Guest commentary by Sarah Yaussi

Sarah Yaussi is a business journalist and editor of Big Builder magazine. Prior to joining Big Builder in early 2005, she worked for both The Post-Standard in Syracuse, N.Y., and the BBC in London.

I have been debating about what I was going to write for this post for a few days now. There are just tons of options given all the goings on everywhere on the Web. But given that most of my brainpower this week has been dedicated to the development of Big Builder Week, I thought I’d just share with you some thoughts on the experience.

The skinny on Big Builder Week is that given the state of the economy and the industry, not to mention our own company’s risk appetite, we’ve decided to forgo a traditional conference in favor of doing an online event in November. Basically, we’re putting together a week’s worth of multimedia programming and making it available to everyone in the industry for free. The jewel in the crown, so to speak, is a series of five live Webinars, where cross-disciplinary teams in five markets will present a final business and community plan for a specific real-life parcel of land in their respective markets.

So, there are the basics. But the part that’s most relevant to this particular blog is that social media is a major component in the execution of this event. Yes, we are still doing some of our more traditional promotions like banner ads on Web site and e-blasts, but social media is now being layered on an avenue. This is a first for my company; never before has so much of an event’s success been tied to what happens on social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook.

You might ask why we’re doing it, if it’s never been done before. The answer is quite simple. One of the biggest components of our in-person events has been creating opportunities for people to network. Our attendees (and sponsors, for that matter) consistently have found tremendous value in meeting new people because it’s a chance to share ideas, develop resources, and find solutions for problems. However, no one’s got training dollars or a T&E budget these days, so this type of networking paired with educational programming is considered a luxury. Well, we consider it a necessity. So, the challenge became how do we recreate the best parts of our in-person conferences online?

The only way to come close is through social media. We have to go to where people already are and bring content to them that’s compelling enough for them to engage with each other to simulate some of the types of discussion that normally would happen in a lobby bar or a conference venue hallway. That means that while we are most definitely using our online social networks—our Twitter followers and our 553-member Facebook group—to promote the event and get people to register, we’re also using these networks to make the virtual attendees actually part of the event experience.

So, how is it going to work is probably what you are asking right now. Well, take for example the live Webinars I mentioned earlier in this post. Maybe that sounds like something you have seen or heard before; let me assure you otherwise. These aren’t your father’s Webinars.

What makes these live Webinars so incredibly different is fist that the information being shared in the presentations is being created specifically for this event. We’ve dug deep within our networks to put together cross-disciplinary teams of home building and development executives in five markets across the country. We’ve identified five very real parcels of land in each of those markets and tasked the teams to come up with the best business plan—complete with land plan, product designs, marketing and build-out strategies, and financials to boot—for each of those tracts.

But the other part that’s so very different is that virtual attendees will be able to follow the groups’ progress in the weeks leading up to the actual live event. So, think about the Bravo channel’s series “Top Chef” or “Project Runway,” except sub in the home building industry for either the restaurant or fashion industry. (Oh, and unfortunately, there’s no Padma Lakshmi or Heidi Klum. Sorry.)  Just like how Bravo viewers at home can interact with program stars via various multimedia channels and online social platforms on the Web, our virtual attendees can dialogue with and about our cast of characters the same. They will get to look at some of the raw materials the teams are working with and receive updates about the various teams’ creative work, with the idea that they may have ideas, suggestions, or information that would add to the development of the presentation.

And who knows, maybe some ingenious social media mavens will even want to organize a “tweet-up” in their market in conjunction with the online event. Wouldn’t that be cool? (Just to clarify, a “tweet-up” is an in-person, informal gathering; people pick a day, time, and venue and then send tweets out to their networks inviting them to show up for it. Great way to solidify relationships.)

So, while Big Builder Week has a specific lifespan of five workdays in November, there’ll be activity happening from now until then. This is completely revolutionary in terms of event planning and production. I personally don’t believe that we’ll ever go back to doing events the same way, even when the discretionary spending on such valuable programs comes back in full force.

At any rate, if you’re curious as to what’s going on, join the Big Builder group on Facebook or follow us on Twitter (alias: @BigBuilder). Or if you’re already on Twitter, you can find out what people are saying about the event by following the hashtag #BB09. I’ll be there and you never know who else will be, too.