This is an interesting post and I would love to be a part of a general discussion on this issue. Let me break down your post into the three issues as I see them. Trust. This seems to be a big part of conversations regarding social networking sites, but I have to be honest and say that it has never come up in a conversation we have had with our clients. Typically we create a secure data-bridge to the registration system, then our site is launched only after someone has logged into the main event site. It also might be that our first client was so security and privacy conscious that it was baked into the DNA of the company from the start. Opt-in / Participation This really is the crux of the issue facing social networking deployments in the Event industry. While I must say that we have made it about as easy as it could be to deploy, configure and maintain a site, the real work s in creating a strategic plan for how a Community will improve the experience for attendees and provide valuable insight to the event organizer - which is not really in our control. We spend a great deal of time, more lately, helping to educate our clients regarding best practices in this area, so that they realize the value of the investment they make in the online community. We actively work with all of our clients to improve opt-in, as this is a significant area of focus for us. "Build it and they will come" is not applicable in an information saturated landscape - joining a(nother) social network doesn't make it high on attendee’s todo list - unless a compelling value proposition is clearly communicated to the attendees, early and often. Seminars vs. Tradeshows Finally, you make a good distinction between Seminars and Tradeshows. We learned early on that there are major differences in the motivations for each. Tradeshows are indeed only about buying and selling - our visual matching approach clearly seems to be a key reason we get selected for these types of events. Helping attendees find meaningful connections in a sea of choices is the primary purpose for these deployments. People are interested in buying or selling, not hanging out. I actually talked to a tradeshow manager early on who asked me (seriously), "Why would people want to meet one another?" In the Seminar market you are right in that the primary motivation for attending is to network and learn. Network being a key factor. A social network significantly improves the potential for meaningful connections, rather than relying on randomly running into people in the line for lunch. Being able to find the 5-10 people that would really make the conference a difference for you makes the ROI of attendance much easier to quantify. In re-reading your post, is it possible that your focus on Trust was more about sales tactics that vendors employ to convince show managers to employ a social network? If so, then that is a separate issue that speaks to the integrity of an organization and not the industry. We are very careful to point out to our prospects that we have seen opt-in range from as low as 20% to as high as 98% and can point to the various factors that drive that success - as I said at the beginning, it is not about building a system and putting it online, it is about strategically thinking about how Community can improve the overall success of the event, then selecting a vendor that will help you reach those business goals. The technology itself is not a silver bullet - but as part of an overall plan it can provide tremendous value to the attendee and the event organizer. Sincerely, Mark Sylvester CEO, introNetworks

Sorry for the hard to read formatting of my reply. But I did want to add one thing. Opt-in and Stay-in. If there is not a commitment to the Community strategically by the event planner, then there is nothing that a platform vendor can do. We work diligently to help planners understand up front what that commitment looks like. Cheers Mark Sylvester CEO, introNetworks

EventMingle has been building event based social networking communities for the tradeshow industry since 2005. We've learned a lot during this time and our application has been fine tuned every 90 days since our introduction. Yes, we passionate about opt-in rates because our clients are focused on it. We give our clients real time reporting on opt-in rates for attendees, exhibitors and speakers. We also give them detailed reporting on who opted-out. We don't hide any of it, nor do we make false claims. This is an emerging technology, opt-in rates will improve as people use EventMingle and if EventMingle adds value to their show experience.

We have seen opt-in rates from 35% to 85%. There are a lot of factors that cause these percentages to fluxuate. 1) How good are the email addresses we get from the registration companies? Mickey@hotmail.cm isn't going to every login as an example. Attendees are so worried about having their email address sold to every exhibitor that many enter bogus information. 2) How well has the show manager educated their participants about the online community? Is it talked about in their print and online materials? Do they have banners with the web address around the show floor and internet cafe? Did they create an internal marketing strategy to promote the community? "Hope" should not be considered a strategy.

We do tend to spend a lot of time studying opt-in rates here at EventMingle. Put be also look at how many emails, appointments and introductions have been made as well. And sometimes the "pecentages" don't tell you the big picture. For example, one client had 55% attendee opt-in rates, yet they had over 3,000 attendee to attendee introductions made, meaning over 3,000 connected online and made arrangements to meet in person during the event. You can certainly say thousands of people didn't use EventMingle, but for the 3,000 people that connected, it had a profound impact on their event experience.

If we've learned anything over the past several years are business people are busy. They tend to use applications that will make their life easier and productive. We have to constantly answer "What is my reward for using EventMingle?" and we've learned attendees, exhibitors, speakers and editors all want answers catered to them.

EventMingle caters to tradeshows and the challenges people face going to them. So I'm not in a position to compare them to events without exhibitors.

Thanks,

Jim Harrer, EventMingle