DISQUS

If the event you envision is more about all social media avenues than just blogging, you may want to consider making it a PodCamp. There have been many successful podcamps held worldwide at this point: http://podcamp.pbwiki.com/

First of all, I arrived here from a retweet from @GSnyder: RT @michaelgass: How To Win "Buy-In" For Social Media ... it isn’t about the tools http://tinyurl.com/5kyjxe

Secondly, I completely agree. Many executives don't see the value of social media or social networking sites, and may actively block Facebook its brethren as time wasters.... until THEY themselves get on Facebook and start experiencing the magic of connecting with dozens of old friends, near and far. THEN all of a sudden they "get" social media.

So YES, don't talk to them about it, GET THEM USING it.

@Susan Murphy: Instead of social media, use "customer engagement."

What happens if we take out the phrase "social media" and replace it with "Customer Engagement". Chris uses essentially this terminology within the description, but then ends the piece with "Shiny social media pie all around." Does it make a difference? Can these terms be used interchangeably?

As shocking as it is to me and others here, the word "blog" is still a four-letter word in certain circles. (I know, I know, hard to believe, but true.) However, if the same concept is framed as an easy-to-update web page, all of a sudden it seems like the most natural thing to do. So if instead of framing it as "social media", we framed it as "customer engagement" would that work or help to get better buy-in from the rest of the organization?

I don't have the answer, just throwing the question out there.

One other question not clear from the description: Were the customers clamoring for Bob because he was Bob or because he was *any* representative from the company that they were curious about? No matter which is the answer, the company should be beyond thrilled that they have customers who are this interested in them and their products.

Weenie roasts sure are swell!

Hmmmm. Does it make sense for LinkedIn to integrate with Brightkite for up-to-the-second location info, or is that overkill for business purposes?

Fantastic points, delivered effectively. I highly recommend that from here, people check out Garr Reynolds fantastic blog on presentations, Presentation Zen. One of my favorite Presentation Zen posts is the one where he gives us some video clips of Presentation humor. I can't believe there's a stand-up comic (Don McMillan) who makes an audience roar with laughter over bad Powerpoints. But more seriously, Garr sheds light on a variety of great speakers and analyzes their styles so that we can develop our own. Combine Presentation Zen with Made to Stick, and you've got the principles for successful presentations.

In terms of terminology, I'd like to point out that kids today aren't growing up with the term "social media" or "web 2.0" to talk about these tools and this new web-enabled environment. For college-aged kids and younger, this environment that WE call social media or web 2.0, simply "IS". Please understand that they take being able to hop on the web, being able to instantly communicate with all of their friends via cell phone, SMS, twitter, FB, MySpace, share opinions with friends through sites like Yelp, TravelAdvisor and so on, for granted.

It doesn't matter what we call it, the fact is that it is always-on, on-demand, ubiquitous, and that the younger folks take it for granted that they can tap into whenever they need or want to, free and easily, and on their terms. Companies that are facilitating this will continue to prosper, because business success is the result of helping/serving people. Of course we have to create revenue that sustains the business. That's the tricky part that web 2.0 doesn't solve on its own. But there are new ways of doing business out there, and we need to dive into this world and understand it so that we can figure it out. You can't figure it out from the sidelines.

I also agree that this is the natural and logical evolution of the web, people, and communications. I liken it to where TV was in 1946. I'm not sure that the TV biz had a revenue model or could foresee 98% penetration in households, but I feel like that is where we are with this new-fangled World 2.0/social media/networking/blogotwittersphere contraption thingy.

I've also never been one to worry about "mainstream" adoption. People and businesses will discover their own uses and needs for these tools when THEY are ready for them. I think our job is to educate, and let people and organizations decide for themselves if they see a value or purpose for them. Instead of wringing our hands about it, proponents, educators, and consultants should be thinking about better ways to convey or demonstrate what is going on to people who aren't there yet. The key word being "yet."

Timeless principles which always are worth mention and freshening with today's new tools.

I was introduced to Crowdvine a few months ago; it's a nifty little free resource you can add to any event to help people connect before, during and after an event.

The problem here is that trust is developed one relationship at a time. As people are demonstrating by their comments here, people place different levels of trust in different people. You can't make a blanket statement like "Oprah is a trust agent." Some people don't trust her, some people trust her somewhat, and others trust her with their lives. For any person or company you name, different people will hold different levels of trust with them based not only on their experience to date, but with how much that person/company resonates with them on a personal level.

Funny and entertaining ad but does nothing for enhancing Windows' image.

One thing for all social media marketers to keep in mind is to make sure that everything links to everything else. You never now where or what of your many social media efforts is going to connect with someone, so make sure that you are giving them the links to go where you want them to go. Make sure your Flickr photos link back to your blog, that your Twitter profile has a link back to your main site, etc.

@seeking_balance: I'm so glad you commented here. I'm heading out to Vancouver in a few weeks (for BarCampBank BC on Sept 20&21 - hi Shari!), and am looking to put together my schedule of things to do. Because of your comment here, I now have Grouse Mountain ziplining on my list.

Moral of this story: You never know where the connections will be made!

Hi Chris,

I don't know how much feedback you got on this analogy, but I agree with Susan it is ASTOUNDING! I really dig it, and here's why: We're used to hearing and saying things like "when I was a kid, pizza hadn't even been invented yet." Your superhero analogy, brought those type of statement to life in a very immediate way, and is especially relevant to us today who grew up with superheroes. Fantastic job coming up with that. What a great message - we each have superhero powers now, it's up to us to put them to good use.

Hi Nate, interesting thought. However, in regards to machine language, I HATE Twitter's direct messaging. It's a TOTAL pain in the rear end, especially on mobile devices, to start a tweet with "d innonate hi" followed by your message. At least using Hahlo, you can direct message someone who has recently tweeted with just two clicks. MUCH easier. If payments can be made with two clicks rather than 14+ taps, well then we're talking.

Congratulations on that! Happy, joyous news!

wow. what an amazing amount of work went into that short bit of hilarity.

Chris, very interesting post. A lot of this comes down to definitions and attitudes. "Marketing" in its pure sense, means bringing together a company with those who want its products or services. Marketing became a wide-spread phenomenon throughout the late '80 and 90s, as advertising was diminishing and becoming less effective. But in many cases, the word "marketing" was hijacked by advertising-type people, and we got the ugly phrase "marketing at". This is very similar to the way "business development" replaced "sales" for most companies, and for most people, the two are now synonymous.

All this goes back to the amazing prescience of Cluetrain and "markets are conversations."

Hi Chris,

It was great to meet you at PodCamp Boston, and best wishes in your future endeavors.

I think that more smaller local PodCamps or SocialMediaCamps (not nearly as catchy a name) are the way to go. That's why Tish Grier (Constant Observer), Jaclyn Stevenson (WriterJax, TravelJax), and I are going to see if we can get PodCamp WesternMass off the ground for the Spring, and bring together isolated pockets of bloggers and business people who may not be familiar with the revolution that is ongoing.

@Whitney and Dave: Wonderful idea. How about if one track were devoted to this style of sessions?