If you’re participating in the twice weekly #eventprofs chats on Twitter, well…kudos to you! The chats have gained incredible momentum (thanks to you) since they started a few months ago – heck, we’ve even been mentioned in The Twitter Book by O’Reilly Media. But more importantly, the hashtag #eventprofs lives beyond the chat and has been used to document conversations and tweets relevant to our industry. Do a search for eventprofs and you’ll find an extensive archive of stories, statistics and news for event professionals, by event professionals.

I was delighted to learn about Robert Swanwick’s interview with MPI’s magazine One+. In it, Robert, who also recently started #spkrchat, talks about how #eventprofs got started and how it brings value to all those who participate.

(excerpt from MPI’s One+ ONSITE magazine from WEC09)

A big thank you to Robert for helping to spread the #eventprofs message!

Are you interested in learning more?
Join the #eventprofs chat – instructions here
Check out our wiki
Become a Facebook fan

Lara McCulloch-Carter
Author of the Special Event blog ready2spark
Director of Marketing – Regal Tent Productions
Past-President – ISES Toronto
. Follow me on Twitter
. Connect with me on LinkedIn
. Become my Peep at EventPeeps
. Befriend me at Events Network

In my life as a brand consultant, I spent many an evening in the back room of a research firm listening to consumers debate which newly redesigned packaging concept stood out more on shelf. In the world of consumer packaged goods, shelf impact is king. Just think, shopping lists are a thing of the past. Instead, shoppers walk down the supermarket aisle making spur of the moment decisions on what products to buy. Standing out in a sea of products can make or break your brand.

In my opinion, Twitter isn’t much different. Think of your viewing platform (i.e. TweetDeck) like a supermarket aisle. Thousands of tweets from the hundreds of people you are following are calling out at you: “Read me!”. “Click on my link!”. “ReTweet me!”. It’s human nature to filter out the noise and try to find a way to identify what’s important. Virtually impossible to read each and every tweet, over time, we learn who pumps out the most value and recognize those people by their profile pictures.

Just like packaging, our profile pictures should have shelf impact. There’s a skill and a strategy to designing the optimal package. Good designers realize that humans are visual beings. Before we read the word Tide, we recognize the shape and colour of the red and yellow bullseye. The same should hold true for our Twitter profile pictures. This leads me to my latest development…

My Twitter profile is a visual link to my blog…which uses the same picture as my Facebook profile, LinkedIn profile, EventPeeps profile…well, you get the picture (ha, ha). The problem is that my black and white photo no longer has ‘shelf impact’. In fact, it gets lost in the crowd.

Under the Direct Messages column you’ll see 4 different profile options. The bottom picture was my original profile.

So my challenge was: How do I retain the picture that everyone uses to identify my brand while gaining more shelf impact. My answer was to develop 3 new options that focus on colors relevant to my ready2spark brand and shape.

So my question to you is:

I’ve just come back to my desk after handing out cigars. You see, Event Solutions Magazine just posted their Top 10 Blogs for Event Design Inspiration. A deliciously decadent list of great blogs – many of which I subscribe to…a few more that I plan on following. Little ‘ol ready2spark is honored to be a part of this esteemed round up. A big thank you to Rachel Globus and the rest of the Event Solutions team for thinking of us!

Lara McCulloch-Carter
Author of the Special Event blog ready2spark
Director of Marketing – Regal Tent Productions
President – ISES Toronto
. Follow me on Twitter
. Connect with me on LinkedIn
. Become my Peep at EventPeeps
. Befriend me at Events Network

…look no further

Poufy pom pom hat by armchairdesign via Etsy.

Lara McCulloch-Carter
Author of the Special Event blog ready2spark
Director of Marketing – Regal Tent Productions
President – ISES Toronto
. Follow me on Twitter
. Connect with me on LinkedIn
. Become my Peep at EventPeeps
. Befriend me at Events Network