Getting Bloggers to Blog Your Conference

I’m digging into my “drafts” hopper today. This is one of those posts that was almost finished but never posted dated October 18th. This is the point where I really began thinking conference organizers need help working through the issue. At the time I just went “What!”.

Oracle AppsLab » Bloggers at OpenWorld

I’m happy to announce that Oracle OpenWorld this year will be open to bloggers for the first time.

I’d read and really liked the Oracle blogger “Can of Worms” story. The comments on this post and the original are just great. If you are considering a conference and contemplating inviting or having blogger participation then these two posts certainly outline the issue.

I’d agree there aren’t any rules. I’ve attended events and blogged them. I’ve never had travel or accommodation paid to blog the event. Even among bloggers this is probably unclear. Bloggers attending and speaking may well have received some additional assistance. Keynoters perhaps more. Frankly that depends on the business model for the conference. Some are showcases, others are almost paid for slots based on companies exhibiting, some are academic in nature.

While the commentary on these two posts is great for organizer learning I believe they miss the point. If you are the organizer and enabling a blogger(s) to come then.

1. Check that this is a real interest area for the blogger. Look at who they may bring into the conversation.. will they help (by their writing, their follow up stories or their connections) sell it next year.
2. Consider a group of bloggers. A blogger in isolation is a lonely affair. Outside tech conferences there is often little support (Wi-FI, others with laptops etc.)
3. If you don’t know the ways and wherefores then it makes sense to be both cautious and let attendees and bloggers know who the point people are. (At Dina’s Women’s Forum recently Orange sponsored the blogging panel). It would help if the panel participants have done some of this before.
4. Empower people to blog and tag and they usually will. At Jerry’s Retreat it just took one sentence at the beginning to start a stream of photo’s all ending up on Flickr.
5. Start the conversation well before the event. It starts with a good connection and a dialogue well before the event. You can create a list of bloggers in the field around the event (these days often
   done with a self sign-on wiki - eg Supernova). Kevin Werbach has run effective blogger dinners well before Supernova that creates more interest and preblogs the event in the final days when capturing paid attendees.
6. You can even bring in blogger panels (eg VON) to discuss. When bloggers know each other and who’s there connections and linking goes up. Then so does the visibility of the event.
7. Support or encourage linking to activities around the event. Example Bloggers dinner. No need to pay for these things; these groups have a strong common bond. Perhaps you should be attending.

There are visible benefits to bloggers covering the event.. that also can create useful resource and details for other participants. It also draws them back into the medium later. Using tools like this to open the conversation and spread the dialogue… Most conferences will benefit from a blogger presence. They can be seen to be creating support and commentary in real-time instantly enabling access to more information, what transpired in other streams etc. They will even keep the presenters honest on occasion.

Blogger Motivations.
The Oracle post covers the various types of bloggers and their ‘financial situations”. The real question is not the media bloggers, or bloggers that are employed by major companies. It’s bloggers that otherwise don’t have the corporate for financial means to go.

Most of these bloggers will want to learn, stay current with their industry, connect and network with participants. Most are taking time out (from paying work to go). Most see relationships between what they do and the conference content. Interested parties will want to make “connections’ and open up conversations. So for the most part bloggers won’t be negative in this situation. They may not agree, they will provide contrasting points of view and good bloggers will provide additional links stories and references.

For the Blogger...

Contribute and Share: If you are a blogger and “extended” an invitation (whether you ask, are offered etc.) it usually comes with some tacit understanding, that you will add to the conference. Whether reporting, uploading photo’s, participating in the IRC channels, setting the tone for a positive experience for all. That’s not to say sell your soul. It says contribute what you learn and share it.

For the Organizer:…

To generalize. I think a blogger that is given access to a conference probably has a relationship or knows the organizers in some way. So if you are the organizers approaching bloggers start early, create your own blog on the industry or category, make connections and use blogging to build relationships with these bloggers.

The more you ask from them… the less it is about them having the opportunity to learn, share and make connections and the more it is about doing, creating content etc. Eg if they have to video etc. If they have to cover X amount it goes from being a learning experience to a job, being one of the workers. Get the right individuals and they become part of the experiment and learning.

I’m yet to see T-Shirts on LiveBloggers or them really pointed out.. or the question raised… Who’s liveblogging this event? Ask at lunchtime etc.

If you have a conference and need help with building the conversation I’m willing to help.