Eventuosity

Last Thursday night at Morimoto in New York City, Motorola held its launch party, Motodroid, for its 2 new phones, the CLIQ™ and the DROID. It was a fantastic event with incredible cuisine prepared by Chef Morimoto, DJ sets by Dave 1 of Chromeo and HolyGhost!, and a lounge specifically created for attendees to test out the new phones and speak to representatives from Motorola and Cake Group (the PR brains behind the event) to discuss the phones offerings.

The CLIQ™ is billing itself as “the first phone with social skills” and allows the user to stream content from a number of social networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, GMail, and LastFM to live widgets on the home screen and also send out status updates to all of these sites in one shot.

The DROID is Motorola’s answer to the iPhone, and “the world’s first smart phone powered by Android™ 2.0″ allowing users to surf the web over the largest 3G network in the country. The phone also boasts a high resolution screen, a 5 mega-pixel camera with LED flash and auto-focus, a high quality video recorder, voice recognition, and augmented reality usage. Not to mention this is the first phone strategically partnered with Google.

My favorite part of this event, as a planner and social media enthusiast, was the incorporation of Foursquare. Foursquare is the popular way to explore cities by checking into venues via phone all the while gaining points and competing against your friends for badges and “mayorships” of spots you frequent. Another way to gain points and recommend your favorite things to do around the city are with tips. Upon Check -in to Morimoto, Foursquare users accessed this “tip”: A welcome to attendees, a reminder of the hash tag for the event, and the signature @motomobile which alerts the user to the Twitter handle so they can easily follow the company.

In the past, events that I have planned have utilized a hashtag to track conversation about the event on Twitter. I have always included this information in marketing materials pre-event as well as on posted signage throughout the venue to remind attendees and to ensure buzz. Whereas this technique may reach a wider audience with a printed method, the Foursquare approach that Cake implemented provides the event with a much cleaner look (Morimoto is a very sleek, modern space and signage would have detracted from that), it’s more Green friendly, and it lends to the brand a social media friendly and technologically aware assurance.

Bravo to both Motorola and Cake for knowing their audience well and having the foresight to include Foursquare in this event. Great events and good events are separated by the attention paid to detail. Little details like this “tip” require very little time and effort yet can make a huge impact on the buzz surrounding your event. I think we’ll be seeing this technique explode as Foursquare boom continues and social media finds its way into more and more events. This is one tip I will definitely be adding to my event “to do list.”

To see photos of this event (courtesy of Kelly Samardak), please check out the Flickr stream here.

Ever feel like your head is going to explode when you try to figure out where to incorporate Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr or the latest social media or technology tool into your event or meeting? So do I. Welcome to Eventuosity where the worlds of Events, Social Media, and Technology collide. The ever increasing roles that technology and social media are playing in events now demand planners attention and adoption but where to begin?

As an event planner, I understand the importance of hiring a vendor that fits the specific needs for my event and my audience. Finding that “best of fit” for each event and implementing it appropriately determines the success of an event. The same goes with utilizing social media and technology in your events. Find what will be the “best of fit” for your event and your audience, and your event should be a hit.

Introducing social media and technology into an event or meeting can be an overwhelming project, however, and it is my hope this blog will explain some of the products and tools being used and to spotlight events that are utilizing them. Welcome to the world of Eventuosity!

*Special thanks to Tony Briceno for his help getting this blog up and running*