By Deanna Ferrari
Venue? Check. Food? Check. Tweetdeck? What?
When planning an event, you typically make your checklist, get the basics, and you’re done. But what about a social media event? What are the items you need to make it a success? Recently, WordWrite co-hosted a tweetup and this month, instead of the usual tool of the month, we’re listing three essential tools needed in running your own successful social media event.
1. The right online social media platform. My pick: Tweetdeck
The most common type of social media event that I’ve seen is a tweetup (think Twitter friends meeting up in real life). For a tweetup, Twitter is the central place where discussion happens online. At our tweetup, we projected a stream of tweets using our hashtag (#pghbiztu) that the crowd could view to see what people were tweeting about at the event and those tweeting to us from elsewhere. A good tool to use is Tweetdeck, a real-time browser, connecting you with your contacts across Twitter, LinkedIn, Foursquare and more. This way, you can set up specific columns to see who is using your hashtag, replying to you, etc. It’s easy to see in one place. And it automatically refreshes.
2. The right online video streaming service. My pick: Ustream
When hosting a social media event IRL (in real life), it’s important to remember that it is both at a physical location and online. So why not stream live video from the IRL event? Ustream is a live, interactive broadcast platform that enables anyone with an Internet connection and a camera to engage their audience in a one-to-many model, which means that the user can broadcast to an audience of unlimited size. All you need is a camera, a cord, a laptop and an Internet connection and you can be Steven Spielberg in no time! Live streaming the event also gives it an interactive component. People unable to attend in person can still see all that’s happening; they’re just behind their computer screen. As with Tweetdeck, Ustream is social-media friendly, allowing users to comment via Twitter while watching the video stream. And Ustream archives the video of your event so that those who can’t be there online at the time of the event can still watch it at their convenience.
3. The right online photo sharing service. My pick: Plixi and Flickr
Taking photos at social media event is important for two reasons: to share images with those online in real-time, as well as to archive the event in photos for years to come. Plixi (formally Tweetphoto) allows users to instantly share their photos on social networks through mobile devices and on the web. I personally use a Blackberry and can take photos with my phone and instantly upload to Plixi. But have your trusty camera on-hand as well to take better quality, larger photos. That way, once the event is done, you can upload the photos and save to a site such as Flickr, which is self proclaimed “almost certainly the best online photo management and sharing application in the world.” While I can’t say whether it’s the best or not, Flickr manages photos quite nicely. It’s easy to share, and your images are copyrighted if you choose.
Want more tips? Click here to download a free whitepaper on steps you can take to plan your own tweetup or social media event.
Remember: It’s not truly a social media event unless it’s truly interactive – both in person and online.
Social media tool of the month is a regular feature on the WordWrite Storytelling Blog that appears monthly.
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Deanna Ferrari is a senior account executive for WordWrite Communications
