Both Chris and Guy are very generous with their time and advice of Twitter, so...I'd ask them what questions do they *not* get that they think ought to be asked of them more often.

Cheers,

Erica Friedman
Yurikon LLC
Intelligent Business Promotion

Are there gaps in social media?

If so, what are they and what bridges are needed?

Todd Bagley
CEO for Keytro.com

-How can corporations use MUVE(Multi User Virtual Environments) to advance their brands to consumers?

-Do you think the perception and understanding of the MUVE potential is low, and therefore at the moment the marketing initiative in them is limited? As a side question to this, are you aware of Alloys successful use of habbohotel and American Idol also cutting a deal with habbo?

-As technology changes, we remain Human ver 1.0 - what core values does a company need to address in order to make their mark upon their potential audience?
-What core values must a company speak to in order to make themselves respected in a B2B way?

-As the economy tightens, where do you see companies putting their advertising/ marketing dollars? Into which sectors? Into which elements of those sectors?

-Vance Packard in "Hidden Persuaders" made the observation that the commercial had to be more interesting than the program in order for people to remember what to buy- what kind of internet marketing campaigns have that kind of hold / memory factor on audience attention?

-Do you see the growth of live events on the Internet, and the growth of "Appointment Internet" where people will need to tune into a site in order to facilitate a live participatory event for them?

-Do you see internet entertainment programming becoming a greater way of advancing consumer engagement? If yes, in what way?

Pooky Amsterdam
CEO / PookyMedia
pookymedia.com

How many channels and nothing on? Remember that line from Don Henley? The internet makes cable look like a rural weekly print newspaper. And no matter how many more conversation and information channels and platforms are invented, and no matter how many more people get connected to them and converse over them, there are still only 24 hours in every day, a third of which most people sleep through. Have we reached -- or will we reach -- a terminal velocity effect on information whereby an increasing number of communications fall into a background noisescape in which everything sounds like the adults talking in the old Charlie Brown TV specials and it all gets ignored?

David Rich
Sr. Vice President,
Strategic Marketing/Worldwide at George P. Johnson

David -
You point out the value of filters, aggregation, ease of access, relevancy and the importance of quality content. With current platforms building the community database, we move to the next layer of second tier solutions that access this information. Life becomes better.

As Mr. Henley once observed:
"Just data to be manipulated.
I can get you any result you like
Whats it worth to you?"

What is the nearby future going to look like -realistically?

Best regards,
Gianluigi Cuccureddu
Web Marketing Strategist ★ Consultant @ Traffic4u - glcuccureddu.com

Erica,
I like your approach. In other words, what do I NOT know that I should know.

What are the best examples of use of social media tools at a face-to-face event? What are the worst examples?

What trends in social media are most important and applicable for the events industry?

Event professionals want to deliver smooth running events. Their reluctance to adopt social media, in part, comes from the risk (perceived or real) of losing control of their event. How do we reduce these risks with the help of social media. (Don't let them get away with saying "you didn't have control anyway" because that answer does not fly with event planners).

Paula Crerar
Consultant at Add-Vantage Consulting Group

Broaden it -- Guy is about benefits (have you read all his books, esp. the early ones?) and about more than internet marketing.

I'd start w/ one basic question and let them riff -- and listen and build off that. That works well w/ Guy who I know .. don't know Chris.

Joan Eisenstodt
Hospitality & Meetings Industry Trainer, Facilitator & Consultant

In terms of social media marketing content, is it more important to inform, or entertain?

What are great examples of social media programs that have done both?

What sort of marketing tools are you hoping social networks of the future will have?

How would you like to see social media technology and strategy integrating itself into traditional media, if at all?

I also suggest these experts on this topic:

* Barry Poltermann
* Drew Lewis
* Doug McSorley

Jonathan Hanusa
Business Development at About Face Media

What would you say are the 5 new trends to keep an eye on in social media when it comes to exhibition marketing?

Rori Reber
Trade Show Manager
Key Curriculum Press

Rori,
Great question. If there is anything that should be valuable to our industry right now, it is 'what does the future have in store and how is it going to impact events and exhibitions.'

Given the exponential expansion of social media groups and other on-line community building activities, we are all being assaulted by.
My question is….
Are there any emerging, “common sense” rules for balancing the self promotion of these communities/initiatives and becoming just another contributor to the endless roar of meaningless emails?
It is akin to the direct mail marketing failure, where those sometime useful neighborhood coupon mailings, arrive every third day. I may want to use one but I don’t need them in triplicate week after week.

Hello Stephen. Thanks for sharing your access to these two major marketing gurus!

I'd ask them where they are on the "Social Media vs. Live Trade Show" scale they are. Are they closer to the side that says, "Live trade shows and conventions offer real, necessary face-to-face interactions that Social Media complements, but will never replace," or leaning the other side, that says, "New Social Media growth during this downturn is going to change marketing so much that even when the economy rebounds, live trade shows will not come back the way they were."

And ask with a sense of irony, as you are on stage at a live event when you ask the question!

Regards,

Mike

Michael Thimmesch
Director of Lead Generation and Industry Relations at Skyline Exhibits
skylinetradeshowtips.com

Kawasaki's (overused) phrase is that too many people think that Twitter/social media is posting stuff like "my cat rolled over". In 140 characters or fewer, for the events industry, if it is not "my cat rolled over", what is social media?

For Brogan (tapping his event's experience and mainlining the financial angst of everyone in the room), in the next three years will social media have a net positive or net negative impact on my event's bottom line?

I'm still waiting for 2-3 proven tips on how to increase attendance using social media. Do I jump in and just try different approaches, or wait for the best ideas to meet the test of time?

My exhibit customers aren't asking for social media options or communications. Are we missing the boat...and if so, when does the next boat depart?

Randy,
I may oversimplify my response, but you should think of social media as a way to grow your prospect list and then implement tools that reach this community to invite them to your event.

I think you should begin participation now, but create a plan before you get started.

Are you sure your exhibitors aren't already using social media? You may want to ask again.

Six months ago, I told all of our customers they were not behind if they were getting started. Now I tell customers they are behind - it is time to catch the departing ship because community development takes time.