The room block is much more than a place for your attendees to stay—but it only works if your attendees stick with it. Tips on how to incentivize booking within the block in today’s Social Media Roundup:

The Block Matters

3 Ways to Promote Booking Hotel … – http://t.co/c7AMTCWxrI #assnchat #meetingprofs #hotels pic.twitter.com/IgqYC4dX4K

— Master The Event (@MasterTheEvent) August 28, 2014

It’s not always easy to persuade attendees to book within the room block you’ve set aside. But on the Plan an Event blog, Andrew Maxwell offers some strategies for negotiating room blocks and ensuring that people go with the blocks, rather than choosing alternative housing.

Among Maxwell’s ideas: Offer discounts on meeting registration and other perks to people who stay in the block, and create a contest in which the prize drawings are available only to those who book rooms this way.

Why is it so important? Because people who stay in the block give event planners essential data they can use to plan for the future.

“Hotel rooms that are booked through a room block provide the meeting planner with valuable information about the conference,” he writes. “It’s this crucial information that enables planners to better negotiate room blocks and attrition rates for future meetings.” (ht @plananeventblog)

Turning Data Into Results

From http://t.co/RD2QNoAcSV – All News Key Drivers of Analytics Success http://t.co/pL39vDMTM1

— Zimana Analytics | Pierre DeBois, Founder (He/Him) (@ZimanaAnalytics) September 3, 2014

Let’s say you’re inspired to take a peek at all the data your association may have stored away. What happens next? How do you transform that information into something more tangible?

Paul Staelin, chief consumer officer and cofounder of business intelligence firm Birst, lists six key drivers of analytics success detailed in a post over at CMSWire. In particular, Staelin points out the need for a supportive member of the executive team to help the data initiative succeed.

“A clear executive sponsor provides more urgency in deployment and focuses the project on the business value the sponsor is looking to achieve,” Staelin writes.

Sponsors don’t have to be involved in every detail of the project, but it is helpful for them to keep a keen eye on any lapses in deliverables and provide feedback that may otherwise go unspoken. (ht @ZimanaAnalytics)

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