In 2011 the Association of Water Technologies (AWT) took a big leap, for them, with a new social media offering. We have a very active listserv – a benefit members value greatly – that has been in place for years. And, our LinkedIn Group, which was started in 2009, continues to grow with the number of members and the quality of discussions. The Board made a conscious decision not to have a Facebook presence and instead focus on other ways to engage our members, so, at our 2011 Annual Convention, we launched Conference 2.0.
Conference 2.0 (offered through Omnipress) is an online social networking community built around an event. It’s where speakers, attendees, exhibitors and sponsors were able to engage with one another before, during and after the Convention. They could tag one another as colleagues, find people with similar interests, set up appointments, select which sessions to attend, have conversations, and even download presentations.
The results were promising and we’re hoping to build on this in 2012. We had a very successful usage rate (37%), especially for the first time using the technology, and members continue to use the site today. For next year, we’re making plans to further improve on our success with greater usage and more engagement. And, if it’s successful, we even hope to develop it into a persistent social community where members can connect not just around an event, but around shared interests or volunteer opportunities. As association professionals it is our job to provide more opportunities for member satisfaction and engagement.
February 3, 2012 at 9:41 pm |
Hi Heidi – Since attending Event Camp up here in Vancouver in the Fall I’ve been thinking a lot about how technology can sustain the sense of community that comes out of conferences. I’m very curious about what particular pieces of the system saw heavy usage, and if there were any areas that weren’t particularly popular. Was most of the access via mobile devices? Are you seeing much continuing activity on the site now that the conference is done?
February 23, 2012 at 5:57 pm |
Hi Terry,
Onsite people were using Conference 2.0 primarily on their mobile devices. And while that feature was decent at the time, the software for the new version has been enhanced to make the mobile experience easier. I think that will increase people’s participation during the meeting. As for the most active areas, they were the “attendees” page where people could connect with one another, the “schedule” page, where people could select their sessions and set up appointments, and the “discussions” page where conversations were happening. After the conference, most activity was happening on the discussions page and the conference material page (people downloading papers/presentations). We did see a decent amount of activity for two months after the conference, but it has since stopped.
We’ll be using Conference 2.0 again this year and I’m excited about some of the functionality that we may use, including the ability to keep a community going shared interests. And I think we’ll have greater participation since people will be more familiar with it this year.
Thanks,
Heidi
March 21, 2012 at 12:40 pm |
Thanks Heid -
That is great information. Did you make any efforts to keep the activity going out beyond the 2 month time-frame?
March 21, 2012 at 3:26 pm |
Hi Terry,
Not really – although, I think we will this coming year. We’re working on the platform now and expect to have it up in a week or two. I think with people being more familiar with it, we’ll have more activity. And I’ll be interested to see how they use the “group” function. I can see that being useful for Committees or people interested in a specific topic.
Thanks!
Heidi