I do.

In a followup to my last post (Real World Likes – The Next Big Thing in Social Media in Events), I want to show you two fresh examples that will help you open your mind to new possibilities for social media at your events.

New York City Marathon 2010

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnrzClsOlyU&feature=player_embedded]

See how Asics used videos and location based tracking to help family and friends at home cheer on their marathoners. This is really cool stuff. Fans record videos and leave messages for runners. Then as the runners go past a checkpoint, the videos and messages play on large screens. 

EpicMix Ski Application

[vodpod id=ExternalVideo.993748&w=425&h=350&fv=]

See how Colorado skiers track and share their ski experiences with their friends and social media buddies. This is the skiers version of Nike Plus (watch video). It provides gaming elements, badges, community engagement, performance reporting and social sharing.

Lessons for Social Media in Events

1. Look at how these digital experiences compliment the IRL (In-real-life) experience and enhance it.
2. Look at how mobile, social media, RFID and communities are all working together to create remarkable digital experiences rather than as individual components.
3. Look at how the gaming elements or leaderboard and rewards are included (especially in EpicMix).

The Bottom Line

Hopefully, this post gets you thinking beyond Facebook and Twitter for using social media in your events. As you saw in the videos here and in the previous post, there are a number of ways that technology can be integrated to create remarkable digital experiences.

Have you seen anything like this? What else would you add?

The post Social Media in Events: Beyond Facebook & Twitter appeared first on Interactive Meeting Technology.

I have to pull out my phone, take a picture, enter a short message and upload it. I miss valuable networking time at your event – plus my iphone will probably autocorrect what I type into some gibberish.

In my opinion, the greatest challenge to spreading the use of social media at events is getting people to express themselves digitally without having to use a laptop or handheld device.

What would happen if you could give people a simple way to “like” something in the real world without having to use a laptop or mobile device?

Here are three videos of how events are using RFID and Social Media to allow attendees to express themselves digitally.

Coca-Cola and the Like Machine

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqwDqN7LNsc]

Liking Renault at the NLRAI Autoshow

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfwKJ97T9C0&feature=player_embedded]

Rock Concert in Belgium

[vimeo http://vimeo.com/22432033]

Why is this the next big thing?

There are four reasons why I think this technology will be the next big thing for social media in events.

(1) Ease of Use for Attendees – It is so simple to swipe a wristband or badge against a touchpoint that automatically updates your status. You take the technology complexity out of the experience.

(2) Awareness – If your brand or event is new and lacking widspread awareness, this is the perfect way to tap into the Digital word of mouth power of social media.

(3) Data – You get data about what people like at your event.  Plus, you can collect data on what was shared with others and clicked on. When you combine this data with other landing page, registration for newsletters, etc. data to see how it contributed to driving people into your marketing funnel.

(4) Widespread application – This technology will work for the galas, weddings, conferences, tradeshows, national sales meetings, association conferences, parties, etc.

Bottom Line

In my opinion, allowing people to express themselves digitally without the need for a device is the next evolution in the integration of social media in events.

Now you know where I stand. What do you think?  What’s the next big thing for social media in events – if this isn’t it?

The post Real World Likes – the Next Big Thing for Social Media in Events appeared first on Interactive Meeting Technology.