This document provides tips for promoting events using social media. It recommends identifying influencers to invite using the iBat framework: Influencers who will attract an Audience and promote the event's Benefits and Theme. Pre-event promotion should start one year or more in advance using traditional and social media. The event itself should encourage social sharing using hashtags and check-ins. Post-event work includes compiling photos and metrics to continue promoting the event online. The overall message is that events bring social media to life by increasing engagement.

1. Be the Talk of the Town
Event Promotion Done Right
(According to @DowntownRob)

2. Who's @DowntownRob?
Own: @WebWizards since 1997
Co-Founder: @FandomMarketing
Launching: @MingleStream
Events: @tWineUpSD @TwestivalSD #4sqDaySD
Fun: #Movies #Foodie #Tech #Web #Dev

3. Alternate Titles For Your Enjoyment
Pump Up The Volume:
Raising The Social Buzz for Your Events
Making a Splash:
Pushing Your Events into the Social Stream

4. Types of Events
• Tweetups, tWineUps, Meetups • Celebrity/Weblebrity/
• Brand Promotions (Launch Local Personalty
Parties, Venue Grand Promotions (Book
Openings, Company Launches, Charity
Anniversaries) Appearances)
• My favorite... PJWAGT:
People Just Wanting a
Good Time (TM)

5. Events are like a Brontosaurus
(I am a genius)

6. Three Phases of an Event &
Event Promotion
- Pre-Event (The Head)
- The Event (The Body)
- Post-Event (The Tail)
Different Tactics and Strategies for Each Phase

7. Pre-Event Promotion
• The longer the timeline, • Leverage social media: Do
the more promotional what was impossible,
opportunities. easily and quickly.
• Timeline: As long as one
year, as short as one day.
• Traditional promotion:
press release, articles,
TV, radio, print.

8. Use the iBat TM
to hit a home run
(I may get sued by Apple...)

9. The iBat Acronym:
- Influencers
- Benefits
- Audience
- Theme

10. Influencers: Local Personalities,
Weblebrities, Celebrities
• Some influencers know lots of people. You want people to
attend your event. Therefore, invite influencers, and
partner with them to promote your event.
• Other influencers attract, people will come to your event
to see/meet/smell that influencer.
• Elite influencer ninjas both know and attract lots of
people. Some even charge money. It may be worth it to
pay them to attend and you can exploit/promote them
attending.

11. Twitter Rocks
You can reach influencers and
venues, or those that represent
them, via Twitter directly, quickly,
and easily. That is all.

12. Why Attend? Events With Benefits
People attend events because they benefit in some way.
(Unless it's some illegal event I won't cover right now)
A short list of example benefits:
• Delicious food (restaurants love sharing their food in
exchange for Yelp reviews, or social buzz)
• Meeting awesome people you've been tweeting with for
months
• Smelling said influencers
• Free alcohol (provided because you're going to tweet about
it)
• Almost Free Alcohol (provided because you might tweet
about it)

13. Who's Your Audience?
- Tailor your promotions to the audience (target market) of
your event.
- Find/reach out via Twitter to...
- those with similar interests that may want to attend.
- influencers in the same audience as your event.
- others doing complementary events for cross-promotions,
partnerships.

14. Wear a Good Theme
- Fun themes take the fun and wrap it all in a ninja costume.
- Everyone loves dressing up.
- People love sharing photos of themselves dressed up or in
costume.
- Example Themes I've attended: Mad Men, Alice in
Wonderland, Pimps and Hos

15. Pre-Event Promotion Summary
- iBat (Influencers, Benefit, Audience, Theme)
- Pre-event Events
- A single RSVP page if possible (Meetup.com, Facebook Public
Event, Tweetvite.com, Eventbright)

16. The Event
- Share the good times: What's the #Hashtag?
- Check-In: Foursquare, Facebook, Yelp, Gowalla, Whrrl
- Check-Out: Bizzy
- Increase sharing exponentially: Minglestream tweetwall or
some form of display
- Share photos & videos, post on Facebook, Posterous, Flickr,
Tumblr

17. Post-Event Wrap-Up
Typically, not much done. Everyone rests. Instead...
- Leverage the new face-to-face status online, tweet deeper.
- Contest follow-ups, discounts for attendees, post-promo
promo.
- Compile photo albums, Animoto.com video of photos, use in
future promotional efforts.
- LOL All those awesome photos are now tagged on Facebook.
- Measurement, Analytics, Reporting: increase in buzz,
followers, reach, engagement, sentiment.
- Leverage the event for as long as possible... a long tail is
very powerful.

18. Put the Social in Social Media
Use events to promote yourself, your company, your charity,
your passion
Hugs Not Handshakes (TM)
People remember how you make them feel
Events bring social media to life

19. Questions? I have answers...
• Social Media Strategy
• Training
• Community Building
• Promotions, Events,
Outreach
• Social Web Development
• SPO (Social Platform
Optimization) for new and
existing web sites.

20. Thank you for attending...
Please note:
I used no exclamation points in
this presentation: +2 points
I used pictures of a brontosaurus:
+20 points
I called myself a genius: -2
points
Some of you laugh funny: +2
It made you laugh: +5 points points
LOL, some of you are doing math
right now: +13 points