It's no longer a question of whether you should use social media, it's how

Social media is a helpful tool when organizing a large event or conference. It helps boost attendees, generate discussion beforehand, and extend the experience. In addition to more common tools such as Facebook and Twitter, a particularly useful social platform is Ning. It's free and easy to use, and it gives you a private social networking site that generates dialogue before the conference starts.

All registered delegates can be sent an invitation to join. Forum discussions on specific topics being covered at the event can easily be started, an active blog can generate more discussions, and a pre-conference profile questionnaire can allow delegates to get to know one another before meeting in person.

As breakout sessions become more widely used at large events and conventions, the challenge is becoming how to harvest the learning from those discussions in a way that informs all delegates. To address this, it's relatively easy and cost effective to record a brief video synopsis of the sessions using a home camera. The videos can then be uploaded to Ning, and delegates can review the videos the next morning.

After the conference, delegates can also use Ning to further their discussions and initiatives, while at the same time informing the community of their efforts and allowing the conversation to grow. All keynote speeches, panel discussions, and breakout-session videos can be made available for ongoing review and reference on the Ning site, along with PowerPoint slides and other supporting conference materials.

Conferences are supposed to be about connecting, learning from each other, and moving initiatives forward. If those are the goals for your conference, then the small amount of time and energy you'll need to invest in a Ning site will be well spent.

Carman Pirie specializes in social media and is a principal with Kula Partners.