Sidebar #4: Time to Redefine Social

With attendees frantically updating their Facebook accounts on their BlackBerries between sessions, tweeting notes about the keynote during the presentation, and tapping away on their netbooks during breaks, one can't help but wonder what happened to being social with the people who are actually in the same room. Is social media making us less social face to face?

JEFF DE CAGNA, chief strategist and founder of Principled Innovation LLC, Reston, Va., says we need to think differently about what we mean by social. “It used to be that you were being social when you were interacting with the people who were sharing the same physical space,” but now the definition of “social” has to extend to all those in your community of people who you follow and who follow you on Twitter, your Facebook friends, and your LinkedIn links. “I don't think of it as being less social; I think of it as being social in a different way.”

Like it or not, he adds, this new sociability is here to stay. To learn what you can do to design “double-sided” experiences that are available to both real-life and virtual attendees (and their extended networks), go to meetingsnet.com/socialmedia and click on the “Redefining Sociability” podcast.

Sidebar #5: Set Goals for Using Social Media With Meetings

By Sue Pelletier

Jeff Hurt, director of education and events with the National Association of Dental Plans, Dallas, says the place to start with social media is to put a goal behind your strategy. It doesn't have to be huge. “It could be as easy as, ‘We want to connect with our members on Facebook,'” he says.

Hurt's goal when his organization began using social media for its meetings two years ago was to increase interactivity on site to better engage attendees and increase their learning. They began by incorporating Twitter into the keynote addresses, so tweeters in the audience could interact directly with the presenter and have their questions answered in real time.

“Our audience — which is C-suite executives who have their mobile devices with them at all times — went nuts for it,” he says. “We watched a new level of learning happen.” It has since become a staple. “We do it all the time because the audience demands it.”

While its members didn't necessarily know they wanted their own “velvet-rope” online community, they had made it clear that they wanted a way to continue to interact with each other and learn from their peers outside of the meeting. A year and a half ago, NADP set up a private online community for its members, which took off like a rocket.

Healthcare reform directly affects its members' business, so NADP has ventured into consumer education via Twitter and blogs, along with LinkedIn, Facebook, and other social media accounts. They update members on government relations, dental benefits, electronic coding, and other areas. The goal was to show members how social media works, and how they can reach out to their customers and monitor what's being said about their companies in the social space.

Next Page: Are Meetings the Killer App?