Author: Greg Bodenlos

I'm a motivated Cornell University Hotel School alumnus (affectionately known as a Hotelie for life) with keen interests in social and digital marketing for hospitality and lifestyle brands. Passionate about sales and marketing in the hospitality industry, specifically as it relates to the dynamic online space. In my free time, I obsess over growing my musical intellect (both modern and past-time artists apply) as well as playing (and watching) tennis and running (jogging on a slow day) whenever possible.

SMWNYC Day 4: Transmedia, Deadly Sins, Tangible Action

Posted on by Greg Bodenlos

Penultimate Day 4 of Social Media Week NYC 2012 was an amalgamation of transmedia storytelling, social media anti-best practices, and social good discussions, all centered around the integral importance of collaboration. Here are some of the day’s highlights:

  • Collaborative Storytelling: Transmedia and Social Media: A panel of creators from Broadcastr, GMD Studios, Lina Srivastava Consulting, and host Storycode dove into discussion on how exactly the transmedia form enhances collaboration and innovation platforms, and what it means for the future of entertainment, activism, marketing, branding and business. Amidst the debate, the speakers utilized an interactive demo of an innovative digital storytelling tool to outline how social media storytelling in a variety of sectors can benefit from the practice of Transmedia.
  • How and Why We Share: The Seven Deadly Sins of Social Media: A fine group of panelists from various advertising, digital media, and publication backgrounds came together to address how social media vices and virtues drive our actions online — from cyber-bullying behaviors to blind re-tweeting and rampant over-sharing. The highly interactive conversation between the panelists and audience alike incorporated various trends, research findings and real life examples that added a layer of necessary concreteness to a largely anecdotal panel theme.
  • New Business Models to Convert Human Intent into Tangible Action (followed by free after party): The evening came to a close with a fascinating discussion – held at the very cool Brooklyn Brewery – from an expert panel addressing how new business models they have created leverage social media to unlock underutilized human intent for social good and convert it into tangible action. From living greener to hitting the gym more often, the diverse panelists from StickK, Purpose, Oceana, Opower, Yoxi.tv, and host The Mutual highlighted some very enlightening ways that social media can guide us to better lifestyle choices. The Mutual sponsored after party that followed – featuring an amazing open bar of Brooklyn Brewery drafts and enormous spread of appetizers – capped the evening off with perfection.
Greg is a motivated Cornell University Hotel School alumnus, affectionately known as a Hotelie for life, with keen interests in social and digital marketing for hospitality and lifestyle brands. He’s passionate about sales and marketing in the hospitality industry, specifically as it relates to the dynamic online space. In his free time, Greg obsesses over growing his musical intellect (both modern and past-time artists apply), tennis, and running skills. Check out his lifestyle blog covering these topics at http://www.thesocialsonictraveler.wordpress.com and follow him on Twitter.
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SMW Day 5 Recap: Connecting, Reimagining, VIP Party

Posted on by Greg Bodenlos
The final day of what was an exhaustingly inspiring Social Media Week NYC 2012 was fittingly characterized by informative, engaging sessions covering the LinkedIn, Tumblr, and – of course – complimentary open bar bases. Here are the finals words from Day 5, capping off a tremendous week of activity:
  • The LinkedIn Difference: How Brands Are Building Deep Connections with Professionals: Linkedin Director of Eastern Region Marketing Solutions Dale Durrett led an enlightening panel discussion highlighting ways top brands are at the leading edge by marketing on LinkedIn to both businesses and consumers alike. Key takeaways from the session were that the LinkedIn space – which as of this writing has 150+ million users – is a largely untapped marketing opportunity for B2B and B2C outreach, and is ideal for companies to humanize their brands. “People buy from people!” was a tweet that was often re-tweeted during the panel, and its message is clear: with emerging tools available on the platform to carve out a significant presence, @LinkedIn truly allows brands to really add many faces to whatever they are selling through their employees.
  • Let’s Get Ready to Tumblr: Building community by reimagining and redistributing your content: In what was surely the most cozily, “alternative” venue for a Social Media Week session – the Chinatown headquarters of start-up Record Setter – a group of panelists shared their various positions on Tumblr as a serious method for gathering and sharing information with communities. While the panelists universally agreed that millions of people are sharing more than ever on Tumblr, surely a direct reflection of the new ways in which people are engaging with entertainment, news, and fashion content, they were surprisingly hesitant to – and in fact steered clear from – endorsing Tumblr as the go-to blogging platform for brands to engage on. Until Tumblr is ready to take analytics more seriously, the look and feel advantages it provides over the WordPress platform far from outweigh the latter’s platform leg-up on its competition.
  • Social Media Week Closing Party: The VIP invite-only closing bash of Social Media Week was characterized by much of the same Opening Party frivolities: an expansive open bar (thank you sponsors Bulldog Gin and Heineken for providing), lots of engaging conversations, and a terrific space (thank you District 36 for hosting). To top it all off, attendees were treated to music from an amazing DJ that expertly knew how to keep the party rocking all night; a memorable way all around to end what was a likewise tremendous week of activity.
Until next year folks…see you on Twitter!
Greg is a motivated Cornell University Hotel School alumnus, affectionately known as a Hotelie for life, with keen interests in social and digital marketing for hospitality and lifestyle brands. He’s passionate about sales and marketing in the hospitality industry, specifically as it relates to the dynamic online space. In his free time, Greg obsesses over growing his musical intellect (both modern and past-time artists apply), tennis, and running skills. Check out his lifestyle blog covering these topics at http://www.thesocialsonictraveler.wordpress.com and follow him on Twitter.
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SMWNYC Day 3 Recap: Crowdsourcing, Community, Quizzical

Posted on by Greg Bodenlos

Social Media Week 2012, NYC hump-day edition continued the momentum built up during the week’s first forty-eight hours of events, featuring an exceptional keynote from Behance‘s CEO, as well as two spirited, highly interactive discussions around creating community and social engagement. Here were some of Day 3 highlights:

  • Keynote: Scott Belsky, CEO of Behance, followed by GOOD Panel: Beyond Crowdsourcing: Using The Community To Report: Behance CEO, and Cornell grad (Go Big Red!), Scott Belsky kicked off the full-house session with a keynote addressing many his company’s initiatives to organize and empower the creative world to display and find talent every month. Named one of Fast Company’s “100 Most Creative People in Business”, Scott kept packed audience compelled by sharing dynamic examples of how companies can harness their creative energy to yield the optimal output. The ensuing “Crowdsourcing” panel was a more broadly focused discussion on media’s relationship with its community – addressing media’s failures and successes to get authentic, meaningful anecdotes from its communities directly.
  • Creating community around your blog: Savvy self-promoting bloggers and freelancers alike came out in droves to the quirky Gershwin Hotel to enjoy an animated and refreshingly candid debate, hosted by Blogads, addressing ways bloggers can build strong communities. The discussion benefitted from each of the panelists’ divergent backgrounds and their keen willingness to offer very specific, actionable advice to the hyper engaged audience they were speaking to. Big kudos to the bloggers at GalaDarling.com, JessicaHarlow.com and ConcreteLoop.com for a job well done.
  • A Quizzical Evening in Social Media, hosted by BuzzFeed: Closing the day at JWT meant an early evening of light-hearted panel banter, a highly entertaining, rapid-fire game of Pub Quiz, and free T-shirts, food and booze to boot! Relevant thought leaders from BuzzFeed, OMD Word, GE and AdAge engaged the audience with a brief debate on how good social content is almost always surprising, unexpected, and – of course – quizzical.  The open bar and prizes that followed were just delicious icing on top of a very scrumptious #socialmediaweek cake.
Greg is a motivated Cornell University Hotel School alumnus, affectionately known as a Hotelie for life, with keen interests in social and digital marketing for hospitality and lifestyle brands. He’s passionate about sales and marketing in the hospitality industry, specifically as it relates to the dynamic online space. In his free time, Greg obsesses over growing his musical intellect (both modern and past-time artists apply), tennis, and running skills. Check out his lifestyle blog covering these topics at http://www.thesocialsonictraveler.wordpress.com and follow him on Twitter.
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SMWNYC Day 2: Best Practices, Real Stories, Ghostwriting

Posted on by Greg Bodenlos

There was much to love (pun intended) about the Valentine’s Day edition (Day 2) of Social Media Week NYC 2012. The events throughout the day brought attendees much of the same excitement that defined Day 1, with an array of diverse offerings to choose from. Here are some highlights from the three in-person sessions I attended:

  • Global Brand Management: Best Practices in a Social World: Host Efficient Frontier led a panel discussion – with other key digitally-focused executives from Hyatt and Live Nation – on the challenges and best practices for maintaining a global social presence – one that is authentic, centrally governed, locally relevant, and engaging. Key takeaways from the session centered around success stories and challenges faced by each of the panelists, specifically on how to localizing content in various markets and leveraging more user-generated content (UGC).
  • Beyond the Like: Using Real People’s Real Stories to Drive Brand Awareness: Microsoft Advertising General Manager Jennifer Creegan kicked off a jam-packed session with a discussion about opportunities that let advertisers deliver word of mouth to their target customer in an interactive, powerful, and measurable way – focusing on creativity, connection, and relevance as the key dots to connect. The ensuing dialogue continued along this path, emphasizing the fundamental belief that “we [as social advertisers] have to bring consumer authenticity into advertising – we think that’s what these ratings + reviews do.”
  • The New Ghostwriter: This Hearst Magazine sponsored session focused on addressing the issues that arise when third party ghostwriters curate messaging on behalf of others, and what implications this reality has on brands that embrace social media as a means to create conversation and extend their reach. The ensuing conversation touched upon ethical concerns related to trust, authenticity, and transparency involved with ghostwriting – and addressed the convoluted question of whether ghostwriters can ever be a valuable, nuanced asset to a brand. There was no catch-all, resolute answer to this question, but the dialogue around it was both spirited and engaging.
Greg is a motivated Cornell University Hotel School alumnus, affectionately known as a Hotelie for life, with keen interests in social and digital marketing for hospitality and lifestyle brands. He’s passionate about sales and marketing in the hospitality industry, specifically as it relates to the dynamic online space. In his free time, Greg obsesses over growing his musical intellect (both modern and past-time artists apply), tennis, and running skills. Check out his lifestyle blog covering these topics at http://www.thesocialsonictraveler.wordpress.com and follow him on Twitter.
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SMWNYC Day 1 Recap: Global, Authenticity, Party

Posted on by Greg Bodenlos

Day 1 of Social Media Week NYC 2012 was literally a buzz with engaging keynotes, panels, and networking session, far too many for one person to cover. Therefore, the best SMWNYC attendee strategy, from my experience, is to pick your spots for the in-person show-ups, and cover the rest vis a vie LiveStream feed. Accordingly, I was able to hit three Day 1 sessions, hashtagging and tweeting up a #smwnyc storm along the way. Here are the highlights:

  • Managing Social Media on a Global Scale: This first Opening Day session found hosts Syncapse and Amway discussing, debating and sharing their best practices for managing a global social media presence across multiple countries and languages, with multiple stakeholders, distributors and marketers involved. The key takeaway centered around the idea that “social media fosters horizontal collaboration” within businesses. The speakers affirmed their tremendous support for this idea, and conceded that – while it’s an ideology that can be difficult to embrace at first – in the end is for the better good of the company.
  • Keynote: Valerie Buckingham on The Importance of Authenticity followed by Panel: Beyond Borders: Impact of Social Media in a Global Economy: Head of North America Marketing for Nokia Valerie Buckingham kicked off this noon event by focusing on the importance of authentic voice, asserting the idea that what you bring to the social media conversation can be enhanced by examples from around the social sphere. The panel that followed aimed to explore key trends, cultural behaviors and opportunities beyond American borders, especially in light of the accelerated pace of both innovation and appetite for interacting with brands in emerging markets. The key takeaway from this discussion was that – from a marketing perspective – as you move from market to market, you ought to ask yourself one question: do the digital tools you are utilizing tap into the regional social venues of interest? If so, then proceed.
  • Social Media Week’s Opening VIP Reception Hosted by Nokia: Crowdcentric, title sponsor Nokia, and SocialVibe hosted this lavishly awesome kick-off, invite-only opening party at the trendy Greenwich Village Country Club. Passed appetizers, complimentary libations from Heineken and Bulldog Gin, and – most importantly – exceptional conversation with engaged thought leaders made this the ideal way to properly kickoff the week.
Greg is a motivated Cornell University Hotel School alumnus, affectionately known as a Hotelie for life, with keen interests in social and digital marketing for hospitality and lifestyle brands. He’s passionate about sales and marketing in the hospitality industry, specifically as it relates to the dynamic online space. In his free time, Greg obsesses over growing his musical intellect (both modern and past-time artists apply), tennis, and running skills. Check out his lifestyle blog covering these topics at http://www.thesocialsonictraveler.wordpress.com and follow him on Twitter.
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SMWNYC Attendee Tips…from an Attendee

Posted on by Greg Bodenlos
Many of your fine social media-savvy folks are aware that the official floodgates for Social Media Week 2012 registration have opened. As a resident New Yorker, I’ll be hitting the pavement hard throughout the NYC boroughs, blitzing innumerable SMWNYC 2012 events for the second consecutive year. As a returning attendee, I figured it apropos to offer some helpful suggestions to newbie attendees mapping out Social Media Week schedules. My attendee tips for planning your Social Media Week visit:
  • Don’t fret if your schedule looks kind of sparse right now.  As of this writing, even I – as an overzealous, overenthusiastic attendee – have some gaps in my week-long schedule. But have no fear…there are TONS of events that are going to be added in the next days.
  • Be sure to actually register for the events you want to go to.  So often last year naive attendees thought that just because SMWNYC events were free, they could just walk in…NOT TRUE. Planners are understandably strict about having your registration with you, so just make the reservation. It’s quick, painless and FREE!
  • Vary your schedule with “different” kinds of events.  While obviously every event is centered around social, digital media and tech, it’s important to keep your schedule of events diverse with events that you are passionate about. Be bold! Sign up for events that are related to your true personal interests: music, fashion, the arts — whatever it may be. The great thing about the week is that it brings ALL kinds of worlds together to speak about social, so there is a tremendous depth and breadth to the schedule for attendees to enjoy. It’s totally worth it, for both mental stamina and sheer happiness. Happy Planning!
Greg is a motivated Cornell University Hotel School alumnus, affectionately known as a Hotelie for life, with keen interests in social and digital marketing for hospitality and lifestyle brands. He’s passionate about sales and marketing in the hospitality industry, specifically as it relates to the dynamic online space. In his free time, Greg obsesses over growing his musical intellect (both modern and past-time artists apply), tennis, and running skills. Check out his lifestyle blog covering these topics at http://www.thesocialsonictraveler.wordpress.com.

Leveraging LinkedIn to Land a Job-Job: Part 2 of 2

Posted on by Greg Bodenlos

This is the sequel to Leveraging LinkedIn to Land a Job-Job: Part 1 of 2.

Let’s bring it all together and take a closer look at my favorite LinkedIn Boot Camp infographic (unleash your inner tech-geek!). I hope you’ll find a few hidden gems of insight in this follow-up companion piece.

SAN ANSELMO, CA - JANUARY 27: In this photo i...
Image by Getty Images via @daylife

Point #4 – Muscle Toning: Spice Up Your Image – I couldn’t agree more with this point. Your profile should be direct about who you are, what you’re about, and how you can help out others with your expertise, but it also needs to exude some personality.  While LinkedIn is championed constantly as the professional networking site, too often people shy away from injecting their own personal flavor into their profile. Think about this from a future client or employer’s perspective: Would you really want to hire an employee that comes across bland or uninteresting?  I think not.

Point #5 – Hand-to-Hand Combat: Recommend Others – In college when I first started evangelizing the site, I was all about asking for recommendations; it’s one of the prerequisites to a “100% complete” LinkedIn profile. These days, I see recommendations as a “nice to have” but not imperative component of your profile. Save the asking for recommendations until you’ve cleared the other hurdles listed here.

Point #6 – Heavy Lifting: Join Groups – Once you’ve hit those most important items, joining groups is key in staying actively engaged beyond passive management and updating of your profile. Joining groups will put you in touch with professionals in your field and will help you build your reputation as a thought-leader. Use groups to grow your organic sphere of influence.

Point #7 – Self Awareness: Add Your Company Profile – A very easy-to-do, however largely forgotten, art-form on the site.  Linking to your company profile not only gives your business some nice promotion, but more imperatively, augments your portfolio with more meaty substance as you link to a (hopefully) credible business that has (ideally) a similarly robust and frequently-updated LinkedIn company profile page.

Photo credit: Jasper Johns, courtesy cliff1066 on Flickr.com

Point #8 – Target Practice: Optimize Your Search Rankings – Like many SEO best practices, this exercise involves a bit of messy, educated guesswork and is difficult to drill down to a science. That said, looking to optimize your search rankings with a nifty-sounding, keyword-heavy (though no black-hat SEO practices, please…that will directly violate Point #4, above) headline, as well as with current work experience, past work experience, summary and specialities makes total sense.

Point #9 – Special Weapons: Add Applications – Similar to the recommendations section, the applications are nice bells-and-whistles to enhance your profile once all of the “heavy lifting” is done. Nevertheless, many of the LinkedIn applications available are terrific ways to promote your work and improve visitor experience when checking out your profile.

I’ll close with this piece as I did with my first post, which is to say: I hope that this was helpful to all of you savvy, social networkers out there. Here’s to heading over to LinkedIn and optimizing all of the resources available to you!

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Greg is a motivated Cornell University Hotel School alumnus, affectionately known as a Hotelie for life, with keen interests in social and digital marketing for hospitality and lifestyle brands. He’s passionate about sales and marketing in the hospitality industry, specifically as it relates to the dynamic online space. In his free time, Greg obsesses over growing his musical intellect (both modern and past-time artists apply), tennis, and running skills. Check out his lifestyle blog covering these topics at http://www.thesocialsonictraveler.wordpress.com.

Leveraging LinkedIn to Land a Job-Job: Part 1 of 2

Posted on by Greg Bodenlos

I’d like to offer some point-counterpoint commentary on a topic matter that currently occupies a lot of my physical and mental energy consumption: how to optimally leverage your LinkedIn network to land, as I affectionately like to call a “full-time position with benefits.” A Job-Job. While I am currently enjoying my flexible schedule freelancing for various Manhattan start-ups as both social media strategist and sales manager, I am really after that Job-Job.  As a social media enthusiast, I am hell-bent on finding ways to optimize my usage of LinkedIn to get ahead and land that ideally suited position.

I recently stumbled upon a really interesting infographic (because seriously, what infographics have you come across that weren’t interesting?) billed as the LinkedIn Boot Camp (praise you Mashable and Pete Cashmore!). It immediately sparked a barrage of pre-conceived opinions I possessed about this social networking site. I decided to take the time to offer a bit of a point-counterpoint analysis on this, largely spot-on piece outlining nine ways to best take advantage of the site’s functionality and features. Note: please excuse the somewhat corn-ball ‘boot camp’ metaphors that each point leads with; they were MindShare.com’s, not this author’s, choice of vernacular.

  • Point #1 – Core Conditioning: Completing Your Profile – This is a no-brainer, baseline action item that you should check-off your LinkedIn To Do list as soon as possible.  From an SEO perspective, completing your profile in full is a crucial component of managing your own personal brand.  To be more transparent, as the infographic accurately points out, your LinkedIn profile will consistently index as a top 5, first page search result when you, or more importantly, potential clients and future employers, “Google you” in search for more information on your background.  So get on this…pronto!
  • Point #2 – Endurance: Connect with Everyone – I’m not sure that I fully agree with this.  Yes, direct connections are integral to building your network and, in turn, would presumably improve your ability to leverage said network for both business lead generation and professional opportunities.  That said, you should not dismiss the very clearly stated message that LinkedIn champions each and every time you reach out to ‘LinkIn’ with someone (yes, the term has become a verb); that is, it is notbest practice to connect with someone you do not know at all or, more specifically, someone who has very little to do with the professional space that you occupy. Every generic, rather innocuous LinkedIn invitation that I receive from someone I have never met in my life just makes me feel like I’m being ambushed by some obnoxious telemarkterer.  So unless you have some affinity for bantering with telemarketing folk, I would steer clear of this spammy-practice.

    LinkedIn
    Image by Christopher S. Penn via Flickr
  • Point #3 – Guns & Ammo: Customize Your URL and Websites – Like point #1, this is another ‘no-brainer’ that needs to be at the very top of your To Do checklist, not only for SEO purposes but for ensuring that your profile maintains a clean look and feel.  After all, you are the keeper and protector of your own personal brand, a brand that I contend is the most important out there (lo siento Starbucks…).

Hope these first three points were a helpful start to all of you savvy, social networkers out there. Here’s to hoping your next step is your LinkedIn page. Stay tuned for the second half of this point-counterpoint LinkedIn discussion…

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I’m a motivated Cornell University Hotel School alumnus, affectionately known as a Hotelie for life, with keen interests in social and digital marketing for hospitality and lifestyle brands. I’m very passionate about sales and marketing in the hospitality industry, specifically as it relates to the dynamic online space. In my free time, I obsess over growing my musical intellect (both modern and past-time artists apply), tennis, and running practice.