Spreading the Word

Do you have an upcoming event or seminar planned and you need to get the word out? It can be a challenge to get the news of your event in front of folks who might be interested in attending. This is especially true if your budget is limited! So, what are some options for garnering attention?

1.      Good old-fashioned press releases can still be very effective – if the media happens to pick yours up. Some newspapers do have event calendars and will include your event there. Note that some papers will only publish free events at no charge; expect to pay if you want your fee-based event included.

2.      Online PRs geared toward SEO are also an option—though these generally have a price attached to them based on the topic and distribution.

3.      Add the seminar to your Events page on Facebook and post about it (free). Ask fans to tell their friends. If you have the budget, run ads in Facebook targeted at the demographic you are trying to reach.

4.      Include your event on your website with the appropriate keywords and make it easy to register. Then include a link to the page in your e-newsletter in a short article with details about the session.

5.      Find a group whose members would have interest in the topic and ask them to promote it to their members. (LinkedIn is a good place to search for groups.) Optionally, partner with someone else whose interests are similar.

6.       Add the event to meetup.com.

We know how hard it can be to get news of your event in front of the right people, but keep trying! You may have to test several channels to find what works best for you. If you have found a great solution, we'd love to hear from you. Good luck!

Session Formats + Audience Involvement

When you attend or plan an event, you must consider the presentation format for each session. The overall size of the event, number of concurrent sessions, topics to be covered and location space must all be considered. The most common presentation settings are:

Auditorium: Generally a larger room with chairs facing a stage or podium from which the speaker delivers the presentation. Room size can vary but may include hundreds in the audience.

Classroom: Typically a smaller room with tables. Chairs face a white board or screen for presentation. Hands-on computer or training sessions favor this set-up. Room capacities are usually smaller (up to a few dozen people).

Roundtable: Most roundtables are very limited in size (fewer than 20 attendees). A conference style table with chairs surrounding it is common, though not required. Roundtables are usually highly interactive.

Panel: Panel discussions typically are held in auditorium-style settings, with at least two panelists (experts) who will answer questions and offer opinions during the session. This is an interactive format, but tends to be more structured (Q & A) than a roundtable.

Virtual or Web-based: Virtual sessions have become commonplace as companies try to curtail travel expenses. These can be done through a phone conference, webinar (using web conferencing software like Webex), or using the newer and highly functional virtual trade show software packages (for example, ON24) that have concurrent sessions in different virtual auditoriums, chat rooms, trade show “booths,” etc.

In our experience, the most effective seminars or presentations involve the audience to some degree. How you encourage participation is often dictated by the presentation setting. In an auditorium setting with 200 attendees, asking for and receiving input has traditionally been done by asking participants to hold questions until the end of the session and then having a moderator carry a microphone from person to person so they may ask their questions of the presenter. A current popular option is to ask participants to send (or “tweet”) questions via Twitter using a pre-defined hashtag. In a virtual setting with a large number of attendees, online chat or tweets are also common. The best option for true interaction is still the roundtable. This format encourages back-and-forth discussion that is not as easily accomplished in other settings or using Twitter.

Most event agendas will specify the type of setting for each session. This gives attendees a good idea of what to expect. If you are planning an event, in addition to the factors mentioned above, consider also the style of your speaker and audience expectations. To learn more about our professional speakers, please visit The Expert Speakers website.

Social Sharing During an Event

Beginning a couple of years ago, I began seeing conference attendees using their laptops and smart phones during sessions. I figured they were just checking e-mail, but many of these folks were out on social sites like Twitter and Facebook posting real-time comments about the session itself. The first time I saw this happen, my initial thought was that it was really rude. But then I began to think about the implications. How can a speaker, moderator or host utilize this information?

This practice of sharing during an event has become commonplace. Many conferences and virtual events now provide instructions on how attendees can provide feedback or ask questions during a session. A common example is asking attendees to submit questions for the speaker using Twitter and a pre-defined hashtag. This does require that the speaker have a moderator who can monitor the real time feed and ask the questions. The moderator can also monitor the feed for comments and help direct the speaker if necessary. For example, if someone posts, “audio stinks-can’t hear this guy,” the moderator can intervene and address the problem right then.

We’d love to know what you think! Post your comments and let us know!