Midwest Meetings took five with Dave Serino, Founder of the Social Media Tourism Symposium, at the Explore Minnesota Tourism Conference to discuss social media engagement, strategy, and more.
photos courtesy Brandon Williams Midwest Meetings took five with Dave Serino, Founder of the Social Media Tourism Symposium, at the Explore Minnesota Tourism Conference to discuss social media engagement, strategy, and more.  Dave Serino, SoMeT Founder Here at Midwest Meetings, we’ve been hearing all about how anybody who’s anybody in tourism should be at SoMeT - that is, the Social Media Tourism Symposium, which took place in Tunica, MS in November.
What’s SoMeT? Just another conference about social media marketing in the tourism industry? Not even close - it’s way cooler than that. For starters, SoMeT is an actual product of social media marketing in the tourism industry. In fact, the whole thing is practically planned on Facebook. Once we got a grasp of just how all-encompassing this event experience is for tourism, hospitality, and destination marketing professionals in the social media space, we started wondering… from a planning and logistics perspective, how on earth do they pull this thing off? So we got founder Dave Serino on the phone to tell us all about the vision, process, and community behind SoMeT, and why this is probably the conference model of the future.  Here at Midwest Meetings, we're always on the lookout for new columns, blogs, product/service reviews, and other content produced by and about meeting/event professionals.
As an active member of the online meetings community, your voice helps to influence the industry dialogue, and that's why I'm inviting you to consider Midwest Meetings as an additional outlet for your thoughts and opinions about the events world. Do you have re-printable articles or current commentary, top-ten lists or tips and tricks, war stories or lessons learned, firsthand how-to's or personal reviews, photos or videos, or any other ideas or input you'd like to see online at MidwestMeetings.com or in print through Midwest Meetings magazine? by Heidi Fendos  Allison Potter, SMERF Sales/Marketing Manager If you’re looking for a way to educate your site selection committee or potential convention attendees about an upcoming meeting destination, you might consider beginning with a visit to a few popular social media websites. In a growing trend, many CVBs across the Midwest are utilizing more online resources for teaching groups about the exciting things to see and do in their cities.
According to Allison Potter, SMERF sales and marketing manager for the Dublin, OH CVB, “We utilize social media daily to interact with consumers and provide the latest information about our city as a meeting destination. Using sites like YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and Flickr helps us to reach the meetings market with new arms and lead them to the Dublin CVB’s main website to discover more. The bureau’s blog also provides an ‘insider’s look’ to the different attractions, restaurants, and events attendees can enjoy. These social media sites tell stories about our meeting destination that wouldn’t necessarily be told on our bureau’s main site.” Brent Foerster, vice president of sales and marketing for VISIT Milwaukee, agrees with Potter. “Two years ago, when we set up our strategic plan for how to utilize social media, we really focused on the leisure side of our market. However, we quickly realized that our social media outlets could also be a great way to educate potential convention attendees who are unfamiliar with Milwaukee about what there is to see and do. Social media helps us to bring this message to them in a timely and creative way.” by Heidi Fendos  If you’re looking for a way to educate your site selection committee or potential convention attendees about an upcoming meeting destination, you might consider beginning with a visit to a few popular social media websites. In a growing trend, many CVBs across the Midwest are utilizing more online resources for teaching groups about the exciting things to see and do in their cities.
According to Allison Potter, SMERF sales and marketing manager for the Dublin, OH CVB, “We utilize social media daily to interact with consumers and provide the latest information about our city as a meeting destination. Using sites like YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and Flickr helps us to reach the meetings market with new arms and lead them to the Dublin CVB’s main website to discover more. The bureau’s blog also provides an ‘insider’s look’ to the different attractions, restaurants, and events attendees can enjoy. These social media sites tell stories about our meeting destination that wouldn’t necessarily be told on our bureau’s main site.” by Lara McCulloch-Carter  Planners are being challenged to work faster, harder, and more efficiently. The past few years have seen a cumulative number of tools created to help us accomplish more. I take great delight when I find a tool that helps my clients and me, so I thought I’d share some of my favorites to make your job easier.
Engagement
 ** In some cases, social media has been shown to increase a sense of community among meeting and event attendees. However, you should know your group before implementing social media strategies. Do your attendees already network online, or are they technophobes who are not likely to participate?
** Despite the growing popularity of the internet and email communications, don’t rely on these methods to get out the word about your meeting or event. Direct mail is still one of the most effective means of marketing, particularly for a targeted audience such as those who would be interested in your meeting or event topic.  eep America Meeting Receives ISES Big Apple Awards
The New York Metro Chapter of International Special Events Society (ISES) selected Keep America Meeting (www.keepamericanmeeting.com) for Big Apple Awards for the Best Corporate Social Responsibility Initiative and the Best Use of Social Media. Launched in February 2009 in support of the meeting industry, Keep America Meeting (KAM) has received support industry wide. Its action resulted in the presentation of 21,000 signatures by the US Travel Association to the US Senate Commerce Committee. In addition, KAM also prompted widespread support from the industry for the US Travel Association’s first Travel Rally Day on May 12. In that effort, it utilized social media to connect the industry simultaneously live and online.  When you approach a television station to request a media sponsorship for your event, you are in competition with hundreds of other organizations with equally worthy causes. Here are some ways to help your event stand out in the crowd.
Know Your Message Television stations are interested in airing messages that offer mass audience appeal, exciting images and revenue opportunities. Your event or message also needs to have at least one of the following elements: by Stacey Ruth  Stacey Ruth Even extremely well planned meetings can go horribly wrong. All it takes is one disgruntled attendee with a cell-phone video camera taping a teambuilding exercise out of context. Before you know it, that segment may be broadcast in prime time on Nancy Grace as an illustration of the wasteful extravagances of meetings. That’s exactly what happened at one recent meeting. And cleaning up the damage caused after the fact can be difficult.
Whether it’s the media’s lust for a juicy exposé on corporate event spending, attendees’ need to vent, or Mother Nature stirring up hurricanes in the Gulf and volcanoes in Europe, meeting planners everywhere must expect the unexpected and be prepared to control the message being relayed in the media. Unfortunately, CMP exams don’t coach planners on handling adversarial environments. Force majeure is one thing; bad PR is another, and it takes more than a “Keep America Meeting” campaign to overcome it. | Loading
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