• Keep non-attendees informed on conference happenings.
• Keep attendees better informed about the day’s schedule.
• See the conference from a different perspective.
• Inspire non-attendees to attend next year.
• Stay connected to members.

(If you don’t remember, or you’re a new reader check out our newsletter.)

Now we’ve found a very cool, and easy-to-use tool for sharing all of those tweets. TwitterFountain is a Twitter application that pulls together tweets that contain a chosen keyword or hashtag. It also pulls in images from Flickr with a chosen tag.

If we ditch the geek-speak, this means you can have a constantly updating application on your website or blog that shows all tweets and Flickr images related to a certain topic….such as your annual conference.

Here is a TwitterFountain we quickly set up to show tweets containing the phrase “charitytuesday”, and Flickr images tagged “conference attendees”:

In just a few minutes we’ve created a communication tool with real-time updates. Imagine how useful (and fun) this could be for your annual conference.

Here are four tools that can help you gather info that will be helpful in making future decisions about event planning, marketing, and publications.

1. SuggestionBox.com

Suggestion Box is an easy-to-use, web-based service that can allow you to ask for ideas from your audience. It is a great tool for implementing some of the tips we shared in our newsletter about crowdsourcing. (Link to November newsletter.)

It starts with a widget that can be added to your organization’s website that directs website visitors to your suggestion box. Once in your “suggestion box” visitors can post ideas and rate the ideas of others.

Association staff can be given access to rate the suggestions internally and send messages to each other about the suggestions privately. You can also automatically notify consumers when one of their ideas has been implemented.

2. YackTrack.com

YackTrack is a free-to-use search engine. Focused on online conversations, YackTrack searches Twitter, Technorati, Google Blog Search, Flickr, Mixx, delicious, Identica and more. After completing a search, you can subscribe to an RSS feed to read new chatter about your search topic as it is posted.

3. GetSatisfaction.com

GetSatisfaction is more tailored for businesses, but it can still be useful to organizations. The website allows individuals to report problems or complaints with a product or service. Setting up a free account could provide a great space for conference attendees to be honest about their experience at your most recent conference. Association staff members can then respond over the site.

4. SurveyMonkey.com

SurveyMonkey is an online survey tool, that allows you to plug in your own set of questions, pick your industry, set your parameters and then get instant results. The service is free for up to 100 survey responses.

Fueled by the fact that it’s getting easier and cheaper to produce quality videos, and that consumers like watching videos. We recently read that in July of 2008, 134 million Americans watched 11.4 billion videos. That’s two videos per user, per day.

Even with today’s economic situation and shrinking budgets, online marketing campaigns still include video, because it’s working.

A video is the closest that we can get to actually touching and holding a product, or experiencing a service.

The same is true for conference marketing. Using videos in your marketing efforts is the closest you will get to letting potential attendees experience your event before registering.

And, the stats show that they enjoy watching and sharing videos. About 75% of the US internet population watches videos online daily, or every other day. And, 98% of all connected desktops have Flash Player installed, meaning they are equipped and ready to watch videos online.

2010 Video Usage Stats

Video usage is only going to increase in 2010. Here are some stats we discovered projecting usage in the next year:

1. In 2010, there will be 176 million online video viewers.
2. In 2010, 86% of internet users will watch videos online daily.
3. Video is expected to continue to grow at a 40% year-over-year increase.

Just as online marketers are using video to boost sales, you can use video in conference marketing. Videos reviewing last year’s break out sessions, interviews with previous attendees, or short talk from the main speaker can help interested attendees get a feel for the conference.

Here are some tips to get you started:

1. Keep your videos simple with short talking points – no more than 2 minutes.
2. Test out the theory by creating videos for one or two products, or offers and see how they perform to other registration offers.
3. Look for user generated content. It could be that some of your previous attendees or members have created videos about their experience, or would be open to creating their own videos about the event.

A video gives people something that direct mail and e-marketing can not. If done right, you can connect with people in a more personal way and increase your chances of eliciting an emotional response. A video allows you to speak to potential attendees with a “human voice”, instead of the marketing speak that is on most collateral pieces. That is a powerful tool that you can use to increase conference registration.

References for stats:

Adobe Scene 7

eMarketer

Universal McCann

PURL’s
Personal URLs are perfect for potential attendees to interact with the marketing materials. For example, as you send out your save the date postcard, you can send along with it a PURL for the recipient to log on to. On their personal page, you can have them register early, fill out a questionnaire, or have them choose or suggest topics that they would like to have covered during the conference. By allowing the attendee to participate during the pre-conference stage, the conference value and attendance will increase.

Twitter
During the pre-conference stage, you can begin to setup #hashtags for your conference on Twitter. Invite possible attendees to follow your conference twitter account to receive instant updates about the conference and to begin conversations about what they would like to see at the conference and to start networking with other attendees.

Twitter can be used during the conference as well to let attendees provide their own personal views on subjects and to strike up hot topics throughout the conference. Have the speakers setup their own accounts so they can get involved with conversations through twitter.

For more information, check out our newsletter on Twittering your Annual Conference.

Facebook
Setting up a group on Facebook for your conference is a great tool. As you add friends to the group, you can gauge the potential for attendees at your conference. Utilizing the upcoming events tool, the group will be notified about key dates for the conference.

Check out this blog post about using Facebook for your organization.

Registration Offers
Who does not like a discount or special offer? Why not offer a discount for early registration using PURL’s? Provide special offers to your Facebook Fans who participate in discussions. Conduct contests through Twitter during the conference where you provide information or clues only seen through your Twitter updates.  Providing more options for early registration and participation in pre and post conference sessions will encourage members to take advantage of the situation and in turn it will help with conference attendance and late registration because we know “it’s not just a trend, it’s a fact.”

By incorporating these personalization tools, you will help with the overall value of the conference, but more importantly it will help increase your attendance.

“Um, so?” may be what’s on your mind right now, but status tagging is a great feature that can help your fans promote your Facebook Fan page. Facebook users update their status to let friends know all sorts of things about how they are doing, what they are doing, and things they like. Now, with status tagging they can reference who or what they are talking about.

For instance, when a Facebook user says they are going to volunteer with their favorite nonprofit, they can use the “@” symbol to reference that nonprofit’s Fan Page. Or, when a Facebook user just registered for an upcoming conference they can reference the association’s page or event. Those updates will show up in the news feeds of all their friends, and on the pages of the organizations they referenced.

Facebook posted instructions on how to tag friends and fan pages in status updates on their blog:

“Now, when you are writing a status update and want to add a friend’s name to something you are posting, just include the “@” symbol beforehand. As you type the name of what you would like to reference, a drop-down menu will appear that allows you to choose from your list of friends and other connections, including groups, events, applications and Pages. Soon, you’ll be able to tag friends from applications as well. The “@” symbol will not be displayed in the published status update or post after you’ve added your tags.”

Start testing the status tagging and see how it can enhance the connections with your friends and fans. It can be a useful tool for referencing other organizations or businesses you want to help promote on Facebook, as well.

Before you send your team out into the world of Web 2.0 with nails and not a hammer, use these tips to construct a Social Media Strategy.

Listen.

Listening to social media means getting an idea of what is being said about your organization or similar organizations. This can easily be done by setting up Google Alerts for keywords that are important to your association’s mission and goals. Google Alerts can send you notifications through email or through Google Reader. Also searching for keywords or hashtags (pre-selected phrases prefixed with a # sign, usually used for a specific event) on Twitter can produce real-time search results.

Identify the gaps in content that you can fill.

In addition to seeing what is being said about your organization, work towards understanding what your members and potential members desire from online communities and content. Many Twitter users will pose questions to their followers asking for advice on selecting a service or product, or to finding a solution to a problem.

Get to know the communities and how to interact.

Before you jump into a forum or on a social networking site, it’s best to learn the ropes. Get a feel for how people interact because it is different from one social media site to another.

Establish goals.

Besides setting goals for social media, consider how the interaction fits into the association’s communication strategy and goals. Identify if and how social media is contributing to building awareness, developing relationships with members and distributing valuable content.

Check out our newest edition of WhiteSpace about measuring ROI from social media efforts.

Distribute your social media policy.

Don’t have one? Check out our blog post on creating a social media policy for your association.

Go to town.

Finally, you can add content. But, only valuable content that fits within the association’s social media policy and strategy.

Review, adapt and repeat.

Regular reviews of how social media is affecting your association’s communication efforts is a must. Use some of the tools listed on our comprehensive guide to social media metrics and ask users how they are enjoying the online experiences to get a well-rounded view of how to adapt.

Here are some tips to help you create a policy that fits your association.

Six Tips to Help you Get Started

1. Introduce the purpose of social media policy.

Staff members need to know what’s in it for them to get them to read the policy and adopt the guidelines. Let them know that the goal of the social media policy is to empower everyone to engage with social media responsibly. The policy is not simply about protecting the association’s reputation, but also about protecting those who chose to participate. Encourage them to be smart about protecting themselves because what they publish is widely accessible and can be around for a long time.

2. Define what is included in the policy.

Let staff members know that the policy applies to all employees and contractors who contribute to blogs, wikis, social networks, virtual worlds, or any other kind of social media. List specific examples including Twitter, Facebook, commenting on online media stories, etc.

3. Define the rules of engagement.

Encourage staff members to be authentic and themselves by using their name, company info and title when appropriate. Remind them that they are a valuable asset to the organization, and their involvement with the association’s social media efforts will enhance the experience for everyone. Just as in meetings in the office, everyone is responsible for what content they share and should strive to add value to conversations.

4. Comply with company conduct policies and company culture.

Everyone needs to know that the same policies that apply in the office, apply online. It’s not okay for employees to harass colleagues in the office, and doing so online will not be tolerated. Same goes for sharing of private conversations and confidential information. Using common sense and common courtesy are great rules to follow.

5.  Set rules for moderating content.

Let staff members know that the social media sites within the association’s control will be moderated, which is the act of reviewing and approving 3rd party content. To create a safe environment for users, you should let it be known that all offensive, abusive, illegal and irrelevant content is prohibited. As content is added from anonymous users, it should always be reviewed before being approved. This isn’t the case for content being shared by registered users. Also, let staff know how you plan to handle comments that could be considered negative for the organization. If you are going to have an authentic online presence, then you can’t hide all the bad comments. Instead, look at it as an opportunity to show the world how you manage conflict.

6. Where to get more information.

There may be times when staff members get involved in conversations online that turn nasty, and they don’t know what to do. Provide employees with a method of contacting your PR department about issues like this. Also, reminding employees that they can contact the HR department to have questions answered about the policy and on how to protect their privacy online. Of course, this first means you must equip your PR department with the skills necessary to handle potential problems. And, provide resources to the HR department that can be used to teach users how to protect their online reputation (i.e. a class on how to properly set privacy settings on Facebook).

Take a look at policies from companies and organizations that are similar to yours. Use those benchmarks and these tips to guide you in creating a policy that fits the culture of your association.

The essentials:

Google Analytics
Feedburner

Calculators:
ROI Calculator for Social Network Campaings from Frog Loop

Social Networking Media ROI Calculator from Dragon Search Marketing

Tools, widgets & more:

Sometrics
Analytics that measure social advertising efforts.

Social Media Metrics Plugin for Google Analytics

Bit.ly
URL shortener that tracks information like number of clicks, traffic sources, and even at what time clicks occur.

Xinu Returns
A great dashboard overview of your website’s standing in social media. Run a report and you will receive information on Technorati, Googe Pagerank, Diggs, and even backlinks to your website.

PostRank
Detailed information on Tweets, stumbles, diggs, and Friend Feed. Great for blogs with a lot of content

SocialToo
Create social surveys and track social stats. Also, reports on Twitter follows and unfollows.

Tweet Reach
Follow your tweets and retweets to see how far they travel.

Social Meter
Check out your site’s social popularity on sites like Digg, Reddit, Delicious, Furl, Google, Technoratic and more.

Statsaholic
Compare rankings and other info on up to three sites at a time.

Site Volume
Compare how often keywords show up on a site.