Prediction and suggestions for social media conferences

After attending a variety of social media conferences in the United States and Europe over the past two years, I’ll venture both a prediction for next year’s conferences and proffer suggestions for them.

My first official international keynote. LikeMinds 2009 in Exeter, England. Photo by Britt Warg @britt_w

Prediction: Next year’s conferences will focus almost exclusively on case studies. Top presenters will be the storytellers with quantitative and qualitative stories to tell. Theorists and evangelists will be turned away (some will be tarred, feathered, and run out of town on a rail).

Proffered suggestions: Here are my wild ideas for speakers, attendees, and organizers.

If you’re a speaker:

• do NOT throw your name in the conference speakers candidate pool if you do not have a supply of STORIES chock full of these details.
  -short description of the company, product/service, and market landscape
  -detailed, specific definition of the challenge (problem statement)
  -details concerning the impact of the challenge on the company
  -decision making process the company went through to define the problem
  -decision making process the company pursued as they sought a solutiondefinition of the solution
  -description of the details involved to implement the solution
  -narrative regarding the implementation of the solution
  -narrative of the problems encountered implementing the solution
  -statistics describing the problem before and after the solution
  -your thoughts on the next steps for the company
  -the universal application of the problem, solution, results
• do expect highly informed audience participants who will press you regarding the problem, solution, it’s execution, and it’s results.
• do not expect fawning audiences; that’s so 2009.

If you’re a participant:

• don’t wait until the conference to go to the conference.
• do invest time before each conference to fully understand
  -exactly what the conference promises to deliver
  -who else will be there (speakers, fellow audience attendees and exhibitors)
• do start connecting with conference players well before the conference; you’ll be amazed what you’ll learn by interacting with presenters before the conference; connecting before the conference will significantly enhance your own ultimate conference take-aways.
• do take responsibility for your own conference experience. While conference organizers and presenters will invest a ton of themselves into your experience, the quality and value of your experience is up to you.

If you’re an organizer:

• do plan on having massive bandwidth
• do take the initiative to not only get people to the conference, but to also connect everyone well in advance of the conference (and after the conference, too)
• do determine your Twitter hashtag in advance and start using it, and make sure everyone knows about it, long before the conference (and after, too). It’ll help people connect with one another before, during and after the event.

The topic of social media conferences probably warrants a full book-length treatise. For now I can summarize by saying, conferences are about, in order of priority, connections, content, and conversations. It’s in your best interest to take the initiative to ensure all three happen for you.

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