Disqus - Latest Comments for samueljsmith

Re: Why don’t meeting conferences pay speakers?

samueljsmith — Sun, 09 Jun 2013 15:28:46 -0000

The problem in my mind isn't that people ask you to speak for free. That seems very smart on their part. The problem is that so many people say yes. If you want to change the paradigm...just say no.

Re: Don’t let the tech tail wag the event dog

samueljsmith — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 13:07:39 -0000

Hi Adrian,

Here are my two cents.

First, I don't think that people get that transforming events requires a combination of people, process and technology. Many would like some technology that they could just "bolt on" to their events. Something that would work, create a little buzz and a fresh new feeling - without disrupting everything.

We completed an event for a financial services company that had 9 screens with live event content from attendees on them. Each of those screens was filled with different types of attendee insights. However, that data didn't just happen. We had to create several different engagement points for attendees to contribute. In order to put this together and make it run smoothly, we had to make many process changes. Changes to the client's usual planning process, changes to the attendee experience and changes to how the general session normally runs. If we wouldn't have made those process changes, the event wouldn't have been nearly as successful. It would have just had more screens.

Keep talking to people about processes and formats, Adrian! We are all behind you!

- Sam Smith

Re: Hybrid event architecture ideas sparked by Event Camp Twin Cities 2011

samueljsmith — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 07:54:57 -0000

Hi Adrian,

Thanks for attending Event Camp Twin Cities and running the Pecha Kucha presentations. We appreciated having you there.

If I understand your response to Gerrit - you are proposing exactly what we did. We had a live connection between the pods and a secondary channel for speaker support materials. The only difference is that we sent the Pods the "at home attendee" version of the speaker support materials - which was delayed by about 20 seconds.

Re: Not A Presentation, A Participation!

samueljsmith — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 16:44:24 -0000

My pleasure - we learned a lot from Likeminds in February that we incorporated into our event.

Regarding your question...I think about F2F participation in the same way as Social Media participation. There are different levels of participation and people choose to engage in different ways.

In my opinion, two of the big barriers to participation are the fear of public speaking and fear of embarrassment. If you can design participation activities that mitigate or eliminate these issues, then I think you have a good chance of getting people to participate.

Re: Not A Presentation, A Participation!

samueljsmith — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 15:27:12 -0000

These are good questions, Scott.

I think if we have any hope of actually breaking out of the speaker - listener paradym, then we need some new vocabulary and some new role definitions.

For example, at Event Camp Twin Cities, we used the term "discussion leader" to refer to our speakers. Each discussion leader had participation objectives that included engaging the face-to-face audience, virtual attendees and the remote PODS in Dallas & Basel. By using a new term - "discussion leader" - it helped us keep audience participation top of mind. It was hard to remember to do - but it sure helped.

Enjoy your trip to Pakistan. I look forward to hearing how your "participation" went.

Re: The End Of The Age Of Content, Part 2

samueljsmith — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 22:32:12 -0000

I get frustrated seeing the same content re-posted over and over. One guy calls it "the secret to _________" and the next guy calls it "10 ways to ________". Yet the ideas are remarkably similar - with little or no added value. While it can be interesting to curate this content, I have a hard time tweeting authentically - "Awesome Post - " to something that I have seen many times before. So, it becomes boring.

Thinking outloud - I guess that is the challenge for curators. They are not there to seek out and find thought leadership. Or create all of it. Curators are really the custodians of the tribe's mission. As new people join the tribe - these old posts and old ideas become new again.

Re: The Pitfall of the Overestimation of Participation

samueljsmith — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 03:23:34 -0000

Hi Scott,

I enjoyed your post and video! I think many people assume that you can implement a one-size-fits-all program for participation and Social Media. They don't realize that you should segment the audience based on their participation preferences and match the participation (or engagement) activities to the audience profile. This is especially important when you have multiple generations in your audience. (not all generations communicate/participate in the same way OR have the same comfort level with technology.)

Also, I think your step #3 "lift restrictions" is important, too. Sometimes there are just too many barriers to participate. (Website registrations, logins, queues, etc.) The easier that you make it for people to participate the more people will do it. When VW created the Fun Theory videos - they took mundane activities like recycling bottles and walking up stairs and got people to participate and change their behavior. Participation was easy and fun.

I look forward to seeing your participation framework - when you launch it. I will be interested in seeing how it compares to (and differs from) the Groundswell's Social Technographics ladder.

Re: 10 Ways Social Media Will Transform Events in 2010 – Event Coup

samueljsmith — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 04:41:16 -0000

Stewart -

Thanks for syndicating this post. I am glad that you liked it. This post was my contribution to an ebook on Social Media called: Social Media in Events 2010 that was compiled by Lara McCulloch-Carter. The other contributors included:
> Jessica Levin, CMP – President & Chief Connector, Seven Degrees Communications
> Paul Salinger – VP Marketing, Oracle
> Michael McCurry, CMP - Strategic Account Manager, Experient
> Jeff Hurt – Director of Education & Engagement, Velvet Chainsaw Consulting
> Samuel J. Smith – Blogger & Technology Consultant, Interactive Meeting Technology Blog
> Ryan Hanson – Creative Producer, Designer & Conversation Starter, BeEvents

You can download the e-book here: http://www.ready2spark.com/...

Thanks again.

- Sam

Re: How Events Can Use Social Media

samueljsmith — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 09:42:34 -0000

Hi Chris,

Your point that you need to start with a strategy is probably the most important. The reality is that there is no-one-sized-fits-all recipe to social media marketing for events. You have to know "where" your attendees are using social media and "how" they prefer to engage with it.

I see a lot of people that are looking for a "quick fix" and get distracted by the latest tools. It's like shiny object syndrome.

A better way would probably be to create "sharable content" (case studies, ebooks, videos, webinars, etc) that can be passed around to like minded people and potential attendees. Even this approach is not one size fits all.

Re: Productivity Tools for 2010: What’s Coming Next?

samueljsmith — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:57:20 -0000

Hi Jim,

Thanks for your comment. I can appreciate the challenge that you face. Expanded coverage is a good idea.

Speaking of Google Wave, over the weekend I learned that the Ecomm Event in Amsterdam used Google Wave for Mass Collaboration in October. It looks like it turned out really well. If you anyone is interested in learning more - there is a first hand account here: http://blog.freshnetworks.c...

Thanks again - Jim - look forward to reading more articles from you!

- Sam

twitter: @samueljsmith

Re: Capture Show Twitter Activity With A Tweetback

samueljsmith — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:45:35 -0000

I think that this is a great idea! One of the great benefits of twitter is the ability to go back and "reread" the comments. Creating an archive of the comments in a Tweetbook or in another format gives you another opportunity to brand your conference and share the "insights" that were captured on twitter with others.

The #Eventprofs Twitter chats use a free tool called wthashtag to archive the Twitter chats: (http://wthashtag.com/Eventp.... This system publish the archives in a chronological order - saving you a lot of data preparation and cleansing time.

Thanks for sharing the idea of the Twitter Book!

- Sam

Twitter: @samueljsmith
Blog: http://interactivemtgtech.w...

Re: Productivity Tools for 2010: What’s Coming Next?

samueljsmith — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:14:35 -0000

Hi Jim -

Thank you for taking the time to research these technology innovations and write this article.

Though, I do want to take you to task.

The title of the article is "Productivity tools for 2010". In my mind, this list is your professional recommendation of 5-6 tools that planners need to consider adding to their tool kit for 2010. If that is the case, I don't feel like you did a very good job of developing the benefits of these tools to the planner.

Here are some benefit questions that I felt could have been answered:
How does Raindrop make a planner's job easier?
How will Google Wave improve collaboration with my team, suppliers and/or clients?
Android - while it is new - is this tool a better pick for planners in 2010 over the iphone?
How much time will I save with Microsoft 7 vs my present OS?
Is Google Chrome compatible with my client's Microsoft products? or will I have to convert them?

Jim, from my experience, most planners are timid and reluctant to try new things when it comes to technology. I think that it is incumbent upon all of the event technology advocates to make sure that we are concentrating on the benefits first - and the "shiny object" coolness second.

- Sam Smith
twitter: @samueljsmith
blog: http://interactivemtgtech.w...

Re: Will Telepresence Change the Meetings Industry?

samueljsmith — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 16:09:44 -0000

Hi Kena,

When I think of Telepresence, I think of this video by CISCO, where they had the speaker walk on stage from 14K miles away. http://www.youtube.com/watc...

Having said that I can see how the CISCO and SONY technologies would be a huge benefit to corporate meetings that are between 10 and 60 people in size. Rather than flying this people around Europe or the US for a 1/2 day meeting, they can all just go to their local Mariott or Starwood without having to travel. You would still get to see a life sized person, read non-verbal cues, etc. So, I think it would really work for these smaller meetings.

Re: Will Kodak Survive the “Winds of Change?”

samueljsmith — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 06:12:32 -0000

Wow - I am amazed that 1/2 of their top Rev products didn't exist 2 years ago. Very impressive. Also, I liked that video! thanks for sharing.

Re: 10 Stress Free Tools to Broadcast Your Event

samueljsmith — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 15:35:20 -0000

Julius - this is a great list! Webcasts have the power to help conferences and events reach out and connect with a much larger audience. On behalf of everyone reading, thanks for looking on page 15 of the google results!

- Sam
@samueljsmith