6 Simple Ways to Turn Your Event into a Social Butterfly

If the adage “content is king” still holds true in the world of social media, the most stressful question for most marketers is:

“Where the heck do I get fresh content?”

The answer probably lies right under your nose, or more specifically, in the marketing programs your company is already running. A prime example: workshops, side sessions, and other hosted – but offline – events.

When was the last time some division in your company held an educational seminar for one of your products, or on a hot industry topic? Or perhaps ran a side meeting or panel at a major conference? Or even an employee education session? Probably pretty recently. Perhaps you have one coming up. So, did you make plans to capture it on video? What about saving the audio? How about the slides? There’s your content, just waiting to get social with the wider world.

Here are six simple ways to extend your traditional marketing events into bona-fide social media sensation:

1. Create a lasting video library with a YouTube channel

With high-quality video cameras becoming starting to show up in pockets everywhere, it’s almost hard *not* to capture an event, speaker, or conference session on video. If you have the resources you can spring for professional crew to capture the event, blend in slides and onscreen demos, and mix sound, but even if not you can grab a reasonably cheap HD camera and do it yourself. Then it’s simply a matter of creating a free YouTube channel for your company and off you go. [Example: Talks@Google]

2. Turn it into a live video event with UStream.tv

If you’re already going to capture the event on video, what about taking it live? UStream is a fantastic, and free, tool for live video streaming of events. All you need is someone with a video camera, a laptop, preferably a decent mic or event sound, and good broadband access, and you’re on your way. The instructions from UStream are incredibly simple. You likely won’t be winning an Emmy for outstanding video quality with this setup, but it’s still a useful way to turn a panel with conference-in-the-round seating for 20 into a global webinar with attendance limited only by your own capacity to spread the word. The events can also be recorded for posterity, and exported to your YouTube account to build out your video library (see above). [Examples: Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Social Media Club's of Seattle, with an event at the WTIA meeting, and the Social Media Club of Hawaii, both have nice examples of this.]

3. Launch an event-based podcast mini-series

Got the speakers? Check. Have a topic or theme for your event? Speaker’s have content for their sessions? Absolutely. How about you do some short, 5 minute phone interviews of the speakers in the days or weeks leading up to the conference and release them as a podcast series? You can syndicate these through iTunes, build up interest in advance of the event (or pull in additional Web visitors during and after), and generally provide a rich, engaging podcast series layered on top of your already-planned offline event. All you need is a couple of headsets, Skype, and off you go. [Example: RSA Conference '09]

4. Spread the joy of slides through Slideshare

I mean, who doesn’t love PowerPoint slides? Why not let them live on in perpetuity out across the ‘net, rather than wasting away in some shared folder only you and your 10 coworkers can see? Slideshare is like YouTube for PowerPoint, in effect, and it is perhaps the simplest way of extending your event content and getting a bit social in the process. Once the event is over, post the speakers’ slides to Slideshare and be sure to tag it with your event’s or brand’s name. Watch for comments and embeds, then go comment on those blogs. Just be sure to ask the presenter first, to avoid any uncomfortable breaches of etiquette, copyright, or non-disclosure (apply that to every suggestion on this list). [Example: Chris Pirillo's annual Gnomedex conference in Seattle]

5. Open up the Q&A with a Twitter conference

Beyond the obviously invaluable uses of Twitter such as sharing your breakfast preferences or catching up on Ashton Kuther’s latest doings, it also happens to be a great tool for hosting far-ranging, open-to-all virtual conferences through the magic of #hashtags. Invite those speakers to participate in a Q&A over Twitter, identified by a hashtag (e.g. #youreventname), with all your Twitter followers as the audience. All you need is a moderator – someone who is fluent in using Twitter – the panelists, a suitable hashtag (research ahead of time so you don’t inadvertently hijack one already in use), and an hour or so. [Examples: Smartsheet's #crowdwork, Sarah Evans' #journchat, and Mack Collier's recurring #blogchat]

6. Capture the moment, lots and lots of moments, with Flickr tags

If pocket video cameras are becoming common, cameras long-since passed into ubiquity, with cameras attached to wifi connections catching up fast. Sure you can hire out a pro to capture the formal, brochure-ready stuff, but all you really need is an open “pictures are encouraged” policy and a recommended Flickr tag for everyone to share. This kind of thing has been done for years, so nearly qualifies as an “oldie but goodie” – yet it’s still a great way to encourage your attendees to share their perspective on the event with a much wider audience in a very social manner. Simple, time-tested, and effective. [Example from the home town: SMCSeattle]

This is likely only the tip of the iceberg in terms of great ideas for leveraging (marketing bingo word, 50 points!) your event content as a useful foundation for social media efforts. The point is your content is already being created by partners, sales teams, channel and field marketers, and so on. The event is already coordinated, branded, and promoted in some fashion. The hard part is done. The social tools are there – reasonably simple and for the most part free. All it takes is some creativity, experimentation, and a willingness to try something new.

Remember, Social Mallard can help you craft a plan for practical social media marketing, just drop us a line.

*Photo by mathplourde via Flickr under CC license. Shows video being captured for later sharing online at the University of Delaware.