FAQs

What is Social Media Week?

Taking place twice a year, Social Media Week is a worldwide event exploring the social, cultural and economic impact of social media. Our mission is to help people and organizations connect through collaboration, learning and the sharing of ideas and information.

Why attend?

We believe there are many compelling reasons to attend. Here are just a few:

+ Community created content:  Due to the unique way that the program is curated, the content and programming is designed to cover every emerging trend, technology area and industry sector.

+ Free to attend:  Thanks to the generous support from our sponsors and partners, events hosted directly by Social Media Week are free to attend and events hosted in conjunction with Social Media Week are primarily free or significantly subsidized.

+ Iconic venues and locations: We believe space should always factor into the design of the experience. Thanks to strategic partnerships with iconic institutions and venues, such as the MoMA, the New York Times and the Paley Center for Media, Social Media Week is able to enhance your experience and make this possible.

+ Hyper-social attendees:  Due to a focus on depth and diversity, the conference attracts a broad array of hyper-social influencers, practitioners and academic thinkers.
….

How do I attend?

Attendee Registration for the February 2013 conference will begin on January 15, 2013.

To sign up to register, please follow these instructions:

+ Login or Create an Account

+ Visit the Schedule page and find the events that you would like to attend or favorite

+ Click into an event that interests you, and click the “Attend” button*

+ That’s it! You’re now officially registered to attend that event

Generally, you MUST register to each event individually.

PLEASE NOTE:  While over 90% of events hosted during SMW are free, where an event session has a fee associated with it, it will be clearly stated.

What’s New

*A small number of our event partners choose to use 3rd-party technologies to process registration. If this is the case, the event page will clearly provide instructions on how to access the 3rd-party event registration page.

Email Confirmations

You should receive an email confirmation for each event that you have registered to attend. If you have not received one, do not be overly concerned (try checking your spam folder first). The vast majority of events do not require you to bring this email confirmation to the event. Your name will be included on an attendee list at the front registration desk of whatever event that you have registered to attend. However, you can verify your registration for an event by going into your profile and selecting “My Events” or you can email the event organizer (the information is available on the event listing page).

Where can I view the events that I have registered to attend and/or favorited?

Once logged into your account, you can view events that you have officially registered to attend on the Schedule page under “My Events.”

How else can I get involved?

1. Submit an event
2. Register to speak
3. Host an event
4. Become a sponsor
5. Volunteer

Why Biannual?

Social media and technology is evolving at a rapid pace. Engaging a global audience to explore the practical applications and business benefits of the most important communications revolution once a year is simply not enough. So, we introduced our biannual format in 2010 (FEBRUARY & SEPTEMBER), allowing more cities to participate in the global conversation.

Why do only certain cities get chosen to host SMW?

The Global Team makes every attempt to have as many continents and countries as possible represented during each Social Media Week. However, hosting Social Media Week is a very large undertaking. It requires having a strong local City Organizer. Our City Organizers are generally composed of individuals who work for established companies with expertise in the digital media industry. The City Organizers also bring strong advisory board members to the table and possess an impressive track record for producing and curating events. That being said, finding the right City Organizer is no simple task, and the process of which cities get to host Social Media Week heavily relies on finding those strong City Organizers.