DigiNatives

Digital Native and designer of social strategy and brand engagement. Resident of the In-Crowd - a buyer, trendsetter, facilitator of brands’ word-of-mouth - navigating the understanding of behavioral patterns between a brand and customer. An agent of social change, analyzing two-way conversations between brands and consumers. An ever-evolving citizen of the revolution in marketing, branding, and the social graph. Working at a rapid pace of change with a deep understanding that social media hasn’t allowed consumers to own brands – it’s just made it more readily apparent that they always did. The digital nature of our social networking sphere is changing on a daily basis. The creative minds behind this change are … each of us. A proud member of the small fragments fueling the perpetual evolution of social technology. var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-24467267-1']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })();

[diginatives-blog]

What is the Secret Sauce of Austin’s Tech Hub?

   There has been a whirlwind of media coverage lately surrounding our laid-back, innovative, capital city — Austin. Being cited as one of America’s Coolest Cities, an Innovative City, and Best City for Finding Employment, Austin is the capital of cool. Major corporations such as IBM, Dell, 3M, AMD, Cisco, and recently Amazon, GM and Facebook are employers in the city, but Austin’s culture also encourages entrepreneurs to show off their creative talents that can potentially lead to industry game-changers. The start-up hub in Austin continues to grow exponentially.

I recently spoke with our recruiters at SailPoint and got their insights into the key reasons why Austin is considered a major tech hub, and why there will never be a shortage of top talent here to choose from.

Q: Why are technology companies more effective at attracting and retaining talent?

A: Simply put, there is a talent war going on right now and companies that are looking to hire “the best of the best” have a lot of competition. Most tech companies (especially start-ups) in Austin, offer culture and benefits that you don’t see in other types of businesses. It’s pretty standard these days for the companies in the start-up scene to offer things like unlimited vacation policy, equity, flexible schedules, free snacks and drinks, game rooms, casual dress, fitness onsite, etc. In order to hire and retain great people, a “fun” work environment is pretty much a must.-AL

A: Competition for talent among companies is fierce. Tech companies make it a point to deliver on the top influencing factors beyond just the paycheck, such as creative and challenging work environments, and the opportunity to make an impact – especially in smaller start-up environments. -AK

Q: What makes Austin a unique “tech hub” in your opinion?

A: For starters, we host the annual SXSW festival, which definitely enriches the Austin tech community. Showcasing top emerging technologies and attracting techies and entrepreneurs from around the world, SXSW fosters networking and tech growth, and puts Austin on the map as one of the top tech towns in the US. -AK

A: I think Austin offers people the opportunity to work in any type of tech environment – big (Dell, HP, Google) or smaller (many start-ups and mid-sized companies including SailPoint). For someone fresh out of school who doesn’t have much experience, but is smart and dedicated to growing his or her career, working for a smaller company provides a ton of opportunity to wear many hats, try and learn a lot of new technologies and have their work recognized. -AL

Q: Austin has been cited as a Coolest City and Best City for Finding Employment among other titles, do you think this trend will continue?

A: I do. Almost every week I hear about a new company that is expanding into the Austin area. Well-known global companies like Amazon, GM and Facebook are now here. I talk to people everyday that are dying to move to Austin from all around the world. Austin as a city just has so much to offer, no matter what you like to do it attracts all types of people. Everything from the music scene, outdoor activities, great weather (if you like it hot!) a robust job market, affordable housing to the culture – Austin offers all of it. I recently read an article that said 158 people move to Austin each day. That’s crazy and I just don’t see it slowing down anytime soon.- AL

Q: Is culture helpful in attracting talent? What’s the best way to keep employees motivated and engaged once they’re on board?

A: Yes, culture is a MUST in Austin for attracting new talent. There is so much competition right now that culture is absolutely a huge factor when people are deciding between multiple job offers. As for keeping people engaged – opportunity for growth, equity, a solid product, cutting edge technologies and work life balance are all up there. -AL

*This blog first appeared on the Identity Quotient Blog

[diginatives-blog]

Getting Attendee ATTENTION During Event Promotion

Are you going about promoting your events the best way possible? After planning events from a corporate level to small, intimate events for friends, I have learned the best procedures to follow when going about promoting events. To get the attention desired from your attendees, it all starts with content marketing.

                                              Asking “why”

The first step in creating content marketing for any event is asking yourself, why are we doing this event in the first place? What goals have been set to meet? For most events, a few goals to be reached should include:

Getting X amount of attendees registered

Turn prospects into customers at the event

Gather X amount of leads at the event

Getting X amount of speakers, exhibitors and sponsors

Create new opportunities for sponsors, exhibitors, attendees and speakers

Figuring out the “who”

Most event planners have a hard time deciphering who to focus on as they are beginning the content marketing process for an event. Map out who your main focus is – will your first round of marketing be catered to speakers? If so, create a campaign that will grab their attention. Why should they want to speak at your event? What exciting opportunities are at this event, as opposed to other competing industry events throughout the year? Are there any perks to being a speaker? Make the campaign fun, engaging, and insightful. Remember it’s ok to be different – drawing captive speakers onto your line-up will only enhance your event, which will in turn, draw in wonderful attendees, great sessions and an outstanding event.

Be bold, be daring, and think outside the box when it comes to creating content marketing for events. Every piece of content produced for an event is a make or break for attracting attendees. Find your story, and in return, your attendees will find you.

*This post originally appeared on Social Tables 

[diginatives-blog]

How to Market Your Event Like a Rockstar

Did you ever want to be famous growing up? Ever answer a questionnaire or fill out a poll in high school asking if you could be anyone in the world, what would you be and you said one thing – a Rockstar. Well, you still can be, and should be. It’s not enough in today’s world of marketing to just sit back and watch competitors do all the rocking – you have to own your brand, and own it in every way possible. Imagine the possibilities if you could tell your story the way you really want to by marketing like a rockstar. 

BE the Rockstar. Know you can sell in any way possible. Your target audience is always looking for fresh, new, exciting experiences, so sell to them in every way possible. Transform the way you go to events, how you write content, develop ideas for your website, and piece together unique and creative marketing that will blow your customers away. It’s not about starting from scratch, it’s about finding the inner rocker you’ve always had inside of you and releasing a new and vibrant voice into your marketing. Make a statement. 

Own it. Once you decide to go all out, whether it be trying something new at an event such as crowdsourcing new speaking topics, or starting a fun social media campaign, be sure to bring life into everything you start. Rockers tend to show work every angle a of stage, and have an overall abundance “know all” attitude about them at all times, so be sure to go into every angle you’re marketing with the same attitude. Eliminate lame buzz words that seem like yesterday’s news, and go big – tell a new story that will leave your audience wanting more.

Remember to always have a goal and a purpose. Rockers know what story they are telling, so marketers need to as well. At events, what is the end goal of participating at such event? What is the strategy behind your company’s social media outlets? Do all of your marketing campaigns tie into an intuitive and easy to use user experience? Connect all the dots between what you’re marketing to a digital trail to be sure you’re getting a return on investment.

Try rocking a new ‘tude, take a chance, reach further than you have before – command the attention in marketing deserves by rocking it out.

                *This post originally appeared on Social Tables 

[diginatives-blog]

Marcom Strategies for Trade Show Success

I recently started a new position as an Online Marketing Manager, moving away from Events Manager for the past several years, and have seen a different approach to trade show marketing. Most companies throw money at events, and don’t stop to look at the approach to trade shows. Why are we attending this event? What is success for us by attending this event? What is our purpose? So many questions can be and should be asked before a company decides to attend an event today.

What’s the best approach to reaching trade show success? After years of being on the planning and execution side of events, I’m seeing a new light here – the need to have an approach, a strategy to all the madness involved in any trade show experience. The first step to success is having a plan. What will the company be doing at the event? Before tossing dollars at lame sponsorships, try thinking outside of the box and do something unique or different. Maybe this involves a crowdsourcing social media contest at the event, or having a speaking opportunity with exceptional visuals the audience will be talking about for months to come.

      Once you know your purpose for attending an event, strategize on what success means. Is it said number of quality leads? Or is it getting X amount of attendees to watch a demo at your booth? Figuring out what success means to your company is very important for mapping out long term success at trade shows, and understanding if this show was indeed a great fit. Once you know what success means to your team, plan and execute on marketing.

Marketing at trade shows starts from the day you sign up for a sponsorship or fill out a registration page. You will know your plan at the event, and what success means, but in order for any event to be a great event, you must have awesome marketing wrapped into the approach. Emails to attendees and prospects, landing pages created for driving targeted attendees to your site, blogs before, at and after the event, social media push, contests, follow-ups – are all a part of what makes marketing work at events. Content is one of the biggest keys to focus on as you’re marketing to a targeted attendee list. Know your formula for event success in numbers – the goal of any marketing around an event is to see an impactful ROI.

ROI is the most crucial part of an event as far as relaying to your team that the event was a success. Stay under budget, on track, and target attendees who are the best fit for your company. Weeding through the herds is what makes any company and event planner a success – know your plan, approach, strategy and execute correctly, and you will see tremendous results time and time again.

*This post originally appeared on Social Tables 

[diginatives-blog]

The Power of the Crowd

     One of the savviest trends not only event planners but companies are experimenting more with this year is crowdsourcing.

Mashable defines crowdsourcing as distributed problem solving. By distributing tasks to a large group of people, you are able to mine collective intelligence, assess quality and process work in parallel.

Daily Crowdsource event, Crowdopolis, describes crowdsourcing as getting a crowd of people to help you with a task that used to take one person.

We should be designing conferences as experiences for attendees to feel active, and less passive. As an avid conference attendee, planner and manager, I can easily say it has become harder to sit through a two day conference without becoming slightly bored by the hour long sessions, chunky content splashed on large projector screens to try to follow, and listening to speakers who are noted as “thought leaders” or “SME’s” (subject matter experts), when in reality the hundreds or thousands of people clammed in around me are the real SME’s.  In order to make the crowd feel involved and a part the conference experience, give them a reason to participate. Crowdsource.

There are several ways conferences are using crowdsourcing to engage with attendees today. If you’re a conference planner, test out one or all of the suggestions below this year while mapping out your conference marketing strategies.

Create social media buzz! Enlist your attendees and online event communities to help you beef up the buzz around your conference.  Reach out and ask event attendees to share and vote on specific topics before and during the event. Make the conference experience exciting by starting a hashtag and tossing out a question for attendees to vote on each day of the conference.  Be sure to engage with those submitting ideas, and drive interest to a known crowdsourcing site on your conference website where attendees can check out all of the content being tweeted, discussed and voted on.

Tap into creative potential! Event attendees have shown an affinity for being a part of the event process and often just having their voice heard by participating in a conference poll, design contest, video creation, or speaking session is enough of an incentive to keep them engaged. Be creative, and ask your attendees to design the conference logo for the following year, make a conference t-shirt, or a fun swag item for everyone to take home. Award the top ten winning creations gift cards to promote their designs online.

Overcome the odds. Crowdsourcing was not invented yesterday, let alone a year ago. In fact, there a several historical examples of crowdsourcing you can find online that will encourage you to think outside the box when developing a new way to interact with a conference crowd. Instead of contests, polls or suggestions for content and speaker topics, why not implement a storyboard that can be used as a central location for research, thought leadership, market research, new trends, and have the story unfold in real time not only before and during a conference, but continue it after the conference takes place. Create an interactive mobile app for users to curate quality information, and view opinions from all around the world in the palm of their hand, anytime, at anyplace. “Crowdsourcing on Demand” just got super easy!

*This post first appeared on Social Tables

[diginatives-blog]

The Social Evolution

     I was in downtown Washington, DC over the Christmas holiday, and took some time to tour the historical landmarks and museums with my boyfriend. I had been to DC once before when I was in the 5th grade on a school field trip, but seeing the Washington Monument, Jefferson Memorial, Lincoln Memorial and exploring years of our country’s history in the best museums in the country was of course, more meaningful to me at 31. As we took in each section of the National Museum of American History, I came across a glassed in window that told the story about the History of the Social Evolution.

In very short detail, there was a break down of the beginning of communication, how it progressed over time, and how we communicate and socialize with one another today. There was a sculpture of a Neanderthal gathering by a fire “communicating” to those near him or her – our first true method of socializing with humanity. All of this got me thinking about how advanced socializing has become in just the last ten years. We rely so much on social platforms to find out news, send messages, stay on top of current events, trends, talk to friends, find friends, un-friend friends, network, find jobs, speak at events, discover how to turn something old into something new… Year after year we accelerate socially at faster and faster rates. But, are we becoming less social or more social?

Sometimes change occurring too fast can lead to one of those scary zombie movies where everyone runs in a million directions with no clue where to go. This is probably a bit of a stretch,  but in reality, humans have taken socialization for granted. I have some many friends, including myself, who text instead of call, send a lengthy email instead of meeting up in person, jump on Facebook or Gmail chat instead of having a cup of coffee at a nearby coffee shop… The list goes on and on. It’s not necessarily a bad thing that we don’t take the time to meet face to face as much anymore. How can we point all of the blame on social media sites and technology? These are the tools that enable us to come together and conveniently interact when not so long ago we were without cell phones, computers, iPads, and every other gadget that quickens our speed of communication.

The growth of technology and ongoing developments in the social sphere have helped humankind engage with one another on every level imaginable. Emerging technologies are helping us to connect faster, and in new ways we would have never thought of five years ago. The social interaction we are seeing today is truly amazing. From a business perspective, employees can contact each other faster, communicate with clients on a personal level via Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn groups or Google Hangouts, as well as several other well-known social outlets, and make business connections with the click of a button whether at an event, attending a webinar or following a hashtag.

There’s also the personal perspective of being social. From chatting with friends online, to staying on top of current events, or watching the latest YouTube video of some silly singer nobody will remember a year from now, we all find ourselves fascinated by the lure or thrill of being social. It’s almost as if we’re consistently inventing new ways to stay socially connected. Whatever is easy, in real-time and manageable from anywhere at anytime – odds are we will give it a try. We have been social beings from the beginning of time – remember the Neanderthal sending smoke signals to communicate? The social evolution will continue to evolve, just as we have. This means that our events need to keep up by taking into account how people are socializing today and how they will be socializing tomorrow. Events are no longer one time instances but a chance to gather people, connect them and keep them talking.

How are you working to make your events more social?

*This blog was originally posted on Social Tables

[diginatives-blog]

Where The Magic Happens...

       I came across a cool image on a whiteboard in our office earlier last year. Someone took a photo of it and I’ve had it hanging at my desk ever since. The photo has two circles. A small one that represents your comfort zone, and a larger one that represents where the “magic” happens. True stuff. I show this photo to friends when we get into deep conversations about life, careers, family, friends, etc. It’s a great way to help those around you understand the importance of breaking down boundaries and digging deeper to learn more, provide more, and fulfill your inner passions. As we enter another year, I’m feeling more than excited about what the future holds for me and the space I love working in. I see lots of opportunities in the social media and events industry. As we continue to ease into 2013, here are my thoughts on the in crowd and out crowd of social and events.  IN: Socializing Events – one of the coolest apps I’ve seen in the marketplace for event marketers to start learning about and using at events is Bizzabo.  Events have come full circle where Gen Y and now Gen Z are expecting top notch experiences while attending any event.  Whether in person or online, having a full service event app will make their conference experiences feel complete. Be sure to market all event related hashtags, photos, speaker information, session content, and so forth, before, during and after the event via the app. No brainer. Crowdsourcing Your Vote - Crowdsourcing is the new black if you haven’t heard. Living in Austin, TX I’ve seen SXSW crowdsource some of their amazing speakers by asking the attendees who they would like to see speak during the two week event. Try using your social media outlets to poll, vote and make a difference at your events this year by having your audience choose who speaks, what they speak about and even how long they get to speak for. Voting rocks, right?! Share Stories – Media can be thrown around at events in numerous fashions. Wouldn’t it be nice to have one clean, interactive hub to go to and find everything you were looking for at an event whether it be a photo, session notes, twitter feed, videos, blog posts, etc? Pulling content and media into one combined unity will give any event major kudos from attendees. Who wants to dig around five different websites to find one photo they were searching for? Epilogger has been getting major buzz lately for archiving event experiences. Totes. OUT: QR codes – Yawn. Having worked in the mobile industry I can say there was a time when QR codes seemed relevant, cool, and the new black. Not anymore. Most people who implement QR codes into their marketing strategies don’t know how to effectively use them, but even when used correctly – do people understand how to use QR codes? They were once a great idea, but now routinely ignored. If you’re an event manager, having an event app with all of the event information in one spot is much more helpful to attendees than a QR code that may be missed on collateral, posters and signage, and often thrown away event schedules. Yikes! Content Overload – Post-event, don’t drown your attendees with links, downloads and multiple ways to find presentations, photos, and where to go to pre-register for your next event. Stay simple. Use your event app long term. Keep the content, videos, and twitter stream fresh, updated and relevant for attendees so they can get answers to any questions they may have after the event ends. Make it easy for them to know one spot to go to on your website to find all event related information. Simple goes a long way! 

[diginatives-blog]

Volunteer food for thought: Shape opportunities for all ages in your organization

When I was in middle school the thought of volunteering for any school activities where I could spend time with my best friends and twin sister made me want to jump up and down with joy. As I entered high school, those same feelings of excitement were still there – and encouraged by teachers and peers in grades older than me. Seeing upper-classmen volunteer in organizations both in school and around the community made volunteering the “cool” thing to do. I kept those same thoughts in mind as I attended college and joined several organizations at the University of Texas here in Austin, and I am today, at the age of 30, still active in several organizations around the community.

My love of volunteering doesn’t exactly fit into today’s model of the ideal volunteer method. There is a generational diversity gap stemming from years of a lack of communication within organizations. As demographics continue to shift and our population ages, it is imperative to shape volunteer opportunities for people of all ages.

According to the Minnesota Association for Volunteer Administration, Millennials are volunteering in record breaking numbers. Are you taking advantage of this trend and offering opportunities for all generations within your organization?

Keep the following 4 tips in mind when designing volunteer roles within your organization:

Explore differences: Know that volunteer guidelines and rules you have set in place in the past may have worked for some, but as years go by a great rule of thumb to encourage younger members to sign up for volunteer opportunities is to incorporate their thoughts and ideas into your yearly plans.

Train staff and volunteers: Remember change is good. Organizations today are molding into units with a variety of generations coming on board. Having staff members knowledgeable about the variety of learning styles and skills each generation can adapt to today will help in guiding volunteers to meet expectations set by the training staff.

Recognition and support: Being actively engaged with volunteers and spending time with them as a support system will help the training staff understand why each volunteer is involved in your organization and see what motivates them to continue to stay engaged in the group. As each volunteer gives his or her time to your organization, be sure to recognize their efforts in ways that are preferreddepending on their generation. Ask volunteers how they prefer to be recognized as everyone has a preference, and will appreciate praise accordingly in the long run.

Manage and recruit: Recruiting new volunteers for organizations takes time and patience. Knowing that each generation picks up on information differently is the first place to start when soliciting new volunteers. Some may look for invitations first via email or through networking, whereas others prefer print media. As new volunteers come on board, the training staff should take lead on making all volunteers know they have an open forum for communication at all times. For any volunteer program to work and grow over time, leaders in each group need to provide direction, organization, and an ear for listening for everyone.

And sometimes, the best ways to develop new volunteer opportunities and programs across multiple generations is to exchange best practices between organizations. I invited you to share your volunteer program tips and success stories in the comments below. What has your organization seen in volunteer trends and how are you utilizing volunteer programs to engage all generations?

*This post first appeared on XYZ University 

[diginatives-blog]

Is Your Event Mobile Savvy? If Not, It's Time to Connect With Your Audience!

Most mobile phones in America will be smartphones by the end of 2012. It’s hard to imagine walking down a busy street today and not seeing pedestrians scurrying around on their iPhones looking up directions, texting, tweeting, instagraming, or checking in to the latest hotspots.

Event marketing company Cvent recently released a cool infographic posing the question – Are event planners catching the mobile wave? As mobile technologies continue to expand and phenomenally grow year to year, it’s important for event planners to stay on top of these trends and best practices in the emerging mobile arena.

Creating mobile user experiences that excite and inform event attendees allows for a win-win for both the event planners and attendee. Audiences want real-time engagement, and by giving them exclusive access in the palm of their hands anytime, anywhere during events, provides for a higher level of event success.

Tips to consider when building your event app:

Consider previous years concerns and questions

Make sure the app is seamless in that any attendee can understand how to navigate from the homepage to each subpage with ease

Make it straightforward and provide an easy navigation menu

Include social media capabilities so attendees can participate in live tweeting, post photos from the event, or upload them to their personal Facebook pages

Some other fun ideas:

Add a check-in feature

Send texts updating attendees on scheduled meetings or about a change in time or place

Run contests via social media and send alerts once a winner is chosen

Keeping up-to-date with mobile at events is more important than many realize. In the course of an event, attendees open the event’s app at least 12 times, which creates an incentive for organizations to use this tool to get in front of attendees – sponsor the event app or get in the mix and talk with the attendees within the app via the event hashtag. Both are relevant ways to increase your organizations membership, and keep two-way flows of communication going between your team and new or prospective members.

*This post first appeared on Social Tables

[diginatives-blog]

Defining Your Community’s Identity

 Usually the term community refers to a group of people living in a common geographical area. In today’s society the word community is a broader term and has a larger connotation. Community can be used when speaking about online social networks, occupational or organized groups of individuals sharing specific interests, or even groups of people who volunteer together within their local city. The one aspect linking each person together is his or her involvement within that one, single community. It’s important for any community, while building the bricks of the foundation from the very beginning, to establish goals and values for all members to strive for. Below are a few fundamental tools every organization can keep in mind when working on the continued success of their internal community.

Positivity & Appreciation – A positive atmosphere always goes a long way. When forming your internal community, one of the key values every member should adhere to is a positive attitude. Never criticize or complain about another community member – strive for focusing on the positive and giving public recognition to members who are rock stars! Appreciate members who have worked hard and who are new to the organization’s community group. Remember, appreciation is going above and beyond, rewarding team players and simply just saying thanks.

Engage & Network – Creating a feeling of association is important within each community.  Representing who you are and what you do is important to relate within a community. Engaging with members and sharing thoughts and ideas will help the culture of every community flourish. Encourage dialogue between members of the community – nurturing and thriving the network each community has established is a great way to continue its future growth.

Leadership & Diversity – Each organization may have a community leader who can ask questions, send follow-up replies, create forums for members to ask specific questions and feel the true, valued sense of a community. Each group should make sure there are opportunities available for members of all ages as well. By keeping all generational ages in mind when forming organization communities, it will be valuable to see the recognition and strengths of each group member who incorporates his or her passions into the community.

Mistakes will be made without a doubt as communities grow and learn each day how and when to better their internal processes. Every community leader can help shape the future of an organization’s community, and foster relationships to see them grow and the community strive for long term success.

[diginatives-blog]

Responding to Every Environment: Responsive Web Design

                  “Day by day, the number of devices, platforms, and browsers that need to work with your site grows. Responsive web design represents a fundamental shift in how we’ll build websites for the decade to come.”- Jeffrey Veen

We can all easily say most of our friends, family and co-workers own a smartphone, iPad, laptop, or another portable device that gives us real-time access, 24/7, to information we need at the click of a button. We are becoming accustom to having exclusive access to information we desire at any given second and any place, especially while attending events.

Over the past few years, a new form of web design has proven to shape the traditional look and feel of how we view websites. Responsive web design, popularized by developer, Ethan Marcotte, has become the newIT blueprint for a mixed approach that covers all aspects of a multi-device world.

Having the ability to view sites we love on devices we own is not only an enjoyment, but a necessity today. Responsive websites respond to their environments. They contain a mixed approach – either a fixed width for larger and medium screens, or fluid widths for smaller screens. Responsive pulls content, images of all shapes and sizes, and one set of code that translates one time for all screen sizes. The pros when considering a responsive web design route are:

Only having to manage one set of content across multiple devices, rather than customizing content for every device.

Save on time and money by only designing one time, instead of developing separate sites.

Design once and make it brilliant – then display your look and feel across a multi-device platform.

 Instead of outsourcing a developer or having someone on your staff for iOS or Android platform build an app, you can build a responsive site. (This will work well for you, IF your users are only looking to consume content, which is the case for most associations. For this use case, it will be more cost effective than building a native app).

A couple examples of event websites who have done responsive web design well are the IA Summit 2012 and Cisco London 2012. A few things to keep in mind when considering a reponsive web design approach are the following:

Mobile devices are more streamlined, which means they tend to be more user friendly than the full 960 version.

A few older devices will not support CSS3, causing slow or not proper loading.

Start small – mobile may be the best fit for you depending on your use case, so don’t jump fully onto the responsive boat.

Compared to a regular 960 site, responsive sites take longer to design and build. This will reflect the price of the site in most cases. 

The goal of a responsive web design is to provide both the user and association with an integrated experience that is consistent across all multi-device platforms. Make sure you clearly understand what your members need before creating a responsive site. Keep in mind responsive web design always allows you to turn on and off content on your site for any device it appears on, guiding consumers easily to find the information they need on any device they may be on.

For a collection of sites using responsive design, take a look here. Also, look out for our new version which will be a responsive site!

*This post first appeared on Social Tables 

[diginatives-blog]

Be Passionate About Work Culture

                    “Successful leaders don’t rest on their laurels, because leadership is not a title on a business card,” says author and leadership expert Ken Blanchard. “Leadership is a living process.”

Work culture can be described as a mix of values, practices, assumptions, ideologies, thoughts, and behaviors of people interacting together in an environment (usually) five days a week. We have grown accustom to the daily routine of a work environment. Everyone strives as a group to better an organization, increase its value and enhance the culture, but how does the internal community maintain its culture from one year to the next?

Being a part of the ‘cultural fit’ is imperative to maintaining a solid community with the organization you belong to. Culture is sometimes difficult to define to new hires, especially those right out of college.Millenials (American teens born between 1981 and 2000, typically familiar with enhanced communications, media and digital technology) are looking for exuberant work cultures – those that are the perfect fit to their own personalities.

They are looking for environments where they can grow into leaders and spread their wings; using the tools they have developed up to this point in their lives. Routine is not a word spoken within their vocabulary. It’s actually forbidden, or frowned upon. Coming into the working world, millenials want to be treated as adults. They are seeking positions that are not only flexible in a work/play environment, but also offer an opportunity to engage in something greater than their dream jobs.  Mentoring younger employees so that they can grow into a leadership role within an organization shows engagement and trust, which will only create stronger ties and help build company morale to continue leveraging work culture.

Reach out to those within your organization who have influence and leadership skills. The core values within your organization have been embedded from senior staff, and with their passion on board it will show strength from the foundation of those values.  The strategic direction senior staff has chosen to take, has a huge impact on the cultural impact of the organization. Having a durable leadership team is pertinent and valuable in maintaining a lasting cultural connection with the tribe you work with.

Culture is a powerful element that shapes work enjoyment, flow and relationships.  Culture has its own personality, and within a work environment, it is made up of all of the experiences each contributor brings to the table every single day. The true assessment will be viewing work culture in a tangible sense; making certain there are authentic experiences taking place to enhance the cultural atmosphere from year to year.

[diginatives-blog]

Pinning Interest For Your Next Event

           To drive great buzz and excitement to the events you plan, incorporating a solid social media marketing plan for each event, including Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Google+ and YouTube is a great place to start. However, there has been a new social media craze growing daily called Pinterest, where millions of users pin photos, such as friends’ recipes, outfits, workout ideas and create numerous boards for anyone to view.

Pictures are the new black. If not Instagramed, they are pinned or both! When planning your next event, strategically conceptualize ways to tell a story through the photos. Before jumping on the Pinterest bandwagon, make sure you have a plan of action set in place with an end goal for your event and it’s tie-in to the social tool. What’s the story you want the event to convey on Pinterest?

Here are 5 tips on using Pinterest correctly as an event planner:

Increase Awareness and Interest – The ultimate goal for any event planner is to drive traffic to an event, and make sure there is a significant amount of buzz around the event pre, during and after. Place links to the event website on the images you pin on boards to drive traffic back to the event homepage. Also, link pictures to the event social media pages such as Twitter and Facebook so attendees can follow your social sites. Be sure to promote the event Twitter hashtag in your captions to spread the word around your Twitter page, and create a community social sphere at the event through the hashtag. By pinning to one social site and linking to another, you are doubling the amount of people you are reaching at the click of a button!

Have an Open Forum- What attendees love most about events today, is the feeling of community. Having social outlets to express their thoughts, learn, and most importantly share all of the above in seconds through numerous social outlets. Attendees should be encouraged to pin to event boards, and also re-pin to spread the knowledge they are learning from the event.

Be Organized- Pinterest gives users the option to follow a user, or a user’s individual boards. It’s important to keep in mind when creating boards for an event that each board should be categorized in an organized and relevant matter. Event planners should create boards that appeal to all attendees – categorize them by topics: speakers, agenda, social media, networking, fun images, content, videos, etc.

Creativity Goes a Long Way – Remember, photos are the new black. Make your event images stand out from the crowd. A few ideas to incorporate into your visual storytelling are using Instagram, infographics, creative and detailed captions, and videos on boards to capture the attention of your attendees and possible future clients.

Think Outside of the Board (Box) – When creating boards, think about what attendees are not looking for that will provide an element of excitement around the event. Have a board for blogs posts by attendees, event staff and speakers. Also create a thought leader corner where each speaker can have his or her own board with their bios, headshots, and session abstracts for fully detailed positioning, making it easy for all attendees to access speaker information. Another unique example is holding a contest – keep attendees guessing clues via images and announce the winner at the end of the event.

Any other tips that you have found useful in creating more interest for your event via Pinterest?

*This blog first appeared on Social Tables 

[diginatives-blog]

7 Digital Strategies for Association Events Success

According to Pew Research Center’s State of the News Report, 2011 made a splash as the “it” – year for a new phase in digital media. Keeping up-to-date on the digital front is imperative to maintaining a strong event strategy for any association. Hosting and exhibiting at events has traditionally been the go-to resource for networking, gathering leads, pushing out new products or content, and developing thought leadership. Events have always been known as the original social media platform, but more recently, marketers have inundated events through promotions, making social media a very noisy channel. You don’t have to look any further than an event’s hashtag to realize just how noisy event marketing has become.

As associations dive into a new year for marketing their organizations, what valuable strategies can you learn from events to make informative and impactful digital marketing plans to enhance your goals and improve your digital flare?

Mapping out your social media and digital goals is a great place for any association to start. Knowing up front where you want to promote the event you are hosting or speaking at is step one. Being seen as an innovator at your event is the goal to strive for. Here are 7 digital strategies to consider while planning your event program:

1) Start your marketing plan asap! Pre-event marketing should consist of the following:

A clearly mapped out communications plan

Social media tie-ins for promotion – let your event attendees know what the event objectives are. Who is speaking? Who has a booth? A new whitepaper? A giveaway? Socially promote it!

Your association objectives to focus on pre, during and post event

2) Use clear, strategic email marketing techniques! The communications plan should be strategically centered on pre-event email marketing to entice attendees to stop by booths or attend high-profile presentations. Spamming inboxes with contests and promotions is not valuable to attendees today. Creating a clear call to action through email marketing is the way to go. Post-event, send out a thank you email to all attendees who stopped by booths or engaged in any way. Communication is key to keeping event leads engaged and wanting to learn more. It’s a great way to turn prospects into members, and to keep the communication flowing.

3) Use social media the right way! Social media is a great medium to keep attendees informed and excited about your event activities. Pre-event, message across to all of your association’s social media outlets. Share interesting topics about your event with your followers, when you may be speaking, and most importantly, what makes your event stand out from the crowd. Keep the messaging simple, but interesting. It should tell a story - who are you and why attendees should want to interact with your event? Attendees are customers or future members, and want to buy or engage with brands who they have an interest in. Those that connect with your story will become a part of you as they join in and spread the word about how amazing you are.

4) Create an event specific hashtag! Be creative and utilize an event specific hashtag by running a contest during your event which will entice attendees to stop by booths; update attendees in real-time on contest winners; announce new services and programs; etc. Using your hashtag will also drive conversations at the event about your association and attract the right traffic. As social media continues to scale, taking part in two-way conversations and reaching out to attendees through social platforms is crucial.  Keep in mind that most people buy products and services today based on recommendations from friends, reading online reviews, or engaging socially. Don’t be afraid to interact – it’s the best way to keep conversations flowing, and develop personal relationships with attendees.

5) Make event specific campaigns! The campaigns should also be shaped pre event, during and post event. Leverage your event as a place where attendees can interact with you. Setting up a unique event campaign digitally and socially as the host, will give attendees the opportunity to talk about you long after the event has ended. Keep the campaign up-to-date with valuable content, and personally reach out to those who have interacted along the way.

6) Educate your audience in real-time! The best way to keep event attendees informed and engaged with your association before, during and after an event today is with video. Younger audiences have a need for speed, meaning on demand information, brought to their attention 24/7, any place, anytime. Associations can offer these younger generations the information they are seeking through video and social media. By creating special short videos at conferences in real-time, and having live digital feeds at your event, they can have the experience of learning virtually. Be sure to place your videos on all of your association’s social media channels, including Facebook and YouTube, to educate those who could not attend the event.

7) Be forward-thinking! The #1 way event attendees get information today is from their smartphones. Create a mobile app for your event, and be a part of the buzz in real-time! Establish sponsorship opportunities for vendors to upload content onto the event app. Make sure every sponsor’s company bios and logos are on the mobile app agenda, and allow sponsors to advantage of any mobile app opportunities to socially engage with event attendees.

Events are a great place to keep the momentum of your association’s story heard and spread by attendees. Strategically incorporate a digital plan around the events you host to enhance your program and engage with the right attendees you are targeting.

*This blog first appeared on Affiniscape blog 

[diginatives-blog]

5 Tips for Shaping A Digital Strategy for Events

                           According to Pew Research Center's State of the News Report, 2011 made a splash as the IT year for a new phase in digital media. Keeping up-to-date on the digital front is imperative to maintaining a strong brand/consumer relationship. Attending and exhibiting at events has been known as the go-to resource for networking, gathering leads, pushing out new products or content, and developing thought leadership. Events have always been known as the original social media platform but more recently, marketers have inundated events through promotions, making social media a very noisy channel. You don't have to look further than any event's hashtag to realize just how noisy event marketing has become. 

As companies dive into a new year and new quarter for marketing their businesses, what valuable strategies can a company do to provide an informative and impactful digital marketing plan around events?

Mapping out your social media and digital goals is a great place for any company to start. Knowing up front where you want to promote and speak about events you are attending as a company is step one. Being seen as an innovator at an event is the goal to strive for. Here are 5 tips to take into consideration while creating your digital strategy:

 1) Start your marketing plan asap! Pre-event marketing should consist of the following:

A clearly mapped out communications plan

Social media tie-ins for promotion

Company objectives to focus on pre, during and post event

2) Use clear, strategic email marketing techniques! The communications plan should be strategically centered on pre-event email marketing to entice attendees to stop by your booth or hear an executive from your company speaking. Spamming inboxes around contests and promotions is not valuable to attendees today. Creating a clear call to action in email marketing is the way to go. Post-event, send out a thank you email to all attendees who stopped by your booth or engaged in any way. Communication is key to keeping event leads engaged with your company and wanting to ask for more.

3) Use social media the right way! Social media is a huge way to keep attendees informed and excited about event activities. Pre-event, message across all of your social media outlets what booth you are in, when you may be speaking, and most importantly what makes you stand out from the crowd? Keep the messaging simple, but interesting. It should tell a story about your brand - who are you and why should attendees want to interact with you? Attendees are customers, and want to buy or engage with brands who they have an interest in. Those that are interested in your story and brand will become a part of you as they buy and spread the word about how amazing you are.

4) Set up your own hashtag! You can even run a contest during an event which will entice attendees to stop by, and also be updated in real time on winners of the contest, new products you are launching, etc. Using the event specific hashtag will also drive conversations at any event about your brand and bring in the right traffic. As social media continues to scale, taking part in two-way conversations and reaching out to attendees through social platforms is crucial.  Keep in mind that most consumers search or buy products today based on a recommendation from a friend, reading online reviews or engaging with brands socially. Don’t be afraid to interact – it’s the best way to keep conversations flowing, and develop personal relationships with attendees who can potentially be a consumer of your brand.

5) Make event specific campaigns! The campaigns should also be shaped pre, during and post event. Leverage the event itself as a place where attendees can interact with you. Setting up a unique event campaign digitally and socially as a company will give attendees the opportunity to talk about you far after the event has ended. Keep the campaign up-to-date with interesting content and personally reach out to those who have interacted along the way.

Events are a great place to keep the momentum of your company’s story heard and spread by attendees. Strategically incorporate a digital plan around the events you attend to enhance your event presence and engage with the right attendees you are targeting.

*This blog first appeared on Social Tables 

[diginatives-blog]

Rules of Engagement

      As digital media continues to evolve, it’s important to remember that excellent customer service remains key for any successful brand. Listen, be helpful and be authentic are the new rules of engagement. And although many “experts” continue to base online marketing success on follower counts and likes, leading Social Marketing Specialist, Ted Rubin, sums up the new digital mindset with three simple words, “Connecting is king.” It’s not enough to simply have a Facebook page or share a picture on Instagram every now and then. Engagement is the new digital media must-have.

Continue reading the blog post here: http://ht.ly/9egY1

*This blog first appeared on Medium Digital 

[diginatives-blog]

The New Consumer: Hyper-Connected, Tech Savvy & Ready to Dish and Tell

        As the new year begins, brands are beginning to see a new trend in consumers – they want to dish out personal information to receive an incentive for a better shopping experience.  Handing over personal information has never been a willing task for any routine shopper, but as brands continue to communicate with consumers more frequently, the trend is now becoming more and more popular to hand over information, and in return reap the benefits of exclusivity and personalized rewards while visiting favorite stores today.

Brands have been hesitant to connect with customers on a one-to-one level, not knowing when they may be crossing the line of excess communication, but for today’s consumer, “more is more” is the fashion of communication when it comes to staying in tune with a brand. It’s imperative for brands to keep in mind the strategic planning behind communicating with consumers. It’s worth the time to research who their loyal customers are, i.e., demographics, preferred form of communication, contact information, style, and most importantly their location. All of these details are specific keys that tie into the way a brand can personalize a message to one individual shopper. Knowing which store location a shopper routinely goes to is the most important detail in order to send incentives and rewards to the shopper based on their targeted location. For a brand, sending push notifications to a shopper as they enter a store with a discount, a coupon as they are shopping, or a store exit survey as they leave, are all great ways to stay engaged with customers who are frequent shoppers.  The more personalized engagement between a brand and consumer, the more long-term commitment the consumer will have to be a shopper of the brand.

Keeping communication flowing across all strategic channels is also what the hyper-connected consumer today is looking for. Having access at any time to social networks and email, all from your mobile device, makes the shopping experience so much easier today. Consumers who have provided their favorite brands with personal information, have already downloaded the brand’s app on their smartphones, are fans of the brand on Facebook, and follow them on Twitter at a minimum. Now it’s up to the brand to stay connected on a daily basis, and keep the communication bridge constantly flowing. Brands who engage socially with consumers can leverage the conversations they have and use them as stories and focus groups for new store ideas, or contests in-store and online. Many brands are doing only the bare minimum when it comes to making their communication process seamlessly reach their targeted audience, but as today’s consumers continue to spill their information to brands, this gives an ample opportunity for stepping up to the plate and actively pursuing shoppers across all channels via email, social and mobile outlets.

As the year continues on, brands need to consider how to leverage their voiced shoppers, and use their information wisely – by engaging via communication with the shoppers, and giving them the best shopping experience they are looking for both in-store and online.