Inspiration Hub

The annual CES tech expo with 182,000 attendees and more than 4,400 exhibitors, has just wrapped in Las Vegas. Alongside some of the stranger contributions to humanity on display, including Internet-connected diapers and a $7,000 smart toilet, were a few new products that will definitely make meeting planner’s lives easier.

Nowadays, it seems like everything is going digital - including events. More and more companies and organizations are hosting virtual events and more and more people seem to be attending those events. But does that mean your organization should move from a traditional in-person conference to a virtual one?

The Social Media Trends for Events survey found that marketing was the number-one use for social media among event professionals, with 96 percent of respondents using it for outreach. More than 75 percent of respondents also used social media for customer engagement, news, and community building.  

Will 2019 be the year you leverage social media to make your events safer, more compelling and downright fun? A new survey shows that planners are missing opportunities to connect, sell sponsorships and build community.

The personal touch attendees expect from meetings is now largely being delivered with the help of machines. Yes, the event business has officially entered the realm of high-tech. From smart apps to the Internet of Things (IoT), event professionals must either master programming along with spreadsheets and CRM database building—or hire someone who does. Smart Meetings covered all the must-have tech advances this year to help you stay at the top of your game.

While Facebook has dominated the headlines most of the year with one crisis after another, its sister social media site, Instagram has quietly grown into a powerful social marketing tool. In June 2018, it reached 1 billion monthly active users, an increase of 200 million people since September 2017. Compare its reach to Facebook at 1.4 billion and Twitter at 68 million and you’ll see it’s a global powerhouse.

To redesign your website or to leave it as is? That is the question…

Maybe it’s something you’ve been pondering for a while. Maybe it’s something you’ve been intentionally putting off. How do you know if now is the right time? Well, take it from us, it might be time for a website redesign if…

If you use Instagram, you’ve probably noticed that when you post to your account and use a popular hashtag, you will often attract at least one new like, follower or comment. Sometimes, a quick check of these mysterious Instagram profiles will make you feel as if you’ve struck gold: They have tens of thousands of followers! They appear to be minor celebrities—potential influencers! More impressively, they are only following a few hundred accounts, and yours is one of them! Naturally, you show your appreciation by following them back.

Smart phones are smarter than ever, streaming has never been easier or more common, and the constantly connected technology of modern society is pushing events to jaw-dropping heights. That is, if your internet connection doesn’t crash.

Smartphones have technically been in existence since 1992, but in the last decade they have become an indispensable part of the planner’s on-the-go life. That is why optimizing use of all the helpful apps popping up every week is essential for event professionals today. Speaker and productivity expert Audrey Thomas, CSP, recently shared tips with attendees at FICP for making the most out of those powerful pocket computers. Here are her top tips for getting phone smart.

Have you ever wondered how other successful meeting planners use the newest event tech? This series takes you behind the scenes to see how your peers use features like gamification, augmented reality, and facial recognition to take their events to the next level.

It’s important to have social media pages for your business. A $20 ad can bring in hundreds of likes and sharing photos—and hash-tagging correctly—can guide Instagram users to your photo to see what you’re all about. But an under-utilized, yet very necessary, social media network is LinkedIn. It’s the “professional” version of who you are and what you do, yet it’s often neglected and left un-updated.

Meeting automation is potentially positioning itself as the next technology to shake up the planning game. While apps and meeting management systems have been grabbing headline and topping lists of “tech to watch,” more complete meeting automation could take those principles another step forward.

The holiday season is officially upon us, and with that comes a certain level of increased social media visibility. (People are on their phones a lot more, after all.) But how can your organization really leverage that visibility to increase online member engagement? We’ve got a few ideas!

Video has been popular for quite a while now, particularly on social media, but did you know, by 2019, video will account for about 78 percent of the world’s mobile data traffic? That means most of the content people will be searching for and engaging with online will be in video form. So, is your association or chamber hopping on the video trend? If not, now’s the time.

Sub-par social media photos are no longer an option in today’s saturated social feeds. Quality visual storytelling is essential, and everyone from your local synagogue to your favorite music festival has an Instagram.

Events are there to let people hear about what you have to say. Events serve as a great way to reach out to your current customer/client base, they can be used to pitch a new idea to the world and of course, to close deals. And it’s safe to say that events can be quite useful. However, getting the desired number of attendees isn’t an easy job. Getting people hyped about your event requires a few tricks and at least one marketing maestro. Fortunately, with the help of social media, things can be a bit easier. Let’s see how you can take that to your advantage.

Association members, especially next-gen members, are exponentially growing in numbers. Increasingly, however, they are not passionately engaged with association membership. That is because the competitive association landscape has changed the rules of engagement. Associations who fail to act on those changes are the ones who struggle to remain relevant amongst their members. In come online communities.

57% of events didn’t use video at all as part of their digital marketing strategy, according to the 2019 Eventbrite Pulse Report survey of 1500 event creators. But 94% of events that did use video in 2018 found it effective.

Effective social media marketing means taking the proper steps before, during, and after the show. To ensure you cross everything off your social to-do list, refer to the following checklist:

Have AV quotes bamboozled you before? You’re not alone there. And if you don’t understand the quote, it can be tricky to know how to negotiate on the price, or if you hold any power to negotiate whatsoever! The good news is, you do have that power. And all you need to put it into action is a little knowledge, which we’re about to arm you with.

Using social media to promote your next live event? Of course you are. In this blog post we highlight the use of Twitter as an incredibly useful platform for event promotion, featuring four examples of how other industry leaders have leveraged Twitter as part of their event strategy. 

The event is planned, speakers are lined up and vendors are all confirmed — but how do you make sure that the right people attend and the world hears about it? Twitter is an optimal channel to promote your events on because people look to Twitter for live news, updates, and engaging content. If you follow the right strategy, your event can reach millions of people who are interested in what’s going on.

eSports may not be new—did you know that the first game was released in 1960? But this exciting form of entertainment is emerging as a big business in the gaming world. Robert Rippee, director of the new Hospitality Innovation Lab at University of Nevada, Las Vegas’ International Gaming Institute, spoke with Smart Meetings in a webinar about the opportunities this trend brings for planners. Read on to learn about the history of gaming and its connection to the meetings industry.