Using Social Media to Extend and Enhance Offline Events and Communities

How do you use Social Media to extend and enhance offline events and communities? Here’s what two years of running Like Minds has taught me.

Before the event: Build anticipation, not just awareness. Introduce participants to each other before they arrive – when people walk in having existing digital relationships, the depth of interaction is immediately richer. Create a hashtag and use it consistently.

During the event: Encourage live sharing, but don’t let it replace presence. The person glued to their phone is not fully there. Use the digital stream to include people who can’t attend.

After the event: Document and share. Video, write-ups, slides, key quotes – these extend the value of the event and its lifespan beyond the day. Keep the conversation going. The event should be the high point of an ongoing conversation, not its beginning and end.