As you probably are aware Rapid Production Marketing "touches" several Twitter accounts in some way.  In some cases we act as monitors in an oversight role, in other cases we act as the fully 'outsourced' social media. We cross several industries including industrial, manufacturing, automotive, medical and even music.  As a result, we tend to see innovative marketing ideas generated in one market segment successfully that we can then transfer to another segment.  That, after all, is really is the nature of how social media works.

That being said, we've come to realize that far too many trade event and conference management folks not only don't have a social media plan for a given event, they "appoint" someone to be in charge who has had no training, no experience and no idea how to engage with attendees. Worse yet, they have no idea how to 'service' the exhibitors who have put time and money into a social media plan. If you haven't figured it out yet, yes, this is a rant.  ...but with some rather simple recommendations at the end. :-)

What's Trending?

According to Jeff Bullas, in a recent article entitled Apple makes Huge Announcement about Twitter, he's predicting

"Twitter will add one hundred million users in 12 months once the iOS5 hits the streeets!" 

The growth of mobile phone and tablet usage is expanding at stellar rates.  Mobile platforms are being used more and more and especially at trade events to stay on top of 'breaking news' Many of the 'early adopters' are in their 20's. When walking over the skyway in McCormick place with a client we witnessed a young engineer reading the twitter hashtag for the #IMTS show to his boss saying "We've got to go check out this booth!" As the second biggest show in North America the folks at AMT "got it" and what I experienced with our client is how it's supposed to work.

Sad Story #1

At a recent show in Columbus, Ohio, I walked into the show office and asked "Who's monitoring your twitter account? I'm handling the marketing for one of your exhibitors and we've mentioned to you what a great show it is so far several time (it was) but you haven't responded or even RT'd it" The very nice young lady whom I was told was "monitoring twitter" responded, "I have no idea how Twitter works. Someone checked the hashtag when we where setting up for the show on Saturday and said no one was using it, so we figured it's not important" er, ah, well, "It's Tuesday and you've got some of your very biggest exhibitors using it"... "Yea, I guess I should check it when i get some time"  Didn't happen.  

This is not a BAD story.  The show management had at least established a hashtag for the event and the exhibitors and attendees knew to use it to find the people talking about the show in the noise of 170+ million tweets per day.

Sad Story #2

As a general rule I try to avoid naming names. However, in this next case there appears to be no way to explain the problem without some screen shots to delve into the complexity. Several month ago I ended up being on the phone with a trade show management company. I explained to them that they where not checking there Twitter feed and just blasting out a promotional message about the event.  I further explained that after numerous requests for an official hashtag for the upcoming event several exhibitors had taken it upon themselves and mutually agreed to select one and use it moving forward.  "Thought you might want to know about that"

Since this company hosts over 35 trade shows in a given year, and my client had more coming up, it warranted the phone call. I was told

"Well, we don't really think people are using Twitter"  

"Have you signed in recently and checked your mentions?" 

(signs in)

"Oh, OK. I guess they are"

At the next show the exhibitors again selected their own hashtag. This time show management acknowledged it pretty early and even tweeted it a few times.  They seemed to be 'getting it'

Then we arrive at the most recent show. The hashtag was used in ONE tweet and then never used again in future tweets promoting the show as shown at the left. In fact prior and future tweets used different naming conventions from the event organizer!  What you see above is an example of just one of the uses. 

So what happened? Numerous people using a myriad of nomenclature for the event. This event had more tweeting about it than previous shows as Twitter adoption continues to skyrocket. All of those tweets lost in the Twittersphere of 170+ million tweets/day. Exhibitors missing potential prospects. Perhaps just one sale lost. Perhaps that one additional sale would cost justify returning as an exhibitor next year. 

The problem is especially aggravated when the name of your show is longer and can be tweeted about in many ways.  Again, the above is just ONE search. There where 5 different naming conventions that I found being used during the event including the full name of the event using 31 characters! (That's over 1/5 of all the Twitter real estate!)

Recommendations

1. Search for available hashtags. Twitter is global.  I recently suggested a hashtag for some event managment folks who had not established one yet. I explained in my research that certain hashtags where not available, in one case because it was being used for a wind surfing event in Brazil.  So, first and foremost, do a search for several hashtags you think you might want to use for an event
2. Select the shortest hashtag possible. In some cases participants may have established several hashtags for an event. This is the case when you must select ONE of them to be the OFFICIAL one. Using multiple hashtags as the event creator not only confuses the audience but fails to keep the conversation centralized. That is not to say that you shouldn't monitor other hashtags and on occasion remind everyone of the OFFICIAL hashtag.  Keeping it short permits longer messages from the people participating in the twitter conversation.
3. Monitor the Hashtag. Establishing the hashtag is the first step. Make sure you monitor the feed. Search for keywords periodically throughout the event to see if someone is at the event and not in the conversation. Simply put: Insure that everyone knows that there is a hashtag and invite them to join the conversation.
4. Maintain good social decorum. If an exhibitor is talking about a promotion in their booth RETWEET IT. If an attendes mentions something they really liked, RETWEET IT. Thank them, ask them questions. ENGAGE with the folks using the hashtag. If you don't, it's like being a cocktail reception and talking to someone who doesn't even acknowledge that you exist.
5. Alert your industry media. All too often there are niche industry magazines covering your event. Who has media badges? Have you told them what the OFFICIAL hashtag is going to be? They might find a great story that they otherwise would have missed from a attendee or exhibitor tweet.
6. Alert the LOCAL Media. Twitter changes things. Although in the past you may not have have local television of radio coverage, it could be a slow news day today.  Find the local stations and newspaper and mention to the the official hashtag. No matter the event type you may find that a reporter wants to cover a human interest aspect or current industry trends. It could be an email notification or it could be a mention to them about the event via Twitter.
7. Put the hashtag Twitter feed on your website. A rolling feed on the front page alerts people to what's happening even if they don't have Twitter.
8. Post the Hashtag on your website. Front and center. Well, not really, but you get the point that it should be readily seen "above the fold"
9. Put a Twitter icon on your exhibitor list. If you have an exhibitor list on your website, put a Twitter icon (and a Facebook page & a YouTube icon) next to the exhibitors name on the list so attendees can follow your exhibitors. This is a pretty inexpensive way to improve your value proposition to exhibitors.
10. Put a live exhibitor twitter feed on their page on your website. In cases where you have a drill-down exhibitor detail page, add the twitter feed from each exhibitor on their page.  This could actually result in a new revenue stream for your event. You could monetize this!

These recommendations are just the basics. Since this blog is really just about the use of Twitter hashtags I've tried to keep it focused on that subject. However, bear in mind that promoting the hashtag as a tip in Foursquare or posting in Gowalla, Loopt, SCVNG and other LBS services is probably a good idea as well.

I welcome any feedback as well as your insights and suggestions.

ONE FINAL THOUGHT: 

Oh, and I realize this might common knowledge, but it's pretty important to FOLLOW THE EXHIBITORS who are paying for booth space at your show.

.....and and and CREATE A TWITTER LIST of exhibitors so attendees can find whom to follow