SummitUp 2010 Through the Eyes of My Droid…

Brian Solis & Michelle Beckham at SummitUp 2010

 

Attended the SummitUp 2010 Digital Media Conference yesterday at Sinclair College in Dayton.  It was a day crammed full of great key-note speakers and wonderful break-out sessions with a wide variety of social media topics to choose from.

Key notes included:

• John Moore- Creating a Talkable Brand
• Pete Blackshaw-Social Media metrics, reputation management, consumer engagement and organizational alignment.
• Steve Lance- What’s Your Big Idea?
• Brian Solis- Fully leveraging social media across your organization to meet your goals.

The break-out sessions had dynamic speakers as well, including my friends and colleagues, Carole Baker, Kevin Dugan, Debba Haupert, Kendra Ramirez and Michael Rubin. Check out this link to see the list of all of the break-out session speakers and their topics.  I spent time with David Esrati in Comment Moderation, Kevin Dugan in Integrating Earned & Paid Media, Debba Haupert, Bill Pote & Carole Baker in Building A Community and finally a panel representing three different colleges for a session on Social Media on Campus (Robert Zinkan, Kevin Schultz & Ed Vanderbush).

Here’s the conference in less than two minutes through the eyes of my Droid Original.

Want to know some of the key learning’s? Search the conference hashtag on Twitter: #SummitUp

Tweet from Kevin Dugan, speaker at SummitUp 2010 Source: #SummitUp

Experiencing The Social Network Movie with Facebook Friends

I spent Friday evening with some good friends from the Cincinnati Social Media Community. We met at trendy Habeneros for an early evening repast of burritos and margaritas prior to walking down Ludlow Avenue to the historic Esquire Theater. The air felt cool and crisp and the leaves along the tree-lined street were beginning to show their colorful hand. Sidewalk musicians shared their soul with us as we took in the haunting melodies mixing with conversation and laughter around us.

Despite the breath-taking surroundings, we were on a mission. I finished my drink quickly and massaged away the brain freeze so that we could set out to see the premier of The Social Network, commonly referred to as the “Facebook Movie”. The movie chronicles the life of Mark Zuckerberg, CEO and founder of Facebook as he creates the beginnings of the social networking behemoth from his dorm room at Harvard and continues with some personal and legal complications that erupt into a series of law-suits. The movie was NOT endorsed by Zuckerberg.

In true social media fashion PR guy, Dan O’Keeffe created an event that included a screening of the movie followed by a social media panel discussion.  I happened to get a link on Facebook to the information as it was listed on the LinkedIn group discussion page for social media networking group CincySM and thought it would be a great thing to participate in with my friends. Dan hosted the panel that included digital media friends and colleagues Kevin Dugan and Krista Neher. They did a nice job addressing Dan’s questions as well as questions from the theater audience.

Discussion broke out on LinkedIn prior to the movie and following the event on Twitter and on my C3 Facebook Business Page. Here are my thoughts surrounding the movie as posted before and after the event:

On LinkedIn;

“Btw, great review in today’s Enquirer for the movie. Can’t wait to delve into the complexities and determine on my own how I view Zuckerberg (at least based on this “fictional” portrayal). As a marketer and social scientist (dual Psychology & MBA degrees), I am all for data-mining and understanding the intricate relationships that exist between friends, family and acquaintances. As Erik Qualman, in his book Socialnomics ( http://socialnomics.net/the-book/ ), states, “we’ve gone beyond word of mouth to world of mouth” and that is powerful stuff; especially given consumer behavior and purchasing power.

On the flip side, the privacy issues raised give me deep concern…..

Can’t wait for the discussion!”

On Facebook in a series of separate posts:

“…to experience it (the movie) with friends who “get” social media was even better. I would have loved to delve into what makes Zuckerberg tick some more, as this obviously played into his creation. I’m still really struck by the movie portraying him… as having no interest in Facebook as a profit center…..and now it’s valued in the billions…

I thought it was sad to see the movie fade into its ending with Mark constantly hitting refresh on FB to see if his Friend request was accepted. I think he was truly clueless as to the damage he had inflicted upon that relationship.

There are many people who lack the social skills necessary to effectively communicate with others, as evidenced by the opening dialogue with his girlfriend in the bar.

My worry is for the millennials who communicate pretty exclusively through texting. They are growing up lacking in the analysis of body language and tone of voice. The written word can have so many meanings that are left to be deciphered……”

I enjoyed the movie, not from a cinematography perspective, but from a sociological/behavioral perspective.  It seems like all Zuckerberg truly wanted was to belong and to fit in, unfortunately he didn’t seem to have the innate tools to help him navigate through human relationships.  I found it odd that his only good friend, Eduardo, continued to stick by him despite the “punishment” Mark would dish out. Eduardo was portrayed as the good guy, standing by Mark despite all that goes on in the early years which makes me a little suspicious.  Wonder if he was involved with the creation of the movie in any way….

The following day I ran into a good friend, who is a liaison between my former company, P&G and the global internet companies like Google, Facebook and Yahoo. He shared with me that he has met Mark Zuckerberg several times and  the description of his personality as portrayed in the movie seemed quite accurate. I certainly would love the chance to pull the fiction away from the facts,  as his story fascinates me on so many levels….

Do you plan on seeing the film? Why or Why not?

Cincinnati’s own Mashable Meetup on Social Media Day 2010

Michelle contemplating Social Media Day Festivities

It’s finally here: the first annual Social Media Day world-wide celebration. Activities planned for this day by local Social Media Networking group, Cincinnati Social Media,  have quickly sold-out, but you can stay in the loop by following the #cincysm hashtag while enjoying your own celebration.

Pete Cashmore, of Mashable has recorded a video greeting that you can view below. Pete hopes that today will be the start of communities coming together on a monthly basis to host Mahable meet-ups and further social dialogue in the community.

On-line relationships are great and can be wonderful begiinnings, but the real deal occurs when we can meet in the flesh and begin a more personal dialogue with one another. I have seen this happen over and over in my own relationships and business endeavors which are made all the more rich through our mulit-layered connections and conversations.

I would love to hear your story of an on-line business relationship or friendship that led to a meeting where you achieved an outcome that might not have occurred without the initial social media connection.  I will share the most intriguing stories on the Blog.  Send your story to michelle@creatingconnectionsconsulting.com

Remember being social is all about the conversation!

Update:

Here are some shots of today’s event at Lavomatic in OTR (Over the Rhine).  Felt like a reunion of the local social media community movers and shakers.

Lavomatic, Over the Rhine- Cincinnati

What's a Social Media Meetup without Great Food! Thanks Lavomatic & Vitrue

Social Media Day Gourmet Goodies

PRIVACY VS. AUTHENTICITY: CAN THEY CO-EXIST ON THE WEB?

Ever have a nagging thought that is just dying to be dissected and discussed?  The issue that is bugging me today and preventing me from enjoying the uber-nice Sunday spring weather is the issue of Internet Privacy.  Lots of hacker attacks and phishing scams are becoming rampant on Twitter and Facebook and the traditional media is picking up on the stories and spreading the gospel warning.  Recent examples include the 3/4/10 article in USA Today, entitled: “How a Friendly Click Can Compromise a Company” and the Cincinnati Enquirer’s article, “Foursquare Networks into Cincinnati“, on GPS-based applications like Twitter & Foursquare which announce your current location, be it the local Thai restaurant or the local Urban Active. (Local Cincy social media “activists” Kevin Dugan, Daniel Johnson Jr. and Chris Beiting are mentioned in the article.) In fact, a corresponding site has been launched called PleaseRobMe.com that shows how broadcasting your whereabouts can make you a victim of crime.

I recently completed an interview session with a local public radio station, WNKU, in which we talked about Facebook and privacy issues (airing week of 3/8/10). I was also tapped by New Media Cincinnati Founder Daniel Johnson Jr. to be part of a 3/13 panel discussion on privacy use with social media sites.  I am billed as the moderate person on the panel, which is quite ironic given the way I grew up and the current business that I am in.  Can’t go into the details of my upbringing as this is obviously a public venue, but let’s just say the circumstances of my family’s career choice lent itself to the utmost of privacy and secrecy.  On the other hand, my business is Social Media Strategy Consulting in which I advise companies on how to integrate social media applications into their marketing mix.  Trust me, you can’t advise other companies successfully until you have created and lived publicly in the social media space yourself  in a very transparent and authentic way.  As testimony to my experience and Web 2.0 presence, I was recently tapped as a candidate for a Global Social Media Director position for a well-known CPG company (and no, it was not my former company Procter & Gamble!).

Given my family upbringing and my own personal tendency to be uber-private, I work hard at striking the right balance of privacy with my public business presence.  Ironically, the upcoming panel discussion will be recorded, live-streamed, twit-pic’d, live-tweeted and blogged about, thus thrusting my privacy issues into the public.  What a conundrum for me!  Will be interesting to see how I balance what I say from who I am.  In the end, there is a modicum of me that must be protected……or is there?

What is your take on privacy issues?

Social Media Skeptics Absent at CincySM

CincySM Hashtag Logo

CincySM began life as the digital/social media networking group Cincinnati Social Media Breakfast and was a part of the national network of Social Media Breakfast Groups founded by Bryan Person in August of 2007 to bring professionals, enthusiasts and newbies together to exchange ideas.  You can read about Bryan’s start HERE. Our local group was founded by Kevin Dugan, Director of Social Marketing-Empower MediaMarketing; Dan Lally,Vice President of Public Relations- Powers Agency & Dave Knox, Brand Manager – P&G Productions in 2008.  Stacy Cole, an attorney with Graydon Head & Ritchey joined the group in late 2009.  All powerhouses in their respective fields, the group has consistently brought excellent content to the local social media digital scape.

Events include nationally well-known speakers at unique venues around the city that allow for plenty of Q&A time and networking.  Hints are dropped about upcoming registration opps and if you aren’t plugged into one of the group member’s live feeds or connected directly to the CincySM LinkedIn Group, you are bound to miss out.  Some events have been known to sell-out within hours.  Reminds me of Buffet in the summer……. Each event has a sponsor that makes the event zero cost to participants and for those who are “locked” out and reside on the perpetual wait list, there is always the live-stream. Follow the hashtag above and you will feel as if you were in the room as this group does an excellent job of live-tweeting the meeting.

So here are some take-aways from yesterday’s “Social Media for Skeptics at LPK” Event.  Gotta tell you that of the 100 folks registered, I’m betting that there were few skeptics in the room.  Cruise the partip list and you will see some of the biggest names on the local social media scene.

CincySM recommends these key points when evaluating Social Media

Strategy:

RECONSIDER ON-LINE MODELS

BE YOURSELF

PARTICIPATE

FAIL

SET SOCIAL MARKETING

CONDUCT DUE DILIGENCE

REVISIT CREATIVE BRIEF

SHARE & MAKE YOUR CONTENT SHARABLE

REVISIT TOUCHPOINTS

Some great examples of Social Media Success Stories:

• Mentos & Diet Coke Experiment- user generated video went viral and the equivalent of $10 million in free publicity was obtained
• Pepsi- Iced Cucumber SKU introduction in Japan- Bloggers sang it’s praises, went viral and Pepsi moved 5 million bottles in 8 weeks

Look for case study info on these success stories:  Sharpie, SODEXO and our local Cincinnati Museum Center in an upcoming post.

If the group interests you- join the LinkedIn CincySM group NOW:  HERE!