Creating the viral conference

 By John McGory and TC Brown

Have you ever awakened to an empty stomach to find only a stale bagel or muffin?  You bite into it hoping for satisfaction.  Unfortunately, it tastes like a mouthful of sand and you quickly forget this disappointing attempt at breakfast.

This brief episode is analogous to many people’s experiences at academic and business conferences.  Conferences promise satisfaction, but often turn out to be dry, forgettable events that leave attendees longing for true intellectual sustenance.

Common woes include: multiple sessions that require attendees to choose one good session over another; unprepared or dull-as-dishwater speakers; the inability to provide feedback to organizers; and the failure to build upon momentum from a stimulating conference.

But social media and the communications revolution offer a fresh spin to the staid and stale convention concept.  New media is providing many interactive ways to improve the true exchange of ideas.  Here are some ideas to spice up your next conference:    

Real-time blogging and Facebook posts:  Many conferences have multiple break-out sessions going on simultaneously.  Attendees go to one while missing out on other interesting possibilities.  Conferences can provide real-time blogging to capture the essence of a session, which can be posted immediately onto sites like Tumblr.  Use Facebook to highlight the blogs to a wider audience. This allows attendees to keep up with the entire conference and not left out when that session is later discussed.

Here are examples of some real-time blogs that Webface recently did for The Ohio State University’s conference, The 2012 Public and Land Grant University Conference on Energy Challenges: The Next 50 Years.   http://energychallenges.tumblr.com

Twitter and hashtags:  Creating a hashtag (#) for a conference allows attendees to provide instant feedback on sessions and speakers and keep up with concurrent sessions.  This instant feedback loop gives conference organizers or speakers the ability to tweak an event or speech while in progress.  Here is the Twitter feed from the OSU conference.  Our hashtag was #energy2012.    https://twitter.com/#!/OEEatOSU

Curing the deadly (and boring) PowerPoint presentation:  Too many conference presenters load their presentations with bulleted text and then read slide after slide, which is about as boring as last night’s ice-cold meatloaf. Video and infographics are the new tools to cure the deadly PowerPoint presentation.  Conference organizers can be proactive in encouraging speakers to follow PowerPoint standards that will entertain and teach instead of chasing complaining attendees into the hall for more coffee.  

Capturing and using the good stuff:  Too many conferences end, with everyone headed home, never to think about it again.  Capturing the good stuff that comes out of a conference on blogs, video and other social media sites keeps alive the conference’s momentum and useful materials.  It also provides a record for those who are interested but unable to attend.  This helps build buzz for future conferences.  Facebook is excellent for this function.  Here is the Facebook page Webface created for the OSU conference.  http://www.facebook.com/energychallenges

Today’s conferences do not have to be as stale as day-old bread.  They can be alive and vibrant events that truly spread your good word.  A little proactive planning by organizers can make your next conference a truly memorable and lasting event. 

John McGory and TC Brown are partners at Webface, an original content marketing company. Let Webface help make your next conference or presentation one to remember.