SMW Event Submission Guide 2012

EVENT SUBMISSION GUIDE SEPTEMBER 2012

In this document are a set of guidelines and suggestions that were compiled to help you with the planning and execution of a Social Media Week event in one of the 14 participating SMW cities this September. Please note that this document is just a guide and we encourage you to get creative when thinking about designing your own event experience.

SMW EVENT PARTNERS

ABOUT SMW Social Media Week hosts two global conferences each year, taking place simultaneously in multiple cities around the world. The mission is to help people and organizations connect through collaboration and the sharing of ideas and information.

Local conferences are hosted by our City Organizers, who work collaboratively with leading practitioners, industry professionals, content partners, brand partners, event hosts and local advisory boards to produce more than two thousand events across 24 cities.

SEPTEMBER 2012 CITIES

London Barcelona

Berlin

São Paulo

Los Angeles

Vancouver

Hong Kong Shanghai

Bogota

Jeddah

Glasgow

Chicago Turin Seoul

ORGANIZING AN SMW EVENT EVENT INSPIRATION SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES SMW GLOBAL FACTS & FIGURES

CONTENTS

Benefits of becoming an Event Partner in your city: •  Engage your company or organization in conversations that

are relevant to your industry or cause •  Gain recognition as a thought-leader or influencer in your

field or industry •  Attract brands and networks of relevant hyper-social

influencers •  Amplify your message using the Social Media Week platform

SMW EVENT PARTNERS

THE DOs IN EVENTS Tips to help you make the best SMW event you can

Consider the following when creating your event to get maximum impact:

CONTENT • Plan event content that pushes boundaries, provides thought leadership and shares

fresh insight • Focus on themes, topics and conversations that serve your audience needs • Structure your events to facilitate two-way dialogue, interactive discussions and

heated debates through balanced & objective assessment

PLANNING, STRUCTURE, & PRODUCTION • Consider creative event formats that promote openness, collaboration & inclusivity • Select speakers / participants who have proven credibility in their respective fields • Create a program that supports cultural, ethnic and gender diversity •  Integrate technology and/or multimedia into your event in value adding ways

THE DO NOTs IN EVENTS Tips to help you make the best SMW event you can

Below is a list of things to AVOID to ensure that your has high impact • Self-serving or self-promotional events • Old/rehashed content that nothing new or unique • Traditional panel discussions with little audience participation • Events with speakers offering little or no diversity of background or culture • Sessions that feel closed or have a topic with a “limited shelf life” • Sessions that only offer one view, opinion or perspective • Events that encourage speakers to broadcast their ideas • Endless PowerPoint slides with complex diagrams and charts • Highbrow, pseudo-intellectual waffle • Speakers who like to speak for the sake of speaking

EVENT INSPIRATION

“Journey to the Center of the Net”, the SMW Rome team worked with city sponsor Ferrovie Dello Stato, aka the Italian Rail, to commandeer a high speed train heading from Milan to Rome for an SMW journey like no other. This event pulled in leaders and luminaries from the Italian tech, media and press and invited them to take the three hour trip across SMW cities to connect and learn more about social media “in Italia”.

HIGH-SPEED NETWORKING

GLOBAL EVENT SERIES

In partnership with digital agency Beyond, Social Media Week hosted discussions in New York, San Francisco and London on the Future of Sharing. The sessions coincided with a research study and infographic which Beyond published with Mashable during the February 2012 event.

As part of Social Media Week in NYC, design firm IDEO hosted an event called Humanizing Social Media. Check-in to the event required attendees to leave their mobile devices behind with their coats, setting the stage for an experiment in human interaction. Participants were given a large blank white t-shirt to cover whatever they were wearing, and their choice of a range of buttons with which to express interests and identity. See video of event: http://livestre.am/9YK

HUMANIZING SOCIAL MEDIA

As a cross-city collaboration between London and Singapore “Can Man Survive On Social Media Alone?” experiment involved two individuals who exchanged cities for a week while living off of others’ goodwill alone, getting by with no money and only a Nokia phone.

CROSS-CITY COLLABORATIONS

In SMW London, Ogilvy Group UK’s pop-up advertising agency hosted free advertising and marketing advice and ideas to small businesses, charities, arts and community groups and entrepreneurs. Londoners were invited to apply for their free hour and a half one-to-one session with experts from one of the UK’s leading integrated advertising and marketing agencies. More: http://ideashop.ogilvy.co.uk/

POP-UP SHOPS

SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

If your brand or organization would like to increase your impact, visibility and exposure during Social Media Week, consider a global or local SMW sponsorship:

SPONSORSHIP UPGRADE

Packages are customized to fit and can include the following deliverables:

•  Brand positioning and promotion across global and/or local web and mobile properties

•  Curation and production of dedicated events in selected cities •  Multiple speaking opportunities for brand representatives •  Virtual or physical integration of product, applications or services •  Facilitation of product giveaways •  Custom development of web and/or mobile apps

PACKAGE DESCRIPTION GLOBAL Global presence & local engagement MULTI-CITY Local engagement in multiple cities CITY HEADLINE Exclusive engagement in a single city CITY SUPPORTING Supporting engagement in a single city HUB SPONSOR Targeted engagement in single content area INSTALLATIONS Host interactive installations SINGLE EVENT Host single event, session or party IN-KIND Provide in-kind support, products or services

SPONSORSHIP OPTIONS

GLOBAL STATS & FIGURES*

“Social Media Week is a truly global phenomenon—showcasing borderless brands and communications, via the power of social media. We are proud to have been an integral partner, with PepsiCo employees contributing to discussions and idea exchanges on three continents and there, demonstrating the depth and breadth to which digital media is permeating our company.”

*Figures are taken from Social Media Week’s February 2012 event. Bonin Bough Global Director of Social, PepsiCo

ATTENDEE PROFILE

“Social Media Week does not disappoint. It is a real-world manifestation of some of the best that new technology has to offer - ideas, strategies and insights shared by the people who are shaping the future.

Ellen McGirt Senior Writer, Fast Company

SMW February 2012 received 3,000 press mentions globally, from sources such as Forbes, CNET, The Next Web, Mashable, Guardian, MSNBC, Huffington Post, CNN, Washington Post, AdWeek, and many more.

PRESS & MEDIA

THANK YOU! To inquire about Programming, please contact your local SMW city or: Ben Scheim, Director of Partnerships, [email protected] To inquire about Sponsorships, please contact: Brady Hahn, Director of Partnerships, [email protected] www.socialmediaweek.org @socialmediaweek