Everyone knows that I am one of the biggest and most outspoken advocates of the use of digital and social media to inform, share content and generally amplify live events and experiential campaigns.
But those looking to support their event campaigns with social media should not go into it blind. You should ensure that your approach is strategically aligned to your objectives, that you are using the right platforms and that you are managing the level of engagement and response from your target audience - especially when you are using channels to drive the attendance of an event.
There is no event that that can afford a mass attendance beyond their maximum capacity. Think of the past mistakes such as Fat Boy Slim on the beach in Brighton where no one expected such an overwhelming number of revelers to turn up, and another more recent example of American Apparels “Rummage Sale”.
An American Apparel rummage sale held in London in April turned ugly, when nearly 3,000 people showed up to get their share of the retailer's goods.
The “Fame” influenced apparel brand hired more than 22,000 square foot of space in the East End’s trendy Brick Lane for the rummage sale. The event was announced through various social media channels and almost 30,000 people signed up to a Facebook group to say they were planning to attend the sale.
Past experience should have indicated something was about to go wrong - similar events in cities including Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, San Diego, Miami, Berlin and Austin had also attracted thousands of people in the days preceding this event with adverse reactions.
So the morning of the event arrived and 3,000 people were queuing when a small issue at the door occurs… “At 10am there was a burst of people coming to the front door. We couldn’t control that.”
“We knew it was going to be big but not this big” said a representative. Conflict in the line turned into a riot, in which ten police officers were hurt and three people arrested. The sale was shut down that day, but rescheduled to run through the next week with extra security.
The sale's organisers then tapped into social media once more and apologised via Facebook, saying they'd "never witnessed anything like it." That it was "overwhelming and humbling," and that they had "never witnessed anything like it and are disappointed and sorry that it happened."
The “riot” marks another strike against the company, which has fallen on hard times. This damage to the companies profile has been amplified through every social media platform known to man. Today’s Youtube culture has paid homage to the event with many, many uploaded videos of the incident.
How did they get it so wrong, was it desperation to get the numbers and make the sales? Was it poor digital strategy? Or was it just naivety? Either way, it was hugely damaging to the brand and its reputation.
If you are using social media to amplify an event the sky can be the limit in terms of those that will register. You should also bear in mind that those that do register may also pass on the information to others - statistics show that you are eight or nine times more likely to engage with an offer if a friend or family member has passed on the information to you. To avoid things escalating out of your control, ensure that there is a cut off point. You must ensure that you are not running the risk of over attendance or over subscription.
This is were the value of charging for an event in advance works. This will not only give your event a perceived value, it will afford you the opportunity to create a definitive attendance structure. You can charge and the cost of attendance goes to charity.
