Social Networking and Seat Management with Social Tables

June 22, 2011

Introduction

Social Tables, a New York-based start-up launched in May 2011, bills itself as “a social networking utility (and seat management tool) for any event with assigned tables.” Social Tables is currently operating as a free public beta, allowing anyone to use the service for their wedding, charity dinner or dinner party.

Walking Dogs Led to Seating Guests

Co-founders Dan Berger (@danberger) and Matthew Tendler (@matthewtendler) met while walking their dogs, Leroy and Geri. The founders, both in their late 20’s, were inspired by the idea, “how could we see who was going to be sitting by us at the next wedding we were planning on attending?” Dan wanted to be able to see who he could network with at the wedding, while Matt wanted to avoid getting caught in awkward conversations.

Features for Event Planners

Pictured: A planner’s view of all tables.

For event organizers (e.g. a bride/groom or a wedding planner), Social Tables provides a cloud-based utility for managing your seating plan. If the event has multiple organizers, Social Tables has collaboration features to enable coordination of planning activities. In addition, it integrates with other sites, such as TheKnot and WeddingWire.

Features for Guests

Social Tables was founded on the principle of connecting and engaging guests before, during and after an event. They’ll be able to see whom they’re sitting next to and have an opportunity to connect with them prior. “We’ve coupled game mechanics and social networking APIs to make your event more fun and more powerful,” said Matthew Tendler, Social Tables Co-Founder.

Guests are encouraged to tell stories about the hosts, share pictures, and learn about each other. Connections can be made via real-time chat tools called “Table Talk” and “Event Talk.”

Social Network Integration

While Social Tables enables private social networks (centered around specific events), it also integrates with Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. Tendler notes that he wants to go beyond sharing and liking, to use third party social networks in a unique way. Said Tendler, “Our focus is on making the life of the planner easier and the life of the guest more fun. By using Social Networking in the right way, we nail both of these goals. Think ‘Seating Bots’ based on very sophisticated rules matrices that utilize social tools.”

Next Up: A Mobile App

Social Tables is planning to develop a mobile app that guests can use at events. Similar to how mobile Twitter clients have enabled vast sharing of thoughts, insights and content from physical events, Social Tables envisions their mobile app facilitating photo and thought sharing among guests. “It is important to us that we provide tools that capture, organize, and share things already happening, and not distract guests from the event,” said Tendler.

Revenue Model

While the service is in a no-cost beta period today, the eventual plan is a pricing model based around the number of guests, along with a set of premium features that are priced additionally.

Conclusion

Social Tables is an interesting service. I think they ought to focus on weddings, expanding upon their feature set to capture a large following from brides and grooms. In addition, I’m interested to see how they manage the “post-wedding” period.  All too often, we attend weddings, we meet interesting people and we never see or hear from them again. Social Tables has the opportunity to change that.

Video

The video (below) provides a nice overview of Social Tables.

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Posted by Dennis Shiao

What Virtual Trade Show Booths Can Learn from The Apple Store

June 18, 2011

Photo credit: The Pug Father on flickr.

Introduction

Want to create a virtual trade show booth that moves prospects along the sales cycle towards a purchase? Head into an Apple Store and apply a few lessons from your visit.

A recent article in the Mercury News referenced a Yankee Group analyst who “estimated that Apple Stores pull in about $5,000 per square foot in revenue per year, blowing away even Tiffany’s roughly $2,700 per square foot.” While I don’t expect virtual trade show booths to directly sell products, there are many lessons we can learn from The Apple Store.

Make Yourself Indispensable

With the list of services above, Apple transcends beyond a “store” to become a technology adviser, consultant and partner. When you click to reserve a Workshop, the web site asks, “What would you like to learn?” When you click to make a Genius Bar appointment, the web site asks, “How can we help you?”

“When you have questions or need hands-on technical support for your Apple products, you can get friendly, expert advice at the Genius Bar. Found in every Apple Retail Store, the Genius Bar is home to our resident Geniuses.” (Apple’s description of the Genius Bar.)

While visitors to an Apple Store are predisposed to purchase an Apple product, visitors to your virtual trade show booth are more likely in need of a solution to a business problem.

Every virtual trade show booth should have a Genius Bar – a set of Subject Matter Experts (SME) to help visitors solve their business problems. While Apple’s Genius Bar provides product-specific advice, your Genius Bar should focus first on solutions (for your prospects) and secondarily on your own products and services. Make yourself indispensable to your prospects.

Make Your Products Readily Available

Photo credit: James Cridland on flickr.

Apple Stores are unlike any other retail environment. The entire width (and length) of the stores are all about the products. There’s a nearly endless supply of iPods, iPads and Macs for potential customers to try out. Of course, in a virtual trade show booth, you can’t provide an storage array to touch and feel.

You can, however, build digital representations of your products and invite booth visitors to “touch and feel” (digitally). I mention related technologies (to enable this) in the “Touch and Feel the Products” paragraph of my Virtual Trade Show 2.0 post.

If you’re a software company, you should find ways to allow visitors to interact with your software directly in the booth. If you’re a design agency, your virtual booth should reflect your design principles and capabilities.

Provide a Call Button for Assistance

On a recent visit to an Apple Store in Northern California, I noticed that every product had an iPad 2 next to it. The iPad 2 provided product specs and featured a neat button to “Talk to a Specialist.”

All too often in virtual trade show booths, visitors leave the booth feeling “unloved.” In a prior post, I wrote about a flight attendant call button for virtual events, which could be used to request technical support, among other things.

All virtual booths should have a “Talk to a Specialist” button. Booth visitors who click the button are likely to be your hottest leads, so you’ll need to ensure that your “geniuses” are available to take the call.

Conclusion

First, make yourself indispensable to prospects. Then, give them the product to “try before buying,” while making “geniuses” available to answer the “call button.” That’s the lesson I learned from The Apple Store.

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Posted by Dennis Shiao

This Week: HubSpot Inbound Marketing Virtual Conference

June 14, 2011

Introduction

According to HubSpot, “The Internet has profoundly changed the way people learn about and shop for products. To connect with today’s buyer, you need to stop pushing your message out and start pulling your customers in. The rules of marketing have changed and the key to winning is to use this change to your advantage.”

HubSpot is hosting the first ever virtual conference on inbound marketing.  It’s this Thursday (06/16) from 11AM to 5PM ET.

Session: Inbound Marketing for Your Virtual Conference

Previously, I wrote about how content marketing can drive registrants to your virtual event.  I’m excited to share similar thoughts at the HubSpot virtual conference.  I’ll be joining Eric Vreeland, HubSpot’s Inbound Marketing Manager, in a session titled “Inbound Marketing Best Practices for Your Virtual Conference.”  Our session kicks off the virtual conference at 11AM ET.

Save the Date

Virtual conference details:

Date: 06/16/2011

Time: 11AM – 5PM ET

For further information: http://www.hubspot.com/marketing-webinar/inbound-marketing-virtual-conference/

Disclosure: The HubSpot virtual conference is hosted on the INXPO virtual events platform (my employer).

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Posted by Dennis Shiao

Virtual Event Audience Generation via Content Marketing

June 13, 2011

Introduction

Email marketing is far from dead. For proof, look no further than Groupon, which recently filed for an IPO. Groupon’s business hinges on “daily deal” emails to their growing audience of subscribers. For virtual events, email blasts bring in 75% (or more) of the registrations [my estimate].

Despite Groupon’s success, virtual events’ reliance on email blasts is not sustainable. In this post, I introduce the concept of applying content marketing to generate an increasing percentage of your virtual event registrations.

Content Marketing is a Renewable Resource

Develop content that promotes your virtual event – and, remains viable well after the event is over. Market your event, while creating sustaining content at the same time. In the process of driving registrations to your virtual event, you’re also creating “inbound marketing,” – your content gets indexed by search engines. Content becomes a renewable resource, which can generate ongoing “returns.”

Email blasts, however, are a different story. You may open that Groupon daily deal email, but an offer to attend a virtual event may not garner the same interest. In addition, “repeat sends” of the same offer have diminishing returns. Get it right with your first offer, because subsequent blasts (to the same list) are dangerous. You’re more likely to generate opt-outs than opens or clicks. Email blasts are interruption-based, while with content marketing, users find you while they’re actively looking and searching.

Virtual Event Planners: The New Media Company

Consider the goals of a media company:

  1. Generate an audience (and associated lists)
  2. Engage the audience
  3. Sustain (and grow) audience loyalty

Virtual event planners are media companies. For virtual events, the above 3 steps become:

  1. Generate registrations (audience)
  2. Engage registrants (so they attend)
  3. Create a great event (so they come back next time)

Content marketing should be leveraged to generate a high attendance rate (i.e. number of attendees divided by number of registrants). Email reminders do not qualify as content marketing. In addition to reminders, share valuable content with registrants on a regular basis, leading up to the virtual event.

Content Marketing Portfolio

Never fear, you don’t have to build a media company on your own. Instead, leverage key stakeholders in the virtual event and invite them to provide content:

  1. Speakers
  2. Exhibitors
  3. Partners
  4. Your employees

The types of content you should be publishing:

  1. Blog postings (your blog)
  2. Guest blog postings (related industry blogs)
  3. YouTube videos
  4. Social sharing (of the above) via your social media channels
  5. Occasional email touches (to registrants) with valuable content [include an opt-out]
  6. Earned media

This content should be mixed and matched to attract new registrations and to interest existing registrants into attending the live event. An added benefit of all this content? Inbound links to your virtual event’s registration page, which increases its ranking with search engines.

Conclusion

Developing quality content is not easy. With a heavy reliance on email blasts (for virtual event audience generation), however, content can be a secret weapon. It’s your natural and untapped resource – and it’s renewable! Share your thoughts in the comments below – how are you using content marketing for your virtual events?

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Posted by Dennis Shiao

Jack Dorsey’s Awesome Town Square Speech

June 9, 2011

Introduction

TechCrunch published an article about a “TownSquare” speech that Jack Dorsey (@jack), CEO of Square, gave to the company back in November 2010.  The article, “Jack Dorsey & The Golden Gate Bridge (Exclusive Video)” provides a video of the speech, along with the full transcript. As I read the transcript, I drew some parallels to virtual events.

Design is as Much Functional as Visual

To quote Dorsey’s speech, “Design is not just visual, design is efficiency. Design is making something simple. Design is epic. Design is making it easy for a user to get from point A to point B.”

Love it.

Dorsey’s point reminds me of a great book I read, “Design Is How It Works” by Jay Greene. Design can be “visually beautiful,” in the same way the Golden Gate Bridge is beautiful (as Dorsey describes in his speech). But the Golden Gate is also functional – it’s a bridge that Dorsey wants to cross and it’s an experience to do so (unlike other bridges, which are neither cross-able nor great experiences).

This is where we stand today with virtual events. In the beginning, we “designed” virtual events around a visual experience. We tried to make things look like a trade show, with a 2.5D lobby, lounge, auditorium and exhibit hall. These environments were not easy to navigate. We often failed to get the user from point A to point B with ease.

If early stage virtual events were a search engine, we created bells and whistles on top of your search, whereas users just wanted a Google experience, delivering them directly from search query to results page.

Everyone is a Designer

To quote Dorsey, “Every engineer in this room, every operator in this room, every customer service agent in this room, is a designer.”

Everyone involved in a virtual event (e.g. producers, speakers, exhibitors, support staff, AV staff, web developers, graphics designers, etc.) is a designer, because each person plays a part (some more than others) in the resulting attendee experience.

Another quote from Dorsey, which he relayed from colleague “Brian” – “support and feedback is what our customers are telling us, and product is what we’re telling our customers.”

In a virtual event, the attendee experience is the product.  Virtual event designers need to think of attendees as a form of customer – we must build such a good “product” that customers would part with their money for – and, we must create happy customers who will return and “purchase” again.

Building the Brand

Dorsey likes to read The Economist. To quote Dorsey, “The other thing to notice about this is that there are no bylines at all, there are no names in here, not event the editor has a name. It’s The Economist, they’re building The Economist, they’re writing articles for The Economist.”

As I read this quote, I wondered whether an event could take the route of The Economist. I’d find it odd if an event did not list the speakers, their titles and company affiliations. But then I considered that if an event were to do this, the event brand would truly rule the roost. The event that comes closest to this today are the TED conferences.

Conclusion

Dorsey’s speech was both fascinating and inspiring. While Dorsey’s speech focused on building a great product, many parallels can be drawn between great products and great events.

Related Links

  1. TechCrunch article, “Jack Dorsey & The Golden Gate Bridge (Exclusive Video)”
  2. Video of Dorsey’s speech on TechCrunch TV

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Posted by Dennis Shiao

Great Example of Audience Involvement

June 6, 2011

Introduction

Shortly after publishing my post on engagement models to build audience loyalty, I tuned in to Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals, with the Boston Bruins visiting the Vancouver Canucks. In my post, I outlined a “fully synchronous” engagement model, in which a webinar presenter provides a brief introduction, then invites the audience to speak.

The National Anthem

At Vancouver Canucks home games, the national anthem is performed by Mark Donnelly. He puts on a rousing performance in front of a highly engaged audience.

In fact, after singing the first verse, he stops singing, raises his microphone to the crowd and turns into a conductor, as the fans sing the next verse. Here’s a video of a recent performance – you can see Donnelly “pass the mic” at the 0:33 (33 seconds) mark.

Conclusion

Canucks fans are passionate about their national anthem – there are numerous videos on YouTube of fans singing the national anthem outside the arena before games. I wonder if the tradition of audience involvement in Vancouver increased fans’ intensity around the national anthem?

In either case – while this was a great example of fully synchronous engagement, we all know that audience loyalty (to the Canucks) has more to do with the product they put on the ice!

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Posted by Dennis Shiao

Engagement Models to Build Audience Loyalty

June 4, 2011

Introduction

Behind every great event is great content.  To generate great content, event professionals need to be publishers as much as planners.  And like any good publisher, you need content that connects with your audience.  We often use the word “attendees” to refer to event consumers – when building a content plan, however, think of them as your audience.

Don’t Broadcast Your Content, Crowdcast It!

All too often, event content is delivered via one-way broadcasts.  Even when the content is engaging, it misses out on engagement.  Involving your audience in the event content (i.e. allowing them to contribute to a session) creates a more rewarding experience and builds audience loyalty.

So be sure to avoid the broadcast – instrument “crowdcasting” instead. Crowdcasting creates a loyal audience, which becomes an annuity of sorts. It guarantees “future payout” in the form of attendance (at future events), referrals (to recruit colleagues) and activity (further participation).

Engagement Models

Let’s consider engagement models that you can apply to your next event.

Asynchronous / Non-Synchronous

I’m a loyal listener of podcasts from ESPN Radio. In some of the podcasts, the hosts answer emails submitted by the audience. Listeners who hear their question answered (on the podcast) are more likely to submit subsequent questions. They’re also more likely start tuning in every day, to see if their latest question gets answered.

How this could apply to virtual events: in the weeks leading up to your event, invite users to submit questions (to the presenters) and provide input to help guide the content of the presentations. Once users see that “they have a voice,” they’re more likely to tune in to your sessions at future events.

Pseudo-Synchronous

I commute to work in a car and often tune in to the radio.  I’ve noticed that more and more, radio hosts are engaging with listeners via social media. Hosts will post to the show’s Facebook page, then read users’ comments on the air. They’ll ask a question via Twitter and read tweets from listeners who responded.

I call this “pseudo-synchronous,” because the dialog unfolds slower than real-time and while the channel is open in both directions, it’s not directly connected. Instead of an instant messaging session, it’s like leaving comments on a blog posting.

How this could apply to virtual events: Webinar presenters make the audience a central component of the presentation. They allocate dedicated segments to review (and discuss) audience feedback and questions submitted via the webinar console and via social media channels. Like radio hosts, they ask questions of the audience and read selected answers.

Fully Synchronous

I’m a big fan of sports talk radio. While the program host can make or break a show, the best part of talk radio are the discussions brought on by the callers. For sports talk radio, I love to hear different fans’ perspectives (as crazy as some perspectives can be) and listen to the host provide his/her response.

Imagine a sports talk program, though, that took no questions from the audience. It wouldn’t work! But that’s how some presentations are structured.

How this could apply to virtual events: For selected sessions, the webinar model should be turned upside down. The “presenter” provides a 5 minute introduction on a topic, then turns into a radio talk show host. Webinar viewers are “passed the ball” (i.e. the presentation controls) and provide their perspective on an issue. As in talk radio, a “call screener” is used to review topics that interested users would like to discuss.

Conclusion

Your audience should be a central component of your “event content.” Allow the audience to have an active voice and it’s a win/win scenario. You win, and your audience wins. Crowdcast, don’t broadcast.

Let us know your thoughts – what are additional ways to engage your audience?

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Posted by Dennis Shiao

How Virtual Events Can Generate Leads, Launch New Products and More

June 2, 2011

Introduction

I’m excited to be providing an EMC Grassroots Innovation Program presentation titled “How Virtual Events Can Generate Leads, Fill Open Positions, Launch New Products and Facilitate Corporate Learning.”

You may be asking, “will virtual events also create world peace and solve world hunger?” Not quite, but the main point of my presentation will be around the many uses (applications) of virtual events – and more importantly, the benefits they create when used well.

Presentation Abstract

“Remember COMDEX? In 2010, it returned as a virtual event, COMDEXvirtual. Publishers, associations and corporations are increasingly turning to virtual events to generate sales leads, educate their members and workforce and launch new products.

In this session, Dennis will provide an overview of virtual events and discuss the business benefits they can provide. Whether you’re looking to fuel your sales pipeline, bring talented candidates into your organization or enable corporate-wide learning, virtual events can achieve real business goals, all while making the world a greener place.”

Presentation Details

Title: How Virtual Events Can Generate Leads, Fill Open Positions, Launch New Products and Facilitate Corporate Learning

Date: June 7, 2011

Location:

EMC Corporation
2831 Mission College Blvd
San Francisco Conference Room
Santa Clara, CA 95054

Refreshments (pizza, salad, cookies) will be served.

Agenda:

  1. Networking: 5:30 – 6:00 PM
  2. Speaker: 6:00 – 6:45 PM
  3. Questions: 6:45 – 7:00 PM
  4. Networking: 7:00 – 7:30 PM

If you’re interested in attending, visit the event’s registration page.

If you have questions, would like more information, or if you require assistance with your registration, please email Sheryl Chamberlain, Program Director, at elin@emc.com.

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Posted by Dennis Shiao

Adding Game Mechanics to Your Event

May 27, 2011

Pictured: A game card employed at an elementary school science fair.

Introduction

I recently attended my child’s elementary school science fair and was intrigued to find game mechanics employed by the fair’s planners. The fair had several rows of “exhibits” (students’ science projects) and a number of students were seen walking studiously from project to project, with a rectangular slip of paper. It turns out the paper was a game card (pictured above), with a list of projects that students needed to find (and check off the list).

The Challenge and Completion Dynamics

I was struck by how many students were participating in the “game,” all under the premise of “you will get a prize if you are a lucky winner.” Adoption was strong because it tapped into a challenge dynamic. Kids were presented with a challenge (“go find these exhibits”). And importantly, there was a structure behind the challenge: the completion dynamic (“find all of the exhibits, then return the card to a volunteer”).

Since a completed card merely got a student a raffle ticket (after which they’d need to hold a winning ticket to gain a prize), motivation was driven by the challenge dynamic – something to keep in mind as it relates to B2B events (i.e. understanding and taking advantage of attendees’ motivations, rather than simply offering up iPads as prizes).

Pros and Cons

Pros: Participants in the game reviewed many more projects than they otherwise would have. Case in point: some students who did not play the game could be found lounging outside the fair, socializing on the patio.

Cons: More a consideration than a negative – game designers need to understand the “completion dynamics.” For the science fair, it’s a good thing for game players to visit many exhibits. The ideal visit is one where the visitor reads through the science project and gains an appreciation for the hypothesis and the result.

The non-optimal visit is the “drive by,” where the visitor is purely motivated by finding another item to check off the list. Good game design will motivate players to immerse themselves in the game, rather than play the game solely to achieve the end result.

How this Applies to Physical & Virtual Events

  1. Motivating participation: when incorporating game mechanics, discover ways to encourage participation beyond the prize.
  2. Contextual relevance: connect the game activities directly to the event content. The science fair did this perfectly.
  3. Encourage immersion and enjoyment: participation needs to go “beyond the result” – participants need to place a higher value on the activity (itself) over the achievement of status or completion.

Related

Pictured: a kid-themed scavenger hunt provided by the Ritz Carlton in Half Moon Bay, CA.

 

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Posted by Dennis Shiao

Virtual Events and Mainstream Adoption

May 21, 2011

Photo credit: FINALMETAL on flickr.

Introduction

Recently, I had time to spare before a flight home and decided to grab a bite and a drink at a restaurant’s bar at the airport.  While enjoying my food and beverage, I met two traveling salesmen in their 50’s.

We got to talking about our jobs and when it came my turn, I described virtual events. Neither of the gentlemen had heard of virtual events before and their reactions led me to think more about virtual events and mainstream adoption.

We’re Far From “There”

For those of us working in the industry day in and day out, it feels like we’re undergoing rapid growth and increasing adoption – and we are. But for mainstream adoption, “there” is more like the 600MM users on Facebook, not the few million people who have attended a virtual event (my very rough approximation).

In addition, my definition of “mainstream adoption” includes regular use of the technology (by the mainstream).  While there are plenty of “repeat users” across virtual events today, I believe the average user is one who attended a single virtual event and has not yet returned to a subsequent event.

Perception: The Technology is Complicated

Mainstream adoption means traveling salesmen. It means the postal carrier, the hair stylist and Mom and Dad. It doesn’t refer to early adopter, technology-savvy power users. The reaction of the first traveling salesmen at the bar was, “that sounds complicated.”

Now consider the typical, mid-50’s traveling salesman – and for the sake of this example, one who does not sell technology products. The salesman criss-crosses the country every other week and is more proud of his frequent flyer miles than his virtual crops in FarmVille. He uses a laptop for email, but isn’t particularly tech savvy.

To gain mainstream adoption, the user experience for a virtual event needs to be simple and easy.  A grandmother who can create a Facebook account and modify her Facebook profile ought to be able to do the same sort of activity in a virtual event. This would be an interesting scenario to study – could grandma modify her profile on today’s virtual event platforms?

Technology Displaces the Human Connection and … It’s Not Fun

The second traveling salesman conveyed his concern that today’s technologies can disrupt and displace face-to-face connections and interactions. Earlier in the day, he had lunch at a bar at another airport and arrived to find five other bar customers, each immersed in their smartphone. He commented, “I guess I’ll have to get out my device,” got everyone to chuckle and engaged with all of them, to the point where they put down their phones.

When this salesman heard about virtual events, he responded, “that doesn’t sound like fun.” And to a large degree, he’s right.  Virtual trade shows will never replace the handshake or the night out on the town.  This salesman will always choose the physical trade show. But what about his daughter’s college graduation? A virtual option can come in handy then.

Gaining adoption from this salesman will be less about any technology hurdle and more about finding him the right scenario and then making sure he has expectations set properly about what he’ll get out of the experience. Virtual attendance will allow him to experience the content (sessions, speakers, exhibitors, peers) in a convenient fashion, while skipping the cocktails and dinner.

Related: Introducing Virtual Trade Show 2.0

Conclusion

I love to describe virtual events to folks who have never heard of them. The reactions are varied and they tell me a lot about where our market is today and what hurdles we need to address to gain further adoption. Leave a comment below to share your thoughts on how virtual events can reach mainstream adoption.


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Posted by Dennis Shiao

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