SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, CA (BRAIN)—Interbike has set up a Twitter account to keep attendees abreast of show happenings with event reminders, schedule updates and news about the show.
“Twitter essentially allows us to keep show attendees informed in a free and easy-to-use mobile way. There is already a sizeable bike community on Twitter, and encouraging more members of the industry to participate will be a positive side effect,” said Rich Kelly, marketing manager for Interbike.
Kelly said Twitter also fosters a great sense of community and communication.
“Many tech industry tradeshows have seen huge activity among Twitter-enabled attendees during their shows. I actually saw this on a small scale at the less tech-enabled OR recently,” he added, referring to Interbike’s sister show, Outdoor Retailer.
Follow updates by signing up for a free account or just read updates at twitter.com/interbike2008. For the full experience of staying in touch with the show's events and others in the community, attendees can also set up their cell phones to receive and send Twitter postings via text messaging.
Don’t know what Twitter is? Plan to attend the online media seminars during Interbike.
The first seminar, “Just the basics: what you need to know about Web 2.0,” will take place Sept. 24. It will provide an overview of the Web landscape and introduce users to new web tools such as Twitter, blogs and widgets.
The second seminar, “Get involved in the conversation: How to use the web to build affinity for your brand,” will pick up the dialogue Sept. 25. It will offer guidance on how to join the online conversation.
T.J. Kelly, vice president of business development for Sportgenic and moderator of the panels, said the panels will suggest ways to leverage new media tools to connect with your audience.
“We hope to walk out with two things accomplished—here’s the basics of Web 2.0 and what new media is, and here’s some tools to actually go out and figure it out,” Kelly said.
