In the last 24 hours I have attended two large events, which could not have been carried out differently.
Ignite Phoenix #5 Ticket
Ignite Phoenix was in Tempe, invitation was via social tools (including word of mouth), had a live web feed, local radio station simulcast and Twitter channel. They encouraged live blogging and displayed tweets during the event. It was a night of truly social engagement and fun in a hip and entertaining approach. With over 600 people in attendance the event went from a small room to a large stage in five just five events. Truly a great time and I encourage everyone to get involved locally.
For the uninformed, an Ignite event is a gathering of volunteers to give presentations about topics they are passionate about. There are rules. You get five minutes and 20 slides (15 second intervals). As the audience you must encourage and participate. That’s it! For this event they had 107 submissions and were able to accept 17.
Right now I’m sitting in a software conference (one day event) at work on-site with a few hundred software developers. This is an on-the-cheap virtual event with web casts (internal only) from key managers and a mix of local technical folks. So far the messages are focused on what we can do better and where we are today. The invite found its way into my in-box two weeks ago with only one reminder sent yesterday. Until I got here I didn’t even know what the topics were nor was I given the opportunity to contribute.
Meetings if done wrong
What can the corporate world take away from events such as what Ignite Phoenix delivered?
- Engage with good lead to allow social tools to gather a following and generate excitement.
- People have the desire to help and make a difference. Use that. Volunteer armies have power and “fire in their belly.”
- Keep the presentations focused and limit the time-frame. We need variation, we want excitement. Find experts who are passionate and who “Show” it.
- Allow live feedback, even encourage it. Knowing what the audience thinks and what they are learning is never a bad thing. Twitter, live-blogging and other tools are great for this.
Note to self: As I wrote this on my G1 (wpToGo app) I realized I didn’t have the flexibility to do the image sets or numbered lists, this must improve. And the web text box failed.
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