A selection of general topics for those working in the business events industry in Australia and abroad
14/07/2010 2:59:31 PM
melanietk
Posts: 55
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Thanks Sonya! I would be honoured if you passed this along. I just wish I had the opportunity for more frequent updates. Having recently just come out of a 'post event comedown' combined with a pretty ferocious head cold, I probably have a bit of fodder incoming.
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14/07/2010 2:54:19 PM
Sonya Petkovska
Posts: 6
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David...I'll see you at ABEE/RSVP. 
Melanietk. I love your BLOG. So good to see someone so passionate about what they do! Keep it up. Hope you dont mind but I'm going to pass it onto a few of my industry friends.
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14/07/2010 2:00:55 PM
Toruk Makto
Posts: 127
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Yes I have moved on, but they are now attacking me.
as for narrow view
I think to see things from both angles is more of an open view- If all you do is see it from a positive light without seeing the negative- then you are narrow in your thoughts.
I have moved on from fighting the guy making the false claims- the last time I mentioned it was on this forum along time ago- I have moved on. So I don't want to go into that argument- it was not good for my health and I have bigger more important things to do now.- so I have moved on- it is just that they keep coming back- but I have a feeling that it will pass- they will get bored and move on themselves in time.
so Yes I have moved on- I was just letting people know of a different side of facebook so their views were not so narrow
I have not given much info about myself and only friends can view the details- not friends of friends. I Have not really promoted it only because I am still learning it, most of the content are rss feeds from my twitter (which doesn't get used) and my news directory which I havn't really promoted because of my brand new spanking corporate magic site that I have been working on-- which I am very proud of (I have been filming with cool green screens and have made info videos that appear as tho I am walking onto the web page) and I have been incorporating Various databases into the site which is taking me forever to do (I don't enjoy transfering databases) This and working gigs has been what I have been working on - Not fighting others. I am trying to get it ready for RSVP but I am not so sure- red bull and nooooo sleep and I think it will be ready. To get back on topic ummm
Yes at the moment I have family and some friends who are my friends on facebook- I'll have to look it over more to see what I can do with it.
edited by Toruk Makto on 17/07/2010
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14/07/2010 10:25:20 AM
melanietk
Posts: 55
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Downside to Facebook because someone is trolling you? What an interestingly narrow view. (I almost typed in 'downside to the Internet' - Freudian slip?)
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14/07/2010 10:12:36 AM
Sonya Petkovska
Posts: 6
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Makes you think...is it all worth it? Do we really need to give people too much information about ourselves?
Toruk Makto is this your 'company' facebook account or your 'personal' facebook account.
Maybe its time to stop posting negative things about other magicians and concentrate on what you do best. Seems to me that you are competant enough as I've seen your tradeshow video...
Even though our industry is small there's room for everyone to do what they do without the negativity.
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13/07/2010 10:26:24 PM
Toruk Makto
Posts: 127
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Well I am getting attacked on Facebook at the moment- I can't seem to block the user because they set up an account and post me a message and then delete their account under the name of Kylie Tan
I can't repeat the message because they are too rude, but It has to do with my comments against those magicians using false advertising
They are taking shots at my physical features, but I cannot reply to them. So there is a downside to facebook.
cowards hide themselves, and this is what can happen when you allow people not to identify themselves
Dave
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2/06/2010 3:56:25 PM
Toruk Makto
Posts: 127
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pre show twitter was not bad actually, I have it on my toolbar so I look every day
honestly I didn't know about the hashtag search, never heard of it. I will start searching for things with a # on googl I use "" I assumed they would keep it all the same
Also with a name that incorporates "RSVP" I believe some of the search may become lost with other RSVP dating and to be honest any event that wants people to RSVP.
facebook located here http://www.facebook.com/rsvpeventcommunity?ref=ts#!/rsvpeventcommunity?v=wall&ref=ts
not alot of individual posting there, more from the organisers, but a few comments here and there.
yeah good on them for having a go. I just wanted to get something going on this forum again. I was at the expo, comparing what happened, to what the media said about it and having a giggle.
I was reading a post here http://eventexperts.com.au/index.php/2010/05/28/what-did-we-learn-from-rsvp-melbourne/ and they mentioned other social media like Ning (which has been around for a while) and others and seeing if other events were doing anything.
personally if the events industry is talking about using social media- I look to the trade events of the events industry as examples - they should be the kings and queens of social media at events
if their expo is about services to the events industry- I see that as they should do everything right and be an example, but this is my warped way of thinking (or lack of)
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2/06/2010 2:14:36 PM
melanietk
Posts: 55
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There were 40 + posts from their official account on just the two show days alone. Sadly a #hashtag search has limited results, but if you incorporate #RSVPMelb and #RSVP, not to mention any related tweets that didn't use a hashtag at all, I would say it was a rather good attempt at utilizsng that particular medium. I don't know what RSVP's pre-show social media education was - whether they informed their exhibitors to use a specific tag to promote their presence at the show to the clients and followers, whether RSVP Melbourne actively suggested to their registrants to follow @RSVPMelb or use the hashtag when talking about the event, what type of follow base the speakers have, etc etc.... It's a fairly wide net to cast on something that is still in the teething stage.
We're not just 'talking about it' - I mean, have you ever seen the twitter stream - or rather, torrent - that is associated with any TEDx event? Each event has to not only plan such a strategy as part of their larger marketing plan, but dedicate resources to creating and implementing it as well.
Did RSVP have a LinkedIn or Facebook page for their event? Did they set up means by which attendees and exhibitors could connect prior, during or after the show - both online or offline? Perhaps their pre-show research on attendees found that they were not using those types of connections in their day to day business. Remember the part about how everyone is still learning, analysing, and assessing the viability and practice of these platforms? The @RSVPMelb account has under 200 followers. Whats to say that next year that wont be 2000? I applaud them for being there, and active, in the first place.
It's still early days my friend. Such an example is not indicative of the outcome or future of the 'social media revolution'.
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2/06/2010 12:54:29 PM
Toruk Makto
Posts: 127
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lets have a look at RSVP Melbourne Twitter
found here http://twitter.com/RSVPevent
There has been talk of using social media for pre/post and actual show
but no one is posting anything or rather there is hardly anything on the melbourne RSVP Twitter. despite the fact that thousands of people attended
so are we just talking about using social media- or are we actually using it- I think we just talk about it.
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8/04/2010 11:52:45 AM
Toruk Makto
Posts: 127
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whatever you read or not read check out http://twitterfeed.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://twitterfeed.com/
This is a powerful tool set up to automate part of your social media.
And investigate widgets which I will discuss later
, you will have 2 types of fans
those who join to follow the crowd (good for statistics, but not so good for anything else) and those who are raving fans, raving fans love you and want to help promote your business and they get involved
by creating a NEWS WIDGET you can share your rss feeds in a more direct manner than using twitter. your raving fans can put your news widget on their face book to spread the word quicker
You can also create a mobile site at widgetbox.com so people can access your page or site on the go- this is all using RSS Feeds
I have been thinking about your comment all day in between shows at the sydney family show today and I am disapointed that you didn't find a single thing to help in my posts, even if you just scanned the topic you would have come across http://twitterfeed.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://twitterfeed.com/ because it stands out in blue as a link.
AB99 got it right - it is faster because it is based on RSS Feeds, and not email, information is sent out as soon as it is typed- much more efficient than emails
he/she also states I see them as serving your own personal news update pages, where you can both post your news and read others, all in one glance.
do your self a favour and spend 5 minutes learning about the technology you wish to use not only what you can do with it, but how it works, My toolbox is exactly what AB99 is talking about get all the latest news in 1 glance with no emails updated every two hours. and I would very much like to add the Micenet latest news feed to it for my growing users. (because I have spicenew, eeaa, cei asia UK events news and you can get all this in a glance). You might not understand what I am talking about, but your going to want to know in the future.
I have sent emails to you asking for permission to use the feed to share it with those who have already downloaded my program- (because your web page privacy says I have to ask) Could I please use it?
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edited by FREE Event Organisers Tool Box on 8/04/2010
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8/04/2010 10:08:51 AM
Sonya Petkovska
Posts: 6
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Thanks to everyone for replying. I'm a bit closer to understanding (I think). I did (a while ago) read something about young people abandoning Facebook (guess they dont want their parents to know what they are really doing...) and it was poised to become a social networking platform for the over 50's (finding school friends...sharing photo's of grandkids etc)...So again I ask myself...what's the point? I will however endeavour to set up a 'business' Facebook account (using this name so I hope you all become my 'friends') when I get a chance.
TD - glad I'm not the only one here. I've no doubt that there are alot of us out there who are trying to find their way around 'social networking'. I was watching the morning news and it seems like all the Polititians are Twittering (makes you wonder if they are really listening to what being said in Parliment).
AB99 - I hope that when I set up my 'business' facebook account I'll use it just as much as my personal one.
MelanieTK - thanks...always enjoy reading your comments. You are fast becoming a Social Networking queen (or Princess depending on your age) to me. Thanks also for participating in our last Top 5 feature..."Tips on Utilising Social Media" - February issue of mice.net page 22-23...
http://micenet.realviewtechnologies.com/default.aspx?cdn=0&xml=micenet.xml&iid=32941
FEOToolB - Sorry you lost me. Too much mixed information...guess you didnt consider the KISS rule in this instance.
Would love to hear from others who are using Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin and get your perspective...is it working for you? Or should we all just go back to picking up the phone (calling a friend, client etc), networking (face to face my favorite) at industry events...long lunches (takes me back to the 80's and 90's). Are we really that busy that the only time we have is spent in front of the computer?
This forum is your opportunity to write to your hearts content and BRAD FOSTER has made a promise that if he see's something that he thinks our readers will enjoy he'll publish it in micenet magazine.
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4/04/2010 4:28:54 PM
Toruk Makto
Posts: 127
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People who are passionate about what they do and are proud of who they work for would create a facebook profile with their company details on it.
If you really like what you do and who you work for you may brag about it, which could cause problems.
Or a young 18 year old fresh out of school gets her first job, and she brags to all her friends how she has a great job or bad job,
". I can't imagine too many people going out to create a Business Fan Page "
I can't imagine why people have to lie cheat and steal but it happens, people with do things for any amount of reasons The mear mention that you work for XYZ Company is enough to have an impact on the business especially when you put up your drunken photos or whatever.
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4/04/2010 11:39:55 AM
melanietk
Posts: 55
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Hence my (multiple) suggestion of creating a 'Fan Page' for your professional (whether personal or business) profile, and these things can't happen - you have full moderating rights, and I would like to assume you would be smart enough not to post 'personal pics from Aunty Jenny's wild 50's birthday party night club hopping adventure' on said profile.
You personal Facebook account remains completely separate and as always, you have many options for protecting your privacy of that profile. Just be smart about who you 'friend' and make sure you keep both worlds at a distance. Problem solved.
Fair point about creating a page for the business that you work for and being responsible for their brand - but as I've also said numerous times, that should be part of your business's marketing plan and thus carefully considered (ie: who will create and maintain it, what information is shared, what discussions or notifications are announced, who moderates and updates.. etc etc). I can't imagine too many people going out to create a Business Fan Page without either a) being the person in charge who has that authority or b) seek permission from the person who does have that authority. Why would you do it without the support of your fellow business associates anyway?
Create a mock page or test it out with a personal fan page first so you get to see all the bells and whistles. but really this is an easy concept and process and isn't as scary or complicated as some people would make you believe. As with anything on the Internet you need to carefully consider what information gets out there but by now that should be common knowledge - or one of the first things you self educate, or teach your staff.
This is a brave new world - experiment, road test, do market research, plan with your staff of associates, assess your progress - just like any new concept or marketing strategy implementation. I think you'll find yourselves pleasantly surprised how effective it can be if done properly, but like anything to do with Social Media, EVERYONE is new to this so we can all learn from each other.
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3/04/2010 4:16:00 PM
Toruk Makto
Posts: 127
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for anyone creating a facebook profile which is Business related you really should ask your employer for permission. If you are going to give your name and your business name then you should get permission There was a story a few weeks ago in Sydney how the two female teachers dressed up as tarty school girls and posted their photos on their own profile- not a smart thing to do and this impacts the schools image- so do ask permission and businesses should have guidlines or set up guidlines, and these guidlines should be set up by the marketing department of what you can and cannot do or post.
Your face book profile is an extension of your branding.
Now I don't know you that well Sonya, but I get the feeling that you wouldn't post those raunchy photos online, but you can't leave anything nowadays to common sense or to good taste, so guidlines should be set up because one persons bad face book profile can get sent across the net quicker than ......um well, very fast, and if it is negative it gets sent around even faster. and that bad facebook profile can have major impact on the image of a company. so in closing- Don't leave anything to chance, don't rely on common sense, make rules and guidelines- and be prepared to change these guidlines on the go- because the world of social media is contantly changing
OK I am off to get a napkin for my dribble and I'll be back soon after eating my chocolate mmmmmmmmmmmmmm
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3/04/2010 1:09:39 PM
melanietk
Posts: 55
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some good point and suggestions.
Again, even if your Fan Page is a business, you can still add some personality to it. I've seen some great examples of businesses engaging with their 'fans' and getting some great promotion out of their efforts, but I don't have the first clue as to the name of the person running the business - and I don't care! I have loyalty to their brand. If I wanted to find out I'm sure I could, but what they provide is sufficient for me for now.
So Business + personality can still = WIN, while for personal branding purposes (or an inability to be the official representative for your business/company), a Fan Page under your personal name could be something fun to experiment with. Just make sure your Info Tab contains the relevant information about contacting you or your business.
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2/04/2010 9:48:53 PM
Toruk Makto
Posts: 127
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However on a different angle
In sales which is where you are Sonya (and to be honest everyone is in sales), To get people to buy your product they first must buy into you as a human, and people buy from people they like, so therefore your face book profile that you use for your business profile could include more human style information, not just the latest news and business info etc, granted you don't want to have all your personal info on it, and you don't want to include info that other people can take advantage of but having things that people can relate to about you, adding such things make you appear more human to those who don't know you. (not that your a robot, but having things that other people can relate to.)
It is a different angle to look at, Face Book is social media so add what you do socially on it, if you go on a holiday and video it- you can blur out faces using windows movie maker (free program with PC's) add it to youtube and it lets people in. they get to know you, they start to buy into you, people are going to buy from their friends before someone they don't know.
anyway that is my dribble for the second- I'll have more later
One of the things is that you don't own your business, if you were the face of your business this would be easier to deal with, so if you do post personal info on your business face book profile make sure that it does not conflict with the micenet image and branding (I know I Know I don't have to say that, but common sense is not all that common)
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2/04/2010 5:10:55 PM
melanietk
Posts: 55
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Sonya, TD... I recently faced this little conundrum of Facebook mixing work/pleasure myself. I originally lamented the fact that my work responsibilities extended to Facebook, and felt that it was too 'weird' and crossed lines I didn't particularly want to cross in terms of business/personal life.
But since then, I have made some interesting discoveries. "Fan Pages" are a great tool for participating in discussions and receiving updates in your news feed (and with the clever use of filters, you can keep them separate from your family and friend updates) without any of your personal information being shared with anyone at all.
Creating your own "Fan Page" (for yourself, or your business - a lot of fan pages are now actual people, rather than a subject or concept) means you can link the pages you come across that are industry specific to that page only, rather than to your personal profile. Because most 'industry' people do the same thing - use fan pages instead of their personal profile, it becomes a nice 'arms length' situation.
Trying to explain it here is a little complicated, but suffice to say I am finding ways to conduct business while still keeping my private life relatively private.
As for how much time I spend on social networking... As an independent business owner, I have the flexibility to do a lot of it in my 'spare time' so on occasion, I've done some serious 5 hours sessions of catching up on twitter and participating in industry chats, reading LinkedIn Discussions, blogs, magazine articles, etc... But at the moment, with a significant event in less than a week, I've narrowed that down to about half an hour per day at most - I post event updates on twitter and Facebook, check on the status and statistics of various sites associated with the event, and then I get back to work. Deadlines are a great motivator
While I sometimes feel guilty over the time I (usually) spend on social media platforms, I know that it is also productive and educational, as well as social and networking and most times see it as time well spent.
edited by melanietk on 2/04/2010
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1/04/2010 11:02:55 PM
Toruk Makto
Posts: 127
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Oh no it's me
Seriously it's me again oh no
They say (I don't know who "they " are)
Never mix business with pleasure or personal.
Keep it seperate For business design a business face book profile if you could be bothered but better yet have a Linked IN account which is more business orientated
For social - just have a face book account and use your maiden name so no one knows who you are and keep it private so no one has access to it unless you say so.
For business you could create a Buisiness face book and use http://twitterfeed.com/ what you would do with this is use those nasty RSS Feeds that I was explaianing about in other posts to automatically update your business face book account and twitter accounts- what I mean is you grab the Micenet rss feed- latest news and whatever is posted here automatically gets posted on your twitter account without you doing anythning- I believe it will also appear in your facebook profile if you want. and you can grab other rss feeds to like this forum, this way it is a business account that you don't have to spend 30 minutes on, and it continues to update itself while you spend whatever time you have on your private facebook.
So yes you can have a face book and twitter account that you never personally update- you never ever touch it- but those business rss feeds do the work for you Gees I am only a magician and I Know this stuff, it is amazing that no one else knows this stuff.
ANY RSS Feed works so whatever your interested in- see if their is an RSS feed and you can add it, create a weblink back to micenet web site and bang instant business face book account which appears as tho you are constantly updating it. you could even add the micenet twitter feed to your own twitter feed, hmmmm, it gets confusing but essentially whatever gets posted on the official micentet twitter will automatically get published to your sonya business twitter
Oh my god I waffle on but golly gosh it is worth the read.... That 1 link is worth reading the entire posting, and it is free, so for all those small businesses out there who do not have time to do social media- you don't realy have to spend time doing it- just have a website that has RSS feeds or if you know a little about your website and you have a CPANEL you can create a latest news blog using wordpresss which is free and if you have a cpanel you can install it free and easy which you post your latest news and savings etc and it automatcally updates your social media sites, or worst comes to worst you can go here and create a free blog https://www.blogger.com/start and use the blogs rss feed to update your social media sites. so you just update your news as you would normally and it filters out to your social media sites
RSS stands for really simple syndication if you don't know.
I Have spent a year learning about RSS Feeds and feed readers and how they can be used- there is even an RSS to email newsletter program, so that your RSS feed turns into a Newsletter without you doing anything, people sign up and the program pulls info from your rss feed and sends it out to your database automatically- just make sure that the feed has constant changes in info - otherwise the same info will be sent each time.
OH and when I say use the blogs RSS feed- all I mean is you are copying and pasting the feed which appears in the web browser into the tritterfeed account (it tells you where to paste it) there is not high tech advanced editing knowledge required your only doing a copy & paste - very easy -
cool huh? and you thought I just did card tricks for a living
edited by FREE Event Organisers Tool Box on 2/04/2010
edited by FREE Event Organisers Tool Box on 2/04/2010
edited by FREE Event Organisers Tool Box on 2/04/2010
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1/04/2010 4:14:23 PM
AB99
Posts: 8
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I have both a personal and a business twitter account, which I keep very separate. I have a personal facebook account and am planning to open a business one soon.
To me, both serve as easy, quick ways to see "what's going on" without having to open, read, write individual (or mergemail) emails - so much faster and "right there at a glance". SAVES time, rather than wasting it! I probably spend all of 5 minutes a day on Twitter, and have made a few deals and new connections through it. Same with Linkedin, and so I am hoping my business Facebook will be similar. (I spend a lot more time per day on my personal Facebook - probably 30 minutes - but that's just because I so enjoy reading my friends and family's posts, looking at their photos, commenting and updating and so on. It's still much easier than doing individual emails - not that I don't still write those as appropriate of course!)
I see them as serving your own personal news update pages, where you can both post your news and read others, all in one glance.
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1/04/2010 3:25:06 PM
TD
Posts: 2
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I think much the same as you Sonya with regards to this. I have a facebook account, but it's not really suitable for a business environment. As far as I can see, nearly everyone has a facebook fan page or group and can't help thinking I'm missing something as I can't really see any benefit. Is it for branding purposes or are these pages designed to find new members or users or their services?
I've never attempted a linkedin account as I don't personally think I'd gain anything from that, I think twitter would be worth doing but once again I've never tried that either.
At the moment, creating a duplicate facebook account for business purposes might be worth doing... but I'm open to ideas.
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