Saturday, January 30th, 2010
According to Wikipedia, Crowdsourcing is:
…the act of taking tasks traditionally performed by an employee or contractor, and outsourcing them to a group of people or community, through an “open call” to a large group of people (a crowd) asking for contributions.”
In the world of web 2.0 this has totally revolutionized the way businesses drive solutions for their customers. After all, it’s ignorant to believe that we know everything there is to know about our customer’s needs, wants, thoughts and desires. The power of the crowd can unlock the key to truly valuable business ideas and offerings. One of the most famous examples of a corporation using crowdsourcing is Starbuck’s MyStarbucksIdea – where customers answer the question: What do you want to see from Starbucks?. The result is a dynamic list of ideas, suggestions, needs and issues for Starbucks and a list of ideas in action for customers. I love a good win/win!
Tapping into the collective intelligence of the crowd can also convert attendees into advocates. When an attendee feels as if they contributed to a detail of an event, even if small, they’re likely to want to tell everyone they know (oh, and they’re also much more likely to enjoy the event). So what are you waiting for?
10 crowdsourcing ideas for Event Planners
The key is to think up ideas that will help you achieve your event objectives. But hopefully these are some good thought starters…
- Have attendees submit their favorite recipes before the event & let chefs recreate the top rated ideas
- Ask them to tell you their biggest business issues and build conference education around them
- Get your attendees to share their favorite sources for inspiration (i.e. blogs, publications, twitter users) and give these people media passes, exclusives and VIP treatment at your event
- Create a contest for the best event theme ideas
- Ask attendees to share their favorite experiences/photos from your event and have the crowd determine the best one(s)
- Have attendees vote on what the event organizers should wear at the conference <– as done by Event Camp 2010
- Get your attendees to vote for another audience member to make an appearance during an event showcase like a fashion show
- Have them suggest and vote on a meaningful charitable partner for your event
- Have a call for speakers or entertainers and ask applicants to submit a 2-5 minute video on what they’ll be presenting. Have attendees vote on what they’d like to see.
- After the event, have them submit ideas on how you can build a better experience for them next time
What ideas would you add?
Keys to ensure crowdsourcing success
- Identify what you’re trying to achieve before implementing crowdsourcing. Any tactic you employ should meet your larger strategic objectives.
- Be clear with what you’re looking for the crowd to weigh in on. If you’re too vague or if you’re unclear you’ll either lose the crowd or have feedback that’s too broad to meet your objectives.
- Support your campaign. Awareness of a crowdsourcing campaign is critical. If no one participates, there’s no crowd to source. Include on your website, in your emails, promote via social networking sites, etc.
- Be prepared to implement ideas. The worst thing you can do is ask people for suggestions then ignore them.
4 crowdsourcing tools
Crowdsound.com (free)
Twtpoll.com (free)
Twitter.com (free)
Chaordix.com (paid)
Helping smart businesses attract more customers
(289) 937.0141 . hello@ready2spark.com
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A great list. I have meeting planners say all the time they are trying to "raise the bar" and create a better conference every year. How do you exceed expectations every time? One conference i speak at annually the planner always creates a unique experience. Her philosophy? Instead of trying to be better just endeavor to be different. Crowd sourcing is a great way to do this. It's alot easier to exceed expectations if you engage people in the conversation.
@Jody - Great comments! I'm always perplexed by industry conferences who have the same speakers on rotation as their competitors. If you limit uniqueness for your attendees, they'll rely on price, accessibility and convenience to make their decisions. Involve them strategically in the process, tap into their pain points, deliver an experience that solves a problem and you have an impassioned attendee.
This is great, Marc! To build crowdsourcing on top of this idea, have the community suggest a meetup location, suggest a signature cocktail recipe or vote on what color to wear to the event.
I have to say that the value of a tweetup for community members is fantastic. There's nothing more funny than watching a bunch of people stare at eachothers' chests (where the name tags reside) trying to put a Twitter handle to a face :)
For conferences/seminars, especially those focused on social media, have a simple teaser open event (like a tweetup) before the main event.
Build social capital for your event/company and maybe even secure some more last minute (paid) attendees.
Crowdsourcing ideas 4 #eventprofs - hint, #ec10 did one: http://www.ready2spark.com/2010/01/10-cr...
RT @ready2spark: Crowdsourcing ideas 4 #eventprofs - hint, #ec10 did one: http://www.ready2spark.com/2010/01/10-cr...
Crowdsourcing ideas 4 #eventprofs - hint, #ec10 did one: http://www.ready2spark.com/2010/01/10-cr...
RT @ready2spark: Crowdsourcing ideas 4 #eventprofs - hint, #ec10 did one: http://www.ready2spark.com/2010/01/10-cr...
This is great, Marc! To build crowdsourcing on top of this idea, have the community suggest a meetup location, suggest a signature cocktail recipe or vote on what color to wear to the event.
I have to say that the value of a tweetup for community members is fantastic. There's nothing more funny than watching a bunch of people stare at eachothers' chests (where the name tags reside) trying to put a Twitter handle to a face :)
For conferences/seminars, especially those focused on social media, have a simple teaser open event (like a tweetup) before the main event.
Build social capital for your event/company and maybe even secure some more last minute (paid) attendees.
[New Post] 10 creative crowdsourcing ideas . for event planners - http://www.ready2spark.com/2010/01/10-cr... #eventprofs
RT @ready2spark: [New Post] 10 creative crowdsourcing ideas . for event planners - http://www.ready2spark.com/2010/01/10-cr... #eventprofs
RT @ready2spark: [New Post] 10 creative crowdsourcing ideas . for event planners - http://www.ready2spark.com/2010/01/10-cr... #eventprofs
[New Post] 10 creative crowdsourcing ideas . for event planners - http://www.ready2spark.com/2010/01/10-cr... #eventprofs
RT @ready2spark: [New Post] 10 creative crowdsourcing ideas . for event planners - http://www.ready2spark.com/2010/01/10-cr... #eventprofs
RT @ready2spark: [New Post] 10 creative crowdsourcing ideas . for event planners - http://www.ready2spark.com/2010/01/10-cr... #eventprofs
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