The client is always right.
So when a meeting organizer told me firmly that she saw no purpose in a post-conference blog, I stopped to listen.
Our team has spent a good part of the past year showing how social media can extend the life and breadth of a conference, while the cornerstone content of a conference adds new life and meaning to blogs, wikis, and online discussion boards.
The client declared that no one has time for that: once people get home from a conference, they file it away and move on.
Too often, that’s true. But I still think we can get more from conference blogs by following some simple steps.
- Make the conference program itself compelling and worthwhile.
- Put key content online—real session reports, not just bloggers’ opinion pieces—while the conference is under way
- Line up three or a half-dozen leaders in your community to blog on the cornerstone content you’ve posted.
- Send e-blasts to announce new additions to your conference content website.
- Use permission email to make sure you send readers the news they need on the topics they’ve chosen. Make every e-blast a wanted e-blast.
There’s a certain magic onsite when participants’ shared interest and enthusiasm hits critical mass. Blogs can be a great tool for carrying on that momentum for weeks or months after the live event.
