Crowdsourcing is the practice of getting ideas and content by reaching out to a large group of people outside of your organization. With the rise of social media this practice has become easier to carry out. From individuals looking for recommendations of doctors or contractors to the government looking for new ways to carry out their missions, everyone is using crowdsourcing.
The government application of crowdsourcing is particularly interesting. In a democratic society it makes sense that "the people" have a say in how the government runs, but traditionally the business of government has been a very insular environment. From local governments looking to fill potholes, to GSA looking to create a better tracking tool for government travel, to NASA looking for the next innovation in space exploration, groups across government are embracing the power of the people.
According to the General Services Administration (GSA) since 2010 more than 290 online challenges have been run to solicit ideas from the public for government programs. With this level of use, the GSA saw that they must be effective and set out to develop a tool to make crowdsourcing even easier. They launched the "ideation platform" to help agencies quickly and easily set up an online challenge and then evaluate the entries.
What does all this mean for event organizers? For private entities, there are a wide variety of platforms available. Some are focused on fundraising, some on idea creation, and others are specific to a market (filmmaking, non-profit, etc...). Once you pick one, what can you do with it? Many conferences are having speakers submit through a crowdsourcing platform and then encourage attendees and potential attendees to review and vote on the most compelling sessions. Awards programs can be similarly run. Integrating these platforms into your event site can encourage interaction between attendees, exhibitors, and speakers before and even after the event. Perhaps an additional perk of sponsorship would be some "air time" on your crowdsourcing platform for companies to solicit ideas on a technical challenge or even feedback on a product branding campaign.
How about you? How have you integrated crowdsourcing into your events and marketing plans?
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