Stephen Nold

The Evolution of MatchMaking: Next Steps
August 28, 2007

Social networking is the next step in the evolution of matchmaking. However, like all new products, social networking tools must slowly make their way up the bell curve of technology adoption. But sites like Facebook and MySpace have already been around for years and draw millions of new users each month. Why hasn’t the meetings industry picked up on this trend?

The web-based social networking tools that are available are no more expensive than traditional matchmaking tools. At the very least one would expect the tradeshows and conferences that currently use a matchmaking program would make the upgrade. As for events that have yet to employ any pre-event lead generation program, the benefits and features now available from this new generation of social networking tools makes the adoption of this technology well worth the investment.

I recently had the pleasure of meeting Sal Fuentes, CEO of Decision Counsel. During our conversation, Sal commented on the lack of foresight of many events. 

“We’re transitioning from this physical experience that event companies have always provided and we’re going to have to start sharing this experience digitally,” Sal said. 

Yet many events still make little or no use of the interactive capabilities of the web and ignore the endless ways in which people can now communicate before and after the show.

“The biggest disconnect is that we are inherently an industry that tries to deliver a physical experience in which people interact,” Sal continues. “And yet, we don’t take that exact same mentality to the websites we build. If we’re in the experience business, shouldn’t we deliver great experiences?”

The event experience begins the moment attendees register, and these days this moment almost always takes place online. Event planners need to recognize that the period between registration and the opening session is valuable time that can now extend the life of an event thanks to the latest technology.

Social networking tools offer a productive way to make use of this pre-event time. But while these tools have evolved a long way from the first matchmaking programs, there is still work to be done. 

“As web communities become more popular, integrating with them will be critical,” Sal notes, “and with all the different social networking sites out there, people don’t want to reenter their personal profile information every time they join a new one.”

We are still in the early stages of social networking evolution. Technology now exists that will allow event planners to prolong the life of their events and turn previously unusable pre-event time into a productive extension of the event experience. While social networking systems can make good use of this pre-event time, like all other technologies in the meetings industry the social networks must first more fully integrate with one with the suite of event tools in order to enjoy continued success.

Posted by Stephen Nold on August 28, 2007 | Comments (2)