Google Plus and Your Conference or Event

I have been telling clients for a while that they should avoid a big investment (time or money) in Google+ because it really is not taking off the way that it should have. I guess only time will tell if it really ever will. Perhaps Facebook’s huge IPO today will scare some people into using it.

To convince myself that I am charting the right course, I have been asking colleagues and friends if they are using G+ and the answers have simply been “no” from friends and “not really” from colleagues. Very few people that I interact with are even aware that it still exists.

I followed up those inquiries last night while speaking to a class of about 50 college students about social media for meetings and events.

When we started I asked the following questions and received the following answers:

Who is using Facebook (all hands went up)
Who is using Twitter (about half the hands went up)
Who is using Google+ (ONE hand went up)

I came back with a follow up question to the one G+ user:

Do you use Google+

The answer was a shrug and “not really”.

This is the state of G+, it is a social network with very little social that simply cannot put butts in the seats.

What are your thoughts on G+?

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Keith Johnston

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Keith Johnston is the Publisher and Chief Writer Guy of PlannerWire | You can learn more about him here , connect with him on Twitter , Facebook , Google + and LinkedIn.

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http://www.facebook.com/MsSocial Tanya Clark
Great article
http://twitter.com/VelChain Dave Lutz
Keith, for most groups, I would agree with you. Unless the audience is hi-tech.
On the flip side, if you are looking for SEO benefit (without keyword stuffing), cross posting on G+ can have strong benefits (even with low engagement).
- http://www.plannerwire.net Keith Johnston
  Both are good points and I think the exception to the rule. The tech (and social media) crowd are all over G+ but even then, it is the real hardcore folks. I do agree with the SEO benefit but most events (especially association) are playing to a closed audience so is the SEO benefit worth the time and effort (it may be, just playing the flip side of the coin).
  I do believe that someday G+ will be a good outlet. I was watching a show last night with Larry Page (Google Founder) and what he was saying about G+ and their plans for its growth made a lot of sense. Time will tell though (maybe it will see some growth as Facebook makes a priority of making money to please shareholders).
Sue Pelletier
Oh no–I just heard Microsoft has launched one call so.cl that actually is centered around learning. Yet another one to check out, though this one does seem almost elegant in its simplicity on first glance. Also might have some conference-related applications.
Anyway, I think I’m like a lot of people in that I like G+ in concept, but in reality I forget it exists for vast quantities of time before something jolts me into revisiting it. I think Google was just a bit too late to the party; everyone is already set up on LinkedIn and Facebook and didn’t see the need to set up a whole new network on G+, even if it is better (which I would arguably say it may well be).
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