My first Tweet Meet was a blast

Timing is everything.

In the last few weeks, I added TweetDeck to have a better view of the steady stream of tweets I follow throughout the day. Among the 100 feeds I follow, one is from the ROM. As I am one of the 3,500 people following the ROM, I received their notices as well as those from BlogTO, about the ROM's first Tweet Meet on Thursday, October 20. It went out a few days beforehand, so what the heck, I tweeted that I wanted to come. On October 18, I was confirmed for the event designed around David Hockney's Fresh Flowers exhibit.

The first question is why did this attract me and 20 other ROM followers to tweet that we wanted to come? Obviously, there was the chance to be in the same room with David Hockney, celebrity artist. That is already huge, but I think the promise of meeting him in a small group and receiving VIP treatment added to the the draw. 

Next question was whether there was delivery on the promise? Here the answer is an emphatic yes. The ROM team received us marvelously in the c5 restaurant with a glass of wine and hors d'oeuvres. We had a chance to meet some of the other lucky folks and the ROM team. Lots of friendly folks but obviously a lot of noses glued to screens. After a while David Hockney came. He did not stay long, but was gracious. He's in his seventies, so he sat down and chatted with the people around him and those who approached for about 15 minutes. 

Once he left, we drifted down a floor to his exhibit for our own private viewing. I have to admit I was not the most social of the social mediates there, I preferred taking in the whole exhibit without any crowd. There were certainly some animated conversations going on but I was pretty much in my own world. Overall, the exclusive experience delivered on the teaser invite.

Next is the key question of what this 20 person event achieved? From the ROM's perspective, was it worthwhile given all the other activities surrounding David Hockney's visit such as lectures and media interviews. I imagine this was one of the smaller activities and such small gatherings will usually be with top patrons, which was not our group. I spent some time chatting with Lauren of the ROM specifically about what they hoped to achieve. Bottom line is the social media team is trying new things and like everyone else, learning on the run. Their mandate is to change the ROM's perception as monolithic, academic, institutional perception and appeal to a wider audience. As I told her, she is lucky in that the ROM leadership knows they are supposed to be in dialogue with their audiences and community. The question I imagine the social media team has to face is skepticism as to whether social media actually delivers value. Specifically, was it worth it to invite a small group with minimal connection to the ROM, including and include this activity into the tight schedule of their world-renown artist visitor? In my opinion, I would say so. As Lauren and I discussed, lots of folks are trying different things with social media and in five years it will all be clearer. In Internet terms, while 3,500 followers is not huge, it is still a lot of people who want to hear from you. Turning those followers into something more substantial is a challenge, and that was the goal of the evening.

So how can the ROM team measure success? At the most basic level, there was a lot of activity at the #FreshFlowers hashtag during the event - dozens of tweets, perhaps more than 100. More importantly, the ROM now has 20 ambassadors in the social media world. I am a ROM member and visit with some regularity. I even go to some of the events around the launching of exhibits. But last night made it much more personal and high value for me. 

What did they get from me? Well, I tweeted about the event (admittedly after I got home as I am sorry to admit I am not a mobile tweeter). Now I am writing a blog posting. I will talk about, and yes brag about seeing David Hockney to my friends interested in the arts. I will be looking for other social media events organized by the ROM and submitting as quickly as I can. Both on the social media front and by word-of-mouth, the ROM will obtain a halo effect and change some opinions through my personal network about being a more innovative and cool organization.

Am I a big opinion leader in social media? Well, admittedly no. But like the others there in attendance, I am either interested in the ROM or David Hockney. I am involved in social media enough to be following the ROM feed with some regularity. So they have invested in me and 20 others. It's grassroots social media and as Lauren suggested, in five years the return on investment will be clear.

I have questioned the value of social media frequently in this blog, hopefully in a positive rather than dismissive manner. My first Tweet Meet was a positive experience that changed me from an observer to a brand ambassador for the ROM. Any communications channel that can achieve that is effective. It's value is right there to see.