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Why the cheesy image? Because viral marketing works. Even when you’re cheesy. See: Rebecca Black

Our goal is to give you every tool possible to maximize your event.

Your goal is to bring attendees to you, or your clients’, events.

Unfortunately, traditional marketing isn’t always effective. The sad fact of the matter is that people aren’t always going to listen to you, and regardless of how amazing your event is, its final amazingness is at the mercy of attendance. We live in a society overly-saturated with a cacophony of media and advertising messages, sounds we have collectively become proficient at tuning out.

Thanks to the internet, though, there’s another route to marketing that’s incredibly powerful: Word of Mouth Marketing. The internet has opened the door for unique or valuable ideas, goods, and, yes, even events to spread virally. For proof of the power of the internet one need look no further than Rebecca Black, whose song “Friday” (often dubbed “the worst song of all time”) was viewed over 160 million times on YouTube.

In order to help you get your event spreading virally, Zerista has created the social invite module for its ZeristaPRO platform. This functionality will empower your attendees to invite their colleagues and friends to events that they themselves are attending. We’re all more likely to trust and attend an event that our peers are attending, and it’s been proven that attendees are far more likely to finish the registration process if a friend invited them. In the end, this means more of a buzz and more awesomeness at your event – no headache necessary.

Features of the ZeristaPRO Social Invite Module:

1.) Send invitation email to contacts from your Gmail, Yahoo, and Windows Live address book

2.) Send invitation email to contacts uploaded from a CSV file

3.) Send invitation email to manually specified contacts.

4.) Post public invitation message on Facebook (as a post on wall) and Twitter (post as a status update)

Events matter. You’ve heard us say it a thousand times. It’s plastered all over our website, twitter page, and e-mail signatures. Yes, it’s a concise, striking, and powerful tagline (if we do say so ourselves), but it’s much more than that. The truth is, it gets to the heart of who we are and why we think our product matters: because events matter, and our product is a tool that enhances events. ZeristaPRO is a vehicle that allows you to engage in an event before the physical start date, so that when that date arrives you are set up, connected, and able to make that invaluable face-to-face time as high-impact as possible. It enables you to take those face-to-face encounters and keep the conversation going for months afterwards. In a nutshell, it’s a vehicle to help you make the most of events, and this matters only because events, themselves, matter.

Events inspire us. Educate us. Connect us.

When Lady Gaga gets involved, on the other hand, they  perplex us.

From industry trade shows to professional sports games, events bring people together and punctuate life, they’re the things worth sharing and remembering. From Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech to Hurricane Katrina, from Lady Gaga being “born” out of a giant egg onstage during this year’s Grammys to your 16th birthday party, events drive our personal and cultural social conversation. Events have the power to inspire, connect, and educate. In the case of your 16th birthday party (or Lady Gaga), they might even have the power to be slightly traumatizing.

There are a lot of great event social media blogs on the web – with many new ones seemingly popping up every day.  Lots of really smart people are sharing their ideas and perspectives on how social media is changing the event experience and, in the process, the event industry. Here are some of the event social media blogs we find ourselves reading frequently:

Sytelabs There’s nothing not to love about Jacob Worek’s writing on event planning, services, and ideas. He handles everything from managing event stress to Charlie Sheen with humor and very relevant insight.

Midcourse Corrections – Jeff Hurt seems to pump out great stuff on the role of social media at events on an almost daily basis.

Fork in the road – Social Media and Face-to-Face Meetings – If you’re interested in in-depth explorations at the intersection of social media, virtual events, and meetings, Michelle Bruno’s posts are a great source.

Interactive Meeting Technology – Sam Smith has built up a successful following with his witty deep dives on the latest in event technology, in particular social media tools.

Chris Brogan – General social media blog but often with a focus on event social media.

McCurry’s Corner –  Mike’s posts have a personal touch as they explore the world of event social media.

The tough thing about lists is that you always have to leave somebody off or forget one of your favorites.  Do you read any of these blogs?  Which do you like?  Who did we miss?