Step One: Have a Strategy
Especially in the beginning, it's okay to have no idea what you're doing. But if you're an event organizer planning on integrating social media into your events, you need to have a plan. What are you trying to achieve? Think about whether you're trying to drive traffic to events, share your brand with a wider audience, educate yourself or all of the above. Know the WHY so you can know whether or not it's working for you.

Step Two: Be Authentic
The big joke about Twitter is that "no one wants to know what you ate for breakfast". But, actually, that's not true. people DO want to know what you ate for breakfast. They just want to know about other things too. Like what articles you read and what you do for a living. You MUST be comfortable with sharing a little bit of who you are, what you enjoy and what you do.  Mix it up a bit and watch your engagement soar.

Step Three: Take an Interest in People
Many people think of all the things they could get out of social media - all the things that they want to achieve for their events, their business, their brand. What I'd like you to focus on instead, though, is what you're doing for others. Who are you getting to know? What do other people do? If you aren't focused on other people, they won't be focused on you. Figure out what you really want to get out of meeting others, and you will be more successful.

Photo by Sean MacEntee

Today, we're talking about imbookin

Your name: Liz Mazzei
Company/Tool Name: imbookin.com (Powered by Pogby)
Website: http://www.imbookin.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/imbookin - @imbookin
Facebook: http://facebook.com/imbookin

What is the "problem" that your tool seeks to solve?
The problem our tool seeks to solve is the time consuming and frustrating process of finding a location (venue) for your event.

What is the best audience for this tool? Corporate events? Social? Other? Large? Small?
The best audience for our tool is anyone who plans an event and wants to save time and energy in the site selection process whether you are planning a corporate or social event, office get together, happy hour, off site, birthday party, etc, big or small. Since we are adding locations everyday the possibilities are endless!

What does your tool help event planners do better?
Our tool helps you find the best location for your event. At imbookin.com you can search locations (hotels, restaurants, art galleries, rooftops, zoos, loft spaces, retail stores, etc), see the different packages they offer (open bars, pre fixe meals, minimum spend rentals, cocktail receptions, etc), check out availability and how much it costs! With imbookin.com you can compare all the different options and see a bunch of new and unique locations you never considered for your event before. No more wasting time calling and emailing just to ask to questions: Are you available and how much does it cost?

How is your tool different from/better than the competition?
Unlike any other tool out there, we are transparent with information and our system allows location managers to directly enter their details and pricing information and then display upfront for users to search. Also unlike any other tool, at imbookin.com you can actually book to secure your event location online.

What is the single coolest feature of your product?
The fact you can see pricing and compare the options for open bars or 3 course meals for your event at over 250+ locations in NYC is amazing. Never before have you had information at your finger tips like this.

Anything else we need to know?
We just launched last week! The system is still in beta so please check it out and tell us what you think. We got LOTS more features coming soon too including map based search, videos, reviews, booking perks, VIP events for our users, and more. You can earn $ in booking credits too by referring a friend. Sign up at http://imbookin.com to get your referral code. Its free for locations to sign up and get listed on the site, so tell everyone you know to join!

More than 500,000 apps are available in the Apple store and 250,000 in the Android Marketplace. More will continue to be built everyday, but we might be approaching a bubble. How many more can we possibly need? The proliferation of apps has caused the best ones to rise to the top. A Nielson study shows that 43 percent of the time Android users spend using apps is on the 10 most popular ones.

Many apps are created to make up for something a commonly used app lacks. Developers then improve the original, making it more popular. Before Twitter’s recent update, you had to use a third-party application like Twitvid to post videos in your status. The December update to the Twitter app solved that and added functionality users requested such as auto-shortening links and retweeting options once only available through third-party apps. Advanced smartphones have removed the need for many one-off apps, too. No need to download a group texting app when the iPhone has that capability, and we’re just getting started with everything Siri has made obsolete. Then there’s HTML5, which might get rid of the need for apps altogether.

In the meantime, there’s one app a meeting planner has to have: a custom event app. Nowhere in the mobile world can attendees get your speaker information, schedule and event alerts. Attendees don’t need hundreds of niche apps, but they do need your app when they’re at your event.

Think about your attendees when designing your app. What do they want and how will they use it? Should you offer social media functionality if users prefer using Twitter, Facebook and Foursquare directly? Should your app link to Google Maps, one of the top 10 most used apps on every mobile device? Should gaming—the No. 1 most popular mobile activity—be a feature of your app?

Does your event have a custom app? What features are most used by participants?

Photo by DieZBW

• What are the pros and cons of social networks in promoting events? Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn and more.
• What is your experience with event discounts? When to offer? How much?
• What other methods do you use to get people to sign up for your events? Or, even better, to sign up early?

Not sure how to join us? It's pretty simple! Just go to tweetchat.com and sign in with your Twitter username and password. Then, enter the #eventprofs hashtag at the top. I'll be the moderator so you can look out for my comments and questions. Then, all you have to do is respond! It's that simple!

Twitter success requires total buy-in.
I don’t see Twitter as a marketing tool so you need to make sure that you are really interested and open to seeing what happens. If you’re getting on Twitter just because everyone else tells you too, you aren’t likely to be successful.

Twitter success requires time.
As with all social media tools, Twitter is all about relationships. And, as you know, quality relationships require a time investment. There are no quick fixes, no ways to cheat yourself to 10,000 followers. You must be consistent and engage with the people you follow and who follow you. You don’t need to post an update every five minutes, but you do need to commit to interacting on a regular basis.

Twitter success requires introspection.
There isn’t a guidebook for your interactions on Twitter and it’s really easy to get on and start talking about yourself. You need to continually think about your content and relationships and compare them with your goals. If you aren’t getting the results you hoped for, change things up and keep trying.

Twitter success requires a true interest in others.
Overt marketing is a thing of the past. No one wants to hear about you and what you’re good at. They want to EXPERIENCE it. Don’t even try to get on Twitter if your goal is self-promotion. You’ll find out the hard way that no one cares. You might get followers, but quality is more important than quantity. Ask a question to your audience and if no one responds, you may need to switch things up.

Photo by IvanPW

Today, we're talking about CheckInEasy

Your name: Justin Baer
Company/Tool Name: Check In Easy - Guest List & Check-in iPad/iPhone App
Website: www.checkineasy.com
Twitter: @checkineasy
Facebook: http://facebook.com/checkineasy

What is the "problem" that your tool seeks to solve?

• We are making paper guest lists and those ugly brown clipboards a thing of the past!
• Spending two hours after the event reconciling 5 different stapled excel files to see who attended will also be extinct.
• We are also eliminating the insane hassle of your assistant trying to find you at the event to let you know that your VIP guest has arrived.

Our guest list iPhone and iPad app makes it super simple and lightning fast to check in guests. Our notification email feature automatically sends the event planner a text message or email when their special guest arrives. Lastly, downloading a reconciled guest list showing when guests arrived is at the touch of a button.

What is the best audience for this tool? Corporate events? Social? Other? Large? Small?
All events that have more than 10 guests should be throwing away their stapled excel printout with highlighter markings all over it. Special events, corporate parties, galas, venues and night clubs. I even heard someone might use it for a baby shower! Hey, there’s a first for everything! Basically every and all events. Because our pricing model is scaled, any size event can check their guests in with the touch of a button with minimal cost.

What does your tool help event planners do better?
Check-in guests in record speed and reconcile actual attendees in no time. Our clients are also telling us they can now eliminate staff at the door because the guest list app facilitates a much faster check-in.

How is your tool different from/better than the competition?
1) First and foremost our company and servers are based in the United States and our security protocols are the Fort Knox of guest list apps. Our clients, including Google, Porsche and Tory Burch are super sensitive about their lists and they trust CheckInEasy’s stable platform and servers. When we checked in 2600 Google employees at their holiday party this past December, we had 11 iPads all signed in to the same event and they scanned over 200 guests a minute. No downtime or app freezes. Check out this testimonial from Google’s event planner.

2) Our app is extremely simple and easy to use. Uploading a guest list and being ready for check-in takes less than 60 seconds.

3) Our pricing model is about half of the closest competitor.

4) Large events might choose to use our boarding pass feature, where you can upload your guest list and send attendees a “boarding pass” with a unique QR code that can be scanned at the door with our built in scanner on an iPhone 4 or iPad 2.

What is the single coolest feature of your product?
Email and text notification when a special guest arrives.

Anything else we need to know?
Large or small, we can help you make check-in the easiest part of your event. If you have any questions feel free to call our office at (800) 610-8587 x3.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK (2011, NOVEMBER 16) imbookin is a free online tool to discover and book unique locations for events. Created by the team at Pogby, imbookin has incorporated many new features to make it simple for bookers to find an event location and for sellers to market and manage their event locations. “There are numerous challenges today with finding a location for your event, and now we have the solution. Our vision is to bring people out of their homes and offices and into locations that are eager to host their events, are upfront with pricing and policies, and most importantly: want to make it easy to book them online - 24/7.”
– Josh Gooch, Founder & CEO of imbookin powered by Pogby.

Bookers (space seekers) will now be able to search locations and the event packages they offer such as: open bars, meals, or space rentals. Bookers will be able to narrow down options by price, amenity, type of location, capacity and more. The site will also display which locations are posting real-time availability. “What a brilliant idea to have all the information online and book as you would an airline ticket!”
– May Lau, Special Events Director in New York City.

Reviews from other bookers on past experiences at the locations will also be displayed as well as details on who works at each location. “Reviews, about personal experiences, are a key part of the decision making process - for both the booker and seller. It is an honor to be the first to make this happen for all to benefit,”
– Josh Gooch, Founder & CEO of imbookin powered by Pogby.

imbookin helps Sellers (event locations) reach more bookers across the Internet, showcase their locations, including spaces and packages for events, and manage their availability calendar. "Finally I can point planners to one place that contains all the information they need to make a decision,“
– Ceri Dowson, Director of Events at Heartland Brewery.

Both traditional locations - restaurants, hotels, and museums - and non-traditional locations - zoos, boats, art galleries, loft spaces, farmhouses, wineries - are able to participate on imbookin. Sellers will be connected with our partner network of sites that include NYC&Co (nycgo.com), the official convention bureau of New York City, and VenuesOnline.com, a premier industry resource for meeting and event planners.

Over 300 locations are already participating across New York City, imbookin plans to launch first to a core group of beta bookers at the beginning of December with the public launch scheduled for mid-January. “Get ready for a better way to book!”
– Josh Gooch, Founder & CEO of imbookin powered by Pogby.

About imbookin
Powered by Pogby, imbookin provides event planners and venues with real-time venue availability and the ability to book a venue for a special event. imbookin is the first to offer pricing and availability up front as well as incorporate booker reviews and details on the sellers at event locations. Transparency and communication are at the core of the imbookin solution, closing the circle between bookers and sellers through its platform. For more information on imbookin, please visit http://www.imbookin.com.

Contact
For more information about imbookin, and to arrange an interview with CEO Josh Gooch, email: press@imbookin.com

Today, we're talking about Present Now

Your name: Brandon Whichard
Company/Tool Name: Present Now
Website: http://presentnow.me
Twitter: @presentnowdotme

What is the "problem" that your tool seeks to solve?
When you give a presentation you want to know who in audience is interested in your topic. Interested audience members represent ideal new connections for any presenter. These are the people who want to subscribe to your newsletter, buy your products or hire you to speak at future events. Today, it’s difficult for audiences and speakers to connect and we’ve made this process much simpler. By using Present Now, speakers can collect audience contact information using smart phones.

What is the best audience for this tool? Corporate events? Social? Other? Large? Small?
Anyone who gives presentations. It can be used at trade shows, user groups, charity fund raisers or just about any presentation.

What does your tool help event planners do better?
Event Planners can offer this service to the speakers at their events. They can make sure their event speakers get relevant contacts from their presentations. This will make event sessions more valuable to their speakers. Present Now will also make it much simpler for attendees to connect with the people and topics that interest them.

How is your tool different from/better than the competition?
We are the only service that let’s speakers collect contact information using audience smart phones. Any speaker can setup an account and be ready to collect contact information in under 2-minutes.

What is the single coolest feature of your product?
The ability to collect contact information using virtually any smart phone.

Anything else we need to know?
We offer a 30-day free trial.

To learn more you can watch a 1-minute demo.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ABOUT MEET-MEME

Meet-Meme social trading cards bridge a user's online and offline relationships. Each trading card tells a story about the individual and their evolving social media profile: stats, bio, networks, contact info, hobbies or even a favorite quote. In addition, a personalized URL and QR Code are used to link others to the cardholder's entire digital footprint (social profiles, blogs, websites). It's simple: meet, scan and connect.

CONTACT:

Anna Tiry
414-297-9950
anna@meet-meme.com
http://www.meet-meme.com
 

The Event Industry Will Be Driven By Transparency
Too often, our industry is perceived to be commission-driven middle men who convince people that they can't hold events without us. People often think that we charge too much and do too little. I, however, don't believe that's true for the majority of us. The value that a planner can bring to an event is incomprehensible, yet we have a hard time showing our value to potential clients. The key is transparency. We need to know our value and share it clearly with our clients. They need to know exactly what they are paying for, and what benefits they can expect to receive from our work.

The Event Industry Will Be Driven By Collaboration
I talk about this point all the time, but I'm always looking for an excuse to talk about it again. One challenge our industry faces is our inability to differentiate ourselves. We see ourselves as offering the same solution to the same problems as other planners out there and that puts us in a competitive stance. We have to get dirty and fight to get our business. We have to put others down so they see why they need to hire us. No more. It's time we learn to stand on our own and be who we really are - unique. Only then can we collaborate - and only then will the standard of our industry rise.

The Event Industry Will Be Driven By Innovation
Technology has become the driving force behind change in all industries and all sectors of life. It has empowered us to be more successful, more efficient and it has brought us closer together as a people. However, technology (largely the focus of this blog) is not the only source of innovation. The people themselves are perhaps the most valuable source of inspiration and creativity. In coming months and years, the event industry will create new ways to engage attendees, inspire learning and connect people. We will become the masters of relationships - whether working for a special event or a meeting, we will use our creativity to maximize results for our clients.

Photo by Mike Licht