Building off the success and hard work of our partners over the past two years, this September you will see a few exciting changes to Social Media Week LA. Focusing the content on the cross-section of tech & entertainment, we will bring the “fragments” of LA together in Hollywood for one exciting week of collaboration, learning and the sharing of ideas.

To kick things off, we are thrilled to announce that Tubefilter, one of our longtime LA partners, is joining forces with us at Crowdcentirc (owner and operator of Social Media Week), as a co-producer of this year’s event. As a curator of quality video content, creators of the Streamy Awards and hosts of the Tubefilter Hollywood Meetup, we felt they are the perfect partner to help us strengthen and grow SMWLA with our stellar advisory board this year.

To help you learn more about Tubefilter, we sat down with co-founders Drew Baldwin and Joshua Cohen in our first “Behind The Scenes” interview!

Behind The Scenes with Tubefilter

1. You curate a wide variety of content, ranging from major motion picture studios and television networks, to brands and advertising agencies, and even independent content creators. How do you define great storytelling and identify high quality online video that audiences will connect with?

To paraphrase United States Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart–I know it when I see it. There is no formula for great stories, but we have seen that compelling videos have mass appeal online.

At Tubefilter we’ve developed a system that combines technological tools and deep relationships with creators to help us identify the best of what’s out there today. As a name brand authority in online video and a platform for discovery, Tubefilter receives a lot of inbound flow, so we are never in shortage of shows to review.

2. What are the three most exciting trends you see happening in online video right now?

• Stepping up the game. With unprecedented amounts of funding in online video, there has been a noticeable increase in production values and quality of online video across the board.
• More ways to discover. New curation platforms have made it easier to share online video. The widespread adoption of social media tools have enabled us to leverage these platforms to and engage with larger more relevant audience.
• Interactive storytelling. As video gaming and Hollywood continue on a collision course, new types of interactive storytelling have emerged. Alternate reality games, choose your own adventures, and live story events are among some of the innovative ways the creative industry is drawing in new audiences.

3. Are there any new projects Tubefilter is working on or projects that you would like to see realised in the future?

We’re very excited about the next Streamy Awards, which celebrate excellence in online video and the creators behind it. Tubefilter and our partner dick clark productions have a big announcment coming this summer.

4. Can you tell us a little bit about how and why you decided to get involved with Social Media Week?

Tubefilter has always positioned itself at the nexus of entertainment and social technology. The Streamy Awards have become a case study in how to leverage the social graph to access new audiences and build a following outside of traditional marketing practices.

With our emphasis on the intersection of social media and entertainment we’re work with leaders in online video, television and movies, celebrity culture, fashion, advertising, video games and music.

As an advisory board member last year I [Drew], saw an opportunity to take SMW LA to the next level by focusing on Los Angeles’ strength as the entertainment capital of the world and doubling down on Hollywood as the epicenter of creativity. We feel like our experience in media and event production made us a great partner for this event this year.

5. This year’s theme for Social Media Week is Empowering Change Through Collaboration. How are you seeing this played out locally and globally?

From KONY 2011 to the Trevor Project, creative people are using social media to engage new networks of people with compelling stories, raising awareness and inspiring activism in unprecedented numbers. 

6. What three things are you hoping the LA community will gain from participating in Social Media Week?

• Learn. Find out more about how social media has opened up new ways that people can connect, share, and collaborate.
• Connect. By bringing the event to Hollywood, we hope to bring together the various parts of LA for one big “block party” where people can get some quality face time with some of the most powerful influencers in social media and entertainment. We want people to become a part of one community of social media champions here in Los Angeles.
• Have fun. Enjoy the great events we’re hosting at some of the most iconic spots in Los Angeles!

7. What kind of partners are you looking to collaborate with you to help make Social Media Week happen?

In past years, the tech and social community has been well represented at the conference. This year we want to make more of an effort to collaborate with online video produces and social media directors and community managers of the various studios in town to bring the entertainment focus to our programming.

We are looking for partners to submit compelling events like panel discussions, debates, seminars, workshops, mixers or even team-based challenges and scavenger hunts. Some categories to consider are:

• Advertising & marketing
• Art & culture
• Business innovation
• Education & learning
• Health & wellness
• Media & entertainment
• Networking & parties
• Politics and government
• Social & environmental change
• Technology innovation

In an effort to build community and create conversation and learning opportunities leading up to and during SMWLA, we are also looking for partners to get involved by offering high quality written or video contributions to featured on our blog.

8. If you could invent one tool or launch a new business tomorrow that is potentially worth a billion dollars, what would it be and why?

We’d like to find a way to gamify social sharing to recognize and reward the most influential curators in online video, to help us in our mission to discover and share the best of online video programming today.

Behind The Scenes is a regular interview series featuring Social Media Week LA news, events, and leaders. Get to know SMWLA and our growing team and community.

Want to Get Involved?

If you’d like to know how you can participate, sponsor, advisory board member, speaker, or event partner, visit our Get Involved section of our website and submit your details.

Want to Learn More?

Social Media Week hosts two global conferences each year. Each conference takes place simultaneously in multiple cities around the world, with thousands of individuals and organizations working together to host panels, workshops, talks and industry networking events.

Our first 2012 conference took place February 13-17, with over 35,000 attendees participating in 1,100 events across 12 cities in 9 countries. This past February proved to be our biggest, and boldest, Social Media Week. We saw keynotes like Don Tapscott, Tumblr’s David Karp, Telemundo’s Borja Perez, Fabio Coelho of Google Brasil, and Guilhem Fouetillou of Linkfluence.

If you’re new to Social Media Week and want to learn more or a veteran just hoping to go deeper, we suggest you take a look at our About section where we share our mission and vision and recommend you check out our SMW Feb 2012 Recap Video to see highlights from around the event!

1) Why did you choose to participate in this particular panel? How did you get involved with this topic specifically?

I designed the topic for this panel and have been involved in sustainability issues for more than 20 years.  I have seen the ebbs and flows of public opinion on the issue of sustainability and the environment and over the years have worked to improve the type and quality of information about our environment.

2) How has social media influenced or informed the discussion surrounding your topic?

Social media is just beginning to have an impact on sustainability issues. It seems that many Americans are environmentally conscious , but many people have not taken action because of the lack of information.  Social media can change this – it’s relevant to large numbers of people and it’s a message that people are willing to spread.  It will be important for companies and institutions to demonstrate to their customers, their employees, elected officials, influencers and the general public that they’re taking steps to be more environmentally conscious.  Social media needs to play a bigger role.

3) What social media websites are key players for your topic? (linkedin, foursquare, facebook)

Twitter, Meetup, and facebook are key players in terms of disseminating information and organizing networks. In addition, CSRwire has a huge following and is considered the leading source of information on corporate social responsibility and sustainability news, reports, and events.

4) How has your background in other fields shaped your approach to social media?

I have been a professor, I have worked in politics, and I have worked for large and small companies.  Each of these has shown me how important social networks are and how important they can be. I believe that if people have better information, they will make more informed choices – and that those choices will lead to more sustainable actions.  Making choices that are more sustainable can be difficult – they often require trying to have a vision of the future and figure out how your choice will impact that future.  That is not easy – but the social media can help make it more transparent and impact choices.  When I was a professor I have been able to use social media to connect better to students, in politics it helped me engage stakeholders, and in business it creates opportunities.

5) How can social media bring more awareness to your topic?

There is a lot of overlap between social media and sustainability. Both are built on the pillars of authenticity, transparency, and innovation. Social media is the ideal tool for socially conscious consumers to broadcast their message and engage their communities to promote change. Its very nature of active participation and engagement gives the public the voice to encourage companies and corporations to do better with their sustainability initiatives as well as become cheerleaders for companies that are doing it right.

Social media also puts the “public” back into public policy and allows us to become advocates for those in bureaucracies.

6)  If you had to describe your panel with three adjectives,  what would they words be?

Innovative, sustainable, future

Here’s the full page ad showing the schedule. (Click on it to enlarge)

If you want to get a sense of the tremendous buzz that went on all week, here’s a link to the #SMWLA twitter search. We could barely keep up with the volume of tweets. Amazing! Also note, the number of tweets mentioning our non-profit partner, Inner-City Arts and the Twelethon.

Thanks again everyone…we’ll be posting more follow ups shortly. But for now, we’re catching our breath.

Yesterday, Tuesday September 21^st, a group of six sustainability professionals (ahem, ‘geeks’) gathered at the Deaton Auditorium in Downtown Los Angeles to discuss how social media can affect the growing field of clean technology. As part of Social Media Week, this event is one of many across Los Angeles to focus on the burgeoning social and professional uses of Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, YouFace, etc.

Panel and Social Media Week information

The panelists included Stan Holt and Nikhil Jain, President/COO and Founder/CEO of OnGreen; Deep Patel, Founder/CEO of GoGreenSolar.com; Vincent Williams, Director of New Media for PGA Green; Erik Steeb, the LA Chair for Cleantech Open; and Chathri Munasinghe, Director of New Media at Opportunity Green.

(From Left) Deep Patel, Nikhil Jain, Chathri Munasinghe, Erik Steeb, Vincent Williams, and moderator Stan Holt

The discussion began with some impressive facts outlined by Stan Holt, the moderator for the panel. Did you know that a whopping 98% of Generation Y has joined a social network? Or that 78% of consumers trust peer recommendations about a product/services, versus only 14% who trust an advertisement? Fascinatingly, if Facebook were its own country, it would be the worldís 4^th largest (by population)! (Stats via Erik Qualman, ‘Socialnomics’) Yet where is the representation of effective social media campaigns in the green economy?

What followed this introduction was an engaging and informative hour long discussion ranging from how companies can brand their hashtags (#thankstovincentwilliams) to how GoGreenSolar.com was able to tap into Price is Right (see video below!).

Along the way, the panelists threw out a bevy of important, and possibly underutilized, social media resources. A brief summary is found below:

• twellow – The Twitter Yellow Pages. Search by key term like “clean tech” “business” “green”. Great place to find people in your sector or common interests
• wefollow – People can add THREE tags of the top three things they represent. ie “music” “los angeles” “drummer”. Great place to find people in your sector or common interests
• klout – Klout Score is the measurement of your overall online influence. The scores range from 0 to 100 with higher scores representing a wider and stronger sphere of influence.
• bit.ly – Shorten links and also provides stats on how many people clicked your link and when and from what channels.
• twtvite – Create twitter invites for your local meetup
• Hootsuite – Scheduling Tweets, FB, Linkedin and Ping.FM updates. Assign team members the ability to post to social sites without giving master passwords or admin access on each site directly.
• Onlywire – Syndicates your articles across the web to 30+ platforms. Gets your content on Google in minutes. Great for creating tons of backlinks.
• Ping.fm - Syndicates your social media posts to micro blogging platforms across the web. Ping is geared toward propagating updates rather than articles.
• Ustream - Free live streaming platform. They offer streaming software on the android, iphone, mac and pc platforms.
• Auth – API with LI, TW and FB for your sites
• Google Toolbar – Provides easy access to networks such as LI, FB and Twitter
• Social Oomph – Lets you add multiple social networking accounts and schedule tweets
• AddThis – Put this button on your sites so users can share quickly on their favorite social networks
• Quantcast – Measure your audience demographics

Arguably one of the most valuable sections of the panel was the Q&A with the audience. Did you miss the panel? Do you have questions for the panelists? Use their twitter handles (linked to each name above!) to find out more information! Also, donít miss each of the panelists’ upcoming green events we’ve included handy 140-character messages below that you can tweet out about each:

• Don’t miss @oppgreen, 9/22 – 9/24 right here in LA! Register here –> http://ow.ly/2Isrt Use promo code “COM_P50_CTLA” for 50% off!
• @OnGreenit demo day fast approaching! On 9/28, network with #cleanenergy professionals –> http://ow.ly/2IstV RSVP to JDam[at]OnGreen.com
• 10/12 – 10/14 is @SolarPwrIntl in LA! Friends of #CTLA can use promo code ìPTNMBRSPI10î to get 15% off registration –> http://ow.ly/2Isyc
• Oct 8 is the CA Regional Judging & Awards Ceremony for @CleanTechOpen, don’t miss exciting new #cleantech companies! http://ow.ly/2IsDi
• Mark your calendars! @PGA_Green Seminar “Saving Green by Being Green” is Sat, November 13, 2010! Check http://ow.ly/2IsHt for more info!

Hope this information was as useful to you as it was for us! Weíll see you around the ‘net.’

The intersection between youth, activism and new media technologies continue to grab the attention of brands, educators and policy-makers with growing interest. “Green” has become the new face of youth activism and millions of young people around the world are participating in environmental initiatives discovered through online portals.

Here in the United States, there’s also a growing movement connecting the natural environment to traditional school subjects including math, science, reading and writing. As we guide our youngest generation towards environmental literacy, how much of a role should social media play (given the “brand dominant” nature of the conversations) — and is it in conflict with the social and environmental justice sought by our parents, educators and policy-makers?

On Saturday, September 25^th, 2010, KooDooZ founder, Lee Fox, will moderate a free workshop entitled: “Social Justice, Social Media & Environmental Education.” The purpose of this blog post is to offer some context for anyone interested in adding their voice to the conversation.

#1: Are we on the brink of experiencing a new generational divide…
that’s green in color?

It should not be lost on any of us that today’s kids have been witness to the most severe environmental disaster our country has ever seen, that climate change has become a big part of our national dialogue and that the lives of millions of people, irrespective of age, geography or socioeconomic status have been directly affected by — as stated in the 2010 Cone Cause Evolution Study — “the irresponsibility of big business.”

82% of kids polled by Scholastic News stated they were concerned about the BP oil spill, and 48% said they were most concerned about its effect on the animals and the Gulf ecosystems. Kids of all ages demonstrated their commitment to the environment by joining their voices with the public’s out-cry:

• 14-year old Lauren Spaulding who confronted BP representatives at a town hall meeting about its lack of initiative to educate children about the spill. She pointed out that kids were “worried about the environment and their parents’ livelihoods,” and wanted to learn more about how they could help.
• 11-year old, Olivia Bouler, who contacted the Audubon Society looking for ways she could help fund relief for the wildlife impacted by the spill and raised $175,000 dollars.
• 13-year old and 16-year old Toth sisters who collected dishwashing soap to be used to clean birds and animals affected by the spill.

While there’s overwhelming evidence that youth want to make a difference, it’s also apparent that our scholastic infrastructure has of yet to provide kids with the educational basis to translate their green altruism into leadership.

Last year, a groundbreaking study revealed that U.S. students ranked 34th out of the 57 countries surveyed in both environmental science and geosciences. Being that school is the main source of eco-education for 85% of kids (13-17 years old), isn’t it clear we need some kind of an upgrade to help support the youth values of:

• LIVING GREEN:
  87% recycle; 84% turn off lights; 80% reduce water use; 73% user energy-efficient light bulbs
• GREEN BRANDS:
  76% feel it’s very important or important for brands to get involved in the green movement (though not all are willing to pay the higher prices for the luxury).

#2: If there’s a sense of collaboration and conversation, will youth turn to brands they trust to get information?

Luckily, trust is earned, never bought. It comes from years of doing rather than saying. Still, it’s extraordinarily important that parents, educators and policy makers understand that brands are committing larger and larger budgets to building trust, and that cause-marketing is one of the vehicles. When youth have high trust in a brand, they use the resources the brand gives them to advocate and spread the word.

BP is going to be an interesting case-study in the years ahead. Though their brand-value was “destroyed” by mal-handling many aspects of the Deepwater Horizon disaster, BP does have a viable opportunity to rebuild trust by staying committed to the community’s needs and working closely with the people of the Gulf to rebuild their livelihoods and restore the environment that supports them. BP’s best asset is that it had a name consumers once trusted. Now is the time for BP to exhibit profound green-leadership.

It bodes well for the oil giant that in recent years it has spent heavily on green education initiatives in California. Just last week, BP completed a 7-year project which culminated in a 13,000 page curriculum designed to update California’s Environmental Science Education offering for its’ K-12 public schools. The curriculum is expected to be taught to over six million pupils in some 1,000 districts. While many people support the investment California is making in environmental education, others are questioning the practice of allowing a brand — that has paid to avoid prosecution, more than $370-million dollars in fines after admittedly breaking environmental and safety laws — to shape the curriculum intended to foster critical thinking and open-mindedness on this subject.

#3: Will environmental literacy extend past the classroom and into our homes?

Eco-friendly behaviors are measured in a variety of ways — by people’s transportation patterns, household energy use, consumption of goods, and what’s being done to minimize the impact these activities have on the environment.

At the surface, Americans do appear to be environmentally literate and capable of making sustainable choices. According to the 2009 Cone Consumer Environmental Survey, 70% of Americans pay attention to what companies are doing in regard to the environment.

Sustainability has crept up the corporate agenda, now higher than ever before. A company’s commitment to social and environmental issues has undeniable weight in the marketplace, and transparency has become a key component to building public trust and managing consumer expectations.

However, when it comes to practicing what’s preached, everyday Americans are not taking the same action-oriented approach to environmental stewardship that they demand of their brand counterparts.

According to National Geographic’s Greendex, (a survey tracking global consumer choice in regard to the environment), U.S. consumers continually ranked last among 17 countries surveyed. This is perhaps not all that surprising being that a Roper Report revealed 80% of American adults are environmentally illiterate.

A potential for discord exists between the next generation and the rest of us, if a higher commitment is not soon made to embrace social and environmental literacy.

#4: Is the social web, as a real-time medium, a viable tool for environmental education?

Join KooDooZ, Green My Parents, Alliance For Climate Education, Team Marine, Real Curriculum and ReUse Connection as we explore whether or not the time is ripe with opportunity to incorporate 21^st century skills in our schools to heighten relevance in the classroom.

The Official Must-Have App Of Social Media Week: The Mobile Roadie Social Media Week App!

DOWNLOAD THE APP HERE FOR IPHONE AND ANDROID OPERATING SYSTEMS: http://mobileroadie.com/apps/smw

The Social Media Week App powered by Mobile Roadie will allow you to navigate through through the September 2010 experience right from your mobile phone! Through the power one app, explore and connect with all five SMW cities: Los Angeles, Buenos Aires, Bogota, Mexico City and Milan.

With the Mobile Roadie Official Social Media Week app, you can:
-Review the schedule of events
-Receive real-time updates on events and Social Media Week related news.
-Post pictures to the SMW Fan Page and see photos posted from all around the world (we’d love to see this one blown out!)
-Follow each cities’ tweets.
-Check out the most recently posted SMW Flickr photos.
-Watch streaming events via Ustream.

We are really excited about the great power of this app and implore you all to make sure to download it and use throughout the week to stay connected to everything Social Media Week taking place around you. Find it here or by searching “mobile social media week” in the iTunes App Store.

Mobile Roadie is a turn-key platform to quickly and inexpensively build and manage mobile apps. They have built apps for Madonna, Taylor Swift, the Miami Dolphins and many more. Check them out at mobileroadie.com.

Sir Ken is an internationally recognized leader in the development of creativity, innovation and human resources. If you haven’t seen his TED talks, they are inspiring and amazing and definitely worth watching.

Dave Stewart, international rockstar, is also known as an innovation leader and is the co-author with Mark Simmons of the book, ‘The Business Playground.’

The program is in the works, but the two of them together should be great.

Click here for more info.
Here’s Sir Ken’s famous TED talk:

This is a guest blog post written by Mike Bonifer, author of “Game Changers” (http://www.gamechangers.com) and Social Media Week Los Angeles Advisory Board Member.

A few weeks ago, I attended the three-day LATV Festival in Century City.  By far the most engaging presentation I saw was a session where Eric Schotz, the head of LMNO Productions, and his development team pitched an executive from the Oxygen Network on a reality show about three funny old ladies who run a beauty salon.

Whether people in the audience thought it was a clever strategy for coercing a buyer to commit, a disruptive routine that brands LMNO as innovators, or both, it was a very cool 90-minute session.  We got to watch a successful television producer pitch a show.  The audience was a fly on the wall, living vicariously through it.  Everyone, including the Oxygen exec, enjoyed it.  The video clips of the three old ladies were funny.  The audience was 100% engaged in what was going on. There was a kind of reality series drama to it.  The learning was not explicit.  It was more implicit.   That didn’t make it any less instructive.  It was the only session I later heard LATV attendees describe as remarkable.

Good for LMNO!  I hope they sold the series.  (I have a call in with Shotz to find out what happened, check back for that.)

The events we’re scheduling for Social Media Week L.A. promise a lot of the same kind of creative disruption.  Social media, after all, is about having the conversations in new ways, making different and more engaged connections with our audiences and with one another.

This won’t necessarily mean SMWLA presenters will ditch the panel format altogether.  Panels can be great.  They still have their place in the conference idiom.  We will, however, better align with the meaning of social media if we are at least aware of the clichés.

Here’s a cheat sheet with some of the clichés to be avoided if possible:

-Moderator introduces panelists, who then introduce themselves.  Everyone says they’re “excited to be here” but act blasé about being there.

-Moderator introduces theme and presents agenda.  Spoils ending by revealing that that “the last 15 or 20 minutes will consist of Q & A from the audience.”

- Moderator asks panelists a long question designed to remind audience that moderator knows as much as panelists.

- Three of the five panelists use the question as a segue into their personal statements.

- At least once, every panelist and the moderator will say, “That’s a great question.”

- Panelists will be asked to sum up by responding to the question, “Where’s it all going?”

- Audience members will be given a microphone to ask questions.  Feeling shut out of the discussion to this point, a third of those asking questions will use their question as a segue into their personal statements.

One of the biggest benefits of social media is its potential for breaking through the clichés of old media.  Here are some of the ways the events of Social Media Week can invite breakthroughs:

- Streaming video (via uStream).

- Collaborate with audiences, include online audiences.

- Tweeting, texting,

- AR, ARGs, Transmedia and Pecha Kucha.   (look it up)

- Live performers and professional entertainers.  Artists make art.

- Teleconferencing events from multiple locations.

- Game structure, role playing and team participation.

- Expand traditional narrative forms via collaboration with audiences.

- Geography, mobility, sustainability.

Our intent is to shatter molds, subvert the status quo, avoid predictability.  It will be serendipity by design.  Attendees at Social Media Week L.A. will literally be crossing a media divide.  On the other side will be a new way of experiencing the world.

The University of Southern California’s Institute for Multimedia Literacy will host several speaker events and workshops throughout social media week. These events will take place in conjunction with Lear Center for Entertainment, the Interactive Media Division at USC School of Cinematic Arts and the USC Annenberg School of Communications and will take place at the IML and around the USC campus. Details TBA.