Is it okay to publicly post content that people are charging money for to an audience that is not paying for it?
As an event producer, I'm a bit torn on this one as I can easily see both sides:
Side A: People are paying good money to attend this conference and any event planner can tell you that conferences are not cheap to produce. Speaker fees, travel costs, venue rental, food and beverage costs add up very quickly. (Just to give some perspective for any non-event planners out there who may not get to see banquet orders very often: the coffee or iced tea that's set out at an event at a higher-end resort in any given bustling city typically runs $65 or more per gallon.) It's pricey to put on these events and the fact that people are twittering away key points of intellectual property to people who aren't helping covering the cost of the event is directly at odds with making a profit on the event or even breaking even. Plus, is it really fair to those who are paying to be there?
Side B: Twitter is fantastic for marketing events. There is no doubt that when attendees post updates from an event it increases awareness and interest for the next one. It is much easier to put on future events when you have Twitter buzz and increased word-of-mouth to build on. So in that sense, even though information is being shared with people who aren't generating current revenue for the event, they very well could be people who sign up and pay to attend a date further down the road.
There are many more questions that tie in with this particular topic in social media etiquette: does Twitter break the trust and atmosphere of a group? Can attendees or speakers really share knowing that anything they say is truly not "off the record"?
At Engage!09 The Encore this past October, designer Todd-Avery Lenahan asked everyone to "use discretion" in tweeting his talk as he wanted to be an open book, but knew that Twitter could easily present his stories out of context since many people post soundbites and not complete ideas from presentations. Many smaller events have adopted a similar idea and made their meetings Twitter and Facebook free. Is that the only solution? Will there be large events that are strictly Twitterless? Or does the increased use of these social mediums mean that we'll have to shift our views on not only privacy but on how the industry makes money from instructional events as well?
Lots of questions and as I mentioned, I don't have a firm black and white view. What are your opinions? Should conference content be shared with non-conference attendees via social media? How do you think social media and instant sharing will change the future of industry conferences and workshops?
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12 comments:
Wow, I never thought about it like this before. I've always seen attendees tweeting phrases and such. Social media is a great way to let others know about the event. It's a wonderful method of publicity that I think the event would miss out on if it was social media free. I know it's made me want to go to certain events just from what others say about it.
I think if an even was "Twitterless", it would be cool to have a designated "live tweeter" to use discretion in tweeting things from the event. Discretion being things that shed a positive light on the event and the speakers.
I wonder what will come of all of this for 2010!
I tend to lean toward Side B. Trying to police content seems to always backfire (reference Groundswell by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff). I can only imagine that what you gain from social media buzz and market attention outweighs the negative of having non-payers hear what you have to say.
Such great thoughts! Most of the time, the "tweets" I see coming out of conferences are more motivational in nature, and honestly function as a marketing tool for me! The reality is, I believe, we as attending participants need to police ourselves, as the soundbites can be helpful or hurtful to the presenter outside the confines of the presentation room. I have to wonder, is their really in difference in tweeting a gym of wisdom from Simon T. Bailey's speech and printing a tip from Jeff Gitomer's book? Realistically, the information in the book is for sale the same way, right?
I love that you start the discussions, and really get out minds working about how to best handle these sensitive situations!
Terrific Topic! I am on side B...having given and attended many conferences, the marketing benefit of it outweighs the rest for me. Most content at conferences is not original in nature, but the person who is framing it and getting you to apply it is. Great example is Simon T, as you can buy his book or read a tweet...but being in a room during his presentation is priceless!
Maybe speakers need to step up their presentation experience to make sure people are willing to spend money to see it live? Another topic perhaps :)
This post really made me think. I know I tweeted a few times from your Blogging Bootcamp, but I tried to limit them to insights I was having because of what you were saying, not direct quotes from you, does that make sense? I also hoped that tweeting about the experience would give you some publicity, and also help to connect with others who might have attended or be attending in the future.
Great topic! I think that a tweeter should be able to sum up their experiences and feelings and even quote a speaker because the publicity outweighs any losses.
I lean toward thinking that participant comments should be treated as confidential. But I am interested to hear what others think on the subject.
Great topic Liene. I think tweeting should be done, however, you should not be giving the play by play. You paid money to attend the conference and to give a non-payer the play by play, minute by minute means that there is no reason for me to attend a conference when I can just follow the hashtags. It is also great to see who's attending (often that is when you finally meet your 'tweet' friends.
Examples of great conference tweets were some of the tweets from Engage, the blogging conference in Atlanta and the Association of Bridal Consultants conference (last November)...many of the tweets were informative, the pictures gave you a brief glimpse and made you think, 'hmmm I need to attend these conferences the next time'. They gave me enough to keep me interested, however, I did not walk away with play by play transcript.
Great article. I've always thought it is fantastic to twitter *about* what the workshop speakers are talking about. Like, "Awesome workshop today - learning about how to market using facebook and twitter." That gives people an idea about what they could learn from the workshop. Many people are hesitant to sign up for a workshop or seminar if they aren't sure about what topics are covered or whether they could use the information. I have never considered twittering actual workshop information (like, "workshop speaker said do A, B, and C to get more clients"), because (a) how in the world do you fit that much information into 140 characters without missing an important point and (b) it is disrespectful to the speaker to share information that was meant for a limited crowd.
So there's a fine line between twittering about a woskshop or seminar and twittering the actual content.
For myself personally, attending workshops and conferences are more about the inter-personal relationships I develop and what I take away from the speakers and how it pertains to my business. I think tweeting is natural and fine. IMO, there is nothing new under the sun and a person reading my tweets are never, ever going to get what I got from the live experience.
This CAN be a touchy subject and I do see both sides as well. Having been to many conferences as well as read many tweets from conferences I hadn't attended (and wishing I were there), I can say that the tweets are almost like "teasers". You definitely don't get the full experience from tweets that you do from actually attending a conference.
Congratulations on the selection of this blogpost by Jon Ingram, the host of the January Carnival of Trust.
The Carnival of Trust, organized by Trusted Advisor Associates, is a monthly compendium of the best of the web on the subject of trust. See this month's issue at http://blog.social-advantage.com/2010/01/carnival-of-trust-january-2010.html
This particular post does a great job of raising trust-related issues in a cutting edge environment--very timely!
(For what it's worth, I come down also on Side B; my sense is that unless you're a chemist or physicist, if your IP can be captured in a few 140-word tweet, then you're not adding very much value to an idea in the presentation).
Congratulations again, and thanks for a provocative post.
Charles H. Green
Trusted Advisor Associates
www.trustedadvisor.com
Teaser Tweets can be beneficial on both sides, but agree that Tweeting verbatim is wrong and annoyed.
Aside from the fact that the attendees paid to hear the content, it's rude and disrespectful to the speaker.
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