5 ways to promote events you don’t know

Photo by luc legay

Many people lately have been asking me to promote their events on social networks. My response to most of them is this post.

Social Media and social networks now offer great potential to cut costs on event promotions. Social media and social networks are just buzzwords to gain your attention.

Well now that I do have your attention I’ll tell you how to do it.
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Smirnoff targeting Meetups

Photo by: Cristiano Betta

Smart brands are tackling Meetups to get targeted audience and generate buzz.

I already talked about using Meetups to target your audience and create relevant experiences. Last night Smirnoff provided me a case study and possibly a good review.

The London Bloggers Meetup is one of the most vibrant Meetups of the city. Andy Bargery manages it in an exceptional way.

A great mix of professionals, creative people and hobbyists gather monthly to exchange opinions about their passion.

Several brands have taken advantage of such great mix in the last months, to name a few Berocca and Stella Artois.

Last night Smirnoff displayed a great way to engage on a very personal level.

Apart from free drinks , which are obviously more than welcome, they introduced cocktail classes. The bartender customized the drink according to your blog and your persona.

The location was amazing and the PR agency did extremely well.

Smirnoff was very gentle and did not push the night or show a “do this/do that attitude”. The atmosphere and level of engagement raised to the roof.

Some bullet points for you to enjoy:

- Engage on a personal level
- Free drinks are cool but make me learn something
- Spoil me as an intelligent person and according to who I am
- Be gentle, don’t push the night
- Use Meetups to target opinion leaders, organizers are eager to get sponsors.

Vote: 8,5

Harvest Twestival, definitely impressed

Harvest Twestival was held on the 25th of September for the joy of 220 Twitter people. Here is a short review of the event.

Planning

You could definitely tell that the event was mostly planned via Twitter. I remember logging in on the official website 10 days before the event and there was only two sponsors there. As the event came closer and the community started to be interested, at least 6 more sponsors jumped on board. Impressive.

People

My question before the event was how do you actually make sure that there is a good mix of people attending the event? Will there be 14yrs old kids mixed with Social Media experts in their 50s?

This was the single aspect that impressed me the most. The mix was perfect, I could run into good business contacts, as well as in friends or funny people. The twitter community did definitely defined itself at the event as very energetic, full of great ideas and very sociable. Remarkable.

Location & Logistics

Location was the Doon, a trendy Trafalgar square club. @amandita managed everything smoothly. Free drinks were poured efficiently (maybe too efficiently in my case) and the premises served the purpose. Although some peeps were complaining about the music being to loud, there were areas in the back dedicated to talking with no noise whatsoever.

I think that the logistics really reflected the twitter environment. The “everyone section” where noise is obviously there, but also the “you and your friends” area where things are calmer and deeper talks take place. I suggest this formula for those willing to organize one. Successful.

Treats

Another plus was definitely the raffle (with money donated to charity) and really relevant prizes. Moo was on board and that is very cool if you like to be social. Yummy.

What I did not like

Nothing much, but obviously integrating twitter on a screen with live twits was a must and possibly we’ll see that at next editions. Details count.

Vote:8

P.S. If you don’t use twitter and do not have a clue of what I am talking about, start using it right now, improve your business and internet relationships and feel free to follow me.

Other reviews of the event (thanks Pudding relation for the list):

Pudding Relations
TechCrunch UK
Current TV
Diffusion PR
Huddle
Londonist
Sizemore
Benjamin Ellis
Social PRobiotic
One Size Fits One
Jazamatazz
Richard
This Is Now
Fake Plastic Noodles
The A to E
Toodlepip
Girl About Web

MikonMixers… great idea

Mark just got me in the world of Mikons, a great way to communicate, but most of all a tremendous networking ice-breaker.

When you are networking reaching out to people at events it is always difficult to skim your targets. Most of us do that with appearances but possibly there is no worst method. There is a clear need to identify who is in front of you, at least in a simple way. If I am vegetarian, I want no meat lovers in my network, at least not for the night. Event professionals can definitely help in making things easier.

Introducing Mikons

“It’s an idea in the form of a picture” they say at their website. Nice. I want to know more.

How can you use Mikons to tell your story?

- Create or use a Mikon for your club
- Create or use a Mikon for your clan or guild
- your hobbies: biking, scrapbooking, book clubs, drinking, chess, reading, movies
- your beliefs: religion, political affiliation, gender identification,
- an experience or aspect of your personal story,cancer survivor, entrepreneur,
- a concept you want to share
- your preferences: paper or plastic? coffee or tea? vinyl or digital?

How can I use Mikons in my event?

During event registration, attendees get a custom sheet of iconic stickers that relate to the theme of the event and their personality traits. Event planners can create custom sheets for any type of event and personality traits or professional skills they wish to expose between attendees.

Planning my next networking event it’s definitely easier.

Link to MikonMixers

Make sure everyone can make it with GatherGrid

Setting the time for an event can be a bit of an hassle. Coordinating the needs of everyone involved is a tedious job and there are not many tools to help.

Gathergrid helps in polling the best time in an elegant fashion.

How does it work?

Needless to say that once you have found out your time amiando would be the best method to host your event.

Have a look and tell me what you think!

Link to Gathergrid