2013 is here, which means it's time to think about what new trends will impact your conference or meeting. This year is all about participation. Check out the five trends from to learn what you should be looking at to pique your attendees' interest:
- The Participation Economy: From passive information consumption to actively contributing, discussing, creating and participation. This means, attendees don't want to spend thousands of dollars to sit passively for hours. Instead they want to engage with people and the content shared at your meeting.
- Social Sharing: Social sharing is the broadcasting of our thoughts and activities. Regardless of what you think, it is not a fad. People love to share what they are doing and will do so at your conference. Encourage your attendees to share what they're hearing at your conference by creating a hash tag, sharing twitter handles for presenters or providing the link to the Facebook page for your event.
- The Content Economy: Content could become your conference's most valuable asset 'You need to be creating useful, fresh content to attract people to attend your event and to keep them coming back to your [web]site after your event.' Today's web is all about creating new content, search engines are even smart enough now to know how often you update your content. Keep your website top of mind, and at the top of Google search regularly by putting out new, and influential content.
- The Smobile Web: Social + Mobile = Smobile. Social and mobile are becoming more dependent upon each other. Most of your attendees are probably on a smart phone during your conference, and they're either looking for information or wanting to share something. Make sure your conference is mobile friendly and can be easily shared.
- Last Generation Sponsorship: Last generation sponsorship is about nurturing a brand's connection with a target market. It's about putting the target market's needs first. This means choosing sponsors who are relevant to what your attendees need and want.