Longevity of Events

One particular question that I have been considering relates to a past post I did about "Newism" and creating "Status Stories."  

In short the central theme is that people want to a) have new experiences and b) pretty much want to rub it in their friends face how awesome this experience was. 

The question I have been pondering that relates to this idea is: 

How do long standing, annual events continue to feel new and keep people coming back to create status stories? 

Take the recent rise of "extreme races" for example (i.e. Spartan Race, Mud Hero, Tough Mudder).  Will we reach a point in which it is no longer exciting to share such an experience and what are these events doing to ensure this won't happen? 

I hope to look into the histories of such events and read up on articles related to them later this week, but if you have happened to stumble across this post feel free to share with me what you feel helps annual events feel fresh and new.

Cheers! 

Another Topic to Introduce

Wanted to bring to light another area that I will be posting about over the coming months.  As I continue to take courses related to Event Coordination to supplement my hands on experience I am certain  I will have a number of posts commenting on the subject matter.

Any and all with related experiences or education are welcome to comment on these posts as I truly feel that with events there is often much up for debate as it is ever evolving with new technologies, ideas and protocols.

I look forward to taking my education out of the classroom and sharing it with anyone who should come across this blog, enjoy :).

#Hashtags

For my first foray into discussing events and technology I want to talk about hashtags.

hash·tag

ˈhaSHtag/

noun

1. (on social media sites such as Twitter) a word or phrase preceded by a hash or pound sign (#) and used to identify messages on a specific topic.

This list may grow and change but here are my DO's of using hashtags: 

DO make sure your hashtag is unique.  It is easy to take a moment to do a quick search to see if the hashtag you want to use is already linked with another event.  Not only does this ensure that when people search your hashtag that they are finding content only related to your event, but is prevents your event being linked with something unfavorable.  See my earlier post here to see some true hashtag disasters.   

DO engage with the people using them. It is important that you take the time to interact with your event attendees, making it clear that the hashtag will be recognized beyond an interaction count will help encourage their use.  A fantastic example of this is using the hashtag to create a live stream of tweets and pictures on event.  Another great idea was utilized by 3M where they had a balloon that filled with air with each tweet using their hashtag, the tweet that caused the balloon to pop won $500. See it here. 

DO make your hashtag make sense and easy to remember.  You don't want your attendees to have to go searching for your hashtag or they won't use it.  Creating a hashtag that has a direct and obvious link with your event will also help non-attendees in identifying what everyone is getting so excited about!

Let me know what some of your hastag DO's (or DON'Ts) are in the comments. 

Technology, Social Media and Events

Yes, that is a very broad title.  Which is why I am simply using this first post to introduce what will likely be a recurring topic to find its way into this blog.  With so many new technologies being brought forward, from the likes of social media and hashtags, to apps the help with guest check in and coordination, it seems there will always be a continues supply of new ways technology is being integrated in events.

As someone who loves efficiency this gets me very excited as there are so many opportunities to increase the effectiveness of how our time is spent.  On the other hand I will also be posting about the potential problems that can arise with not fully thinking through the use of technology or social media, as it really should be done well or not at all.

For one quick example of how things can go horrible wrong with someone as small as a hashtag check out these Hijacked Hashtags Gone Horribly Wrong.

Book Themed Candy Bar

I recently decided, I wanted to start including posts on here about ideas that I find particularly fantastic.

The first idea I would like to share I came across in the Summer 2014 edition of Biz Bash.

It comes from the HBO hosted premier party for Veep at Paramount Studies with the design by Billy Butchkavitz.  While the whole party was creatively put together, highlighting on the various book signings that occur during the show, the idea that I fell in love with was at the candy bar.  The table was set in front of a bookshelf lined with copies of the fake book that was being launched.  Now at this point not sounding so great, but where the idea came to life was the fact that rather then having guests fill a candy bag or box, they were able to fill a hollowed out copy of the book with the themed treats to take with them.

See photos here.