Blog Assignment: Using Social Network Analysis in the Execution of My BOS Internship Challenge

Over 10 days ago, I enlisted for an internship program to help BOS develop an event marketing model which BOS can use in the selection of events to participate in (as sponsors, partners, etc.), guide the marketing process and measure the effectiveness of the event after it has taken place.

I am supposed to conduct a best practice study of global event marketing, interview subject matter experts, develop a solid model and a report of key resource requirements for event marketing within 30 days. This is a challenge because I am taking on this internship challenge alongside other three (3) full-time courses that have hectic schedules and multiple mini-projects – so time is of the essence.

In order to successfully pull off this BOS internship challenge, I will have to move quickly by leveraging on the resources within my study and social networks to get the most useful data and insight in the shortest possible time.

I believe I can ask my social & study network the following question: Who do you know that works in the event marketing space and can you connect me to them?

The data, insights, etc., I will need from my networks and their connections include:

·     1. Who in your network has several years of experience in event marketing and sponsorship e.g.       agencies, music artistes, etc.            

    2. What activities do these experts engage in when they market and promote an event such as concert, festivals, etc.

·   3. What do companies look for when they approach these agencies and request to sponsor their events?

These information is generally hard to find from desktop research and cold calling people I do not know may not make it any faster. The most important network measures that will help me identify these people in my social and study network include:

 

• Distance: I will use this to see if my networks have an impressive average distance. This measures how fast they can reach anyone in their network and beyond
• Eigenvector: Since this measures how connected a person is to the most important/influential people, this increases the probability that they may know people in the event marketing space. It might also mean they have great social skills.
• Density: The number of actual connections/number of potential ones. This will help me know at a glance if I can rely on my networks (based on the number of actual and possible connections) also judging by the type of challenge I am working on (event marketing space).
• I might also want to know which persons in my network are most affiliated with event marketing based on the past and current work experience, educational background and social interests. So looking through UCINET I will be interested in analyzing my network by work experience, interests, etc.

The Social Network Analysis tool will help me:

·       Identify Who I should be Talking to First: Since time is of the essence and I must also get relevant insights about event marketing and sponsorship I will use my SNA analysis to pick my first point of contact which will greatly accelerate my progress in executing this project effectively and successfully. The analysis can also help me discover who in my network I can interview directly on the questions I have about event marketing.

·      

     Determine Who I can ask for Favors: Using my SNA analysis data I can discover persons in my network who can directly help me gain access to places, people and reports that can conclude my fact-finding phase and even guide me in the model development.