The BlogPaws conference in Columbus, Ohio last weekend was one of the better social media events I’ve been to in the past year.

To come up with what I write here, I often reflect on my own experiences as a social media user, event attendee, business owner, and even a consumer.  Yesterday, I started dissecting what it was that made BlogPaws stand out for me.  There’s a lot we as marketers and event promoters can do to make the experience a purple cow experience for everyone involved.

#1 – Create Norms by Targeting a Niche Audience

Conferences are all over the board these days and yet I see more social media events moving towards a niche model.

BlogPaws was no different in that it was directly positioned towards pet industry bloggers.  That type of focus did a few things.  For one, it brought passionate, like-minded individuals together in an environment where they could just be themselves. Everyone was tied together by two interests: a passion for blogging and social media and, more importantly, a deeper passion for their pet companions.

It’s not every day you sit in a breakout session and listen to a speaker present on blogging and tweeting from the persona of her cat.  At other more general social media conferences, this might have been seen as strange.  But at BlogPaws, people got it.  It was just part of the norms created by the culture the event.  And guess what?  It worked.

#2 – Book Speakers That Engage With the Community

As a speaker, one of the things that bugs me is when speakers are booked for a conference, but only show up for their session, and then skip out as fast as possible.  Sure, sometimes you end up having a busy schedule and have little control over where you need to be next.  I get that.  Trust me.  But the best and most memorable speakers, in my opinion, are the ones that stick around, attend other sessions and make time to really connect with the audience.  That type of speaker is worth paying for because it creates a better customer experience for both attendees and sponsors.

Fellow speakers, this is a call to action directed at you.  If an event is kind enough to want to give you the soapbox, please make every effort possible to stay and hang out.  Those extra minutes of engagement could mean the world and maybe make all the difference to an attendee who admires you.  It will benefit them and also benefit you long-term.

#3 – Get the Right Sponsors

There were a few things that impressed me about the sponsors at BlogPaws.  First, they understand the nature of the people they were in front of.  They knew we were bloggers and they knew we had something of value to offer them.  I didn’t experience one single vendor or sponsor company who was pushy in the least bit.  The sponsors seem to all come with the same mission in mind: exchange value by offering information (what bloggers want) and focus on building relationships (what bloggers really want).

Kodak was uber-impressive.  They were involved in just about every giveaway, but the information they offered the community of attendees was out-of-this-world.  In one of their well-designed  handouts, they even shared the complete social media policy as food for thought.  I found this particularly valuable since that’s often the focus of work with my own clients.

Kodak also had a relevant and creative offer at their booth – a technology that gets the red eye out of pictures of your pets.  In the context of a pet blogger conference, that makes perfect sense.  Hat tip to you, Kodak.  Nice work.

#4 – Relevant and Memorable Swag

As much as people like to say that conference swag isn’t really important, it is.  Why?  Attendees take swag home and comb through it after the festivities have ended.  In a way, the swag you leave with them will create a memory and an impression.  The best swag is something that attendees can use and keep for a while.

Sometimes getting too creative with your swag can actually diminish it’s value to an attendee.  The real value to a sponsor or the event is when you attendee looks at your swag multiple times, not just on the first impression.  As I write this post, I’m drinking coffee out of a mug I received from CatsAgainstClay.org, a non profit focused on creating awareness around some of the dangers present in the products we use with our cats.  I’m a blogger, and I just gave them a link to what I think is a really neat, and well-designed website.

Get the point?

#5 – Focus on Customer Experience

My dog, Lenny, is a rehab team rescue who came to live with me when his time ran out in the shelter.  It wasn’t that the shelter was bad, just that resources are limited and there are so many dogs that need homes.  Lenny wasn’t ready to go into a general adoption home at the time.

I brought Lenny to BlogPaws, and I have to admit, I was a bit nervous.  He can be a little skittish around strange crowds.  Part of what BlogPaws offered in their customer experience was a dog daycare facility, right in the hotel.  The daycare was staffed with knowledgeable staff who were compassionate.  They understood and appreciated dogs like Lenny, and they made me comfortable to leave him in their care as I went to the lunch session.  By the second time I took Lenny to the daycare room, he literally pawed at the door to get in and play.  That made me happy.

BlogPaws focused on one extra little element, creating an experience that gave me piece of mind as an attendee.

#6 – Extend the Experience Online

How many times do you attend an event, make great connections and then lose the flair of those new relationship once you get back to your daily grind.  The folks who planned BlogPaws announced at the conference that they were building an online community.  Good idea.  You can visit their Facebook page to see what I mean.  They are using Facebook to keep the conversation alive and growing.  Smart.

#7 – Make It Good Times

Sometimes I feel like conferences are so focused on providing content and maximizing sponsor value that they forget that attendees also come to have a good time.  Here are a few things you can do to make sure that when you are planning your event, you keep this in mind:

• Leave some breathing room in between sessions for attendees to mingle and connect with each other.
• Have good food.  Better yet, have good food that’s a well-kept, local secret.  Let attendees know that it’s a local delicacy.
• All work and no play is no fun.  Make sure that at least a few elements of your event focus on simply letting your attendees unwind and reboot.

#8 – Flawless Execution

Execution is everything, and good execution takes a ton of time and investment of emotional capital.  Depending on the type of conference or event you are offering, you may not have time to do all the heavy lifting yourself.  For the best results, do you due diligence up front and find a partner who knows how to make everything work seamlessly.

I want to give special props to Columbus-based Destinations by Design.  They were the event management company that worked with the BlogPaws founders, Caroline Golon, Yvonne DiVita and Tom Collins, to pull everything off.

How will you approach planning your next conference event?

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