If you had the opportunity to plan an entire event from scratch, what would you do to break from the event-planning mold?

One university’s attempt, and more, in today’s Social Media Roundup:

Standards Are Too Standard

https://twitter.com/OmniMeetings/status/301752832275644416

They say rules are meant to be broken, but when is it OK to challenge standards? Some think the best way is to start with a blank slate—and when staff at Rutgers University started working on an event with New Jersey Alliance, these higher education professionals had just that opportunity. When they sat down to design their event, Big Ideas in Higher Education, they had the challenge to build it from scratch—and loved it. “We didn’t have anyone saying, ‘This is the way it’s always been done,’” Courtney O’Connell, assistant director of leadership and training at Rutgers, told MeetingsNet. The university and association had one goal in mind, and that was to improve the state of dull higher education events. They didn’t hold any keynote addresses, relied on guerilla marketing, and brought in experts from different fields instead of academics to spark innovation. How have your events strayed from the traditional? (ht @OmniMeetings)

Shiny New Toys

Are you using the last event tech trends at your meetings and events? #eventprofs http://t.co/e87eVMS1

— Richelle Wilkins (@RichelleDeniseW) February 13, 2013

With the stampede of new technologies, it’s hard to keep up with which ones are valuable and which ones aren’t. But new gadgets are always fun to play with, and they can add spark to events. From glamorous interactive walls to applications that let users view and work with presentation slides on their own devices, BizBash has collected five new tech gadgets to consider for your next event.  (ht @RichelleDeniseW)

What cool stories have you been sharing today? Let us know in the comments.