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TIPS ON USING SOCIAL MEDIA
A handful of general guidelines to help you work your way into the social Web.

Return to the Social Media Toolkit home page or download the full Social Media Guide (PDF document). GENERAL GUIDELINES 1. Find out what sites your attendees are using already, and use that as a basis for determining where to direct your social media efforts. If you have no idea where your attendees are gathering on the Web, survey them.

2. Do a little research to see if and where your meeting is being represented on the social Web. For example, you might be surprised to find photos of last year's meeting on Flickr, or you might find a Facebook group that was started by an attendee. Take an audit of what's out there now.

3. Be willing to experiment and try different tools. Start by listening, and try sites out on a personal basis. Getting acquainted with the social Web will help you better identify if and how it can work for your meeting.

4. Don't feel like you need to use every tool that's out there. Choose none, choose one or choose several. There isn't a magic formula that applies to everyone.

5. When selecting sites to participate on, keep in mind the level of difficulty or commitment involved. At a minimum, you can send Columbus meeting attendees to social media communities that Experience Columbus has already developed. You can also take things to the next level, by building your own social media presence devoted to your organization or meeting (regardless of its location).

6. Don't abandon your other promotional activities. For most organizations, social media is a nice enhancement to already existing marketing and promotional efforts, not a replacement.

7. Don't give up too easily. Some social media tools are far less intuitive than others when you first start using them. A learning curve is perfectly normal.