For the second year I’ve been approached by Amiando to preview their Social Media & Events report (last year’s report was How to Make the Most Out of Twitter). Before I share my insights on the findings, I felt it necessary to provide some context not included in the report on who was polled and how. Each of these factors contribute to the quality of the data and its relevance to you and your business (see my previous post for event planners on the importance of understanding the information behind statistics and data).
There are a few very important considerations to keep in mind when reviewing the findings. Namely:
- Approximately 92% of all respondents reside outside of the US. This is important because there may be key cultural differences that affect a) technology adoption, b) the tools preferred, c) how the tools are used, etc. (Although my blog is read globally, the majority of my readers live & work in North America).
- Respondents were Amiando customers and newsletter subscribers. This is important as our brand affiliations are usually a reflection of business demographics (i.e. size, revenues, location, etc) and psychographics (beliefs, values, etc). Amiando customers and subscribers may not be a representation of the industry as a whole.
- Less than 1 out of 3 respondents identified “event planner” was their main occupation. Given that Amiando is a freemium model event ticketing and registration provider, my assumption is that the other 70+% of respondents likely include people who either hold events on their own time outside of their primary occupation or plan events for their business as a part of their overall job responsibilities.
Click to access the Social Media & Events Report 2011
[hr/]
For more detail on the answers to my report questions, please read on…
Social Media & Events Report 2011 . The Background Details
- The poll was distributed online
- According to Amiando, the only other questions asked that were not in the report were demographic information (Note: I actually think this information would have been valuable for cross tabulating results)
- The respondents were anonymous, however had the chance to provide their email address if they were interested in receiving the report
- 60% of respondents took the German survey (the breakdown of these respondents were that 80% were from Germany, 10% from Switzerland and 7% from Austria), 40% took the English survey (21% were from the US, 19% from the UK, 7% from Greece, 6% from Germany, 5% from Romania, 5% from Switzerland, 2% from Denmark and rest from various countries around the world)
- Respondents were a mix of Amiando customers, newsletter subscribers and readers of event industry related websites/magazines
- My question to Amiando was: “Do you have information on what role these respondents have within the industry (i.e. owners, administrators, C-level).” Their response was, “Not exactly, however we know that event planner is the main occupation of 27% of participants.”
- My next question was: “What segment of the events industry were respondents in (i.e. meetings, weddings/social, conference, special events, etc).” According to Amiando, “70% mainly organize business events (conferences, seminars, networking events etc.), 30% organize entertainment events (concerts, parties, sport events, etc.)”. (Note: I assume this breakdown refers to the 27% that identified themselves as an Event Planner)
In part 2 of my report, I will break down some of the findings as well as some insights for event planners using or thinking of using social media.