My latest Prweb client press release taps into the popularity of Pinterest and focuses on the core audience of the new social networking phenomenon.  Women.    Using the same graphic designers, we created a graphical story of how female hormones change over time and how knowing your hormone levels while you’re  young will help  manage the changes that happen to all of us.

I knew we were on to something when I sent some of the text to my mother who’s response was. “I wish I’d had this information 20 years ago.”    So here it is.  I hope this infographic get’s shared as much as the Twitter one because this impacts all of our physical and emotional health.   You can click on the headline below to read the entire Prweb release….. and please Pin away!

MyMedLab Pins Pinterest with a Mother’s Day Women’s Hormone Infographic

To celebrate Mother’s Day, digital health pioneer MyMedLab.com, has created an infographic about the importance of knowing your personal hormone levels and encouraging mothers, daughters, and girlfriends to start banking those numbers today.  

Ask Dr. DeLeys Brandman questions live on May 15, 2012

What a great idea!  A Meet-Meme Yearbook.  This is my page from the 2011 version.

Meet-Meme created the yearbook so fellow memers (?) could connect.

Will you sign my yearbook?

Please feel free to ad the link to  your Meet-Meme card in the comments below. (example: http://mtme.me/85d3c7)   Sort of a virtual yearbook signing.

I have updated my cards recently.  Feel free to connect.

I did a telephone interview a few weeks back with Steve Goldstein: @SGoldsteinAI from PR News.

Read the entire post: Party Aficionado’s Cheryl Lawson: Be Social and Get Found to see my answers to the following questions.

Do you sense much resistance from small businesses to using social media?

For a small business, how would you recommend breaking down responsibilities for PR and social media?

How can a small business determine which social network is the most appropriate to focus its messaging on?

What can be learned from checking out what one’s competitors are doing on social networks?

PR News, is the publisher of the new Small Business PR Report, provides PR professionals with the latest industry best practices in its executive-level premium weekly publication. PR News programs must-attend professional conferences throughout the year, including the Facebook Conference, PR Measurement Conference, Taste of Tech, Social Media Summit, Digital PR Summit and the Media Relations Conference. PR News also programs monthly webinars for PR practitioners; presents the Platinum PR Awards, PR People Awards and CSR Awards, among other awards programs; and publishes annual guidebooks, including the Digital PR, Crisis Management and Media Training Guidebooks, among others.

It’s pretty obvious that I like to talk.  I credit Steve with the skills to take our conversation and turn it into such a helpful post.

The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA)®, owner and producer of the International CES, significantly expanded its recycling and repurposing efforts at the 2012 International CES in Las Vegas, January 10-13, by recycling 75 percent of show materials.
This year, CEA collected a record amount of materials to recycle and repurpose:

• More than 35,700 square feet, equivalent to 20,000 pounds, of magnetic banners;
• 28,600 square feet of vinyl banners;
• 16,000 square feet of other show signs and materials; and
• For the first time, almost 50,000 pounds of show publications.

“Every year, we work tirelessly to make the International CES even more environmentally sustainable than the year before,” said Karen Chupka, senior vice president, events and conferences, CEA. “This year, we exceeded years past, increasing the overall reuse and recycle rate to 75 percent of all CES materials.”

By repurposing used vinyl banners from the 2011 International CES, CEA commissioned the creation of 190,000 badge holders for the 2012 show, an unprecedented effort to reuse show materials. Following the 2012 CES, CEA collected 11,000 of those recycled badge holders and will repurpose them for a third life at the 2013 International CES next January.

In addition to the continued greening of the International CES, CEA also supports green nonprofits near the site of the show in Las Vegas. This year, CEA donated the following:

$50,000 to Green Chips, a local Las Vegas charity supporting sustainable initiatives including solar panel installations. The donated funds will go toward new solar panels at the Las Vegas Rescue Mission, which serves those in need in Southern Nevada by providing food, clothing, shelter, and ongoing services and programs. As Las Vegas has more than 300 days of sunshine a year, these new solar panels are incredibly efficient in reducing the Rescue Mission’s energy bills while using and promoting clean energy.

$25,000 to Repurpose America, which will take signs and other materials from the 2012 CES to repurpose as new sun shade structures at two local community centers in Las Vegas.

For more information on the sustainability practices of the 2012 International CES, please go to CESweb.org/green.

Now, Let’s talk. I know you’re saying. “Cheryl, that’s all great for the world’s largest tradeshow, but what about my events? I can’t afford to do all of that.” I agree, but what can you do?

I do think many event and conference organizers get caught up in what they can’t do rather than focus on what we can do.

My advice?  Get inspired by these steps and scale them for your events.

Bring your attendees along in your journey: Share your desire to create less waste with your attendees.  They may even have helpful suggestions and resources.

Go Mobile:  Most of your attendees are walking in with smartphones and tablets.   Try a few pre-conference training sessions to get your audience up to speed.

Try something new each year/event:   During the 2012 #SMTulsa conference, I ordered recycled name badge holders and inserts from Rebinder and we had QRcodes made by Kalvin Kleen mobile marketing to direct people to the agenda.

I’d love to hear what you’re doing to create less waste with your events and conferences.

Tulsa’s own Cherry Street Studios covered the conference, using sophisticated Livestreaming and video equipment, while Captured Charms Photography was on hand to capture the charm of the conference. If it appears that the entire conference was Streamed, Tweeted, Google plussed, Facebooked, and recorded, credit the opening comment from organizer, Cheryl Lawson, “Please do not turn off your phones” and the exclusive screening of the Twitter documentary, ‘Twittamentary’.

Tweets from #SMTulsa conference reached over359,000 people worldwide. Even the fire alarm that took the entire conference outside on the streets of downtown Tulsa was an opportunity for attendees to brush up on their social media chops.

Read the entire Prweb release by Party Aficionado

Tulsa Puts Social Back in Social Media During #SMTulsa Conference 2012

Photo Credit:  CapturedCharms.com 

Laptops, tablets, smartphones, and digital cameras just to name a few.

The challenge to event professionals is how to keep our attendees powered up.

During Social Media Tulsa Conference last month, I was fortunate to have connected with Concord Keystone makers of the Keystone ECO Booster Battery Pack for Micro USB Smart Phones who provided us with a few products to use and give away.

I want to win at #smtulsatwitpic.com/8wqgdh

— Randall Carter (@nowyoucan247) March 15, 2012

While we had these boosters, along with several chargers and power strips in our Vocus Blogger’s Lounge, we still had the issue of having to move people to a central location to charge their gadgets.

What is the opportunity here?

These affordable portable charging devices create an additional sponsorship opportunity for companies in the accessory business.

Imagine providing attendees equipped with cameras, computers, and tablets with fully charged back up power packs when they check in to a conference.

This is not just a hint hint to our friends at Concord Keystone, but an interesting event marketing opportunity for mobile accessory businesses and event organizers everywhere.

I can’t wait to hear how you provide power to your people.

What if there was a way for people to tell you how they felt about your event with out having to answer a survey?

Hey! @Partyaficionado Cheryl loving this conference!:) #smtulsa

— Marilyn Hight (@MarilynHight) March 15, 2012

Thank you Cheryl Lawson for organizing the #smtulsa conference on social media. Great speakers and topics!

— Donna Ham (@donnahamartist) March 17, 2012

Thanks to everyone at #SMTulsa for a terrific event!

— Becky McCray (@BeckyMcCray) March 16, 2012

I just remembered that it’s Friday! Giving this #FF to all my new #SMTulsa friends. Great to meet you all!

Love #smtulsa Eco babes! twitter.com/trashtalktulsa…

— Beth Turner (@trashtalktulsa) March 15, 2012

— Sheri G (@sagourd) March 17, 2012

I’ve had an amazing experience in #SMTulsa — the folks here couldn’t of been nicer. S/O to @Partyaficionado, I’ll see you all again soon!

— Filiberto Gonzalez (@gofiliberto) March 17, 2012

You can track along with all the #SMtulsa tweets from home but you won’t be able to smell and taste how good this is! twitter.com/FollowEricBlog…

— Follow Eric (@FollowEricBlog) March 15, 2012

We’re really learning a lot at The Social Media Tulsa Conference! #SMTulsa

— AHCT (@AHCTulsa) March 15, 2012

Heading home after a great conference w the FAB folks at #SMTulsaFUN! (@ Tulsa International Airport (TUL)) [pic]: 4sq.com/FOiIAJ

Loving the partnership between #SMTulsa and @Tulsapets ! My kind of people.

— Abigail Shaw (@AbigailFShaw) March 15, 2012

— Gina Schreck (@Ginaschreck) March 16, 2012

@socmediatulsa It’s been a great conference. Sad it’s almost over! #SMTulsa

— PennWell Jobs (@PennWell_Jobs) March 16, 2012

Back in Cali. Had a great trip to #smtulsa.great people. Learned sooo much. Thanks to everyone who helped the noob.

— Craig Brandman(@Empoweryoudoc) March 17, 2012

Great speaker/comedian fresh funny informational inspirational @angelsadventure #smtulsa

— Chelia Laurance (@CheliaLaurance) March 16, 2012

@Ginaschreck is a hoot! #smtulsa

— Tara West (@SuperMediaMom) March 15, 2012

Have I made my point yet? Educating your audience on the use of Twitter hashtags and encouraging them to Tweet during your conference can help you learn a lot about your guest’s experiences. Good and Bad. Between the social media activity , both what’s there and what’s not, and the post event photography, I’m learning things that I did well, and a few things that I want to change before the next event.

Maybe taking the written survey and applying it to the web isn’t all that appealing to people used to graphics, colors, and awesome user experiences. Maybe that’s why today, Google announced; Google Consumer Survey. I see a lot of promise with this new tool and can’t wait to test it out. I’ll be teaching a market research class I’ll see what cool ideas my students come up with.

I was hoping to spark ideas for event professionals and anyone trying to figure out how to fit one more social network into their lives.

I personally + Google+ more than I Like Facebook, but I do understand that they are two completely different environments and both have their place in our social atmosphere.  But I digress.

I was fortunate to have connected with fellow Google+ fan Anna Bavido. Anna popped into one of my random Google+ Hangouts.  After several months of connecting with Anna on Google +, I had the idea to ask her if she would be willing to cover the conference via Google Plus and thankfully for me, she said yes.

During the conference Anna was amazing. Using the #SMTulsa hashtag (Yes, hashtags are searchable on Google+), Anna posted updates from the speakers, candid photos, and hosted live hangouts through out the two day event.

Thanks to my friends at Vocus, we had a blogger’s lounge available for Anna to recharge her devices and keep the Google+ party going.

At the end of the conference, Anna created a Google Plus Circle of all attendees, speakers, and sponsors.

This was much better than doing a breakout session on Google Plus specifically.   Attendees just had to be told what Anna would be doing during the conference and those interested flocked to her.

More than a back channel, Google + is a great  a tool for live blogging, note taking, sharing your conference content, and  extending face to face connections after the event is over.    Not only am I enjoying reading the posts after the fact, Anna now has begun to take her notes and turn them into content for her blog Magic Bottle Marketing. 

I’m very excited about  how well Google+  fits into the social conference environment.

A few years ago, my answer would be something like.. “it depends.”  Fortunately as the social web matures so do the ways we measure the impact of the activity.   One of the tools I used during my most recent conference is Tweetreach.com

The morning following our two day conference, I was able to see that Tweets mentioning #SMTulsa reached over 359,000 people and which users had the most activity.

As an event marketer, I can now share this information with event attendees, sponsors, and partners to show how far a Tweet can go.

What are your favorite social media measuring tools?