We recently kicked off the summer Webinar Series, The Evolution of Conferencing, and are excited for part two this month. We’ll be addressing the case of the multi-tasking marketer. If you’re part of a marketing team, you fully grasp the concept of ever-looming deadlines and repeat fire drills. It’s all in a day’s work. But, as the workplace continues to adapt to a changing landscape, marketers have become more efficient with their time by implementing tools that can ease the load and dovetail some of these duties into an effective work-flow. This comes as a benefit not only to the one completing the task but also the team, customer or prospect who is directly impacted by the project.

So, give me an example, you say. Well, consider your conferencing platform. You’re not just using it for remote meetings these days. It’s likely to function in a number of ways – training, demos, collaboration, web events, podcast series and more. This is what we mean by ‘multi-tasking marketer.’ Responsibilities that span a range of projects, all with the end goal of providing qualified leads to the sales organization and meaningful content to those evaluating your service or product.

Multi-tasking has become a habit for most – some are able to manage it in a productive manner, others may still need some guidance (self included). This new series is focused on how conferencing continues to adapt to the frequent advancement of the hundreds of other technology platforms we use everyday to get our work done as marketers. From social media integration to campaign monitoring tools that allow for tracking and reporting, web conferencing continues surprise many with it’s new and innovative uses. We hope you can join us for the upcoming event (we promise it will be well worth your time, plus it doesn’t cost you a thing!) In the mean time, check out this free whitepaper download with tips on choosing the best provider for your needs and tools to consider that  may help you validate your multi-tasking habits.

Last week, Simon Mackie, editor at Web Worker Daily, published the Top 10 Teleconferencing Tips. The article includes great advice, much of which is applicable for in-person meetings too. The list was targeted at conference call organizers but participants on audio and web conferences should also consider a few tips to ensure they get the most from the meeting:

• Avoid Distractions. Because no one can see you, it’s easy to continue working on other items or follow up on some unanswered emails. You’ll get more from the call and your colleagues will appreciate it if you stay focused and engaged. Close email, web browsers and other applications so that you can focus on the information being presented.
• Location, Location, Location. Much like the chairperson, the participant’s location is also important. Muting and unmuting your phone can be troublesome and collaborating from a loud, busy location can be difficult. Find a quite environment—no dogs, no kids, no traffic, etc.—so that your colleagues can appreciate the fine points of your ideas. And, remember, the organizer may not have you on mute, so before you ‘think out loud’ make sure you’ve muted your own phone.
• Participate. If you’re joining a collaborative conference call or meeting with your colleagues, be sure to verbalize your thoughts. If you agree with the discussion, don’t just nod because no one will see you; let the rest of the group know. It can be awkward to interrupt to let the speaker know that you agree, so take notes on what you agree and disagree with and important highlights. When it’s your turn or the appropriate time arises, share your feedback on the topics being discussed.
• Always Be Prepared. To ensure that you have the best audio and web conference experience prepare ahead of time:
  • Review the agenda and gather notes
  • Check to make sure your computer is properly setup for web conferences
  • Dial-in 5 minutes early so you’re not frazzled for the start of the call

Audio and web conferencing is a great way to share information, collaborate, train and educate. BUT, it is what you make it. In order to get the most from teleconferencing, participants and chairpersons need to consider best practices and tips for success.

Today three social media experts presented on ways to leverage social media networks to help event sponsors draw more attendees, better engage webinars audiences and social media tools make follow up easier.

The expert speakers on Social Media: Promote, Engage, Leverage, Repeat were Melanie Turek, principal analyst from Frost and Sullivan; Alli Libb, event program manager for the American Marketing Association; and Elaine Ellis, social media and marketing manager for Trada.

Each expert shared some great insights and there was some excellent dialogue happening on Twitter as well. Here’s some of the key takeaways:

• 54% of organizations surveyed by Frost and Sullivan are currently using or plan to use Facebook. 42% are using or plan to Twitter. 8 out of 10 companies perceive social networking sites used for client relations to be valuable
• 78% of the audience works for a company that currently uses social media but only 39% of the audience is currently measuring their social media ROI
• Use Twitter to promote events; tweet often because Twitter is a constant stream of updates
• Leverage webinar recordings by embedding them on Facebook and YouTube and sharing the link on Twitter
• Follow up on any questions that were sent during the event via Twitter
• Keep twitter conversations with potential influencers casual – pushy selling, spamming, etc. won’t build relationships
• Consider integrating social media with CRM

Elaine, Melanie and Alli mentioned lots of great tools for leverage social media before, during and after an event. Here’s a list of the tools mentioned:

For registering hashtags:
Twapperkeeper (http://twapperkeeper.com)
Twubs (http://twubs.com/)

For analytics:
Google Analytics (http://www.google.com/analytics/)
AddThis (http://www.addthis.com/)

For finding conversations:
Del.icio.us (http://delicious.com/)
Stumble Upon (http://www.stumbleupon.com)
Google Blogs Search (http://blogsearch.google.com)
Twitter Search (http://search.twitter.com)
Favstar (http://favstar.fm/)

For monitoring Twitter:
TweetDeck (http://www.tweetdeck.com/)
HootSuite (http://hootsuite.com/)

For monitoring conversations across social media:
Radian6 (http://www.radian6.com/)
Jive (http://www.jivesoftware.com/solutions/market-engagement)
Alterian (http://socialmedia.alterian.com/)
BackType (http://www.backtype.com/) – In Beta
Spot Influence (http://www.spotinfluence.com/) – In Beta

To watch the webinar recording, download the slides or access the whitepaper, check out the Social Media: Promote, Engage, Leverage, Repeat archive page. Are there tools we missed or other social media best practices? Share in the comments below or tweet about it with the hashtag #smFullCircle.

I hate to be late. When I’m attending a meeting in-person, I want to be the first person in the conference room, not the last. This same philosophy applies to web conferencing.

I sit on a lot of webinars that use competitive products, sometimes I’m doing competitive research and sometimes I sign up because of the topic (social media, word of mouth marketing, prospecting, lead generation, PR, etc.).

It’s guaranteed that I have a meeting right before, which usually gives me about 30 seconds to join the webinar on time. Guess what? That’s never enough time. By the time the software launches, I’m late to join the meeting. Plus, if it’s the first time using that web conferencing software, I likely have to download their application. This means I have to have an IT administrator install the software before I can join. If I’m lucky, I’ll only be 10 minutes late to the webinar.

For me, this is a big deal and is one of the reasons why I’m excited about the launch of Web Meeting 6, which is ReadyTalk’s new web meeting product that will launch later this spring. Web Meeting 6 doesn’t require participants to download any special software (not even Java). That’s right, no participant downloads required. Participants use a Flash-based player that makes joining a conference easy and FAST. More on Web Meeting 6 is available here.

I wanted to find out exactly what ‘fast’ meant, so today I did some time trials on joining a meeting. As a participant using Internet Explorer, Firefox and Chrome, I was able to join the meeting in 11 seconds. I could join via Firefox in just 9 seconds. Oh, and it only took two mouse clicks to join.

Want to try it out? Web Meeting 6 is currently available in an exclusive Preview environment. Current customers can access Preview at http://www.readytalk.com/preview using their current ReadyTalk access number and pass code and get started. Not a ReadyTalk customer? Contact sales@readytalk.com and they’ll set you up with a free 30-day trial account that also includes exclusive access to the Preview environment.

Please comment below on how quickly you’re able to join a meeting. Also, please share your thoughts on the new interface and features like enhanced polling. We love getting honest feedback.

After talking with a colleague who is considering purchasing a web conferencing service for their small 20 person company, I realized that he had no idea of the capabilities of a web conferencing service. Most people think of web conferencing as a simple collaboration tool. However, with the convergence of technology and widely adopted broadband, web conferencing services have expanded to include things like lead generation, training, remote support and IT, and sales demonstrations.

I recently wrote a whitepaper on all of the ways a company can use a web conferencing service and I invite you to take a look at it.

Web Conferencing has become a critical resource for companies in their quest to cut costs, improve efficiencies and connect increasingly diverse work spaces. In my next post, I will show you how to choose a web conferencing provider.