While you’ll most definitely have an event Web site, I’d also recommend a blog as the de facto home base for links to all the online social elements you’re enabling at the event, plus a place for your staff to post updates before, during, and after the event. The advantage of having a blog is it’s easy to maintain and you can set up multiple authors to act as contributors.
If you do not already have a blog, set one up for your company or the conference. I strongly recommend WordPress. It’s very simple, free to use, and has the largest developer network, so if there’s any additional functionality you want, such as a slide show or podcasting, someone has created a free plug-in that you can just download and install.
I don’t recommend creating a temporary blog just for the event. Once the event is over, the blog will appear barren given the lack of posts, and those dated postings will drop lower in search rankings and you won’t get any spill over traffic from future blog postings. If it’s a yearly program, then the blog/Web site can be used throughout the year as a source for information for news, small meet up events, social networks, discussion groups, etc. The goal is to give the site legs beyond the actual dates of the event.
