Convention Insider (Conventions.net)

If the answer to this is no, you are missing out on a great opportunity to promote, publicize or market your event, trade show or convention. Flickr makes it possible to store your photographs online and they allow you to actually share those photos with the people that matter to you.  You can share your photos on your blog, or even on the Facebook page that seems not to get enough attention from you.  Flickr is also a database that can be searched for people that are perhaps looking for information related to your event.

Flickr allows you to upload photos that can then be tagged and labeled.  If you have an annual event and want people to see photographs from other years or if you want to make those photographs part of your sales pitch or sales brochure, it makes it easy to store them for future use.

In addition to being able to share your own photos, you can actually have other account holders’ photos fed via RSS directly onto your site as they tag those photos with your hashtag.  Hashtags are more than just a way for people to follow your event online, they are a way to identify your event in social networking sites like Flickr.  If you have not yet signed up for an account on Flickr I suggest you gt one and in addition to signing up for a free account today, I would also recommend that you sign up for a Pro account.  This will give you a little more flexibility in your use of the system.

I am considered as a techno-geek or a geeky person that loves technology.  I tend to get my hands on a number or applications or get asked to help many companies test their latest in offerings for social networks or beta test their latest software.  I love to see how things are changing and the trends of the future as it relates to how we use technology.  This is why when I talk about the title of this post I tend to be really passionate.  The world of mobile is a game changer for all of us.  It doesn’t matter what industry you are in and it doesn’t matter what demographic you come from, smart phones are changing the way we do business.

This is why we are Conventions.net are staying ahead of the curve and changing with the technology.  We are now offering a way for all of the trade show and convention industry people to stay on top of the latest mobile trends and the latest in game changing technology.  Is your company staying on top of the latest in mobile apps or are they lacking in that department?  You can find out by pouring through the applications for iPhones on Conventions.net.  I’ll recap the site information about the applications here:

Conventions.net has compiled a comprehensive list of Trade Show Industry iPhone Apps, Meetings Industry iphone Apps, and Event Industry iphone Apps on the web. You no longer need to scour the web or Apple’s iTunes store to find the best Applications for your next Trade Show, Conference, Meeting or Event. For additional information, or to download one of the Apps below just click its icon.

I recognize a number of the applications mentioned on the site by logo alone and I can assure you that the iPhone is not the only place you can find some of these technologies.  I know that applications are also available on the Blackberry and other smart phones so take a look not only on your iPhone if you are one of those users, but also make sure to see if the application is compatible with your brand of phone.  Chances are it is available or will be available shortly on all the other makes and models.

If you are a company that develops iPhone applications and/or a company that has developed an iPhone application and would like to see your application added to the Conventions.net page, please contact us so we can add it to the list of applications.  If you are a power user and do not see an application that we should be including please let us know.  We aim to be the go to guide for all things iPhone and the mobile market in the Trade Show, Conventions and Meetings industry!

Press releases, you are either a big fan of them or you hate them.  I have somewhat of a love hate relationship with the press release.  I am actually a fan now of the new social media release that makes it easy to distribute your news, but those have not yet hit the mainstream.  I get hundreds of press releases a week and some are related to my industry in social media, some are related to businesses I have helped in the past or some are just general interest to me.  I know that press releases are necessary and a great asset to companies.

I also know that press releases are a difficult thing to distribute to those that are interested specifically in your business or in our specific industry.  You send out a blanket release that may or may not be seen by the people that care.  How do we help you with this?  At Conventions.net we have a free press release distribution system that you can use to reach your specific audience.  We know this because we talk to these industry leaders and those in the convention, trade show and meetings industry every day!

If you want to go to our press release distribution system and give it a try you can see just how simple it is to reach those you want to reach with the news that matters to them.  Your message is limited to 1500 words, and that should be ample for most press releases.  Some of the other benefits are stated:

• Reach 125,000 unique visitors each month
• Increase traffic to your website
• Optimize your ranking in search engines like Google
• Release remains visible once posted

There are many press release companies out there you can use and many of them have great audiences of hundreds of thousands of people.  What they don’t have is a specific audience to your industry.  It’s like free advertising and public relations all put into a nice package.  Give it a try.

I grew up as a young man during the 80′s and “launching” something meant a completely different thing.  In this sense we are about to drop a bomb on the world of event planning.  In this case, we are taking off with a new site and a new area of Trade Shows, Conventions, Conference and Meeting planners.  We are now in helping with resources in the United Kingdom!  Conventions.net continues to show its forward thinking as a cutting edge resource in the industry.  Our release provides further information.

Since Conventions.net is leading the charge in the convention, trade show, conference and meetings industry in the United States, it only strands to reason that we would then expand to include other parts of the world.  After all, the industry is not merely limited to America.

Conventions.net is a valuable resource for the trade shows in your industry, the locations, the exhibitors, and each and every other facet of the conventions world.  You can seek out information that will answer any questions you might have, and now we can include Europe and beyond by launching theTradeshows.co.uk as stated in the release:

Tradeshows.co.uk provides a full and complete lineup of everything planners need all in one place to make their next event a complete success. Meeting and Event planners throughout Europe and Asia can now source leading local and regional suppliers for all of their planning needs. In addition to being a top resource for planners, Tradeshows.co.uk is also the best place for prospective exhibitors and attendees to locate and register for events and trade shows of interest.

For information contact the team at Conventions.net and/or reach out to the contact information on the Tradeshows.co.uk for answers!  I urge you if you are a meeting or event planner or organizer in this industry to bookmark this site for future use.  If you are a business, vendor or supplier in the trade show industry looking to expand your exposure in the Europe or if you want to advertise to the rest of the world, let us know and we can make this happen.

[photo courtesy of jurvetson]

I have been at the heart of this debate for quite some time.  I have been on the organizer side, and on the side of being one of the speakers looking to be paid. Scott Stratten recently voiced his opinion about the topic of paid speaking on his blog UnMarketing.  In this instance Scott was given the terms by which you can speak at the event, a speakers conference ironically.  In that instance the speaker had to register for the event and pay the fee to attend if they were chosen to speak.  I know that this is a way to keep the ticket prices for the event low and that if you speak at the event, the pay is actually the prestige and the honor it portrays.  As I have said, I understand both sides of this argument.

From an organizer standpoint, the real issue is whether the speaker can help them sell tickets and whether that value that the speakers are bringing to the event will make the organizer money.  Plain and simple it is a matter of economics in that regard.  Many speakers on the other side of the coin believe in their message and how well they do their job and with that comes the idea that they can sell out Yankee Stadium if they were to speak on their passionate topic.  Many times that is not nearly the case.  Both have merit and there should be a compromise somewhere in the middle.

As organizers we look to speakers to pay their way in and help us make money by adding that value.  Speakers that help sell tickets or promote the event through their networks are the best value for an organizer and many organizers that see that can and will compensate the speaker for that purpose.  If a speaker adds no other value than their message, it some times looks like a bad investment.   Why should I pay you you speak at my event if you don’t bring value.

As a speaker, I am taking my time to make sure that value is there by making sure the message is such that it fits their audience.  I am making sure I provide them an expert in the field which I know they are using to market the event.  If I can help them by promoting the event through my network to help put butts in the seat then I am happy to do that as well.  I could make money in other areas, and speaking is only as small component of my business, but I also realize that if you speak at events, you do get that recognition and exposure.  I factor in a small part of my speaking as a way to market me and my business.

Both sides benefit from this relationship.  It seems that where it gets lost is when one side cannot see the other side’s point of view.  What is your position?  Should speakers be paid?  Should speakers pay to be a part of an event? Is the going rate for speakers too high or too low?  I would bet your argument is slanted somewhat in your own economic position.

[photo via Photos8.com]

Now I am going out on a limb here to make the offer just that much better.  If you sign up for the Annual Premium Listing before the deadline on Friday I will feature you and your company here on Convention Insider!  Shhh, don’t tell the boss, he doesn’t have a clue that I am offering this but if you read it here and sign up for the offer, just drop me a line and I will make sure you get included on the blog as an added bonus. Okay here endeth the pitch. Tags: Conventions.net, Online Marketing, Trade Shows, Conventions, Meetings, Events