6 Tools To Collect Post-Event Media
After an event, a great way to evaluate its success is by seeing what attendees had to say. There are many services that let attendees share notes, photos and other important media from an event with each other as well as with you, the #EventProf. These platforms, designed to allow groups to share media, can be used by organizers to gain insights about what worked, and what didn’t at a recent event.
Additionally, these services will encourage attendees to remain engaged with an event even after it has concluded. Having attendees active on a group platform will also mean they are easier should you want them to register for next year’s event, for example.
Flickr is a popular photo-sharing website. An event professional can create a new Flickr group and share it with event attendees. Once the event has concluded, or even as the event is going on, attendees can upload photos and comment on other attendees’ pics.
Eventprofs can gauge the popularity of various aspects of an event by seeing what photos were uploaded and how people commented on uploaded files. Flickr Groups is interactive and allows attendees to communicate with each other easily, meaning the attendee engagement can be increased by making use of Flickr Groups. For event planners working on private corporate events, have no fear, groups can be made private.
2. Google+ Communities
Google+ offers a Communities feature, that connects people with common interests and allows them to share ideas, as well as media. Similar to Flickr groups, an event planner can create a community specifically for their event and share it with their attendees. There is a Google+ app available for iPhone and Android so attendees can start engaging with one another on the way back from the event!
Attendees can post notes, photos, videos, articles, or just comment on what is posted within a Google+ community. Google+ can be a unique experience for many users because it has an intuitive interface and because Google’s ubiquity means it will be easy for every attendee to access.
3. Dropbox
Dropbox is a service that lets you upload documents, photos, or videos (really files of any kind) in one spot. They become accessible from any smart device, making it a convenient platform to use. This is useful for planners because it has very intuitive sharing capabilities.
Attendees can upload all their notes and photos from an event and invite other attendees to view it. Users can also send links to specific folders and files – making it an easy platform to navigate even when dealing with a lot of information. Â This is a great tool for event professionals because it allows attendees to share their documents while backing them up at the same time. The basic account gives you 2GB of space, which should be more than enough for one event.
Typically, Dropbox is thought of as a productivity tool, for a cleaner interface, it could be used in tandem with a more sociable platform like Google+ Communities or LinkedIn Groups.
4. Shutterfly
Shutterfly is a photo-sharing site that has free, unlimited storage. Attendees can upload their pictures from an event and share them with others. Shutterfly is particularly useful because users can create Share Pages, which allow people to share specific photos with the people of their choosing, ensuring privacy while still including other attendees. #Eventprofs should utilize Shutterfly because it creates a fun and easy to use environment for attendees to relive an awesome event!
5. CrowdAlbum
CrowdAlbum brings together all photos and videos from social media that was shared during an event. Provide the name and date of the event or performance and it can automatically source and find photos attendees posted. It compiles them into an album that can be embedded and shared. Some great benefits of CrowdAlbum is that it can save planners a lot of time and energy looking through an endless amount of hashtags because it pulls pictures right off of Instagram, Twitter and Vine.
6. Twitter
Twitter can be one of the simplest, most straightforward ways to collect post-event media from attendees. Twitter is especially helpful in collecting photos. Planners can tell attendees to use a certain hashtag when posting pictures or thoughts, so that when they search the hashtag everything the attendees posted is visible in a single stream. This also gives attendees the opportunity to communicate with each other, since other event goers can easily be found.
Be sure to use some of these methods to follow up with attendees to see how they liked the event and to see what they found most valuable. The feedback can go a long way in improving next years event!  If you’d like to learn more about different social media sites you should be using check out our blog post on the 30 social media platforms to use.
