SMobile

Parked, checking flight status
while waiting

In a recent post I spoke about hyper-connectivity of the world being an issue we need to address as we plan our meetings.  At the recent (excellent) MPI BC Chapter Education Conference, there was a word used by Claire Smith as she opened the day that stuck with me. She was speaking of shifts (something happening that will change the way we do business) and trends (something topical now that will evolve) that are and will soon be impacting our industry.

The Word: SMobile. The combination of social and mobile. This is a SHIFT, so we must pay attention to it. What does this mean to our meetings? (To our lives?) This ubiquitous and ongoing intrusion as we now spend, in many cases, more time connected to our virtual world than building real-time connections with people we are face-to-face with is impacting how our meetings are affecting people. 

This collision of technology and talking, this new way of sharing information, it is not going away.  We now have multiple ways of connecting with people through one device. Like many of you, my mobile phone connects me to thousands on Twitter, hundreds on Facebook, more on LinkedIn, dozens by text - SMS, WhatsApp, OnChat, and still more by voice or video with Skype and Facetime, and for very few, by telephone.  

We shop, drive, research and register all with the device in our hand (tablet or smartphone) - we are are no longer road warriors, we are mobile maniacs.  We rely on apps for the weather, for recipes, for maps, for sharing ideas and storing content, for playing games, passing the time, and learning.

As an organization or event who is looking to find sponsors, increase ticket sales or registrations, or ideally build a community around us, are we taking full advantage of this SMobility?  Ideally you are collecting data about HOW people want to be connected to you, and creating messages unique to each of these social platforms that are useful to your audience.  While apps for events are fantastic, useful, sustainable and able to change at a moment's notice - an excellent tool for many reasons, you should be considering how your organization can create an app that builds ongoing engagement and communication within your unique social network.

How is your organization going to meet the challenges of our globally changing, totally SMobile world?

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