Umar Shaikh, Author at Endless Events

With social media exploding and more people flocking to new online platforms to share their lives with friends, we thought we’d share our experiences with the Social Media Wall and how event organizers have used Social Media Walls to drive audience engagement at their events. I recently went to a really cool tech conference and realized that I was really active before the event started – checking the event group, reading up on networking opportunities and interacting with my fellow attendees. But as soon as the event started, I lost that social media connection. The entire social media ‘pre-party’ ended abruptly and the event didn’t give me a reason to tweet, message or connect my social media network to this event. Social Media Walls bridge this gap between pre-party and event by incentivizing behaviour that not only engages the audience, but also turns event-goers into active promoters to their personal networks.. Event organizers choose specific Instagram and Twitter hashtags and any pictures or tweets with the hashtags included will be displayed on the Social Media Walls thus attracting the audiences attention. The Social Media Wall allows event-goers to share experiences with one another –as well as with their social network. In the past, event organizers have used the Social Media Wall to collect the event's social media timeline in one location, created a virtual experience for audience interactions, and used the wall to gamify the event experience. Why a Social Media Wall? A dynamic Social Media Wall doesn’t just post user content in a static, conventional layout. Instead, pictures and tweets are projected as tiles, which move around organically throughout the screen, each getting their 15 seconds of fame in the centre. As the content moves around the screen, and finally sitting in the middle of the screen before being replaced, audience attention is drawn and engagement has been shown to increase. In several cases, audience members who don't usually use Instagram or twitter were motivated to get involved and share their own experiences. Previously, event organizers have used IdeaCloud's Social Media Wall to ‘storify’ their event. The audience uses Instagram and Twitter to post pictures and tweets to create a collaborative story of the event. In this case, the Social Media Wall acts as a medium to store and show an artistic timeline through social media. Following the event, users can look back onto their social media platforms and see the events 'story' from beginning to end. Through IdeaCloud, event organizers can engage their audience by giving people a reason to tweet and send pictures. More importantly, people who normally wouldn’t use Twitter or Instagram WANT to participate and are engaged. Introducing IdeaCloud! IdeaCloud is an innovative tool used by event organizers to drive audience engagement via Social Media Walls. Currently, IdeaCloud has been used everywhere from large conferences to small networking meet-ups. Besides promoting audience engagement at events, IdeaCloud also provides features event organizers can use to better communicate with their audience (Live Announcements) and tools to improve their events (Analytics). The Live Announcement feature can be used to easily send information to hundreds of people or generate buzz and focus attention onto one specific subject. Not only does the IdeaCloud organize and interactively present social media posts but it also provides a platform to analyze engagement. Social Media Walls track high and low points, who tweeted often, which platforms were more popular with the audience and the events recurring themes. This helps event organizers understand their audience for future engagements. In the future, we plan on integrating the option of letting pictures stay in the centre of the projection based on the amount of likes they get. If you’re a social media guru gaining likes, your picture will stay up for longer than everyone else. This rewards social engagement through an individual’s personal network and helps advertise events. The potential for Social Media Walls is growing exponentially, especially in the way Social Media Walls induce audience engagement. For example, corporate events can use Social Media Walls to play scavenger hunt –type games for business cards and build new connections. This fosters network building in a fun and interactive manner and uses established platforms to do it! Ultimately, social media has the potential to enhance conference experience by providing interactive tools to event organizers and attendants. Check out the Social Media demo to see the wall in action! If you have any questions please visit our FAQ. If you would like to contact IdeaCloud or require more information, please visit our website. By Umar Shaikh

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Umar Shaikh

Drive Audience Engagement with a Social Media Wall

Nationwide Event Production Company

Proud Members Of

Top Endless Events Locations

Recent Blog Posts

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Great Content To Read

Looking for something?