Social Media Lounges

February 9, 2015

For the first time, Cisco placed the Social Media Hub near the registration desk, a prominent position that allows for continual access during the conference. Last year, social media monitoring took place from inside the event’s trade show, which had limited hours.

Photo: Mitra Sorrells/BizBash

Behind the hub’s front desk, event staffers monitor and respond to comments and questions posted to Twitter and Facebook. Because the volume of social activity is so high throughout the event, those assigned to monitor it are each focused on specific content.

Photo: Mitra Sorrells/BizBash

Cisco is using the Social Media Hub to host events such as a tweet-up Sunday night attended by more than 300 people.

Photo: Courtesy Cisco

Attendees lined up outside four soundproof booths in the lounge to record a 10-second video in response to the question, “What would I like to connect to the Internet of everything?” The company will post some of the videos to its Web site.

Photo: Courtesy Cisco

Monitors behind the Social Media Hub's front desk display the volume of tweets over time, a leaderboard of the most active people tweeting with the event hashtags, photos shared on Twitter and Instagram, a word cloud of trending topics, and more.

Photo: Mitra Sorrells/BizBash

A live feed of Twitter comments about the event scrolled on vertical monitors on either side of the main display.

Photo: Mitra Sorrells/BizBash

Behind the front desk, high-top tables provided a place for attendees to relax or work.

Photo: Mitra Sorrells/BizBash

For attendees without a smartphone, Cisco provided a camera mounted in a stationary column with the capability to take pictures and post them to Facebook or Twitter accounts or email to attendees.

Photo: Mitra Sorrells/BizBash

The Social Media Hub included a variety of seating areas where attendees could gather.

Photo: Mitra Sorrells/BizBash

Get Guests Camera-Ready

Guests will be more inclined to snap selfies if they feel they're looking their best—so events are coupling beauty treatments with other encouragement. At the Colgate Optic White beauty bar ahead of the Golden Globes in Los Angeles earlier this year, decals bearing the appropriate handles and hashtags decked mirrors near the beauty stations where guests were captive during hair and makeup services.

Photo: Alesandra Dubin/BizBash

Provide the Essential Tools

At the BMF Music Lounge during Coachella, sponsor Tide gave guests all the elements needed to take a selfie and easily share it. In a poolside suite at Palm Springs's Ingleside Inn, the brand decked out a mirror with floral appliques as well as the appropriate hashtag #TidePlus.

Photo: Lisa Rose

Hire Dedicated Staffers to Assist

Event Farm and HyperVocal hosted the "2.0: The New Media Party" at the Carnegie Library last weekend during the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner. At the event, the "Selfie Squad" sponsored by Microsoft facilitated quality selfies with guests, decor, the band, and other details of the party. The team then immediately posted the snaps to social sites using the hashtag #NewMediaParty.

Photo: Kristen Finn

Turn It Into a Competition

During the holidays, fashion brand Ted Baker used the tradition of kissing under the mistletoe to encourage selfies that promoted the brand. At the Ted Baker Fifth Avenue store in New York, Kin Design created a 20- by 20-foot aluminum sculpture to serve as a modern twist on mistletoe, and guests shared kiss pics on Twitter and Instagram with the hashtag #KissTed. With the help of a specially designed app, photos then fed two 90-inch monitors inside the store’s front windows for passing shoppers to see. On Christmas Eve, the brand selected one participant to receive a free four-night stay for two at the St. Regis Hotel in Abu Dhabi.

Photos: Courtesy of Ted Baker

Use Them for Decor

Online magazine xoJane hosted a party at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas, this year that rewarded guests with fame at the event for snapping selfies. In an upstairs portion of the party space, guests were encouraged to take selfies with mirrors. The shots were then printed to add onto the "Shameless Selfie" wall and were projected in the event's main space, where MKG used neon masking tape and ultraviolet lighting for pops of bright color. The event promoted the pub's "Shameless Celebrity" list.

Photo: Nadia Chaudhury/BizBash

Tie Sharing to Swag

OtterBox gave out its new Symmetry Series phone case to guests at the Kari Feinstein Style Lounge at Coachella. But the free stuff came with a not-so-gentle reminder to help proliferate the brand’s message on social media: A dedicated mirrored “selfie station" allowed guests to share their snaps (with their phones clearly pictured, of course) using the appropriate hashtags.

Photo: Alison Buck/Getty Images for Kari Feinstein

Provide Visual Aids

Offering guests extra props or backdrops to inspire selfies can sometimes seal the deal. During a holiday event, the W Fort Lauderdale placed mirrors in nine spots throughout the property, each embedded in elf-theme vignettes. After snapping their festive shots, guests could then upload the images to Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter using the hashtags #WFortLauderdale and #BringtheBright.

Photo: Courtesy of W Fort Lauderdale

Offer Prizes

Not all selfies are spontaneous; offering a reward can incentivize guests to take and post them. The New York International Auto Show gave out free tickets to opening night to the first 100 people who posted a selfie with a show poster, found in New York's Jacob K. Javits Convention Center.

Photo: Courtesy of the New York International Auto Show

1. Put Them Where Guests Snap Pics

If your event has an oversize prop, eye-catching decor piece, or some other feature guests are likely to want to photograph, that element is a smart place for a hashtag—and it's bound to make its way online throughout the night. For instance, a Los Angeles event for British Airways and Variety saw hashtags splashed in the front windshields of traditional British black cars. Similarly, Diesel printed the hashtag for its Reboot campaign last September on large-scale installations in New York's Union Square.

Photo: Joe Scarnici/Getty Images for Variety

2. Place Them Where Guests Can't Miss Them

Hashtags printed on items that guests hold in their hands throughout the course of an event—say, a fan giveaway at a promotion, or a table card for a seated meal—cannot be easily ignored or forgotten. At Essence magazine's Black Women in Hollywood Oscar luncheon in Beverly Hills, hashtags and handles decked seating cards for easy reference.

Photo: Alesandra Dubin/BizBash

3. Add Them to Activities

When events offer beauty and grooming treatments, guests are likely to feel compelled to share their post-experience transformation, whether it's a new hair look or a fresh manicure. At HBO's Luxury Lounge during the Emmys in Los Angeles, mats under mani stations encouraged social snaps for guests receiving Marc Jacobs Beauty manicures. And at Herbal Essences lounge at BMF's Hard Rock Hotel party during Lollapalooza in Chicago, hashtags on nearby signage encouraged guests to post beauty shots.

Photo: Alesandra Dubin/BizBash

4. Use Them to Encourage Interaction

Hashtags that encourage interaction on site through gamification or another kind of activity are sure to facilitate broad interaction online as well. At Target's Feed U.S.A. event, menus encouraged guests to interact and mingle with tablemates through social media prompts on menus.

Photo: Nilaya Sabnis

5. Create Subliminal Reminders

Sometimes, it's not the biggest message that makes an impact, but the subtle and cleverly rendered one that gets guests' attention. For a look that was well integrated with the venue's existing decor, Pandora launched a new jewelry collection in Los Angeles and emblazoned the Mondrian hotel's bold oversize planters with hashtags.

Photo: Stefanie Keenan

6. Put Them Where Guests Are Likely to Linger

Hashtags get noticed in places where guests spend much of their time on event day—and where they have physical space and incentive to hang out. Certainly, a photo activation is a compelling incentive: Evian's photo activation at the South Beach Wine & Food Festival in Miami put a hashtag right above the action, where it was sure to make its way online.

Photo: Elizabeth Renfrow for BizBash

7. Offer Rewards for Using Them

Turning tweeting into a competition drives major social media engagement—not to mention huge buzz at the event. During Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Swim, prompts directed guests to use a tweet-operated Polaroid vending machine at the Ocean Drive Sun Covered Pool Party.

Photo: Tracy Block for BizBash

8. Pick a Medium That Gets Them Noticed

Hashtags printed on ordinary signage might get overlooked as guests' eyes glaze over to unremarkable displays. But employ a surprising medium to communicate the message and it's sure to get noticed—and photographed for social media. For example, Sonos used lipstick to playfully jot its event hashtag in an unmissable way.

Photo: Alex Porter/Getty Images

9. Make Them Public—In a Big Way

Sure, promoting hashtags within the boundaries of an event can get guests interacting. But put them outside the event's official walls and you're more likely to capture a bigger crowd. At the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, a 3-D projection of tweets using the official event hashtag appeared on a 35- by 65-foot billboard. The digital activation, created by Incredible Machines, ran at night, while during the day the billboard showed a static image of the hashtag printed on canvas. Similarly, AOL placed its hashtag on a giant billboard outside the venue of its upfront event during Advertising Week in New York.

Photo: Courtesy of Twitter

10. Supply the Technology

Every guest is likely carrying a smartphone in his or her pocket. But making social sharing as easy for guests as possible can only further encourage the behavior—so try printing hashtags right alongside displays of smartphones or other devices. At Samsung's tent at the Life Is Beautiful festival in Las Vegas, attendees ordered free frozen yogurt and designed T-shirts from devices at stations emblazoned with the activation's hashtag.

Photo: Alesandra Dubin/BizBash

11. Make It Edible

Putting hashtags on food isn't just a tasty idea—it's Instagram bait to boot. An event invitation to the Time Warner Cable Studios pop-up in New York before the Super Bowl came with a hashtag printed right on top of a cake.

Photo: Carolyn Curtis/BizBash

12. Make Them Selfie-Friendly

It's no secret that guests want to photograph themselves—and their friends—for their social media profiles. So if you put your message right in their field of view, you'll capture their attention—and social media impressions. At Prive Salon in Los Angeles for the Colgate Optic White beauty bar ahead of the Golden Globes, handles and hashtags decked mirrors.

Photo: Alesandra Dubin/BizBash

1. Write It on the Wall

A simple way to draw attention to an official hashtag is to place a call to action on a wall. Promotions like Wired magazine's pop-up, which took place in New York last November, used wall decals to encourage consumers to promote the store while on-site.

Photo: Jika González/BizBash

2. Put It on Signage

Signage is a more prominent way to direct guests to the designated hashtag, a strategy employed by last year's Sweetgreen festival in Maryland. The resulting tweets were broadcast on the large screens placed around the stage.

Photo: WanderingHat

3. Make It Larger Than Life

Increasingly common at events is the use of large video screens to display Twitter chatter. For the "Shops at Target" launch in New York on May 1, the producers took advantage of the IAC Building's 120-foot-long video wall to magnify posts marked with #TheShopsatTgt.

Photo: Nilaya Sabnis

4. Provide a Memento

Services like Instaprint are popping up at many affairs, proving popular with guests as a tangible record of their active social media use. At a fashion show held by USA Network in New York, even the wall the machines were mounted on sported the hashtag, motivating curious attendees to snap a photo and post it via Instagram.

Photo: David X Prutting/BFAnyc.com

5. Make Staffers Wear It

Staffers are a common sight at events, and some event producers have put hashtags on the outfits worn by greeters, caterwaiters, or even hosts. In February, the South Beach Wine & Food Festival advertised its official Twitter phrase on the T-shirts worn by participating chefs like Rocco DiSpirito.

Photo: Elizabeth Renfrow for BizBash

6. Add It to the Red Carpet

The arrival areas of events involving celebrity guests tend to draw large crowds. To turn that to their advantage, the planners behind USA Network's upfront in New York placed a large canvas emblazoned with the official hashtag high above the carpet where passersby could see it.

Photo: Brian Brooks/MB Productions

7. Place It at Entry Points

Just as common as a red carpet are the rope-and-stanchion barricades that denote an entrance or V.I.P. area. Among the ways the Art Gallery of Ontario displayed the hashtag for its annual Massive Party fund-raiser on April 19, was the use of small signs placed atop stanchions.

Photo: Emma McIntyre for BizBash

8. Mark It on Tickets

The colorful plastic and paper wristbands used at concerts, festivals, and other big events can be customized to show a designated hashtag. To encourage guests at its Party in the Garden fund-raiser to upload photos via Instagram, the Museum of Modern Art in New York handed out entry bracelets printed with the hashtag #PitG2012.

Photo: Nadia Chaudhury/BizBash

9. Include It in Printed Materials

Invitations and programs serve as physical reminders of an event's basic info—the date, time, location, and even dress code. An additional step would be to add the hashtag to such materials, which is what the Shorty Awards did in New York on March 26.

Photo: Rose Chevalier/BizBash

10. Put It Onstage

When the stage—or runway—is a central element of an event, a backdrop can call attention to something in a big way. The producers of USA Network's fashion presentation in New York on June 12 utilized the 60-foot-long LED video wall that served as the main decorative element of the catwalk to display its hashtag as well as the premiere date of show Suits.

Photo: Anna Sekula/BizBash

11. Make It the Focal Point

Not every event has a stage, but any eye-catching area can be a smart spot to place a hashtag. That was the case with the June 5 release party for the Project X Xtended Cut DVD in Los Angeles. Produced by the Visionary Group, the backyard-bash-style affair for Warner Brothers and Break Media included an 18- by 10-foot pool, which had a banner marked with the event name and hashtag sitting at the bottom.

Photo: Mark Davis

12. Print It on Functional Items

A more subtle approach is to use the hashtag on the cocktail napkins. The organizers of Travel & Leisure's first Social Media in Travel & Tourism Awards (the Smittys) in New York on June 7 made sure attendees saw the hashtag when grabbing a bite from a passing waiter or when taking a cocktail from the bar.

Photo: Anna Sekula/BizBash

13. Use It as Decor

Similarly simple was the approach taken for the August 2011 press preview of Betsey Johnson's fragrance Too Too. The planners incorporated the event hashtag and the designer's official Twitter handle into the overall event design by placing the call to action in frames.

Photo: Anna Sekula/BizBash

14. Turn It Into an Activity

A playful, original idea created by the planners behind Travel & Leisure's Social Media in Travel & Tourism Awards replaced entrance bracelets with sweatbands and invited guests to embellish them with quirky pins, one of which displayed the hashtag.

Photo: Anna Sekula/BizBash

15. Put It Where Guests Gather

Bars are almost always the most crowded areas of an event, and in addition to displaying the affair's signature cocktails, drink menus can be marked with a hashtag.

Photo: Anna Sekula/BizBash