The MACPA 2013 Innovation Summit set new records for engagement on social media for a CPA conference. The summit had 338 attendees, reached over 200,000 people on social media, and generated over 1.8 million impressions. New technologies like Flybits and Conferences.io were used to create engagement among attendees. Sponsors were also highly engaged, with some receiving over 300 visits to their sponsored zones at the event. The success of the summit was due to an emphasis on social media promotion and training for attendees and sponsors, as well as sponsoring new "Road to the Cloud" curriculum for ongoing engagement throughout the year.

1. MACPA 2013 Innovation Summit
Social Success!
#MDSUMMIT
Tom Hood, CPA, CITP, CGMA
CEO
@tomhood
MACPA @macpa
Business Learning Institute @bizlearn

2. First, a word from our sponsor
"This event is different from any other
in the profession, so our approach to
how we engage with the show and its
participants is different"
- Jennifer Warawa, Sage's vice president of partner programs
and channel sales

4. Tom Hood
CEO of MACPA & BLI
• Named Fourth Most Influential
Person by Accounting Today
• Top 25 Influencers in Learning & HR
by HR Examiner
• Top 25 Public Accounting Thought
Leaders by CPA Practice Adviser
• Working on Learning Management
with AICPA/CPA2Biz, Cloud
Curriculum, Performance
Management /XBRL, Leadership &
Generations
Tom Hood, CPA, CITP, CGMA
CEO
MACPA
Business Learning Institute (BLI)
http://www.linkedin.com/in/tomhood

5. Last year (2012) we set records for the most
“social” CPA tech conference in the US…
-
20,000
40,000
60,000
80,000
100,000
120,000
140,000
160,000
180,000
200,000
California Acct. & Bus. Show PSTECH CCH Listening Event
Social Media Metrics: Amplification
MACPA Innovation Summit

6. This year we set out to beat that
record and tip the adoption curve
http://www.macpa.org/Content/summitsponsorship.aspx
Sponsorship Video http://cpa.tc/2p4

7. Innovative Conference Technologies used to
create engagement, particpation & experience

8. And we did! The numbers
speak for themselves
#MDSUMMIT By the numbers
• Attendees 338
• Pre-summit Social Media Session 382
• Reach 214,709
• Impressions 1,816,627
• Press Release Impressions 38,190
• Press Release Reads 1,083
• Slideshare views 1,296
• Youtube 258

9. #MDSUMMIT By the numbers
Conferences.io stats
http://www.conferences.io

10. Conferences.io stats

11. Are you in the {Flybits}
Zone?Engagement with participants
Using location aware app Flybits we set up
zones for our Platinum sponsors where
they loaded content and resources
accessed by participants on their mobile
devices when they entered their {zone}.

12. Special {zone} reporting for sponsors
Zone Zone Visits
MACPA 322
CPA2Biz 127
Sage 151
CCH 79
Ziptr 121
Simplified 82
http://www.flybits.com

13. We started with a question – how can we “tip the
adoption curve” with a special ThinkTank session
Using the ThinkTank
Collaboration we had a special
session for sponsors and a
CPA member advisory group
to talk about technology
adoption and CPAs

14. We used the feedback from this session to
design special sponsorship value packages

15. And more exposure for sponsors thru
education of members
• Development of “Road to the Cloud” curriculum
featuring sponsored CPE designed to help CPAs
with first steps
• ROA – Return on Attention by adding focus on
special curriculum via “Free CPE” and exposure
during town halls throughout the year (2,000 plus
CPAs)
• Social Q&A at Town Halls for polls and questions
from MACPA members (using conferences.io)

16. “Road to the Cloud” Curriculum
http://www.macpa.org/Content/free-cpe.aspx
Objective to create a resource Center
for CPAs to learn about the cloud.
Featuring sponsored CPE sessions
that shows how CPAs can take
advantage of technology and stay
ahead of change.
Courses will be designed to help
CPAs deal with the change equation
D * V * F > R
With options for using our
community platform MACPA Groups
to help connect members to other
CPAs and even vendors to get help
implementing and using technology

17. Event + year-round exposure through
MACPA Town Hall Meetings
http://cpa.tc/2p6 http://cpa.tc/2p7
12-16 Sessions per year
Reaching 2,000+ CPAs
4 hour Free CPE events
Featuring Trends and Issues in Profession
Recap on our award winning blog (add’l reach)

18. How we did it…
• Integration of Social into Conference - Social Media
Guide
• Pre-conference social media training for sponsors
and members
• Press release, pre-event and at event press
conferences
• Twitter, blogging and social sites like
slideshare, youtube, facebook, google + & linked-in
• Innovative conference technologies (Flybits &
Conferences.io) to create engagement and
particpation of attendees

19. Tools & Examples

20. Before – Social Media Guide
http://www.slideshare.net/thoodcpa/2013-macpa-innovation-summit-social-media-guide
We added a special
pre-conference social
media quick start
session for our
members and another
for sponsors.
The objective being to
help members and
sponsors leverage
social media for
learning and
connections
before, during and after
the summit.

21. Before – Pre-conference social media training
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQatdVl7-7c
http://www.slideshare.net/thoodcpa/macpa-social-media-quick-start
For Sponsors For Members
http://www.slideshare.net/thoodcpa/tipping-the-adoption-curve-how-to-reach-cpas

22. http://cpa.tc/2p5
http://cpa.tc/2fi
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ogDU5L5sw8
National Press Coverage

23. Pre-event Press Release

24. Pre-event Press Conference
http://www.slideshare.net/thoodcpa/macpa-2013-innovation-summit-press-conference
With the leading Accounting
publications – Accounting
Today, Accounting Web, CPA
Practice Advisor
Featuring our Innovative
technologies for
connection, collaboration
and engagement with
conference attendees
(speakers, sponsors and
participants).
And press announcements
from our Platinum sponsors –
CCH, CPA2Biz, Sage, Ziptr, an
d Simplified Innovations

25. Twitter as Amplifier
> 1,700 tweets
Tweetdoc captures twitter stream

26. Plus: our blog www.cpasuccess.com

27. Thanks to our Platinum sponsors
@getgroupsystems @teamflybits @conferencesio

28. Tom Hood, CPA.CITP
CEO
Maryland Association of CPAs
Business Learning Institute
(443) 632-2301
E-mail tom@macpa.org
Web http://www.macpa.org
Blog http://www.cpasuccess.com
Blog http://www.bizlearningblog.com
Follow me on:
 Twitter: http://www.Twitter.com/tomhood
 LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/tomhood
 Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/thoodcpa
Google +:
https://plus.google.com/104372556333854919205
Slideshare: http://www.slideshare.net/thoodcpa
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/thoodcpa
Second Life avatar name: Rocky Maddaloni