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Julia Allison

Tucker & Julia Bring Chicago’s Social Media Community Closer with Tempe, AZ

Friday, September 23rd, 2011

As we wind down what has been an incredibly cool experience with Social Media Week Chicago, I thought it would be a good idea to talk about what some of us have learned this week.

If you go on #SMWChicago’s Facebook page, you’ll see we asked that very question; we encourage you to answer with as many things as you wish.  However, one thing that I learned came from (of all things) the Tucker Max/Julia Allison presentation on Tuesday night.

(I’ll let you insert your own dirty joke, or @TuckerMax, if you’re reading this, feel free to comment as we know you can…)

The real deliverable and point of this blog post is to share just how powerful Chicago is as a social media hub.  Those of you who attended might have seen some people with a small digital camera, a microphone and an iPad conducting interviews.  Would you believe that these folks came to #SMWChicago all the way from Tempe, AZ JUST to see us?

Head honcho Martin, second-in-command Amanda, Elizabeth (who loved Julia Allison’s shoes, by the way) and the camera guy (sorry dude, we didn’t catch your name!) from Internet marketing company Titaneer came to town just to see what Social Media Week was like here in town and (perhaps) if they could bring a similar model to Arizona.

Hey Crowdcentric crew–Tempe might not be on your list of “Coming Soon” cities, but give these folks a listen.  You can hear how passionate these people are about social media and Internet marketing.  If @titaneer could come into Chicago and sleep in one room of a Comfort Inn just to see how we do things and share their experiences, imagine what would happen if they had SMW in their own backyard?

Maybe they could sell out an entire hotel, or if given the opportunity, a few of them…maybe we’ll come along for the ride!

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Posted in SMWCHICAGO 2011, Social Media Week Event Schedule

Entertainers Finish First: Tucker Max on Twitter

Thursday, September 22nd, 2011

“Does everybody know who Tucker Max is?” host Julia Allison asked the audience of mostly iPad-equipped twenty-somethings at Social Media Week on Tuesday evening. “Why else would you be in the basement of the Hyatt?” said Max, quick to assure his interviewer that everyone in the audience had come to hear solid, if not offensive, advice from the self-proclaimed asshole whose debut story collection “I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell” was made into a movie in 2009. The University of Chicago alum who turns 36 next week got into character by taking the stage with his own personal prop: a bottle of Fat Tire beer.

During his hour-long talk, Max repeatedly harped on the evils of corporate America (and the banality of their corresponding Twitter feeds), but was quick to defend his own authenticity and transparency as a prominent personality in social media. For a guy  that claims he’s simply trying to be himself, Max certainly takes a calculated and highly self-aware approach to his Twitter feed.

“The point of a Twitter feed is that people want to be entertained,” he said, adding “if it’s not funny for me, I don’t post it.” And though he insisted he’s not trying to sell anything by using social media, his Twitter feed shows that he has no problem with shamelessly plugging his new book in an August 16th tweet. He also admitted to monitoring the analytics of his feed to track exactly when his followers were most interested in his 140 characters or less.

He has over 165,000 Twitter followers, but Max, who prides himself on having made a name for himself “outside of the system” as he puts it, is perhaps his own biggest fan. When an audience member asked about the negative feedback he receives from his not-so-friendly Tweets, Max quoted one of his heroes, Eminem: “I love being hated because it lets me know I made it.”

While touting the virtues of his “spot-on” Twitter feed, Max advised that if you’re not communicating something that other people care about, “then it’s just self-indulgent” (an ironic statement coming from a guy who makes his living off indulging in his own detailed accounts of sex, exploitation, and otherwise bad behavior).

By his own standards of reasoning, entertainers are the only people entitled to such self-indulgence, and only in the name of hilarity, as the title of Max’s third book, due out in February, suggests. But at Social Media Week Chicago Tuesday night, hilarity did not ensue. Instead of laughing, I was really hoping they served beer in the basement of the Hyatt so I could take a drink for every time Tucker Max said “I’m an entertainer.”

–Jennifer Swann

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Posted in Featured, SMW Chicago media coverage, SMWCHICAGO 2011, Social Media Week Event Schedule, social networks, Tucker Max

Tucker Max. I’m Impressed.

Wednesday, September 21st, 2011

I will be the first to admit that when I saw my assignment to blog for tonight’s conversation with Tucker Max, I rolled my eyes. I can assure you- I never expected to walk out of tonight’s Social Media Week event actually being highly impressed with this keynote speaker.

Now, don’t get me wrong- I will give credit where credit is due. Clearly, the guy can write-I’ve read his blog, excerpts from I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell, and even a few of his tweets. Not only is his writing entertaining, but it’s more than a little well-written.

It was more the prospect of having to put up with his personality that caused my instinctive eye roll. I mean, it’s no secret that Tucker Max is known for partying, womanizing… and having an absolute BLAST along the way. Therefore, when he sauntered into the Hyatt Regency ballroom for his interview with Julia Allison, beer bottle in hand, I knew it was going to be one long hour.

I was wrong.

As the conversation unfolded, I found myself constantly impressed with Tucker’s insight and wisdom regarding social media and personal branding. Coming from a guy who only follows 53 Twitter handles, yet has 167,000+ Twitter followers, it’s apparent he’s doing something right navigating that social media landscape. By understanding that he must respect the attention of his fans, while always keeping in mind why his audience cares about what he has to say, he’s been able continuously effectively build upon his reputation.

Although his personality can be arguably contentious, Tucker clarified that he never tries to be hated or controversial… he just tries to be funny. In the end, though, there will always be those haters. But Tucker never lets those haters get to him, because they serve as proof that he remains relevant and important enough to challenge them.

When the conversation ventured to the topic of corporate social media, Tucker certainly did not mince words. In order for a company or brand to be successful in today’s society, it must be able to show people how their products create and add value. However, most corporations are purely interested in selling stuff to their audiences, resulting in a lack of authenticity that is crucial in order to effectively appeal to a social media audience. As such, Tucker equated corporate social media with “bullsh*t”.

I think we can safely say that Tucker Max rarely, if ever, follows brands or CEOs on Twitter.

Nor does he follow people one would “associate” with the stereotypical Tucker Max personality (read: hot girls).  His response? “The only people who follow hot girls to sleep with them are pro athletes.”

Gotta get some Tucker Max-isms in there somehow, right?

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Posted in SMWCHICAGO 2011, social networks, Tucker Max

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