LGSA Event Coordinators NetworkFairfax Media, PyrmontMonday 22 March 2010

Using Web 2.0 to Enhance the Event ExperienceRachel ViskiWeb Officer

Fairfax WelcomeJohn Reid, Sales Director, Employment, Fairfax Media

Is there an issue between engaging in print media and online media? John spoke on the fear of the online space, not fear of technology as it has been in the past, but of the trust issues when obtaining online information. Who wrote it? Is it reputable? Who can you trust?

Fairfax found many of their readers enjoyed editorial layout as it was familiar. In saying this, Fairfax has 200+ websites which are well known and accepted. E.g. smh, domain, my career etc. Statistically, the circulation of print media is still strong and the emergence of obtaining information from iPhones or iPads is on the rise. (see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntyXvLnxyXk)

In conclusion, the print vs online debate really doesn't exist. People are hungry for content and will get it either way.

How Social Media is changingthe way we engage on the webMandi Bateson, Digital Planning Director, Daemon Digital

The consumer trend of making purchasing decisions based on visiting a product website has moved onto consumers searching blogs and discussion boards for what they believe is truthful content. Research shows we trust what others are reading.

The way we engage on the web had also changed with what seems like an eternity of social networking sites. As of today in Australia, 79.1% of online users watch video and YouTube is rated second after Google as a search engine.

Australia has been dubbed the title of the social networking capital of the world, as 20% of our time is spent online.

Our habits of searching online have also changed. Instead of using one or two words, we are typing in "what type of accommodation is there in...?" check out autocompleteme.com for unusual phrases the google text predictor displays.

Social media means embracing the good with the bad. e.g. Nestle and palm oil debacle on facebook http://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=110386615639942&id=24287259392

A View from MosmanBernard de Broglio, Internet Coordinator, Mosman Council

Mosman Council emphasise events on their home page, mostly because through research these pages are the most searched for- after ‘jobs’ and ‘business papers’.

Before Bernard publishes content on the web he searches for other websites which get traffic with the same keywords and feed their content into them. By utilising other websites Mosman casts a wider net to their audience.

Bernard begged us not to get discouraged if our IT departments do not have the resources to support us! Social Media can be obtained by anyone, but taking small steps to educate others on this cultural shift is necessary.

The important thing to realise is that’s it’s about community engagement, not technology. Mosman’s Community Engagement Strategy includes their website in their methodology.

10 things event management taught me about social mediaJye Smith, Head of Social Media, Switched On Media

Jye shared 10 areas of how we can make social media measurable:

1. know success: what are the business outcomes?

2. listen: it’s about people, not technology

3. invest in community: relationships take time, invest in brand advocates

4. plan everything: are you prepared for negative feedback?

5. promote your social: what medium best suits your audience?

6. keep talking: develop pre event and post event strategies

7. twitter: start early but don’t spam

8. capture content: events generate social media content

9. integrate social: make it a standard part of what you do; educate

10. fail fast, learn fast: use adaptable but dynamic skills

ConclusionPossibilities for Web 2.0 within Wagga Wagga City Council

Slideshare- upload and share powerpoint presentations online, them stream to our website www.slideshare.net

bit.ly- track links on your websites, who is visiting, how many times, and where from?www.bit.ly

You Tube- upload video and share on our website, streams from their server, not WWCCwww.youtube.com

Yahoo Pipes- a powerful composition tool to aggregate, manipulate, and mashup content from around the webwww.pipes.yahoo.com/pipes

Google calendar- organise schedules within events and sharewww.google.com/calendar

Google docs – good for invitations/rsvp/mailing lists and sharing files other than in emailshttp://docs.google.com/#

ConclusionPossibilities for Web 2.0 within Wagga Wagga City Council

The ideas generated from this one day conference can be used to compliment other well known social media platforms such as social networking sites, blogs, wiki’s, etc. and are available now for projects within Council.

To get maximum benefit from web 2.0, each aspect must be managed and administered appropriately. As with all projects, a thorough strategy with clear business outcomes should be established. Just because web 2.0 is instantaneous, doesn’t mean you can just ‘chuck’ a Facebook page into cyberspace and watch it do the work for you.

I can see a two apparent needs arising from this cultural shift: 1) how do we educate council employees in how to best use web 2.0 uniformly?2) what’s the most efficient way to capture web 2.0 for records management?

I look forward to working towards establishing answers to these needs. Thank you!