Event Submissions for SMW New York Close on December 9th

Entering its 8th year, SMW has brought together more than 200,000 people across thousands of individually hosted events on six continents and connected millions of people online. You and your organization can gain recognition as a thought-leader by hosting an event at Social Media Week 2016! Our global theme for 2016 is “The Invisible Hand: Hidden Forces of Technology (and How We Can Harness it for Good).”

Event submissions close December 9th for SMW New York!

You have until December 9th to submit and join organizations such as Forbes, New York Times, Code and Theory, Digiday, IAB, MRY, Betaworks, The Economist and The Barbarian Group.

Why become an event partner?

  • Engage in the conversations relevant to your cause or industry
  • Gain recognition as a thought-leader or influencer in your field or industry
  • Amplify your message using the Social Media Week platform
  • Attract brands and networks of relevant hyper-social influencers
  • Position your organization on the global stage for exposure and credibility
  • Develop valuable relationships with new partners and existing clients

How can you become an event partner?

  • Fill out the submission form with your event or session idea before December 9th
  • The SMW New York programming team will review your submission (and provide feedback if necessary)
  • If your event is accepted you will be notified shortly after December 9th
  • For information on becoming an event partner or submitting your event, check out the Social Media Week website
  • If you have any questions, email us at: newyork@socialmediaweek.org

 

9 Ways To Create A Stellar #SMWNYC Event Submission

Event submission is under way!

Huge thank you to everyone who has already submitted their fantastic ideas.

We thought we should offer up some tips to whip your event submission into shape!

1. Connect your event idea with this year’s theme “Upwardly Mobile: The Rise of The Connected Class.”

global-slide-theme-ny

Think about how your event answers the question “How can all humans achieve more in a connected world?” as posed by Toby Daniels, Founder and Executive Director of Social Media Week. Ask yourself: “how can a connected Africa solve African problems?” “are there examples of a connected Africa solving African problems in the past that you can draw from?”

2. Create an outline for the scope of your event.

To get your event concept fully approved, and your team ready for February, think about how to execute the event in an engaging way. Here are some questions to think about. Using bullets or short paragraphs can help clarify and highlight the important parts of your message.

  • Why should people come to your event?
  • What are participants expected to bring/do?
  • What will participants leave your event thinking, knowing, experiencing?
  • What makes your company/you qualified to host this event (your chance to brag a tiny bit)?
  • What is your challenge to your participants?
  • What will your panelist talk about? What are their credentials?
  • Who will moderate your panel? What are their credentials?
  • What is your thesis? What ideas do you want to promote through your event?

3. Work on your title.

Choose a name that catches the spirit of the event. Also, relate that title to your demographic. Your name should touch on subjects that invoke your target demo whether it’s young professionals, college students, affluent communities, women, etc. Ask various people within that group to see if your event name catches their attention.

4. Don’t make your title too long or too short. This is fairly self-explanatory.

5. Use catchy terms and relevant words that make sense with your event topic.

6. Keep It Simple.

They say plain talk is bad manners, we disagree – remembering an event name it is one thing, but understanding it is another. Easy, common (in your niche) words in a catchy phrase are your safest bet and will take both you and your intended audience a long way.

7. Create a hashtag.

Like your event title, your hash tag should be catchy or easy to remember. We suggest using less than 15 characters ( All hashtags automatically start with #SMW______ you fill in the blank) Here is an article that explains the benefits and uses of hashtags.

8. Create and share a general agenda for your event. This is self-explanatory as well.

9. Have a look at our “Getting Started” FAQ sheet.

It has lots of helpful tips geared toward getting you ready for the next stages of planning your event(s).

Submit your event here.

 

This article appeared originally on the Social Media Week Lagos, written by Niama Sandy, Programming Coordinator for Social Media Week Lagos.

Event Submission FAQ

As we gear up for Social Media Week in February, you may have some questions about the process of submitting an event. Well, we’re here to help! Generally speaking the entire process takes 7-14 days. So, once you have your idea and participants lined up, head over to our Submit an Event form.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once you’ve filled in the form and hit submit, you’ll be granted access to edit the event in our event management system. And our team will be notified. We review every event submission for uniqueness, quality, and being germane to our mission. We strive hard to bring the highest quality events to attendees, so these three elements are crucial. If an event doesn’t fulfill one of these aspects, we’ll go back to the organizer(s) with some suggestions.

The most common reasons events may not be approved are the event is self-promotional in nature, does not relate to the core mission of Social Media Week, or does not bring a new aspect or deeper understanding of the topic. So, we encourage organizers to look more at topics over products; a range of service over a specific company. And ensure your event has some core component related to social, digital and/or mobile technology and media. Our theme for the 2012 conference is Empowering Change through Collaboration. As part of this, we will be focusing on how this theme plays into various industries with the following Content Hubs:

  1. Advertising & Marketing
  2. Business & Commerce
  3. Social & Environmental Change
  4. Music, Media & Entertainment
  5. Art & Culture
  6. Global Society
  7. Technology & Innovation

Other things to keep in mind are event space and event format. While this entire process moves along in under 2 weeks, it can take longer if your event is requested to take place in one of our Content Hubs. This extra time is required to coordinate with other events in the Hub space. You always have the option of hosting your own event during Social Media Week. And for event format, we like to go outside the box of traditional panel sessions. The more creative you get, the more you catch our attention. And of course, if you have any questions or if we can help along the way, don’t hesitate to contact our team. We can’t wait to see Social Media Week New York!