In the first inning of this series I reviewed some of the benefits and advantages of the backchannel. However carefully you plan an event organizer, provided some details and incidents beyond their control. By their nature, formation and evolution of a backchannel beyond the control of the organization: nothing can be done about it. So, once recognized its usefulness, it can be facilitated its establishment and to direct its use. This post was provided 10 tips to organize an event involving the audience in a conversation like never before had, culled some of Cliff Atkinson’s book “The backchannel: How Audiences are Using Twitter and Social Media Presentations and Changing Forever” .
1. Create a Twitter account for the event, which is the official source of any information on it. Advertise your account and encourages participants to follow. Twitter is a great tool to promote the event, reporting on developments in the days before, post breaking news during the event and advertise resources and materials upon completion
2. Offers discounts, rewards and special benefits to followers of the event on Twitter. Motivates people to follow you and retuitee your tweets. Pending your words.
3. Create a hashtag for the event. The hashtag to identify a backchannel and is crucial to its formation. It consists of a # character followed by an identifier created by you, such as # ABC. It uses a combination of letters as short as possible: remember to be included in each tweet and you must leave room for content. Should be unique and representative. In events with multiple sessions (or tracks) in parallel to create a hashtag considered for each, derived from general hashtag, for example # ABCsocial for a meeting of the ABC event that involved “social media”.
4. Spread the official hashtag through all your channels of communication: website, blog, newsletters, advertising via web or paper, marketing materials, online communities. No one who attends will be ignored. To be sure, include it in the program, the welcome pack on posters, in ID cards, etc. It encourages the audience to use all the content they create, within and outside the backchannel. Subsequently facilitate the retrieval of information on the event from all sources.
5. Prepare the room for the backchannel. People will come with their laptops and mobile phones. Do not assume that everyone will have 3G internet connection. You might even the cover is bad. Provides quality WiFi access. Moreover, if the event is to be continued for several hours a day, looking for ways to provide outlets scattered around the room to recharge batteries in portable and mobile. Today, the WiFi is like the hot water is taken for granted.
6. Hire a reporter. More and more people follow events through Twitter. Attendees who spontaneously Tuite on the talk provided a live stream of information, but uncoordinated and very personal. If you do not want anything that you think is important is overlooked, hires a twitterreportero. It can be a professional journalist or someone with a critical view on the subject and quick reflexes, whose mission will be the most relevant information Tuite of the talks and the most important news event. Explain to the audience that there is a twitterreportero.
7. The moderator of each session should follow the backchannel on your own computer or telephone. This will be aware of the conversation that is taking place during the talk. This information provides an advantage if you must react to any negative behavior or discomfort of the audience.
8. You can display the contents of backchannel on a large screen for the entire room. In this connection I have reservations, since it could become a distraction for the audience and even the speaker. I advocate that everyone follows it on your mobile device if they wish. However, according to Olivia Mitchell there are occasions where it is highly recommended: when using tools based on Twitter vote after having questioned the public, when you open a question and are also accepted via Twitter, from within or outside the room , when a speaker wishes to receive responses to questions or requests made to their Twitter followers. Weigh in what circumstances is it useful and constructive backchannel show all fans. Yes it is highly recommended show between sessions, or on monitors scattered around the premises, outside the courtroom. When you opt for show, you can use any of these tools of submission.
9. If the information is confidential, consider using a private backchannel. Not everything that happens in a conference room is for all eyes. If you believe in the virtues of backchannel, but do not want to open Twitter, consider using alternative tools, such as private chat rooms. In a future entry will review alternatives to Twitter for Building backchannels.
10. After the event, learn from Twitter. Check all tweets that have been published before, during and after the event. They will find valuable information: the view from the audience about the organization, on the quality of the speakers and the interests of their talks, on the desirability of the premises and facilities, etc. Sometimes you will be more revealing than a simple survey of quality. You can include a selection of the best tweets in the materials submitted after the event. Looking for continuous improvement.
