With my sub focus on virtual events, I’ve been receiving media pitches to attend these type of events. Inviting media and bloggers to attend your event – whether virtual or physical – is a great way to drive awareness of your event.

The challenge? Attending any event takes time out of a busy schedule and away from billable work. Like any media pitch, you have to clearly outline the benefits to entice the blogger or reporter to take time out to attend. This can be a keynote from a industry expert who rarely speaks, details of a research report being revealed for the first time or seeing how producers are using these solutions in innovative ways.

Two media pitches particularly caught my attention for their different approaches. Here is the first I received:

Subject: Hope you’ll join us on 6/16 (note email was sent with only a few day’s notice)

Hi Donna and Cece,

Your site is pretty cool – it’s great that you are aggregating VE content in one place. I hope you will consider joining us this Thursday for the [virtual event]. We create this VE as a way to push the envelope in online engagement… If you have time to drop in, please tell us what you think.

 Curious, I asked how the event is pushing the envelope in online engagement beyond just great visuals. The response I received was:

Great question! We’re trying something new in the pre-show to push interactivity and engagement – we’ll see how it works.

 Ok, as someone who has expressed interest in learning more about the event, this response did irk me a bit. With that said, though I had no information about the “innovation,” I was still curious. I responded asking for more details about the nature of the interactivity and engagement, promising not to write or tweet about it before the event. Here is the response:

I’d rather not share it in advance. It’s not that it’s a huge innovation, I just don’t feel right sharing the concept before Thursday as my colleague [XXX] is leading that part and we haven’t discussed his thoughts on sharing with key industry folks. I’ll chat with him and let you know.

I never heard back from the person and I subsequently didn’t attend the event. By setting proper expectations upfront, I would’ve been more inclined to take a peek at the event. Furthermore, by sending it literally a few days in advance of the event, the organizer was inconsiderate of my time.

Here is a another pitch we received the same week. Unlike the above, this pitch clearly stated what we would see, explained why we may be interested and invited us several weeks early so we could clear our schedules. While I may not attend, my colleague Donna added this to her calendar. Objective achieved!

 Subject: 2-Day Virtual Convention to Showcase Best of 3D Web

Hi Donna and Cece,

I thought you may be interested in learning about a groundbreaking virtual convention that will be held next month entirely on the 3D Web. This July 8th and 9th, participants from all over the world will have the opportunity to attend a virtual trade show for the first time, UtherConvention 2011, which will feature between 100 – 200 exhibitors, including some of the largest players in the 3D internet. The two-day event will include seminars, panel discussions, and virtual networking opportunities. Participants will have access to 3D voice and audio tools, allowing them to overhear and participate in conservations as they walk through the convention hall. It will operate as a real-world convention, but take place entirely online, giving attendees the opportunity to connect with like-minded individuals from all over the world.

Would you be interested? I am happy to send over more information.

 Next time you reach out to media and/or bloggers as part of your event marketing, keep these three simple tips in mind:

1 – what is the event? Provide an one sentence highlight of your event.

2 – why would the reporter/blogger be interested in your event? Include specifics which can be a topic related to person’s area of focus or interesting innovation within the event

3 – when is the event? Send out invites a few weeks in advance so the person can schedule this accordingly.

I’m excited to announce the launch of The Virtual Buzz, a new venture that I’m undertaking with Donna Sanford of Sanford Project Partners. I had the pleasure of working with Donna, first as editor of EXPO Magazine and then as part of our work on behalf of the Virtual Edge Summit. 

Our common interest in virtual and hybrid events brought us together. With Donna’s how-to take related to her journalism background and my role on the vendor side to follow and anlyze trends and trend setters, we recognized a synergy and opportunity to blend these perspectives to bring you the best on virtual and hybrid environments.

Our goal is to two-fold: 

• - analyze the trends, report the news and uncover best practices
• - curate the best content on hybrid and virtual environments available online

Simply, our goal is to highlight what people are buzzing about within the industry.

So what does this mean for PR Meets Marketing? I still plan to write about public relations and marketing here; but future posts on virtual events not related to marketing and PR will now live on The Virtual Buzz.

As I wrote in my first post for the site, “The Current State of the Virtual Environment Industry“:

And on behalf of Donna and myself, we hope that you will be a passenger along for the ride, seeing what’s buzzing in hybrid & virtual environments on our new adventure, The Virtual Buzz.

On Thursday, March 31, 2011 at 1 pm PT, I am moderating a Focus roundtable discussion on how marketers can develop and implement marketing campaigns that can drive awareness for their virtual events and attract audiences. Michelle Bruno, Bruno Group Signature Events, and Shannon Ryan, Adviser, Virtual Events, Focus, will also participate on this roundtable.

We’ll address topics such as:

1) When, why and how to leverage social media for your virtual event
2) Strategies to convert registrants into audience members on the day of the virtual event
3) Collaborate with partners, customers and employees to spread the word of mouth

Here are ways you can join the conversation before or during the roundtable:

•  
  • -  submit your own question with FocusMarketingRT as a topic
  • - on Twitter using the hashtag #FocusRT
  • - send questions to me via Twitter (@csalomonlee)
  • - leaving a comment below

WHERE:
Toll-free Dial-In Number: (866) 951-1151
International Dial-In Number: (201) 590-2255
Conference # : 4999006

by alpa auer via flickr

A recent discussion on The Virtual Events & Meeting Technology group on LinkedIn (must join to see the thread) caught my attention recently. It asked what the “highest recorded attendance figure” was for a virtual exhibition.

Unfortunately, many numbers cited in case studies or media articles are all self-reporter. My concern is the use of self-reported numbers doesn’t help our industry. By focusing on the largest number of registrants and attendees, highest number of leads per exhibitor, or longest time spent within the event, the conversation centers around who has the biggest and largest event.

Rather, our industry requires a consistent, standard way to measure the value of a going virtual. In turn, meeting and event professionals can evangelize the benefits of virtual for meeting specific business goals.

But this requires event organizers or virtual event platform providers to open their kimonos on the raw data. To allow a third-party organization to analyze and compare the data in aggregate. For the industry to come to a consensus on consistent terminology and key metrics to ensure we’re comparing apples to apples. That individual interests be put aside for the greater good. And for this to be done consistently on a regular basis.

So who’s game? Who’s willing to take up my challenge open the kimono and share raw data to develop this benchmark?

Let’s begin the discussion and see how we can move this forward.

by jeco via flickr

At the end of February, the Virtual Edge Institute (VEI) announced a new certification program for digital event strategists (Disclosure: I do some consulting for  VEI). While webinars and webcasts are an integral part of the marketing mix, digital events are fairly new for marketers and event practitioners. Besides those who experiment with the new medium, there are not many professionals experienced planning, building and implementing virtual events.

The timing of this new program is just another indicator of the momentum that virtual environments is gaining within organizations – both as a marketing tool and for event marketers. Until now, one of the main obstacles for organizations is to find and employ people with the appropriate expertise to manage virtual event programs. By training people on the ins and outs of digital events, this will further spur the growth within this industry. Here are a couple of responses to date:

Jessica L. Levin, Seven Degrees Communications, “I really like this idea. I think this is an area that is new, technical and requires a lot of education.  I love that they use  ‘Strategist’ in the designation. This tells me that the learning goes beyond mechanics and it a deeper, higher-level approach. All certifications should be taken with a grain of salt, but I appreciate the opportunity to get some formal education.”

Todd Hanson, ROI of Engagement, Catalyst Performance Group, “This is going to be an excellent thing for the industry! I applaud the efforts.”

What do you think? Leave your thoughts below.

via Flickr by Karen Eliot

I highlighted three basic types of virtual events. In subsequent posts, I plan to highlight key questions you should ask as you evaluate your virtual event technology provider under the following categories:

1. Event Support & Experience

2. Virtual Event Planning Tools

3. Engagement & Experience

4. Training

5. Metrics and Analysis

6. Product Roadmap/Innovation

This first part focuses on overall virtual event support and experience.

Number of Events Does Not Equate Experience

Many vendors cite the number of events they’ve developed as testament to their support and experience in creating successful virtual events. However, the number of events produced demonstrates only a company’s ability to, well, produce events. Would you select someone who did 1,000 poorly designed events or one who did 200 very well-conceived and implemented events? I argue you would select the latter.

So how do you get beyond the “number of events produced” response to delve into the characteristics you need to plan, build, design and implement a successful virtual event?

1. This is my first virtual event. What is your process with customers like me? What documentation do you provide to help me understand the steps and questions for a virtual event?

2. How many events do your event directors manage at any one time?

3. What is the event director’s experience in planning, building and implementing virtual or physical events like mine? Can you give me sample events s/he has been involved in?

4. How quickly does your team respond to clients? What is the average time elapsed for responses? 30 minutes, 1 hour, 1 day?

5. Do you survey your customers on their satisfaction? If so, what were the results? If not, why not and how do you know if you’re doing a good job with your customers?

6. Can you provide me with 3 customer references similar to my association, corporation or industry?

7. What is your recommended timeline for an event like mine?

What additional questions are there? Share them below in the comments.

While attending the Virtual Edge Summit 2011 last week, one question asked by attendees is “how do I create an engaging experience.” I would argue that the experience relies not on the platform you select but rather how involved you are in planning, designing, building and implementing the environment. However, many are new to going virtual and are unsure of how to proceed.

As such, I plan to write a series of posts to help meeting/event planners and marketers understand the process for going virtual.  Please feel free to forward me your questions.

First, there are many types of “virtual events.” Let me highlight three flavors of virtual events that include multiple locations, such as an exhibit hall and auditorium, chat functionality and presentations.

Virtual Event “Out-of-the-Box”

A couple of the vendors are touting that they can build an event in one day. This is possible as certain features have already been pre-selected for you, such as presentation window and chat. While you can add a logo and some other basic branding, there is not much more to this. What you see is what you get with this virtual event.

Pro: Quick and easy set up with minimal monetary outlay (estimate of $5,000-10,000). Once created, you can reuse over and over again as a central library for your archived content and future events.
Con: You get a standard “virtual” event as defined by the vendor with minimal customization. This may or may not work for your particular audience with regard to providing an “engaging” experience. If you plan to use more than once, there may be additional charges for each new “event/presentation” with in the environment.

“Template-Based” Virtual Events

The next level is adding some customization options in terms of the location look-and-feel (usually selecting from a vendor’s library of themes) and adding/taking away certain features such as group chat, locations (i.e. an exhibitor space) and social media with a click of the mouse.

Pro: You have more control over the look-and-feel and how attendees interact with the environment. Like the “virtual event out-of-the box,” once you’ve created it, you can reuse the set-up for future virtual events you hold.
Con: Increased price tag to about $30-60K depending on the features, limited to stock library of images or providing images that fit a specific criteria, and requires more time and effort to design and implement. Furthermore, if using the same format repeatedly, you have to consider additional charges to light-up the environment, as well as if the look-and-feel will become dated.

Fully Customized Virtual Event

The high-end is working with the vendor to develop a fully customized environment from a branded look-and-feel to adding features beyond chat and social media, such as games and quizzes.

Pro: You are intimately involved in the building of the virtual environment that is customized to your event, brand and audience. This provides you with the best option for engaging your audience. Once built, you can add new features to further customize the experience.
Con: This takes a lot of time (recommend at least 6 months to plan, design, build and implement) and can be six figures or more. If you decide to add onto the environment, the challenge is how to integrate any new functionality seamlessly into the overall experience.

Conclusion

In the end, you need to find the right partner based on your budget, expectations and overall experience requirements. In my next post, I’ll highlight the types of questions you should ask when evaluating a virtual events platform provider.

What other pros and cons are there with the above three virtual event scenarios?

Here are two videos that I took while I was at the Virtual Edge Summit 2011.  Again, while I provided PR/marketing/social media services to the summit, the below represents my personal opinions and not those of the Virtual Edge Summit.

View more interviews on YouTube

Photo courtesy of Altus

NOTE: I am providing pr/marketing services to the Virtual Edge Summit. This post reflects my personal opinions and is not representative of the Virtual Edge Institute or Virtual Edge Summit.  

I previously wrote about some of the efforts we undertook to promote the Virtual Edge Summit. I would like to highlight some of the buzz coming out of the Summit and what this means for marketers. Interestingly, I anticipated hearing some innovations from the key players in the US virtual events market – INXPO (Note: I was previously employed here), 6Connex, and Unisfair.    

Rather, for me, I was intrigued by the number of mobile developments by other providers at the show, Altus, Digitell Inc. and Social27. While this was surprising, it fits into my overall predictions about the industry, that newcomers will help push the innovation for virtual and hybrid events. Here’s a quick summary of the announcements. I also had the opportunity to speak briefly with Altus and Social27. Here is a quick overview of the Altus and Social27 news, and I plan to post the videos once I get those completed. 

Altus Brings Conferences to the Palm of Your Hand

Altus highlighted their announcement as an extension of physical to provide a “hybrid” experience. The mobile application allows conference organizers to put the conference agenda, sponsor information and even presentations on your mobile device. 

Why you should take a look? Since attendees proactively download the app to their device (supports many operating systems), conference organizers can continue pushing updates to attendees long after the conference has ended. If you leverage this as an opportunity to continue a conversation, you can keep members engaged while driving interest for the following conference, as well as open up possible revenue opportunities via sponsorships.    

Taking Social Interaction to the Next Level with Social27

Photo via Social27 Website

Social27 originally started as a service to bring social collaboration to enterprises. Seeing an opportunity, Social27 is moving into events and conferences. The company has a philosophy of “Social, Mobile and Local”, which Ike Singh Kehal, CEO of Social27, explains in his video (coming soon). Like the main U.S. players in the market, Social27 provides an environment with 2D locations for networking, exhibitors and sessions. Since the company comes from the social collaboration space, Social27 provides a simple integration with the key social networks. 

Why you should take a look? Social27 does the social collaboration and networking well. I would venture to say that it provides the simplest and most intuitive interface to date. Furthermore, the company leverages the wealth of your social graph to provide “matches” to assist with networking. Currently available on Windows mobile phones, expect Social27 to expand the services to additional mobile OS. By adding the geographic aspect as well, Social27 provides marketers with the ability to search, seek and network with prospects – virtually or in the real world. 

 Conclusion

The Virtual Edge Summit provided great insight into how marketers can leverage virtual and hybrid events as part of the marketing mix. And an integral part of the experience is extending the event to mobile devices. Do you agree or disagree?

Courtesy of Virtual Edge Summit

From January 12-13, 2011, hundreds of people will gather in Las Vegas and online to attend the Virtual Edge Summit 2011. I have had the pleasure of assisting the Summit in their public relations and marketing efforts. While I have done PR and marketing activities as a vendor exhibiting or speaking at an event, this was an interesting opportunity to help drive awareness, conversation and ultimately registrations for a conference of this sidze (not including corporate webinars and virtual events).

With the conference a week away, we will not have a full sense of the results until after it has concluded. With that said, I wanted to highlight three strategies and tactics we used (are using). While this doesn’t encompass everything we did/are doing for the Summit, it does provide a look under the covers:

Key Objectives

1. Drive Brand Awareness: This year, the Virtual Edge Summit expanded its program beyond virtual events, meetings and conferences to incorporate virtual learning and training. This opened up the Summit a potential new pool of attendees within the elearning and training spaces. Our goal was to continue driving awareness within the meeting and events industry, while introducing the Summit to this new space.

2. Increase Engagement: We wanted to build on the 2010 efforts to further involve our audience – both virtual and physical – with the Summit. This would help generate word of mouth amongst our key audiences and hopefully reach new target audiences.

3. Grow Registrations for In-Person and Virtual Attendance:  And of course, part of the success would be measured by the number of registration for the in-person and virtual versions of the event.

Key Tactics

1. Focus on Public Relations: My foundation is in public relations, so this was a natural area to focus our efforts.  In addition to the general press releases about keynote speakers, new sponsors and the program, we looked at how we can generate discussion in the industry, while promoting the Summit. For example, we decided to develop an infographic that summarized the key virtual events industrystats from 2010. The purpose was to provide the industry with a visual way to synthesize the progress that virtual had made over the past 12 months. In addition to posting to the Summit blog, we contacted key reporters, industry bloggers, and sponsors. The resulting blog posts and discussion around the infographic keeps the Summit and Virtual Edge Institute front and center.

2. Start and Seed a Summit Blog: Our speakers are the innovators within the virtual events and learning industries. We started a blog and invited our speakers to submit 300-400 word blog postings related to their presentation or industry. With a dozen speakers taking up the offer, this provided credibility to the blog, allowed us to generate relevant content quickly, and distribute this to a wider audience through speaker promotion. At this writing, our hope is to continue the blog to drive the conversation until the next Summit.

3. Social Media: While Twitter was leveraged last year, we drafted a more formal strategy for our social media program this year.

a. The cornerstone will continue to be Twitter, assigning each room with a unique hashtag to receive questions from the audience. We also created Twitter lists of attendees, speakers and sponsors to recognize all the different audiences supporting the Summit. Finally, we reached out to speakers and sponsors to promote their participation at the conference, which generated many tweets leading up to the conference over the past few days.

b. We researched groups in learning, training, events, conferences and meetings on LinkedIn.  Following group guidelines, we posted information about the Summit, participated in appropriate discussions,  and/or started discussions.

c. With regard to Facebook, this is being leveraged as an alternative way to connect with our audiences. We cross post all blog posts and post questions to solicit engagement. While this part is nascent, we’re contemplating using Facebook as the main photo archive for the Summit and inviting virtual attendees to post photos of where they are attending the Summit to the page.

Wish Us Good Luck

While this doesn’t cover everything we’ve been doing, I’m pretty happy with what we’ve been able to accomplish so far. If you’re interested in checking out the summit, you can register at http://www.virtualedgesummit.com/registration_reader. The interesting aspect is that the Summit will have ten different technology vendors streaming the content. The idea is to provide people with a choice and way to evaluate different ways of holding a virtual event.

In the post-event summary, I’ll highlight some other unique aspects of the event, initial results and some areas of improvement.

And I’ll also be one of the virtual hosts to bring content live from the exhibit show floor to the virtual audience! (wish me luck)