Although it has been great promoting MPI’s event on Twitter via the hashtag #WEC10 and all that will be happening throughout the Congress, there is still a sense of “what am I supposed to be doing?”
Should MPI Provide Social Media Direction?
I spoke with WEC Guru Miguel Neves who stated that although he is excited to be a part of the program, there is a need for more guidelines.
The MPI Guru program is a fantastic initiative from MPI and we all feel honored to have been chosen, as it is a great way to boost non-traditional media coverage and move WEC into a Communication 2.0 realm. Attendees become the media.
The challenge to this point has been to understand exactly what MPI expects the Gurus to cover.
- Where do we draw the line between following MPI’s lead and voicing our own opinions of the days’ activities?
- As paying participants of this congress, we cannot compromise our independence. And although we are all HUGE supporters of MPI, will it be okay to reports on all aspects of the conference, even if the feedback is negative?
That said, each of us is embracing this opportunity and looking forward to sharing our thoughts with the world.
It’s Social Media, Who Needs Direction?
There are challenges, but not all the Gurus agree on the lack of guidance. Fellow Guru Sam Smith seems to have this Guru stuff down pat, so to speak.
The applied MPI social media guru agreement was about blogging and tweeting (of course, I think that we can do as much or as little as we want).
- Write a blog post before the event and one during or after the event
- Share comments on twitter during the event
- Offer balanced reporting
Ideas for On-Site Social Media Gurus
- Sit Closer: Having access to special seating at sessions and press passes to help feed our digital habits.
- Tweet during sessions
- Tweeting session sound-bites and highlights
- Being a bridge (or link) between the virtual world and the face-to-face world
- Asking the remote attendees questions or answering questions
- Retweet the smart ideas of attendees in a session Tip: Slow typer? Focus on retweeting and being a bridge.
- Engage attendees
- Take pictures with interesting people and tweet those out (after editing)
- Ask questions in general and see what people say
- Comment on cool things at various booths – if there is something noteworthy for others on the floor or the people at home
FYI: MPI plans to have someone watching the Twitter hashtag #WEC10 during the Congress, who will catch all of the temperature, speaker fouls, and AV issues that will be going around.
How Being a Social Media Volunteer Increases Personal Brand
Fellow Guru Leanne Calderwood is very positive about the Guru program and how it has provided her with a different level of networking and social media skill set.
Being on a team with a number of highly experienced social media professionals has exposed me to different social media formats and ways of using the various tools. I hope to take my new-found knowledge not only to my personal space, but also to my MPI Chapter. The chapter’s use of social media has really been a prominent way of getting information about chapter happenings to our membership and we want to stay ahead of the curve when providing them information.
My other social media guru colleagues are leaders in the industry and connecting with them has been invaluable to my growth as a social media advocate. I encourage everyone to take the time to learn from your fellow MPI members during WEC.
What MPI Headquarters Has To Say…
I asked MPI-HQ for their thoughts on the Gurus being able to speak freely. According to Theresa Davis, MPI’s Director of Strategic Communications:
We’ve developed this program to experiment with giving proven social media leaders within our industry access and privileges that suit their medium, much like what we do for traditional media outlets. We intend to respect the integrity of the social media covering the event as we would the traditional outlets. All we ask for is fair and unbiased coverage.
We certainly make recommendations on what hosted social media promote and discuss, much like when we pitch hosted traditional press on story ideas and potential interviews. It’s up to each reporter to select what they cover and report within the parameters of their hosted agreement.
As to expressing opinions on what works and what doesn’t, MPI looks forward to that unbiased professional input. In fact, it was much of the input from our virtual attendees at the last MeetDifferent that encouraged us to start this program and make enhancements to WEC. One of the unique things that social media representatives have over the traditional press is that they are meeting and event pros in addition to being media voices.
Personally Speaking (Literally!)
I do think that MPI wants us to be able to critique – and I don’t believe they expect us to be positive 100% of the time throughout this process. Believe me, I was not “Ms. Positive” for MeetDifferent’s VAP process, but I wasn’t altogether negative either. I plan to be critical (although fair) when need be during the Congress.
I love being a member of MPI and I’m ecstatic that I get to participate in WEC as a Social Media Guru, but as a member of an association – you have to be able to voice your own opinion – you’re paying membership dues! But if you are going to criticize, then you should at least be able to provide your own opinion on what you think would work, how YOU would change it.
I plan to tweet and blog as much as I can throughout the Congress, but one can only do so much while trying to attend knowledge sessions, puppy cuddling, a career fair, and all the other networking opportunities available to an attendee. Sleep seems to be the last thing on my to-do list.
Stay Tuned for More Adventures of a Social Media Guru
This is the third blog of a series of my trials and tribulations of a social media guru and how you can learn from our team’s success.
Part 1: Harnessing the Power of Social Media Leaders: MPI’s Social Media Guru Program
Part 2: The Power of Social Media: Making it Work for WEC Attendees
Part 3: Being an MPI Social Media Guru Isn’t Without Its Challenges
Part 4: Guru on Deck at Vancouver – Scrolling on a Trackwheel
Part 5: A Social Media Guru Farewell for WEC 2010
About MPI’s Social Media Guru Program
MPI recently came to the conclusion that traditional media and social media had some significant similarities: both groups attended events and covered important issues for attending and non-attending public alike – and social media representatives even became a part of the event. This revelation led MPI Public Relations Specialist Kristen Kouk to create a Social Media Guru program to empower members of the industry to lead their social media efforts and help engage members around the World Education Congress (WEC) in Vancouver this year.
