My guide for live social media reporting

Pre event preparation

Research

Who else is attending the event. What are they saying about it? What are their websites/twitter handles/facebook pages? It’s worth making a list (depending on the event of course). Who else is promoting the event? Is there room for collaboration? Pre event is a great time to make connections.

Logistics

Where is the event, travel arrangements, times, permissions/tickets, wifi, venue (is it a large venue, much ground to cover? this will affect your timings. Always allow more time than you think you need. Will this literally be roving reporting or will there be a social media ‘station’ in a fixed spot. Where will that be? What will be provided? Desk/chair for example

Kit

You have made your plan and schedule for the day, but you can’t execute it without your kit. What tech do you need? Have you got back ups? Has the venue got wifi? Will it be sufficient? Don’t rely on it; carry extra internet connection via dongle/mifi.

Promotion

Tell your audience about your event. Give them notice of when the event is and where they can get involved if they can’t make it along in person. Where do they hang out online? How are you going to bring your updates to them and make it easy for them to get involved? How are the conversations going to be monitored and responsded to?

Reportage

What is they key message and focus of the reporting? What would you like captured and shared with your audience? What content can be written or made in advance? Who would you like to be interviewed? Is it possible to arrange interview sessions in advance? Do you want to take a more casual, spontaneous approach to the reporting?

Social Media Channels

What channels will be used to share your content? Will this be a twitter only event, or will all your content be pulled through onto your website/blog? Will multiple channels be involved? What combination? Make sure that access is available through passwords prior to the event. Decide how all the content will be pulled together and presented, and devilvered to your audience.

At the event

It’s time to put all the plans into action!

After the event

Content

Pull all the content together. There may be some content outstanding that didn’t make it online and is still relevant such as photographs and video.

Engagement and analysis

Decide how you would like your event measured. What was the mood of your participants? Did they enjoy taking part? How far did your content reach?

Follow up

Thank your audience for taking part, and ask for their feed back and let them know plans for your next event. Where there any key contacts or suggestions that came up? Plan how to follow those up. Was there any criticism? How are you going to continue the conversation?