http://www.spiral16.com A Social Media Command Center is a highly effective add-on to events of any size. By serving as a "virtual help desk," companies offer personal assistance, engage audiences, create goodwill, and generate online buzz that spills over into enthusiastic mainstream press coverage.
At the 2012 Pivot Conference, Marketing Manager Eric Melin of Spiral16 livestreamed a presentation called 'Why the RNC Social Media Command Center Was Successful and How to Create One,' which was profiled the success of Spiral16 clients BarkleyREI and the city of Tampa Bay coming off of the 2012 Republican National Convention. This presentation also illustrates how your organization can add a Social Media Command Center to any event to make it a bigger win for everybody.
Why the RNC Social Media Command Center Was Successful and How to Create One
1. Why the RNC
Social Media Command Center
Was Successful
and How to Create One
Eric Melin
Manager Marketing & Communications
@Spiral16
2. Why Create a Social Media Command Center?
There is simply
nothing better
for event
marketing.
A pic of the action at
#TampaBay's Social Media
Command Center, the first
of it's kind for a nat'l
political convention —
@Tampa_Chamber
3. A Social Media Command Center
…allows you to
create conversation
and engagement
with attendees and
locals.
4. A Social Media Command Center
…allows you to offer
helpful advice to
create a better
overall event
experience
16. #TampaBay SMCC
…the Tampa Bay SMCC
created an
overwhelming amount of
positive civic
conversation and kept
the focus there, turning a
potential disaster into a
big win for the city
during the Republican
National Convention.
17. #TampaBay SMCC Equipment
• 6 dual-monitor
listening
workstations
• 6 engagement
workstations
• 7 large monitors for
measurement &
visualizing data
18. #TampaBay SMCC Staff
Over 60 volunteers
from partner
organizations logged
time on the
workstations to
respond to visitors,
promoting the
destination brand and
pushing content.
20. Listening Strategy
Managers monitor the keywords people are most likely
to use online .
Core Concepts
@visittampabay, @visitampabay, #visittampabay, #visitampabay, Visit Tampa Bay, VisitTampaBay
"Social Media Command Center", "SMCC " #TampaBay, #Tampa, Tampa Bay, Tampa Bay Times
Forum, Convention Center, #RNC, RNC, "Republican National Convention", @RNC_2012, #RNC2012,
#RNC_2012, #RNC, #GOP, #GOPConvention, "GOP Convention"
Associated Concepts/Silos
Economic development, Parking, Dining, Restaurant(s), Hotel(s), Lodging(s), Directions, Hospitality,
Attraction(s), Convention, Airport(s), Traffic, Event(s), Taxi(s), Cab(s), Nightlife
Exclusions
Buccaneers, Bucs, Redskins, [Other Pre or Starting Season Opponents], Rays, [Rangers, other
opponents], Republican National Committee, more
21. #Tampa #RNC SMCC Workflow
Bulk of engagement on
Twitter, but blogs and other
online outlets are monitored as
well.
Managers manage
commenting and responses
elsewhere but pass on relevant
tweets to the Curators.
22. #Tampa #RNC SMCC Workflow
• Curators then determine sentiment
and probable influence of tweets
• Tag them by category
food/drink
attractions
facts
parking/transportation
event
emergency
media inquiry
• Pass them along to the Engagents
23. Real-Time Response Strategy
Armed with a litany of helpful links, Internet know-how,
and a general passion for Tampa Bay, engagents:
• Respond to tweets using the @VisitTampa Twitter
account
• Brand with proper hashtags (#TampaBay,
#VisitTampa Bay)
• Personalize messages with their initials if needed
24. Measurement Strategy
The goal: Compare sentiment
and conversation trends about
Tampa Bay during the RNC with
posts before the RNC.
The solution: Isolate /weed out
political-related chatter (Occupy
protests, GOP pro or con) that
contained Tampa keywords, but
did not reflect an opinion about
Tampa Bay itself.
26. Flexibility is Key
The SMCC turned the RNC delay into
an opportunity to engage visitors in
all Tampa Bay has to offer.
VisitTampaBay encouraged tweets
and pushed messages featuring local
attractions and partners using
hashtag #RainyDayRNC, turning a
negative situation into a positive.
28. Local Voices Join In
As use of the #TampaBay and #RNC hashtags increased
to include more responses and helpful links from
@VisitTampaBay…
…other local Twitter influencers joined in to share great
information about Tampa.
29. SMCC Generates News, Chatter
Nonstop media blitz of the
SMCC generated enormous
positive buzz, making up 22% of
all Tampa Bay-related posts.
• Nationally syndicated stories
• Blogs
• Retweets
• Links shared
30. Social Images/Photo-Sharing
SMCC activated Tampa
fanbase encouraging and
sharing photos taken by
Tampa residents and
visitors…
resulting in Webstagram
and Instagram placing #4
and #5 in Top Domains for
the city.
34. Positive Online Buzz Snowballs
As the RNC wound down, the
momentum of positive buzz
continued to climb.
By the end of the convention,
positive sentiment was at 89%
and the negative sentiment
that threatened to dominate
the Tampa conversation
before the RNC started had
dropped to 1%.
36. More Tampa Bay Ambassadors
Recommendations appeared organically online, as did
stories about the positive experiences visitors had in
Tampa.
Even Hulk Hogan joined in, giving his own personal best-
of Tampa list to ABC . When the network asked Hogan one
thing he would like to change about the city, he said:
“Aside from renaming Tampa after
me, there is really nothing. It's my
home and I love it here.”
37. Tampa Bay Ambassadors
The Hulk's Tampa: RNC Must-Sees — ABC News
Tampa gets solid reviews — MyFoxTampaBay
38. Civic Interest and Exposure
Over 60 VIP tours were given at the SMCC.
VIPs included:
• Fortune 500 CEOs
• Mayor of Tampa
• Government
officials
• Business leaders
• Media outlets
39. Make Events Resonate
Success was bigger than the
SMCC – it was about:
• Positioning Tampa as a
brand and economic leader
• Becoming a great host to
conventions
• Innovating approach to
supporting area visitors
with unprecedented scale.
40. The Basic Core of Any SMCC
The same elements as any
good social strategy:
Listening
Responding
Measuring
This can be done at any level.
41. Thanks!
Eric Melin
@Spiral16 on Twitter
eric.melin@spiral16.com