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Event-Based Live Blogging to Extend B2B Communities

By Paul Harris

Live blogging and peer-to-peer social media networking to enhance (and extend) trade show and conference participation. This video captures a couple of outtakes to illustrate live blogging, used to extend an on-site Microsoft Town Hall Meeting. You can also take a look at the complete session and Live Blog transcript at AXUG.com.

Challenge:

1. •Microsoft Dynamics users wanted to share information with one another, and in some cases learn about peers that also used Microsoft ERP solutions.
   

2. •Microsoft enterprise software customers using products from the Dynamics portfolio (formerly Axapta, Great Plains and Navision) needed a way to connect with peers.
   

3. •More than 1,200 users coming together for annual conferences had no structured way to find and exchange information with peers.
   

4. •Users of Microsoft CRM and ERP systems who could not attend physical conferences were unable to participate in sessions, network with other users, or take advantage of educational value.
   

5. •Mangers of Microsoft Dynamics user community were not monitoring or participating in to social media discussions involving their respective product lines.
   

Solution:

1. •Live blogging platform deployed for key worldwide conference sessions, such as Town Hall meetings with top Microsoft executives. This engaged people on site, and the worldwide user community.
   

2. •Twitter accounts for each product line in the Microsoft Dynamics portfolio, and business line managers trained on microblogging.
   

3. •Tagging standards established for product lines, and evangelized prior to and during annual conferences. Protocols set for impromptu meetups.
   

4. •Print and web campaigns to drive adoption.
   

5. •Recurring webinars to train users on social media best-practices.
   

Results:

1. •Hundreds of users connected within months, leveraging Twitter for peer-to-peer contact.
   

2. •More than 1,000 users accessed a single conference's live blog in real-time or archives.
   

3. •Dozens of on-site meetups organized by industry sector, company size, product line and user role.
   

4. •Town Hall session transcripts used to develop follow-up blog entries within Microsoft's customer community.
   

5. •Full-length video of Town Hall sessions leveraged to enhance paid memberships and drive up-sells for Basic Members.