Social Networking Around Your Event with introNetworks Connected to Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook
Kymberlee Weil knows a thing or two about grace under pressure. With only 8 weeks, no support team and a partner with whom she’d never worked, she set out to turn a vague, “back-of-the-napkin” idea into a functioning piece of social networking software. And her audience was no less than the Technology, Entertainment and Design Conference sponsored that year (2002) by Macromedia. With her partner, Mark Sylvester, Weil quickly assembled her team and got to work. The result was a wildly successful product launch (the software was tried by 78% of the conference attendees), a write-up in The New York Times, and enough demand for the product that they founded their company, introNetworks to meet that demand.
Weil and Sylvester’s goal was to give business the opportunity to connect with like-minded companies and individuals. Unlike Facebook or LinkedIn, however, their networking software used profiling technology to match people with similar interests who had never met. “What we wanted to do,” says Weill, “is actually serve the community more as a recommendation engine. We wanted to recommend who you should talk to, recommend what products you would be interested in, recommend what sessions or content might fit your interests, your skills, your personality, your background the best.” And those recommendations can, in turn, lead to vibrant communities which, if properly sustained, greatly enhance the success of corporate events.
See Weil speak at Virtual Edge Summit February 22-23 at the Santa Clara Convention Center in California. Attend free in person or online at http://www/virtualedgesummit.com
By integrating with other social networks - Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter - but imposing invitation-only restrictions, introNetworks creates what Weill describes as “velvet rope communities,” more private and more selective congregations that have a tighter focus than most social networks. And while Weill concedes that community-building in the virtual environment has had a spotty success rate so far, she believes it is still in its infancy. She compares it to corporate websites 10 years ago, “…50 to 60 thousand dollars…for three pages of static information that you didn’t change for a whole year.” And as the economy forces event producers to rethink strategy, Weil notes that online communities can bring in revenue streams from sources unheard of in more traditional times.
For companies who want to dive into the sometimes confusing waters of social media but don’t know how or why, Weil has condensed her expertise into 5 basic areas for consideration:
1. Develop a strategy. Know what you want your community to accomplish. A solid strategy will allow the other components to work in synch more seamlessly with each other.
2. Understand the implementation requirements. Know what it takes to get up and running, a process that should be, according to Weil, “very fast and very easy.”
3. Business intelligence. By recognizing what content your audience wants and doesn’t want, you can better serve them.
4. The user experience should be simple and intuitive. When trying out new software, users can be impatient and unforgiving. The initial experience should not dissuade them from returning.
5. Be able to measure your success. Have specific metrics in place to determine your ROI.
Once you’ve organized your community, how do you sustain it? Weil offers some tips on how to keep your audience engaged. Keep the process fun, she says. And that starts with filling out the profile. Instead of just entering information into blank fields, the introNetworks platform generates a series of key words that the user can drag to various areas within the profile field. Based on where those key words are placed, the software matches users with others who have selected similar words. Also, giving community members a stake in the process, allowing them to take ownership of content will strengthen that sense of community. And by allowing video messaging within the platform, along with integration with other platforms and CRM systems, the introNetworks system provides a more personal touch to what can be an anonymous process.
Weil sees any number of future possibilities for the introNetworks software, including partnering with more established event platforms who may not have considered the importance of communities as thoroughly as Weil and Sylvester have. They have developed a three-step process called Build, Launch and Grow which articulates best practices gleaned through their years of experience. And although it may seem daunting at first glance, community building should be simple and stress-free. “It really should be very easy,” Weil claims, “and even a fun process to launch your community and watch it flourish.”
Weil and Sylvester’s goal was to give business the opportunity to connect with like-minded companies and individuals. Unlike Facebook or LinkedIn, however, their networking software used profiling technology to match people with similar interests who had never met. “What we wanted to do,” says Weill, “is actually serve the community more as a recommendation engine. We wanted to recommend who you should talk to, recommend what products you would be interested in, recommend what sessions or content might fit your interests, your skills, your personality, your background the best.” And those recommendations can, in turn, lead to vibrant communities which, if properly sustained, greatly enhance the success of corporate events.
See Weil speak at Virtual Edge Summit February 22-23 at the Santa Clara Convention Center in California. Attend free in person or online at http://www/virtualedgesummit.com
By integrating with other social networks - Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter - but imposing invitation-only restrictions, introNetworks creates what Weill describes as “velvet rope communities,” more private and more selective congregations that have a tighter focus than most social networks. And while Weill concedes that community-building in the virtual environment has had a spotty success rate so far, she believes it is still in its infancy. She compares it to corporate websites 10 years ago, “…50 to 60 thousand dollars…for three pages of static information that you didn’t change for a whole year.” And as the economy forces event producers to rethink strategy, Weil notes that online communities can bring in revenue streams from sources unheard of in more traditional times.
For companies who want to dive into the sometimes confusing waters of social media but don’t know how or why, Weil has condensed her expertise into 5 basic areas for consideration:
1. Develop a strategy. Know what you want your community to accomplish. A solid strategy will allow the other components to work in synch more seamlessly with each other.
2. Understand the implementation requirements. Know what it takes to get up and running, a process that should be, according to Weil, “very fast and very easy.”
3. Business intelligence. By recognizing what content your audience wants and doesn’t want, you can better serve them.
4. The user experience should be simple and intuitive. When trying out new software, users can be impatient and unforgiving. The initial experience should not dissuade them from returning.
5. Be able to measure your success. Have specific metrics in place to determine your ROI.
Once you’ve organized your community, how do you sustain it? Weil offers some tips on how to keep your audience engaged. Keep the process fun, she says. And that starts with filling out the profile. Instead of just entering information into blank fields, the introNetworks platform generates a series of key words that the user can drag to various areas within the profile field. Based on where those key words are placed, the software matches users with others who have selected similar words. Also, giving community members a stake in the process, allowing them to take ownership of content will strengthen that sense of community. And by allowing video messaging within the platform, along with integration with other platforms and CRM systems, the introNetworks system provides a more personal touch to what can be an anonymous process.
Weil sees any number of future possibilities for the introNetworks software, including partnering with more established event platforms who may not have considered the importance of communities as thoroughly as Weil and Sylvester have. They have developed a three-step process called Build, Launch and Grow which articulates best practices gleaned through their years of experience. And although it may seem daunting at first glance, community building should be simple and stress-free. “It really should be very easy,” Weil claims, “and even a fun process to launch your community and watch it flourish.”
Tags: ., intronetworks, kymberlee weil, social networking
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