#eventprofs chats are back!

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Yes, the chats are back! These popular, one hour, Twitter chats on a wide range of topics of interest to event professionals will be once again held twice-weekly: on Tuesdays 9-10pmEST/6-7pmPST and on Thursdays 12-1pmEST/9-10amPST/7-8amGMT starting on May 3, 2011.

Got questions? Here are some answers.

What is ?
was founded in February 2009 on Twitter by Lara McCulloch-Carter. The chats were one of the earliest Twitter chats—find out more by reading Lara’s history of .

Who will be moderating the chats?
Twenty(!) members of the community have each committed to moderating a chat every 6-7 weeks. Our current volunteers are:

Traci Browne
Midori Connolly
Susan Lynn Cope
Tahira Endean
Jenise Fryatt
Ray Hansen
Brandt Krueger
KiKi L’Italien
Melissa Lawhorn
Lara McCulloch-Carter
Michael McCurry
John Nawn
Carolyn Ray
Lindsey Rosenthal
Deb Roth
Greg Ruby
Paul Salinger
Adrian Segar
Kate Smith
Andrea Sullivan

Please thank these sterling volunteers at every opportunity! I have volunteered to act as a moderator manager, working to keep the chats scheduled as regularly as possible.

How are chat topics chosen?
Anyone can suggest and vote on possible topics for chats at our new AllOurIdeas page. We urge you to do so! The more suggestions, and the more votes, the better our chat topics will be. Moderators will occasionally use their discretion to choose chat subjects, particularly when there are topical events or issues to discuss.

How do I know what chat topics are scheduled?
There are two ways to stay informed about upcoming chats:

Can I moderate an chat?
We welcome offers to moderate chats. Please read the moderator instructions first. Check the chat schedule, pick a time, and send a description of your proposed chat to me.

I have a question that isn’t answered here. Can you help?
I’ll do my best. Email or tweet me!

Cheer up-it’s normal to be less popular than your friends on social media!

popular on social media sad person 84286500_6097d35c2d_o
Do you have fewer Twitter followers than the folks who follow you?

If so, cheer up, it’s normal, thanks to the magic of simple statistics! You are more likely to be a friend of a popular person simply because he or she has a larger number of friends. So, on average, your followers are likely to have more followers than you do.

Feel better?

For a more detailed explanation, read this Scientific American article by John Allen Paulos.

Photo attribution: Flickr user seraphimc

Social media presentation May 13 2010

Publicity still for SM talk One man’s descent into a world of blogs, Twitter, and social networking sites in the pursuit of publicity for his book.

Updated May 13, 2010 with slide deck & additional links (see end of post)

On Thursday, May 13, at 7 p.m., in the Brooks Memorial Library’s meeting room, Adrian Segar, local author of Conferences That Work: Creating Events That People Love returns to describe what he’s learned about marketing his book via social media in the six months since it was published. His talk will be of interest to anyone who wants to find out more about using social networking sites and tools to market products and services.

Adrian Segar, who ran the monthly meetings of the Southeastern Vermont Computer Users Group for sixteen years, offered to give this talk after he recently began being bombarded with questions about blogging and using services like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn for publicity, marketing, and fostering connections with existing and potential customers.

Marketing with social media is a huge topic and can’t be covered comprehensively in a single session. Instead, Adrian will describe his surprising journey attempting to discover how best to use social media to publicize his nontraditional approach to conference design. His experience will be a useful guide to what you may encounter if you delve into this strange new environment. After Adrian has told his story there will be plenty of time for questions and discussion.

Adrian Segar has organized and facilitated conferences for 30 years. He is a former elementary particle physicist, information technology consultant, professor of computer science, and co-owner of a solar manufacturing company. He lives with his wife Celia in Marlboro, Vermont, is active in the non-profit world, and loves to sing and dance.

The program is free and open to all.

Presentation resources

Slide deck for my talk
Some reasons I don’t like FaceBook
More reasons I don’t like FaceBook

Can we measure ROI in social media? – Part 1

ROI in SM part 1-4193339222_b6c7e45098_b

Can we measure ROI in social media?

Last month Samuel J Smith moved back to the U.S. from Switzerland and, needing to buy some insurance, asked for a recommendation on Twitter. Having had car insurance with Progressive Insurance for a number of years, and liking the ease of accessing my policy and payments online as well as the competent Vermont representatives I worked with when dealing with several claims, I tweeted Sam this information.

Five minutes later, the following tweet from @Progressive appeared:

@ASegar Saw your tweet – we appreciate you spreading the word ; ) Glad you’ve had such a positive experience.

What can we say about the Return On Investment (ROI) for this little social media interaction?

Read the rest of this entry »