Why I Like to Emcee Social Media Conferences

Emceeing Social Media Conferences is Fun and Rewarding

We all know that social media conferences are a great way to learn new skills and network with other industry professionals. But as time goes on, I’ve been seeing some changes to the format of these conferences, namely that many are now being emceed.

You may be thinking to yourself, “An emcee? You mean like Chris Rock hosting the Academy Awards?!”

Well, not exactly, but the idea has the same purpose. These conferences are being emceed by experts in the industry in order to make things more interesting, fun, and even entertaining.

I’ve had the pleasure of emceeing the Social Media Strategies Summit in several locations including New York City and San Francisco. Each time I emcee a conference it’s a memorable experience for several reasons. 

The appeal of emceeing conferences came to me because even though most of them were by no means lacking in enthusiasm or excitement, I thought it would infuse uniqueness and inspire a different kind of energy to make them more dynamic, fun, and memorable.

So, what does being an emcee actually entail? For me, it starts with introducing each speaker. One thing I’ve done to create some interest is to get a fun fact about each speaker before I introduce them. This gives the audience a connection with the speaker and almost always inspires the speaker to tell a short story about a fun fact I shared. Some fun facts I’ve shared from speakers include “reigning kickball champion in her city,” and “speaks seven languages fluently,” and my all-time favorite is “owner of 75 pair of shoes.” The “shoes” speaker is a gentleman. How many men do you know that have a shoe fetish?

By introducing each speaker with a fun fact, everyone wins including the audience and the speaker. It sets the tone for an authentic presentation from a real person. And, it gives everyone a little something to talk about later on in the event.

I also like to do a kick-off in the morning.

For the 2017 SMS Summit in New York City, I started things off by playing a YouTube video of Frank Sinatra singing “New York, New York.” That one, simple thing really got the audience going—they were clapping and it created great energy to start the day off with a bang. Small things like that boost the interaction between attendees and are a great bridge between speakers, providing continuity and a bit of personality to the event. I also close out at the event at the end with a recap of major takeaways. I challenge the attendees to take some action from their learnings and to stay in touch with at least three people they met at the event to build long-lasting relationships.

The value of emceeing a conference isn’t only for the attendees, though. Being the emcee has been a wonderful experience for me, both personally and professionally. So many people introduce themselves to me, simply because they enjoyed the fun and playfulness of the atmosphere, and I get emails and connection requests after the event for the same reason. And many of these have turned into relationships, referrals and even clients.

In my opinion, a conference emcee is a necessary element for success. It enhances the experience for all involved and can have a beneficial effect on future attendance numbers, which in turn could attract more top speakers.

Check out this video interview with one of my favorite conference emcees – Ryan Pena.