An event blog is a weblog (blog) which is launched as part of an event. Event blogs are often maintained for events related to activities on the Internet, such as meetups of members of a particular site, web conferences, and so forth. The event blog is used to get people excited about the event while also conveying information about the event to attendees. During the event, updates on the blog will allow people to keep track of what is happening, and people who are not at the event can follow activities via the event blog.
People selected to blog on an event blog vary. Typically, several event staffers will be given blogging privileges, and they may take a casual and informal approach with readers. The event blog is often used for breaking news, including announcements of schedule changes, and for organizing, providing information about hotels, flights, and so forth to help attendees plan their attendance.
The event blog can also include guest blogs by people speaking at or attending the event, along with blogs profiling event speakers, the process of event setup, and so forth. Some event blogs take readers on behind the scenes tours with video and photo content which may be designed as a teaser; a blogger might post a mysterious image and ask people to identify it, for example, suggesting that they will find out more when they arrive at the event.
Event blogs can also be used to disseminate information which might be useful, such as book lists, information about groups of attendees who plan to meet up, last minute changes, and information about informal social events which are linked with the event, but not officially sponsored by it. For example, a group of people might want to meet for drinks on the night before the event, and the event blog might be used to promote their meetup.
If an event planner is managing an event website, it is usually very easy to request that a blog be set up on the site, with privileges for all of the people who will be blogging. People can also set up event blogs at offsite third part locations such as Blogger, Wordpress, or TypePad, referring people to the offsite blog for more information. This can create confusion if bloggers set up unofficial event blogs as companions to the event; it is a good idea to make sure that an official blog on a third party site is clearly labeled as such.
Having an event blog can be a valuable promotional tool. Bloggers tend to be more interested in linking to dynamic, regularly updated content, so they will link to and discuss an event blog, drumming up interest in the event before it happens. People can also be encouraged to engage in a blogswarm promoting the event, in which a number of different bloggers all agree to blog on the same topic on a specific day, and while at the event, attendees may be encouraged to blog about the event on their own sites or at the event blog, and to use Twitter hashtags to discuss the event on Twitter or on other microblogging sites.