Event Promotion

Cvent Announces Partnership with Starwood Hotels!

Monday, June 29, 2009 by Cvent Staff

Cvent has announced a strategic partnership with Starwood Hotels! With its preferred placement on the Cvent Supplier Network, Starwood will increase exposure to the thousands of qualified meeting planners using the Supplier Network's electronic RFP tool and will generate quality lead flow for its Sheraton and Westin brands.

"The group business lead quality from the Cvent Supplier Network speaks for itself," said Brian Povinelli, vice president, brand management, for Sheraton and Westin. "Over the past 120 days, Cvent Supplier Network meeting planners have booked over 10,000 sleeping rooms at Starwood properties. That was a key driver in our decision to enhance our partnership with the Cvent Supplier Network."

Unlike other group business channels, the Cvent Supplier Network electronic RFPs are well qualified and targeted. On average, a Cvent RFP is sent to only nine properties, giving Starwood properties a chance to earn consistent and unique group business with Cvent’s audience of meeting planners.

"Hotels are more selective about how they deploy marketing dollars in today’s economy. An online channel like the Cvent Supplier Network offers hotels cost-effective marketing options and a true return on investment. The average contract value for Cvent Supplier Network electronic RFPs is $68,000, and hotels can establish direct contact with qualified meeting planners who are using the Cvent Supplier Network when they are ready to buy," said Bharet Malhotra, Cvent vice president of sales. "We are pleased to partner with Starwood and to provide our meeting planners with direct access to Starwood properties during the sourcing process."

Starwood is also using the Supplier Network to promote its "Value Added Meeting Promotion," one of the best deals in the industry. This Cvent Supplier Network promotion includes a 4% discount off the master bill and complimentary food and beverage breaks. The meeting planner will also be entered in a drawing for a chance to win a charitable concert for their community starring Grammy-nominated singer Natasha Bedingfield. All Cvent Supplier Network planners who book meetings before March 31, 2010, will be eligible for this promotion.

Learn more about the Cvent-Starwood partnership.

Dallas Cowboys name Gaylord Texan Hotel as official home-game hotel

Saturday, June 27, 2009 by Eric Eden

The Dallas Cowboys football team has partnered with the Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center in Grapevine, Texas, to make the resort the team's official hotel. Under the two-year contract, the Gaylord will host players, coaches, staff, cheerleaders and fans the night before each home game.

This is an excellent marketing move by the Gaylord Texan to get people into their hotel.

The Gaylord recently hosted The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders Swimsuit Calendar Release Party in its Glass Cactus nightclub and The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders team try-outs in its 50,000-square-foot Texas Ballroom. The team and resort will host additional events and promotions together throughout the coming year.

Event Promotion: An Example of How Simple A Message Goes a Long Way

Friday, June 26, 2009 by Sarah Larkins

In my recent post about event promotion, I explained how you don't always need to go all out on advertising. Especially in today's increasingly "social" world, full of tweets, blog posts, and forum discussions, people are looking for some more personal communication and interaction—not a glossed-over, corporate message.

I came across an example of great marketing the other day at Xotels. Its blog featured the post, "Homage to La Quinta," about the brand's hotel marketing videos from 2007. This is my favorite:

It's simple, yet memorable. (I know I'll have that happy-go-lucky music in my head the entire day.)

What are some tactics you've been taking lately to promote your meetings and events? Any simple, cost-effective tips for what strategies went a long way?

Check out the other La Quinta ads.

5 Easy Tips for Free Event Promotion

Thursday, June 25, 2009 by Sarah Larkins

An event can't happen without attendees, and you can't get attendees with some event promotion! However, you don't need to blow your entire budget on an expensive ad campaign. I've come up with five super easy ways to promote your event, all at no cost (and very little time spent) to you.

• Add your event to a community calendar—Eventful.com is a great place to start.

• Ask your staff members to place your event and registration link on their social media networks.

• Open a Twitter account just for your event, and use it to notify attendees of registration deadlines, event agenda updates and more.

• Send your keynote speakers/presenters information about the event to include on their websites and/or blogs.

• Search for trade publications or organization websites related to your event, then connect with members by participating in Twitter chats, forums, blog discussions, etc.

Do You Use Celebrity Spokespeople to Promote Events?

Wednesday, June 24, 2009 by Sarah Larkins

I recently read that Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning is going to represent the Indianapolis Convention & Visitors Association. As part of this partnership, he'll be used on the CVA's website and in targeted messages to convention and meeting planners, including email campaigns sent directly to planners and print ads placed in trade publications.

This isn't the first time I've seen a famous/celebrity spokesperson working on behalf of a meeting destination. Another incidence that comes to mind is the Atlanta CVB, whose website features a celebrity video of Ludacris, Alton Brown, Shawn Mullins, Ted Turner and John Smoltz elaborating on the great things about Atlanta.

Have you ever used a celebrity spokesperson, whether it be a local news personality or famous actor, to promote your meetings and events? I think it would definitely make for great event promotion. However, in today's tough times, I'm not sure that a celebrity's approval alone would be enough to make me pay for registration. Do you think the use of a well-known name can boost event attendance?

Meetings/Travel Industry Expresses Support for New Treasury Rules on Events

Thursday, June 18, 2009 by Sarah Larkins

It looks like the industry is welcoming the U.S. Department of Treasury's new rules regarding meeting, event, incentive and travel expenses for TARP companies.

"We are pleased that after months of discussion with the Obama Administration and our industry's full-court press on the value of meetings, events and incentives, these regulations do not do any further harm to the meetings and events marketplace," U.S. Travel Association President and CEO Roger Dow said in response to the new guidelines, which were released last week. Even for companies not receiving TARP funds, the guidelines act as "reminder to companies everywhere that transparent and responsible board policies governing business meetings and events are more important now than ever."

The guidelines, among other things, requires that TARP companies adopt an "excessive or luxury expenditures policy" that includes "standards to ensure appropriate review and approval of potentially excessive and luxury expenditures." These expenditures could include "entertainment or events, office and facility renovations, aviation or other transportation services, and other similar items, activities or events."

The Treasury's proposed rule, which is subject to a public 60-day comment period, requires TARP beneficiaries to identify categories of expenditures that are prohibited; identify categories of expenditures that need approval; set up approval procedures; require reporting of violations to a designated person; and "mandate accountability for adherence" to the policy.

NBTA President Kevin Maguire expressed a similar sentiment as Dow in regards to the policy.

"NBTA is pleased that Treasury has pointed to travel management as a tool to contain costs and ensure efficient and effective corporate travel and practices," he said in a statement.

Hotel Venues, Especially Airport Properties, See More Meetings in a Down Economy

Wednesday, June 17, 2009 by Sarah Larkins

"The Meetings Market: Outlook 2009/2010," a survey conducted by the Professional Convention Management Association, American Express and the Y Partnership, has revealed some interesting information, from the cost of meetings to planners' intentions for booking events in 2009 and 2010. It also provided some pertinent data specific to meeting venues.

According to the survey, about one in 10 planners (11 percent) said they expect to increase the number of off-site meetings booked at hotels in 2009 and 2010. Airport hotel proprieties may especially benefit. One in six planners (16 percent) said they expect to use these venues more in the months ahead.

Not surprisingly, "upper upscale, "luxury" and resort venues are expected to take the biggest hit from the decline in booked meetings. About half of professional planners expect to use "upper upscale" and "luxury" properties less in 2009 and 2010. Nearly one half of planners (47 percent) expect to decrease the number of off-site meetings booked at resorts in 2009 and 2010.

If you're a planner in need of a change of venue for your upcoming meetings, make sure to check out the Cvent Supplier Network. You can search a range of venue properties, from hotels and conference centers to restaurants and museums. Plus, you can filter your search based on criteria such as distance from airport, number of sleeping rooms, and total meeting square feet.

Cancelled Meetings Result in Billions of Lost Revenue

Friday, June 12, 2009 by Sarah Larkins

Eliminating meetings, canceling conferences—how much does it all cost? Billions of dollars, according to the report "The Meetings Market: Outlook 2009/2010," conducted by the Professional Convention Management Association, American Express and the Y Partnership.

The average meeting planner expects to cancel or postpone meetings worth $560,000 in revenue in 2009 and 2010. These canceled or rebooked meetings account for an average of $81,000 per planner in penalty fees.

When considering all PCMA members and AMEX clients in addition to the survey's mix of association and corporate/incentive meeting professionals, the report projects $781 million in lost hotel room revenue and $2.5 billion in total revenue lost for destinations, hotels and meeting suppliers. That's a pretty hefty amount, considering it only represents a fraction of meeting planners.

Read more about the report's findings at MeetingsNet.

Sample Online Registration Forms

Tuesday, June 9, 2009 by Caroline Gordon

Trying to figure out exactly what information you want to collect during the online event registration process can be tricky. Check out the sample registration form below for a July networking luncheon.

Five important things to include in your online registration process:

1. Request for Contact Information – Even if you already have contact information, it is important to remember that this data is always changing. Online registration forms serve as a great way to verify the information you currently have in your database and update outdated or incomplete contact information. Make all contact fields mandatory. Be sure to gather complete information as some contact fields such as title change more frequently.

2. Pre-registration Questions – Since every participant must complete an online registration form, use this as an opportunity to gather additional information from attendees. Use questions during the online registration process to learn more about your registrants such as what they want to eat or what they would like to hear the speaker talk about druing the conference. Registration questions can also save you time. Don’t bother calling each registrant to find out what t-shirt size they need or if they want to rent golf clubs; simply include these questions during the online event registration process.

3. Tell-a-friend Functionality- Never underestimate the power of viral marketing. Increase online registration numbers by giving registrants the opportunity to forward the event information and registration form on to colleagues and friends who may be interested in the event. Allow registrants to include a brief message as part of the online forwarding functionality so that they can help promote the event with comments like: “I am registering for this event right now. It is going to be great. You should definitely join me.” You also receive the benefit of branding your organization to prospects who would not traditionally be on your list.

4. Pre-populated Fields – Save your registrants time by pre-populating fields such as name, title, billing address, t-shirt size or any other information that is collected from event to event. When the online registration process takes too long, potential registrants may drop out of the process before their registration is complete. Although the intention may be to complete the online registration form later, your event invitation gets lost in an overflowing email inbox and the deadline for registration, or worse the date of the event itself passes before any action has been taken. It is critical that you streamline and expedite your online event registration process so you do not lose registrants.

5. Online Payment Collection - Mailing a check or faxing a credit card authorization form adds one more step to the registration process, not to mention your event management process. Avoid frustration and save your registrants time by securely collecting payments online. Permit registrants to input check numbers or purchase orders. Most online registration systems are integrated with one or several of the e-commerce gateways such as Cybersouce, PayPal Express and Touchnet. However, you should make sure any online registration company you are working with is PCI compliant.

Online event registration increases efficiency for both the registrant and the event coordinator. With online event management software, the options are limitless: create dynamic multi-track, multi-session conference registrations; allow attendees to modify their own registrations online; upload key documents such as an exhibitor prospectus; customize pages to match the look and feel of your branding and much more.

To read more about registration forms and online registration services, please visit our website.

Event Promotion Tip: Get Your Attendees to Blog for You

Wednesday, June 3, 2009 by Sarah Larkins

In monitoring the Twitterverse recently, I came across a tweet from the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (@HIMSS) offering free VIP registration to those who will blog/tweet during its Virtual Conference June 9-10 about the event. How interesting!

You may be skeptical of this tactic at first: Offer registration—VIP registration, at that—for free, just because someone has agreed to tweet about us? So not worth it!

I disagree, though, for two key reasons.

First of all, blogging and/or twittering during your conference is an important component of your event promotion and marketing; plus it's a great way to engage your attendees. But with decreased event budgets and staff, you may not have the resources available to dedicate to social media for your event.

Why not get some attendees to do it for you? In fact, having it information about your conference come from a third-party may be perceived as more useful to other attendees anyway.

Second, the search for getting people to provide real-time commentary on your event will garner coverage in and of itself. HIMSS's offer alone has been retweeted over 10 times in the past 20 hours among twitterers. Obviously, their offer was an easy and inexpensive way to get some buzz going about the event.

Integrating social media to your meetings and events is a growing trend with a number of benefits. If you don't feel ready to take on the task yet, or at least not completely on your own, then enlisting your attendees who already have a passion for social media can be a good option for you.

More Ways to Search the Cvent Supplier Network!

Wednesday, May 27, 2009 by Sarah Larkins

Encompassing publications for corporate, association, insurance/financial services, medical, and religious meeting markets, MeetingsNet is a great place to find all the latest in meeting news. Now, it's also a great place to search the Cvent Supplier Network!

MeetingsNet has just launched the Cvent Supplier Network search on its website. The next time you read about a great meeting venue or destination on MeetingsNet, you can easily search for it and other nearby proprieties via Cvent.

And as always, don't forget you can search for venues right here on the blog in the upper right-hand corner search box. Or, visit the Cvent Supplier Network directly to take advantage of advanced search functionality.

Event Promotion Tip: Schedule Your Twitter Announcements

Thursday, May 21, 2009 by Sarah Larkins

Last week I blogged about 5 ideas for keeping your event Twitter page lively and full of great information. My number #3 tip was, "Make announcements and updates as your event plans progress." For example, send tweets about changes in the agenda, early-bird deadlines, or speaker confirmations.

Something worthwhile to mention regarding this tip is that there's no shame in getting a little help. Consider making use of tools such as TweetLater to pre-schedule tweets about information that is not publishable now, but will be in the future.

For example, say you tweet your event registration link on June 1. It would seem odd to then immediately publish a reminder about your early bird rate. Instead, you can schedule to tweet one a few days before the rate expires on June 12. You could similarly schedule a tweet for a month later to remind guests that event registration is about to close.

These are simple updates that you definitely want to put on your event Twitter page. However, with all that goes on during the event planning process, your tweeting tasks can easily fall by the wayside. Using a tool like TweetLater lets you schedule important tweets all at once from the beginning, making your event promotion via Twitter more efficient.

5 Advantages of Restaurant Venues

Friday, May 15, 2009 by Sarah Larkins

I was going to start this post with "If you're looking to cut costs on meetings and events..." until I re-thought it and realized, Who isn't trying to cut costs on meetings and events these days? So, I'll just simply say that when looking for a cost-friendly and suitable location for your events, don't overlook the value of restaurants. Here are five advantages restaurant venues offer to your meetings:

• Decor. Restaurants already have a distinct, appealing ambiance, which means there's little to no need for you to devote a chunk of your budget to decor costs. Fine silverware, paintings, floral arrangements, potted plants and other attractive features are usually pre-existing elements of a restaurant's interior, so you're not working off a blank canvas as you would at other facilities.

• Diversity. Many restaurants can adapt to any size and type of meeting, whether you want an intimate dinner in the wine cellar or a casual reception on a large patio. If you're downsizing your meetings but have an existing relationship with a restaurant chain, they can quickly accommodate you thanks to varied room options and divisible spaces.

• Buzz. Restaurants do plenty of their own marketing, and as such most establishments have already formed a reputation. This means some of the event promotion is already done for you. After all, it's a lot easier to convince guests to attend your event when they've been wanting to visit the hottest new bar and lounge that everyone has been talking about.

• Convenience. For shorter meetings or those held in the morning or during the lunch hour, restaurants offer the advantage of convenience to your attendees. It's easier to get a commitment from busy professionals to quickly drive in and meet for an hour or two, have a meal, then return to work—especially when that time would have been used for lunch or coffee breaks anyway.

• Cost. Perhaps one of the biggest advantages of hosting your event in a restaurant is the cost advantage. A number of eateries don't charge room fees so long as you purchase meals. On top of that, per person meal costs are often less than those found at hotels.

5 Tweet Ideas to Keep Your Event Twitter Page Thriving

Thursday, May 14, 2009 by Sarah Larkins

By now you know that you should be using Twitter for event promotion. You've even gone so far as to sign up for an account. The problem is, you can't think of a thing to say!

There's nothing worse that starting up a social media effort, only to nothing with it. If you're not going to actually use your Twitter account to connect with your attendees, it's better to not have one at all.

I want to help you avoid this fate. There is plenty for you to tweet (aka send messages) about regarding your event. In fact, here are five easy, fast, and foolproof ideas:

• Ask for suggestions from your audience. Social media is called "social" for a reason: it's meant to get people together and talking. So why not use your Twitter event page to ask your attendees for thoughts on everything from the food service to breakout topics.

Not only will you start to build some buzz about your event, but you'll also be guaranteeing its success by planning things attendees actually want to see happen.

• Link to your registration. Once your registration goes live, put the link out on your Twitter page! You can do this once via a tweet, place it permanently in your Profile, or do both.

If you registration link is long and cumbersome, you can use tools such as Tiny URL to make them more click-able.

• Make announcements and updates as your event plans progress. Did you finally nail down that keynote speaker? Have you changed one of your agenda sessions? Send notices via Twitter on any event news or changes.

It's an easy way to keep the conversation flowing on your Twitter page, plus it provides useful information to attendees.

• Let others do the talking. The great thing about Twitter is that it's not a one-way marketing channel. It's becoming more and more popular for attendees to send tweets about your event, especially while it's in progress.

Set up a hashtag for your event (such as #myannualevent). Attendees can place this hashtag in their tweets about your event, and whenever someone searches for #myannualevent, the entire conversation will show up. You can also keep your Twitter page fresh by re-tweeting some of this conversation.

• Provide alerts regarding event logistics. Your Twitter event page doesn't need to be solely about the content of your event itself. Especially as the event date approaches, or even as it's occurring, consider sending tweets about information relevant to the attendees.

Has an airline just offered a great deal on airfare to your meeting destination? Is there a traffic accident on the interstate that might be causing some delays in attendee arrivals? Such information affects your attendees, and thus your event, so it makes sense to discuss it on your Twitter page.

With these five ideas in mind, you'll find there's plenty to talk about on your Twitter event page. So what are you waiting for?

Creative Non-Profit Marketing: Tips from the Real Housewives

Tuesday, May 12, 2009 by Sarah Larkins

I'm not afraid to admit that I'm a fan of the Real Housewives of New York City. You can call watching it a frivolous waste of time, but if it's the way I want to unwind after a long day, then so be it. (And I know I'm not alone because the ratings for RHoNYC's season finale jumped 50 percent from its debut!)

But regardless of your feelings toward the show or the ladies in it, I think it's hard to deny that they know one or two things about big events—both attending them and planning them. After all, they seem to have something on their social agenda at least once or twice every week, and many of them, at least in the show, planned events of their own for various charitable and non-profit organizations.

Over the weekend I was watching "Unfashionably Late" (which actually aired a few weeks ago, but I'm behind on my Tivo). In it, housewife Alex goes to a fitting for an item that her husband Simon bought at last year's Go Green Expo: a FEED bag corset. Designed by couturier Maggie Norris, it was made from three FEED burlap bags along with buttons from a military jacket, leather from a pair of boots, and other found objects.

A little background: the non-profit FEED Project's mission is to "create products that help FEED the world." In an effort to help raise funds for the UN World Food Program's school-feeding operations, the organization produces and sells FEED tote bags, wallets, even teddy bears. Alex's corset was obviously a unique item, which Simon had bought at the expo for $7,000.

Certainly, the corset itself is questionable for those with a fashion sense, but I have to give credit to Alex for raising awareness and to the non-profit group for its clever methods of promotion. As Alex blogged, "What a great way to send a message to the world—and different than a t-shirt or hat."

These days, non-profits need to be even more creative when it comes to fundraising and spreading the word about their respective organizations. But a couture corset? If it gets the job done (and I'd say it did, considering the price tag and the fact that Alex was photographed wearing it at the opening of NYC's Metropolitan Opera), then it just proves that nothing is off limits.

What are some of the most creative—and successful—items you've used to raise money for your non-profit and/or to boost promotion for your charity event? For those not involved in an association, what are some of the most memorable event marketing pieces you've seen?

Event Email Marketing: Should You Fix a Mistake or Just Move On?

Tuesday, May 12, 2009 by Sarah Larkins

Yesterday I blogged about The Carlton on Madison Avenue's recent email blast that contained an ill-fitting subject line. It led recipients to believe that the email contained some kind of a gift or discount, but in reality, it just asked them to vote for The Carlton in the Conde Nast Traveler Readers Choice Survey.

When it comes to your event marketing collateral, from your website to your blog to your invitations, one thing I can't stress enough is to proofread! That, and to make sure you are familiar with proofread's best friend, spellcheck.

That being said, it's understandable that we're only human, and every once and a while a mistake will slip by, just like it did with The Carlton's subject line. The question is then what to do when a mistake occurs?

This really depends on the mistake itself. A small error, such as a typo, is better left alone if it doesn't majorly affect your event and will not confuse your attendees.

Say, for example, your email invitation states, "Event acomodations can be found under our room block at the Luxury Hotel & Suites." There's no need to send out an email to correct the spelling of accommodations. Some people will have not even noticed the misspelling (did you?), and those who did won't think much of it. However, they will notice yet another email in their inbox, and many of them will not be happy to get one over such a small issue.

On the other hand, some mistakes cannot go uncorrected with your event emails. For example, maybe you've sent out an invitation that lists the incorrect event venue. Obviously, you can't let your invitees show up at the right time and date at the wrong venue! In this case, it's necessary to send a follow-up email alerting guests to the error and providing the correct venue name. Noticed quickly, errors such as this don't mean the downfall of your event.

Something else important to note here: don't just send a corrected version of your event invitation, reminder, etc. Make sure you point out the fact that the original was incorrect. Otherwise attendees may just delete the second email, assuming it was a repeat, or fail to notice the updated information. Bring it to their attention!

When it comes down to it, we all know that a mistake here or there is inevitable in the big process of planning meetings and events. Don't weigh your attendees down with a barrage of updates, corrections or apologies for minor errors, but definitely alert them to the ones that majorly affect your event. They'll understand, provided that it occurs infrequently—which it will since you know to always double, triple, quadruple check your work!

Cvent Announces Partnership with Millennium Hotels and Resorts!

Tuesday, May 5, 2009 by Cvent Staff

Cvent is excited to announce our marketing partnership with Millennium Hotels and Resorts! Millennium will now showcase exclusive planner promotions designed specifically for the thousands of meeting planners who use the Cvent Supplier Network to send electronic RFPs.

Planners can search the Cvent Supplier Network by date range and metropolitan area to find these exclusive Millennium meeting promotions, including its "A Perfect 10 Meeting" program.

To learn more about this exciting partnership, read the full press release at Cvent's website.

The Benefits of Meeting in Mexico Will Help It Pull Through in the End

Tuesday, May 5, 2009 by Sarah Larkins

Mexico has lowered its swine flu alert level, and we've seen that most companies seem to be taking a prepared, not panicked, approach to the outbreak. So, now I'm wondering about the long-term effects, if any, of swine flu on the meetings market in Mexico.

While I was researching, I came across a great interview conducted by PlannerWire with Rodrigo Esponda, director Midwest at the Mexico Tourism Board. In the interview, conducted before the swine flu media blitz, he shared his opinion on why now is a great time to meet in Mexico. A favorable exchange rate, easy access via daily flights from major cities, and
professional, reliable suppliers in tourism destinations and big cities are a few benefits he gives for planners.

Another advantage I didn't know previously: meeting planners can get a refund on Mexico's 15 percent value added tax (VAT). For planners who have held events in big U.S. destinations like Chicago, where sales tax is over 10 percent, it's obvious that a refund like this equals significant cost savings.

As Esponda mentions in the interview, Mexico has recently taken some hits from the media because of the gang violence going on near the border. But he believes a few things, like Mexico's affordability and unique cultural offerings, will keep it going strong. And in fact, he says, it is one of the top 10 tourism destinations in the world with almost 23 million visitors last year.

Certainly events like the gang violence and swine flu can't help Mexico's image, but I think that, based on what it can offer to meeting and event planners, it would take much more to keep the country down for long.

Watch the full interview with Esponda over at the OnSite Events blog.

4 Surefire Ideas for Quality Event Blog Content

Monday, May 4, 2009 by Sarah Larkins

Cvent Surveys blogger Sherrie, my go-to guru for all things marketing research-related, recently shared some interesting data with me regarding blogs. eMarketer has said that, as of 2009, 96.6 million people are blog readers, representing 48.5 percent of the Internet population. It predicts that by 2013, 58 percent of all U.S. Internet users will read a blog at least once per month. Stats that impressive beg the question—are you using blogs to promote your events?

Blogs need not be an overwhelming task for meeting and event planners. I know I'm a little biased—with over 500 posts and six months of blogging under my belt, the task is starting to come a lot easier.

Still, even social media newcomers can get into the blogosphere quickly and easily thanks to a number of blog tools, many of them free like Blogger and Wordpress. Best of all, you already have one of the most difficult parts of blogging, deciding on a topic to blog about, covered: the event itself is your focus.

Now you need some content ideas. Brainstorming posts is probably one of the second-toughest parts of an event blog for newcomers. That's why I've come up with four great (and easy!) post ideas for a successful event blog:

• Sessions and speakers. This is one of the most basic topics to blog about. While the agenda page on your event website may only be able to provide a title or brief sentence about a session, your event blog can offer much more detail as to the topics covered, panelists, etc. This information can be posted either before (as a preview) or after (as a recap) the session.

• Behind-the-scenes chatter. So much of what happens at an event or meeting doesn't occur at the sessions and workshops, but rather in the hallways, lounges and pre-function gathering spaces. Make sure your event staff is out among this spontaneous networking to pick up on thoughts, tips, and more, straight from the attendees' mouths.

• Extra Q&A. Often times meeting attendees are in a hurry to get from one session to the next that they do not have time to stick around for Question & Answer sessions or to ask their questions. Why not do it for them?

Have event staff transcribe the Q&A from various seminars or speaker presentations. Better yet, have them catch the panelists at the end and get some exclusive Q&A feedback for your blog.

• Receptions, team building, and other "fun" activities. Not to discount all the hard work you've put into making your session topics and speaker presentations interesting and relevant, but your entire blog can't be hard content and text. Social aspects of your event are often the most memorable. Plus, they lend themselves well to pictures, video, etc.

Make sure to take photos of your cocktail reception or shoot a video of a group outing that you can them on your blog. You don't even need much accompanying text for these posts—the visuals tell the story.

Starting an event blog can be overwhelming, but the benefits of doing so make taking the plunge worthwhile. Plus, when you use these four tips for generating blog content, you'll find that it can be easier—and more fun—to blog about your meetings and conferences than you thought!

Event Marketing and Twitter: Fad or Here to Stay?

Tuesday, April 28, 2009 by Sarah Larkins

I recently came across some research from eMarketer about Twitter. eMarketer found that in 2008, there were roughly six million Twitter users in the United States, or 3.8 percent of Internet users. In 2010, it projects that about 18.1 adults will use Twitter, or 10.8 percent of Internet users. Those are pretty impressive numbers!

There's a lot of talk about social media sites like Twitter these days, especially when it comes to promoting your events or meeting services. But for all the talk, is there any action? Pete Roythorne of MEETINGS:review recently interviewed to some professionals in the industry to find out their take.

Experts like Ian McGonnigal, executive director, program strategy worldwide, for George P. Johnson, and Corbin Ball of Corbin Ball Associates agree that social media and Web 2.0 is changing the face of meetings and events marketing as the two become increasingly integrated.

"This is only going to gather pace," Ball told MEETINGS:review. "Thanks to applications ranging from Twitter to user-generated content sites, we are getting increasingly used to a level of interactivity and say in our online lives, and are demanding the same from our offline lives."

Carina Bauer, marketing and operations director at IMEX, agrees. She told the publication that so far the new technologies have had a limited affect on meetings and events, but as they become more mainstream and as Generation Y enters the workforce, they will become more commonplace.

I'd have to agree that Twitter and other tools are growing in popularity. When I was writing my recent post on event promotion via Twitter—which offers five useful tips for how to market events—I found several examples of conferences and tradeshows using Twitter for promotion. But at the same time, my interest in social media marketing might have biased my thoughts on its popularity and usefulness.

So what do you think: is social media for meetings and events overrated, or will it soon be the matter of course?