10North

Speakers: Lance Fensterman, Vice President, Reed Exhibitions; Eric Wahl, Group Marketing Director, Advanstar Communications; Margaret Core, Director, Sales and Marketing, Conventions and Conferences, Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO)

The Skinny: Three organizers who have been there and done that took attendees through their social networking strategies at their shows, explaining what worked, what didn’t and why.

After 28 years in New York, the Licensing International Expo (LE) convened for the first time in Las Vegas in June 2009, with 16,000 attendees and more than 400 exhibitors. To attract attention and as many attendees as possible to the show in its new location, organizers looked to social media, kicking off a promotional campaign with an iPod giveaway via Twitter, and encouraging the use of Twitter among attendees and exhibitors at every stage of the event.

To start building buzz for LE, Advanstar Communications, which produces the event, announced it would hold a drawing to give away 50 iPod Touches. The giveaway started 10 weeks prior to the show and LE awarded an iPod each weekday up until the show. Each of the show’s new followers on Twitter and Facebook was entered into the drawing, which was only publicized through the two social networks.

“We engineered the giveaway to create critical mass on Twitter and Facebook as quickly as possible,” says Eric Wahl, Group Marketing Director at Advanstar Communications. “It was designed to reach the people who follow us and their networks; everyone who referred to us or followed us was entered in the giveaway. It allowed us to build a really large list of potential attendees without purchasing a list.”

A Web site used to be an extra — one more way for attendees and exhibitors to locate basic information about your show. Today it’s an essential and original element in the marketing mix. It offers attendees and exhibitors a way to communicate and engage.

Article from an interview I did for Expo Magazine. Lee Anne, Donna and Kara from Expo Magazine are doing a great job at highlighting new ways for event marketeers to leverage technology and new media.

Never really thought I had an accent until I saw this.