5 Favorite Event Industry Blog Posts of the Year

This time of year, it seems that everyone on the planet has some type of year end list. This was great, these are the best, these were the worst.... and so on and so on.

It is in keeping with this tradition, that I am creating my own "Favorite Posts of the Year" for 2010 and publishing this on the first day back in the office in 2011.

These posts are from some of the great blogs that I read throughout the year and that I think are important.

I am sure that I am leaving off some really great posts from not only these blogs, but others as well. Perhaps I can fix that by doing a "great industry blogs you should read in 2011" post  later in the New Year.

So, here they are with my own made up award names:

Most Controversial Blog Post of 2010 -

Mike McCurry - Is Confidential Content the Best Approach for an EventCamp Conference?

This post, about EventCamp East Coast really hit a nerve with the event community and caused some of our most respected industry elders to shame themselves by what they wrote in the comment section. I was truly appalled by the behaviour of some of our supposed colleagues, instead of having a constructive conversation, they resorted to some extreme nastiness.

Best Common Sense Reminder for Marketing Success -

Jenise Fryatt - Engage, Inform, Retweet & you might surpass your marketing goals

I loved this post for one reason... every time I re-read it, the words remind me of something that I forget about Twitter and how I should interact with my followers. The reason that this post is so important is because it is a call to action for Twitter newbies and pros alike and many of the lessons here can be used not only for Twitter, but for Facebook and other social sites as well. 

Best "I Hope They are Listening" post - 

Maddie Grant - Has ASAE Lost Its Mojo?

Maddie has done something with a post that many bloggers are afraid to do - Speak the truth. Her comments on the ASAE annual conference should not only be a lesson for ASAE planners and producers, but for every association event planner on the planet because the issues that she points out are becoming so common that you could replace ASAE in the title with "insert name of Association here".

Best "I Wish Conferences Would Listen But They Won't" Post -

Jeff Hurt - Seven Things You Should Stop Doing at Your Conferences

I love Jeff, I love the way that he writes and I love his intelligence. This post really struck home with me and as I read through it, I kept sayin.... YEAH... Unfortunetly, conference organizers will probably pay no mind because they really think that we give a rat's ass about who the next conference chair is, when in reality, we not only don't care, we all breath a collective sigh of anguish when they make a production to  announce that they are going to pass the baton to another conference chair that will probably do nothing anyway.

Best Learning for Newbies Post -

Adrian Segar  - Pecha Kucha, not Ashton Kutcher

Adrian is the poster child for creating........well, Conferences that Work. Funny, that is also the name of his blog and his book. This post, for the uninitiated, is a great introduction to Pecha Kucha. Not familiar with what that is? Go read the post. Adrian also gets props for actually using a video that features Sesame Street characters and any post that can do that is tops in my book!

There you go... my 5 favorite event industry blog posts of the year!

Comments

[Billy Tso]

Thank you for the great posts. Its so hard to find conference organizers and blogs about them. Truly one of my favorite blogs!

Cheers!
James
http://www.organisinganevent.com/event-planner/

[Keith Johnston]

Thanks Guys! They were both great posts!

[JeniseFryatt]

Thank you Keith. As I've noted many times, Event Industry Thoughts is one of my very favorite blogs. I am truly honored that you thought to recommend my post. You, certainly, provide an excellent example of how to #EIR.

[twitter.com/JeffHurt]

Keith:

Great post and thanks for the shout out. I'm with you and wish more conference organizers were listening to some of what the blogosphere has to say about conferences and events. If more meetings professionals would listen to the social web and read some bloggers, they would find a lot of their attendees talking about their conferences. And that talk is not always flattering. Sometimes, people are asking for honest answers.

Here's to a great 2011!