxSW 2009 and SxSW 2010.

I am sure there are other eCommunity platforms as well. Which have you used?