For those of you who don’t know our industry’s first unconference, eventcamp 2010, will be hitting New York during Social Media Week on February 6, 2010 from 7:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.

This event is a great example of how to build an event around a community. The organizers of this event are all active #eventprofs and have done a wonderful job engaging with and adding value to the thriving community of event & meeting professionals online.

In fact, a wonderful story has unfolded that highlights just how tight this group has become. @MsStallings wanted desperately to attend eventcamp 2010, but didn’t have the funds to do it on her own. As this blog post states, she humbly asked for some help from #eventprofs and they delivered! 7 people came together to sponsor her trip to New York from Atlanta.

To extend the amazing benefits of being a part of a community, I would like to sponsor one deserving person the cost of registration for the event (a $75 US value). If you’d like to win this opportunity, here’s what you need to do:

How to win a ticket

1. Create a short Youtube video stating why you want to go (in under 2 mins) & BE SURE TO TAG IT WITH EC10. Update: Or make a comment in the comment section below!

2. Deadline is January 26th

3. Most deserving video, as decided by the judges will win!

Call for more sponsors

I would like to encourage any other people who wish to sponsor someone to add to the list of items being sponsored! Let’s see how this unfolds :)

For more info on eventcamp 2010

Community Site

Facebook page

Register

The event hashtag is #EC10

(click on image above to download the free eBook)

For those of us who have been involved in social media for the past few years, we have witnessed a true awakening. 2009 was a year where businesses got serious about tapping into the power of social media for events. We saw an upswing of Facebook fan pages, Twitter walls, unconferences, Tweetups, hashtags and good ‘ol fashion conversations online.

2010 harkens a New Year of continued evolution. A time where business professionals focus on the strategy behind social media and more importantly the cultural shifts that need to happen for it to survive and thrive within the organizations that plan events.

This shift was at the heart of this book. My goal was to facilitate a collaborative eBook with insights from event professionals who have been true practitioners in the art of social media. My challenge to the team was simple: Provide forward-looking insights & guidance on how event planners should evolve their thinking for the future of social media in events.

Experts:

Jessica Levin, CMP – President & Chief Connector, Seven Degrees Communications

Paul Salinger – VP Marketing, Oracle

Michael McCurry, CMP - Strategic Account Manager, Experient

Jeff Hurt – Director of Education & Engagement, Velvet Chainsaw Consulting

Samuel J. Smith – Blogger & Technology Consultant, Interactive Meeting Technology Blog

Ryan Hanson – Creative Producer, Designer & Conversation Starter, BeEvents

Foreword by Lara McCulloch-Carter

I’m delighted with results. Although each expert has brought their own perspectives, threaded throughout the book is the theme of change. I hope that as you read through you get inspired.

We welcome your feedback & encourage you to share your thoughts and opinions on our respective blogs or via Twitter (hashtag #eventprofs).

Here’s to a year of positive change!

(click on the image at the top of the page to download the free eBook – no sign up is required!)

foursquare has been touted as the IT application for 2010. I started playing around with it – more so to stay on top this high-buzz tool than any desire to add another social media site to my arsenal. But it appears that I’ve been hooked. Let me tell you why…

Foursquare is a location-based social networking site – although many have tried to describe it by comparing it to other sites, it defies classification. You see, the idea behind foursquare is that you “check-in” to places (i.e. bars, restaurants, clubs, cafes, etc). In doing so, you can send notifications to your friends and followers with where you are and they can in turn suggest interesting places to see and things to do nearby. It’s a great way to discover new places as well as network with like-minded people in your area. And the benefits for when you’re traveling to unfamiliar cities go without saying. As you “check-in” to various places you win points and unlock badges. You even have the opportunity to earn the designation of Mayor if you frequent a spot more than anyone else. Aha, and here’s the bonus: signing up is as easy as signing in to your Twitter or Facebook account!

What this means for businesses:

Alright, so everything I told you so far sound a dash quirky and a pinch fun. How do businesses use this tool?

Here’s what Tasti D-Lite did…

Here’s a great joint venture between foursquare and Pepsi

Look at this creative @Intel promotion at the CES show

1. Promotions – “Foursquare says you’ve been here 10x. That’s a free drink for you!“. Or how about: ”Foursquare has deemed you the mayor. Enjoy this free order of french fries.”. And how great would it be that as someone “checks in” to their favorite bar they’re notified that there’s a ‘special offer’ just around the corner from where they are. The possibilities for location-relevant promotions are bountiful. Visit the foursquare businesses site to register your business for a venue special. Check out these very cool grass-roots ideas to drive traffic to your venue…

2. Recognize & Reward – How’s this for fantabulous? For those types of businesses who don’t ask for customer information upon payment (which is most), foursquare will tell you how many times someone has checked in to your establishment as well as who has checked in the most. Imagine what this could mean for customer recognition!

Get more information:

• Join the foursquare group on LinkedIn
• Follow foursquare on Twitter
• Join the foursquare fan page on Facebook

Have you ever wondered, “how do I get my avatar to show up next to my WordPress blog comments?”. I mean, wouldn’t it feel good, after investing time to make a comment, for people to recognize who you are? It’s actually really simple.

1. Go to Gravatar.com

2. Click on “Get your Gravitar Today”

3. Input your email address

4. You’ll be sent an email to the address you provided to Gravatar.com with a link. Click the link to activate your account.

5. Click to add an image & select a source for your image.

6. Upload your image and crop it if you like.

7. Once saved, click the image you would like associated with your account.

Et voila! Next time you make a comment your avatar will accompany your feedback.

I’ve been spending a lot of time talking to businesses about their social media plans. Unfortunately I’ve heard statements like: “We’re thinking of using Facebook as our Social Media strategy”. Thus the reason for this post.

There is a lot of confusion over the differences between a social media vision, strategy and tactic.

• Vision – A vision is where you dream of going.
• Strategy – A strategy is large-scale plan of how you’ll get from where you are to where you dream of being.
• Tactics – Tactics are specific actions that detail how to achieve your strategy.

As you can imagine, you need to start with a vision to determine your strategy…and you need to have a strategy to identify your tactics. A social media plan without starting with a vision would be about as successful as a chess game without understanding that the end goal is to checkmate your opponent’s King. Basically you’d invest a lot of time without accomplishing anything and would probably get pretty frustrated in the process.

Oh, so where do sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, blogs, YouTube and the like fit in? They’re tools. And they fall deep within the category of Tactics. They shouldn’t be seriously considered as a part of your social media plan until you understand your objectives, your target, your story, your resources and a plethora of other considerations that are a part of your strategy.

So, take a step back. View the mountain, know where you want to go, how you’re going to get there and what specifically you need to do to achieve your goal.

Between Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and blogs (to name a few), all of us are building friendships and business relationships online. And sometimes there are times when we want to share things with our new contacts…like a thank you for writing something nice about us or a book we just finished reading that we know our contact will enjoy. The problem is that they are someone we’ve met online. And sharing our house address may not be the smartest thing to do.

I’ve been playing around with Google Sidewiki for a few months now. If you’re not familiar with this tool, Google launched it back in September. The idea is that anyone can contribute their thoughts to any website – in essence turning any website into a public forum.