Comments on: Is MPI’s Social Media Guru Program A Winning Idea?

By: Michael M McCurry CMP

Michael M McCurry CMP — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 18:36:39 +0000

Ruud, thanks for your thoughtful insights and comments!

I agree the SMG program is a good one. MPI just needs to bring more of them onboard in the future. I have been impressed with both the volume and quality of the tweets posted. Since I am not a registered attendee I am not able to view Pathable, but I would imagine the traffic there is much lighter than Twitter.

My client app of choice for Twitter is and has been Tweetdeck. I have used Twubs in the past, but not regularly. The Twitter interface with the Fusion platform does not allow for posting tweets so did not find that very helpful. The chat window, however is pretty functional. For Hashtag aggregators, I like Tweetchat, because it is simple and easy to navigate. I also find value with WTHashtag.com which is great for stats and also for generating a transcript of tweets during a specific time period.

Thanks for contributing and I hope you find this additional perspective helpful!

Mike

By: Ruud Janssen

Ruud Janssen — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 17:51:18 +0000

The social media Guru program at MPI ‘s WEC revolves around the idea of near realtime reporting. For the first time, I feel by having competent bloggers and microbloggers teamed up and organized about the way they involve the hybrid audience in the messaging put’s off the “pressure” on other bloggers at the event to keep the hybrid audience abreast. 5 people in a crowd of 2500 is a small ratio and I read some comments yesterday on the tweets about “tweet tiredness”. reporters are feeling the strain of keeping the hybrid audience up to speed and I wonder how much it “distracts” from the fully immersive onsite experience of this team. I will follow this post closely and want to thank you Mike for writing this informative article. Your overview is the way the future of meetings will grow in the direction of the questions that we ask. On that note, can you give me some insights (or could I ask you to track) how much attention (in time) do you place on this stream and which stream is most effective for you and other hybrid audience attendees? (between Pathable / the virtual stream the Fusion Productions put in place / an enriched hub (http://www.twubs.com/wec10 ) or other hashtag driven aggregators.

By: Preparing for Takeoff « Notes from a Meeting Professional

Preparing for Takeoff « Notes from a Meeting Professional — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 13:12:50 +0000

[...] been a lot of chatter on Social Media Guru program. You can read all about it here and here and now here. I considered spending some time reviewing what happened to cause such a commotion, but I think [...]

By: Michael M McCurry CMP

Michael M McCurry CMP — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 20:02:48 +0000

Hi Jenise,

You really made some excellent points in your comments.

Its funny how people get defensive about criticism, when in fact constructive comments lead to productive conversation and shared learning. This article is a continuation of what is going on Engage 365 and Midcourse Corrections. I love all the dialogue. I just wish people would not take it so personally.

Your point about a case study not being needed is interesting. I would love to hear Theresa’s feedback on that one. I do agree that social media is well established and inevitably will be a catalyst to pull this industry out of its slump.

Thanks for contributing to the conversation!

Mike

By: Jenise Fryatt

Jenise Fryatt — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 18:48:00 +0000

Thanks for this excellent post and for another opportunity to weigh in on this issue. When I was employed as a journalist, I was offered free, I repeat, FREE access to countless events and was asked for nothing in exchange. As a journalist, I was free to write whatever I felt moved to write, as long as my editor agreed to it. Was this fair? Well, considering the kind of impact a news story, review or column (written by an uninterested party) can have on any business, I believe such freebies are a wise investment. Even with the possibility of a bad review, the benefits far out way the potential risks.

I’m not sure I agree that a case study needs to be done to establish the effectiveness of extending this practice to bloggers. Any organization that is active on social media can readily establish the impact that leading bloggers are having on their industry. For the events industry, all you have to do is follow the #eventprofs Twitter stream to see what topics are hot and what thought leaders are being retweeted most. In fact, I’m sure I’m not the only one who checks new events industry blog posts first thing every morning and rarely, if ever, reads an industry magazine in print. Any coverage I read about WEC10, I will read on blogs.

I agree with you, Mike, that MPI should be commended on its willingness to try new things and it’s efforts to embrace the social media community. I also agree that mistakes will be made in the process and no one should be flogged. But I do hope that MPI will take note of the conversation that is taking place about the Social Media Gurus. Social media is NOT on unknown quantity. It’s well established and may actually be a key factor in pulling the events industry out of this difficult economy.