Becoming a social media manager after more than a decade as a meeting manager might have seemed like an unusual career shift to some. But as I grew into the role, it became evident that the two positions were quite aligned. As a meeting planner, you bring people together to collaborate, network, learn, and engage with your company; social media managers do that too, only using social technology. Meetings are strategic, as are social media programs.
My role was three-fold: I monitored social media to understand what our communities were talking about (listening). I managed my organization’s social media profiles, sharing information and engaging in conversations. Finally, I supported my colleagues in all areas of the company as an internal consultant, equipping them to use social media to meet their objectives. At the core, though, was a detailed strategy on which all of my worked was based.
If you have a social media manager in your organization, you should view this person as a partner throughout the meeting management cycle (planning, execution, and follow-up). Here’s how I partner with my meeting management colleagues during all three phases:
1. Planning: The meeting manager and I will discuss the meeting objectives, the audience, and the goals for the meeting. We work together to understand the needs of internal and external audiences and how we can meet those through social media. (These needs are usually related to receiving and sharing information, collaborating with peers, and networking.) I’ll relay any trends or insights that have surfaced through my listening that might inform the agenda or planning. We’ll also share meeting details with participants and answer their questions. Ideally, participants will be talking to each other, and with us, before they arrive on site.
2. Execution: In this phase we look for opportunities to engage with participants, to make them a greater part of the meeting experience. This may take the form of recognizing them through photos, videos, or quotes; we can also highlight activities that are happening in real-time and insert reminders about logistics along the way. It’s a great time to address any FAQs that keep coming up on site.
3. Follow-up: Meeting planners can use social media to reinforce messages from the meeting, but the bigger goal is to help participants remain connected to each other so they continue to benefit from the meeting experience. Perhaps we’ll create a Twitter list of participants or a private LinkedIn group so that the attendees can stay in touch, and we can share external resources related to reinforce the onsite content. And if this is a recurring meeting, now we’ve got a built-in focus group of interested parties to test out new agenda topics for the next meeting.
To take maximum advantage of social media for your meetings, you’ll need to stop thinking about social media as a separate activity. Social media should be an integrated part of your meeting planning process. In fact, it should be a part of any business process. It’s a another tool to support you as you manage your in-person meetings.
Tip: If you want some more specifics, read the article “Five Steps to a More Connected Meeting,” in which I share basic steps for meeting planners to enhance meetings through the power of social media.
This blog post was originally published in MeetingsNet Magazine on March 18, 2015. Updated July 25, 2022.