Festival directors who use B-Side’s Festival Genius service for their fest web sites know that they should be encouraging more user participation from their audience, but they don’t know quite how to go about it. Here, then, are ten practical ways to solicit feedback from your audience and to foster a healthy environment of user activity on your site.

1. Encourage the audience to visit the web site in all of your printed materials. Let them know that they can leave feedback about individual films on the web site, and that such feedback is important to the festivals and the individual filmmakers.

2. Let the filmmakers know that they can actively solicit feedback from the audience. If a filmmaker asks the audience to go to the web site because it’s important to them personally, the chances of follow-through are much higher. The post-screening Q&A is a great time to do this.
3. Get your volunteers to create accounts and add films to their calendars before the festival begins. Not only will this create some activity on the Festival Genius site, but the volunteers will be more familiar with your film lineup and they’ll know more about how the festival web site works. When someone asks them a question about the site, they’re more likely to give a good answer.
4. Feature a different film each day on your blog and/or twitter account. Link directly to the film’s Festival Genius details page when you do so.
5. Instruct your theater managers — and anyone else likely to introduce a film or moderate a Q&A — to mention the web site whenever they stand in front of an audience. Direct word of mouth to a captive and attentive audience is the most effective tool to spur action.
6. Make sure your staff and volunteers know that the site is optimized to recognize mobile browsers on iPhones, Blackberries, and other smart phones. The mobile version of the site includes stills, synopses, and even trailers if the phone supports playback.
7. Prime the pump with positive reviews from staff members before the festival begins. Normal accounts cannot rate films until the film has screened at least once, but admin accounts may rate and review a film at any time. Let us know which accounts should be granted admin access before the festival starts and we’ll upgrade them. Then you can let each staff member say a few nice words about their favorite films.
8. Ask your filmmakers to link directly to their details pages from their own web sites. More traffic = more activity and you might even pick up some additional ticket sales.
9. Include the words “rate and review your favorite films on our web site” in each and every e-mail blast that goes out shortly before, during, and immediately after your festival. Include a link to the films or schedule page so the reader can get started right away.
10. Feature the results of the audience buzz in your newsletter or blog regularly during the festival. You don’t have to feature just the highest rated or scheduled films — pull out quotes from reviews of films you want to feature, or highlight highly-rated films that are unexpected hits. Use the data generated by the audience to inspire further attendance and activity.
11. Bonus tip! Lead by example. Make sure that you or someone on your staff rates the films you’ve seen as they screen.