Oh What a Night! Blog Posts, Weddings, Conferences - Oh My!

I have decided to stay up late tonight.  I am in the middle of drafting some blog posts, getting ready for my wedding (I can't believe it's only 6 weeks away!) and preparing for several upcoming conferences.  It's going to be a late night.  Thankful to green tea and espresso! 

Outreach Strategy for New Media Conferences/Trainings

Having worked on the convening of several conferences involving new media, I've been asked  by a few people who are also convening new media trainings and conferences to provide them with some tips.  Here is a simple three pronged strategy that I recommend.

Strategy #1: Engage community leaders in the recruitment process

• Debrief with folks who have helped to organize this kind of training before, key stakeholders and past participants to get feedback (what worked/what didn't) and get buy in.  Form a host/convening committee comprised of leaders from each of the targeted communities.  Each member of the host/convening committee could be responsible for a certain target/# of individuals to do outreach to (the assumption here being that a certain percentage would respond in the affirmative to the outreach.)  Manage this by way of a shared Google Excel spreadsheet on which each of the conveners can track their progress - name of contact, actions, status, etc. 

Strategy #2: Use earned and paid media to create awareness and generate momentum

• Advertise on relevant blogs.
• Assign someone from the convening team the responsibility of interfacing with traditional media, i.e., radio, television, print.  Produce a press strategy in partnership with them, inclusive of a series of advisories and press releases for traditional and new media.  This would include producing a one pager on the event which summarizes the event and all of its benefits.
• Conduct a series of press interviews (radio, print, blogs, vlogs, podcasts) where you  can discuss the training/conference.  Ask the convening committee members if they would be willing/interested in doing the same.
• Add the training/conference onto all of the appropriate community calendars and blast it to all of the community list serves that you and the convening committee belonged to.

Strategy #3: Leverage social media and other networks to create a community of interest around the event

Find partner organizations who may be willing to send a blast out to their lists (to grow the reach of our candidate pool).  Post updates on/ask these partners to post updates on their FB/Twitter/My Space pages regarding the training/conference.
Organize twitter parties/twitter chats spearheaded by tweeps who are considered leaders on twitter in their respective communities.
Hold tweet ups/happy hours in a few key locations (perhaps where the conveners are) pre-training/conference to continue to build momentum and woo through community those who are considering participating.
Convene a group of bloggers/experts in new media who have buy in on the training/conference - perhaps invite them to participate for free or offer them the opportunity to train/speak or in some way provide value to them.  Ask them to help to  publicize through their blog posts, tweets, FB updates, etc.
Ensure a presence on the big social networks, i.e., Facebook, Twitter, My Space.  That presence will provide visibility for the organization and the event.  On Twitter, also  create a hashtag and ask the early adopters and leading tweeps to immediately use it to help to build momentum.

How about you?  Are there any other tips that you would recommend?