Event Spotlight: No Right Brain Left Behind

Today we are excited to announce our collaboration with No Right Brain Left Behind, an innovation challenge asking the broader creative industries to concept ideas that will help the creativity crisis happening in U.S. schools today.

A panel of experts will pick the 3 best ideas that will be featured by media partners at the end of the challenge. The goal is to launch the best idea as a pilot later this year.

  • Sir Ken Robinson, Author and Creativity Expert
  • Lee Clow, Chairman of Media Arts Lab
  • Yves Behar, fuseproject
  • Piers Fawkes, Founder of PSFK
  • Maria Popova, Founder & Editor in Chief of Brain Pickings
  • Juliette LaMontagne, Senior TED fellow and Innovations Facilitator
  • Scott Belsky, Founder of Behance
  • Julie Lasky, Editor at Change Observer

A briefing session will kick off the challenge on Monday Feb. 7th. Teams will be handed, and will be able to download, an intelligence brief and a creative brief clearly outlining the problem and directions. The challenge will be wrapped with a panel event on Friday. Locations for both briefing and panel will be announced in the Social Media Week calendar.

We encourage you to follow the process during Social Media Week on Twitter – @nrblb and Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/pages/No-Right-Brain-Left-Behind/103924679681635

For more information please visit http://rightbrainsare.us.

Also, be sure to attend the corresponding briefing on Monday from 5-5:30pm at JWT.

Good luck and we look forward to seeing the ideas.

Event Spotlight: Social Media Myths: “You Did What?!” in Social Media

Is social media a bubble? Do I need 1 million fans to be a success? Bust these social media myths and more with disruptive marketers from Attention, Morgans Hotel Group and Barbie, at Social Media Myths: “You Did What?! in Social Media,” on Thursday February 10, at Hudson Hotel from 1:30-2:30 PM, followed by a 30min Q&A session.

Speakers:

  • Curtis Hougland, Founder & CEO, Attention

Curtis opened the first joint PR and online marketing practice in 1993, working with Internet pioneers including CompuServe, AOL, Prodigy, Microsoft and Sprynet. One of the PR industry’s first creative directors at Middleberg, he grew the agency into one of the most successful consumer technology agencies prior to its sale to Euro RSCG in 2000. Curtis tested his word-of-mouth campaigns by co-founding Film Movement (sold to Blockbuster in 2006), the first company to release films simultaneously in theater and on DVD.

  • James Zito, Vice President, Interactive Marketing, Morgans Hotel Group

As Vice President, Interactive Marketing, for Morgans Hotel Group, James Zito oversees all development of Morgan Hotel Group’s E-Marketing/E-Commerce initiatives. Before joining in 2006 Mr. Zito spent over 16 years with Denihan Hospitality Group where he directed all areas of E-marketing and developed and managed an award winning CRM program.

A respected industry expert on Internet marketing, Zito served as the 2006-2008 Co-Chair of the North America HSMAI Internet Marketing special-interest group, and has spoken at events including Ad Tech, HITEC, Hospitality CIO Summit, HEDNA, TravelCom, National Center for Database Marketing (NCDM), and guest lectured for the New York University’s Masters in Hospitality program. Mr. Zito has a Bachelor of Arts from William Paterson University.

  • Lauren Bruksch, Director, Marketing, Barbie at Mattel

Lauren Bruksch is a marketing director for the Barbie brand at Mattel, Inc.  In her position, Lauren plays an integral role in forging strategic marketing partnerships and oversees social media and digital marketing, philanthropy and special projects for the brand . Laur en manages the Barbie brand’s partner ship s with the CFDA and fashion community, and she has been instrumental in securing the brand ’ s partnership s with T he White House Project and “ 10 Women to Watch ” list .

Most recently, Lauren spearheaded Mattel’s first original digital reality series, “Genuine Ken: The Search for the Great American Boyfriend.”  Lauren also serves as the one of the judges on the web series, as a representative and the voice of the Barbie brand. Additionally, Lauren oversees all of social marketing for the brand, including Barbie and Ken’s facebook, Twitter and Foursquare accounts.

In 2009, Lauren was one of the key players who helped Barbie celebrate her 50th anniversary with a unprecedented runway show at New York Fashion Week and a celebrity birthday bash at Barbie’s real-life dream house in Malibu, Calif.  Lauren has worked on the Barbie brand for more than 6 years, and recently began working across the girls ’ portfolio of brands at Mattel.

Register for this event here.

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Citizen 2.0, how will social media help create the government of the future?

This blog post is a contribution from Zack Brisson, founder of the service design agency Reboot (@TheReboot) You can follow him via @zbrisson and at http://theReboot.org/ideas.

From Wikileaks to the recent Arab uprisings, it’s clear that new forms of media are changing government-citizen relationships. In many cases, those changes have been positive and give cause for hope. In the United States, YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter have all changed the nature of political discourse. Globally, tools such as FrontlineSMS, Ushahidi, and OpenStreetMaps have empowered citizens and changed how critical services are delivered.

Yet these tools are just as easily used for oppression, propaganda, and the subtle coercion of the public. Or, even when there is no government ill intent, social media can be a distracting or confusing additive to already complex governing processes.

At Reboot, we help institutions that matter make sense of rapid societal changes, including those in information and communication technologies, so that they can leverage existing forces to create a future that is not just different, but better. To that end, we are proud to present “Citizen 2.0: Social Media and the Future of Participatory Government” as part of Social Media Week 2011.

We have assembled an expert panel to discuss what it will take to mature the use and application of social media to ehance service delivery, improve policymaking, and develop more inclusive forms of political engagement.

Our panelists will share their first-hand experiences from the frontlines of change. They will share their successes, hopefully some of their failures, and emerging best practices. A brief snapshot of the panelists and the perspective they’ll bring to the conversation:

  • Marci Harris is the CEO of PopVox, an exciting new platform for citizen-to-legislature interaction. She also spent years on Capitol Hill working inside government to develop new forms of political engagement.
  • Tom Lee, Director of Sunlight Labs (and formerly of EchoDitto), is actively leading the movement that is building the tools, datasets, and community necessary to create the government platforms of the future.
  • Katherine Maher is an Information and Communication Technology Specialist at the National Democratic Institute. Her work there, and previously at UNICEF, has focused on the effective application of social media in international development and governance.
  • Nancy Scola is the Associate Editor at Personal Democracy Forum’s techPresident and she also contributes to American Prospect’s TAPPED. She’s been one of the leading voices on the role of social media in changing politics and government.

Reboot is committed to bringing the outcomes of this event to the open government community, so that a one-day discussion can have a lasting impact. To that end, a one-hour panel discussion and Q&A will be followed by an interactive session where panelists and audience members will work together in small groups to generate concrete ideas for new products and services that leverage the power of social media. We will be documenting these ideas and sharing them back with the participants, the Social Media Week community, and our friends and allies working for improved governance systems.

We hope you’ll join us, you can register here. If you want to remotely join the conversation the day of the event, stay tuned for a live web cast link on the event page or join in via Twitter, we’ll be watching at #Citizen2 or send messages to @TheReboot.

Event Spotlight: Hot in Cleveland, Hosted by TV Land

While it may be chilly outside, we’ve got details on an event that is sure to warm you right up. On February 11th, TV Land will be hosting an event that will delve into the dynamic marketing techniques leveraged by their hit show Hot in Cleveland.

  • What’s this event called? Hot in Cleveland
  • Where will this event be held? The Art & Culture Hub at Hearst
  • When will this event be held? Friday, February 11, 2011 at 3:00 pm
  • Who is hosting this event? Hot in Cleveland will be hosted by TV Land
  • What’s this event all about? Betty White and Facebook were two of the biggest stories of 2010.  In the marketing of the show Hot in Cleveland, starring Betty White alongside Valerie Bertinelli, Jane Leeves and Wendie Malick,  TV Land realized that any traditional marketing campaign they would do must be supplemented with a strong presence in Social Media where Betty had over 1 million people clamoring for her to host SNL and plug the BP Oil Spill.  TV Land also realized that the group with the fastest growth in Facebook were women 25-54, a demographic that fit squarely in with their target audience for this specific show.  From cast specific Facebook updates, to a birthday card signed by over 60,000 fans and celebrities, TV Land, a brand typically associated with Classic TV, used new forms of communications to have a break out original hit. Register for this event HERE!
  • So, what is TV Land? TV Land is a cable television network that launched in 1996. Originally the network consisted exclusively of classic television shows. Now the network airs a combination of classic television shows, newer shows, originals and movies. To see a specific list of TV Land’s programming, visit their website.

Who doesn’t want to hear more about Betty White? Hope you can make it!

Clare Brown is a contributing writer to the Social Media Week blog and works in Digital Communications at Deep Focus image source

Event Spotlight: Is Three a Crowd? Hosted by Convio

Happy Friday, New Yorkers!

We’re excited to highlight another one of our amazing event partners. Convio will be hosting an exciting panel where nonprofit organizations can learn how to best utilize existing and emerging social media tools.

  • What’s this event called? Is Three a Crowd? Getting the Most Out of Third-party and Social Giving Sites for Your Nonprofit
  • Where will this event be held? The People & Society Hub at The Paley Center for Media
  • When will this event be held? Tuesday, February 8, 2011 at 10:00 am
  • Who is hosting this event? Is Three a Crowd? will be hosted by Convio
  • What’s this event all about? Social networks have become a main-stay in the nonprofit marketing vocabulary, but where do the new kids on the block such as Causes, Crowdrise and Jumo fit into the mix? The next generation of social media for social good has arrived so come learn the pros and cons of the sites and where they should be prioritized in your nonprofit’s integrated marketing strategy. Contributors will discuss the benefits and challenges of several third-party and social giving sites and raise some important questions including how much money is being raised through these sites, what’s being left on the table and how your nonprofit can get the most out of the social web. Register for this event HERE!
  • So, what is Convio? Convio provides fundraising software for nonprofits and much, much more. According to their site, Convio provides marketing, fundraising, advocacy and donor database tools that help nonprofit organizations take advantage of the inherent effectiveness and efficiency of the Internet to motivate your donors and other supporters.

This poised to be an incredibly informative and instructive event, hope you can make it!

Clare Brown is a contributing writer to the Social Media Week blog and works in Digital Communications at Deep Focus

Event Spotlight: “Social Gaming: How Social Dynamics are Reshaping Games”, Hosted by David Eastman, JWT Worldwide North America CEO

In New York, our team is proud to be partnering up with JWT, a Global Social Media Week partner and the official host of The Business, Media and Communications Content Hub.  On Monday February 7th, we’ll be jumpstarting a week of dynamic panels and insights from a number of innovative leaders in their respective fields, with remarks from JWT Worldwide North America CEO, David Eastman.  His keynote will immediately be followed by a panel on how social media is shaping the landscape of gaming. Checkout a recent 5 Questions with David Eastman and find more information on the gaming panel below!

  • What’s this event called? Social Gaming: How Social Dynamics are Reshaping Games
  • Where will this event be held? The Business, Media & Communications Hub at JWT
  • When will this event be held? Monday, February 7th at 9:00 am
  • Who is hosting this event? JWT
  • What’s this event all about? Social games are here to stay. This panel will bring together a variety of experts from the gaming industry (casual, hardcore and cross-platform) to talk about how social dynamics are reshaping games of all types and making them more pervasive across all walks of life. To register for this event, please use the form here.
  • So, what is JWT? JWT is the world’s best-known marketing communications brand. JWT is a true global network with 200-plus offices in over 90 countries. JWT was also Named Adweek’s Global Agency of the Year. Check out JWT’s site to learn even more about their work and their people.

Clare Brown is a contributing writer to the Social Media Week blog and works in digital communications at Deep Focus