Category: Uncategorized

5 Minutes With Jesse Kirshbaum

Posted on by Lindsey Taylor Wood


Photo: Jesse, right, with panelists at his SoundCtrl panel in 2012. Advisor Jesse Kirshbaum is the CEO of Agency & Co-Founder of SoundCtrl. One of SMW’s earliest supporters, and a man on the frontline of both the music business and social media, we are thrilled he continues to provide us with his thoughtleadership:

1. What is your or your organization’s greatest success with social media to date?
Last year, SoundCtrl presented a satellite event called the Music Hub which featured 7 different panels and discussions, with 25 speakers in music and new media. The online conversations generated by this event were some of the most dynamic and engaging we’ve seen for any event in SoundCtrl history, with over 3K online global viewers watching the live stream and event tweets from Nick Jonas who at the time was the 3rd most influential online voice behind only the Dali Lama, Justin Bieber and his brother.

2. What do you think is the most exciting thing happening in the emerging technology and/or new media space right now?
Its very interesting how artists are beginning to have direct control not just over their music, but in the ways in which they are able to engage with fans across multiple platforms and even gain control to valuable fan-made content – I think we’ll see the rise in more crowd sourced music and videos as it becomes easier to aggregate relevant and valuable media through platforms like instagram, ptch, and vine)

3. What speaker or event are you most looking forward to at SMW NYC?
Very excited that DMW Music and Social Media Week have decided to unite and join forces when it comes to music content for the week. As a music tech enthusiast and board member for both conferences, it was only natural to me that these unique teams should know each other and cross pollinate. SoundCtrl was able to bridge the gap and provide SMW with special registration and access to the great lineup of music and technology industry speakers lined up at DMW this year. Check out the full list here: www.dmw-music.com. Of course, we’re also very excited to be presenting SMW’s second installment of “I Know the DJ” with Elektro Magazine and Nokia, taking place on Friday, Feb 22nd at the SoHo House.

4. What prompted you to join Social Media Week’s Advisory Board?
Funny story, many moons ago, Toby Daniels and I were meeting about a charity event he was heading up in NYC called Twestival with Charity Water. That same week was the first ever Shorty Awards. It was an era in NYC. And he turned to me and said and I’m going to call it Social Media Week. I was shocked. It was three weeks out and Social Media was not a huge trend at the time, especially in New York. I looked at him with fright and excitement and said… I’m in! I’ve been on board ever since and over the years it’s been a wild ride that continues to grow and evolve!

What’s interesting about SMW is that it covers a wide range of medias, industries and professionals. The growth and influence of social media on all industries has been radical over the past 10 years. It’s not often that all these very dissimilar professions (health, culture, education, advertising, politics, science, and environment to name a few) get to come together under one umbrella and discuss the rapid evolution we all face… it usually illuminates some connections that we might never have noticed, might lead to new solutions to difficult problems, and even anticipate challenges within our own fields.

5. What is the most creative way you’ve seen social media used?
The 55th Grammy Awards are just around the corner and I’m still reeling from last year’s insider look on the social media analytics that Beverly Jackson (Senior Director os Social Media and Marketing, GRAMMYS) gave us at SMW ’12. Last year, the Grammys became the most social event of all time – overtaking all other award shows and even the Superbowl. Their social team – including one of Billboard’s top 140 tweeters, Lindsey Gabler – are a dream team and I’m excited to see how they manage the biggest conversation in music this year.

5 Minutes With Sara Holoubek

Posted on by Lindsey Taylor Wood

Sara Holoubek is the CEO and founder of Luminary Labs, a consultancy focused on operationalizing innovation. We are pleased to have her as a member of this year’s Advisory Board and to hear her thoughts on this year’s SMW!

1. What is your or your organization’s greatest success with social media to date?
In late 2011, we published “The Innovation Myth,” to Slideshare. While it had great traction initially, we were quite surprised when in July of 2012 views skyrocketed. The right person had discovered and share our work and for two days our presentation was one of the most viewed on Slideshare. Unexpected, organic success is always the sweetest.

2. What do you think is the most exciting thing happening in the emerging technology and/or new media space right now?
We are incredibly excited by the number of gurus from Web 1.0 and 2.0 days –  Tim O’Reilly to Esther Dyson to the founders of Invite Media – who are applying their experience and expertise to solve for healthcare. Health tech is hot.

3. What speaker or event are you most looking forward to at SMW NYC?
I’m particularly interested the experiential sessions, installations, and collaborative spaces at the Global HQ at the Metropolitan Pavilion.

4. What prompted you to join Social Media Week’s Advisory Board OR What do you think is SMW’s greatest value add to the tech/media space?
I love how SMW coalesces entire cities around a common theme that transcends any given industry. This idea of inclusion runs contrary to most gatherings, and therefore, yields greater outcomes.

5. What is the most creative way you’ve seen social media used? (This could be a meme, campaign, installation, etc.)
True story: I had been spending the holidays with my family in Wisconsin when the great blizzard of 2011 arrived. Once my flight was cancelled, I spent a few hours desperately trying to find another flight, a train, a car – anything – that would get me back to New York. After tweeting a few updates on the absolute lack of transportation for at least a week, a friend tweeted back that her partner happened to be in Chicago, with a rental car, and did I want to join her for the trip back? Of course I did.

5 Minutes With Deanna Zandt

Posted on by Lindsey Taylor Wood


Deanna Zandt is a media technologist, the author of Share This! How You Will Change the World with Social Networking, the creator of a killer TEDxBerlin talk and an all-around bad ass. Chatting with her is always fun and informative — plus, we got hearing Samuel L. Jackson singing Taylor Swift out of it…  She’s emceeing Day 2 of Ideas Connected at Global HQ, so swing by and see her in person. In the meantime, read on!

1. What is your or your organization’s greatest success with social media to date?
In early 2012, the Susan G Komen Foundation decided to no longer fund Planned Parenthood’s breast cancer initiatives. Outrage erupted, and while many advocates were focused specifically on the funding and financial issues, I wanted to focus on stories. I thought about the women who didn’t have money with which to speak their minds by donating or taking away donations; these were the women who would be most affected by Komen’s decision, and lose access to low-cost and free breast cancer screenings.

I created a Tumblr blog called Planned Parenthood Saved Me, where I asked people to submit stories of how Planned Parenthood had changed their lives. It caught fire; in 4 days, 300 stories were collected and shared, and mainstream media outlets like Rachel Maddow and the New York Times were referencing posts and sharing excerpts. But the real story lay inside the social numbers: More than half the traffic — 29,000 unique visits in 4 days — came from social media, and before any major media mention. The fire came from us sharing our stories with one another.

2. What do you think is the most exciting thing happening in the emerging technology and/or new media space right now?
The tension, and possibly an erupting battle, for the open web and web standards is pretty exciting. We see increasingly bolder moves towards silo-ed information and walled gardens, and that’s just not sustainable. The web yearns to be free, and I feel that we’re on the cusp of those starting to break down. Remember when AOL was the end-all-be-all Internet service? And how that model fell apart as both users and technologies became more sophisticated? This, too, will come to pass with the social web.

3. What speaker or event are you most looking forward to at SMW NYC?
I probably sound like a lush, but honestly, the parties are always fantastic during SMW NYC. Not just for going-out-fun-value, but for connecting and reconnecting with good people. I’m looking forward to spending offline time with my communities!

4. What do you think is SMW’s greatest value add to the tech/media space?
I’ve loved SWM’s ethos with regards to wanting to make the world a better place, and I welcomed the opportunity to bring the networks that I’m a part of– social, gender and racial justice communities– to the table to help shape the content. Those voices are often missing in the technology and media spaces, and I’m thrilled that SMW wants to dig deeper there.

5. What is the most creative way you’ve seen social media used?
Honestly, anything with a little bit of humor generally gets my attention– to be funny on social media, you really have to have an extraordinary combination of skills: timing, wit, writing, some tech savvy, etc. From the old meme games we used to play on Twitter (I’ll never forget #unseenprequels and #SamJacksonSlowJams [NSFW]), to fake accounts and image macros (the Willy Wonka series almost never fails to deliver), to the White House responding to the Death Star petition… yeah. It’s a nice reminder that we’re all human and can poke at each other a little bit.

Deanna Zandt is a media technologist and the author of Share This! How You Will Change the World with Social Networking (Berrett-Koehler, June 2010). She is a consultant to key progressive media and advocacy organizations, and her clients have included The Ford Foundation, The Daily Beast/Newsweek, and Jim Hightower’s Hightower Lowdown. She is contributor to Forbes.com via her ForbesWoman “Prospect: Tech” blog, and a social media advice contributor NPR’s flagship news program, “All Things Considered.” Zandt specializes in social media, is a leading expert in women and technology, and is a frequent guest on CNN International, BBC Radio, Fox News and more.She works with groups to create and implement effective web strategies toward organizational goals of civic engagement and cultural agency, and uses her background in linguistics, advertising, telecommunications and finance to complement her technical expertise. She has spoken at a number of conferences, including TEDxBerlin, SXSW Interactive, Personal Democracy Forum,  Netroots Nation, the National Conference on Media Reform, Facing Race, Web 2.0 Expo, Bioneers, America’s Future Now (formerly “Take Back America”), Women Action & The Media, and provides beginner and advanced workshops both online and in person.

5 Minutes With Paul Kontonis

Posted on by Lindsey Taylor Wood


Day after day we’re blow away, not just by the insights of our Advisory Board Members, but the hilarious social media campaigns they bring to our attention. Advisor and Magnet Media GM, Outrigger Media Lead Advisor and the Chairman of Board of Directors at International Academy of Web Television, Paul Kontonis, didn’t disappoint:

1. What is your or your organization’s greatest success with social media to date?
We developed, produced and released a video in support of the launch of Internet Explorer 10. We knew that IE is a browser that most people love to talk trash about so we took them head-on and got people talking about how good IE10 actually is. IE10 sucks…less.

2. What do you think is the most exciting thing happening in the emerging technology and/or new media space right now?
I am most excited about the building of original digital video business models built on more than the free ad supported model on YouTube. Get ready for a subscription based first window strategy.

3. What speaker or event are you most looking forward to at SMW NYC?
Vivisection Live on February 19th is something that has never been done before. Haven’t you always wanted to peek into someone else’s YouTube account?

4. What prompted you to join Social Media Week’s Advisory Board?
Social Media Week focuses people’s attention on the importance of social to all aspects of communications and marketing. It is all about the complete integration of media and devices.

5. What is the most creative way you’ve seen social media used?
I fell in love with Target’s fashion and tweet show at everydayshow.com and of course canttweetthis.com

Paul Kontonis is a leading voice in the shaping of the digital video industry with over 15 years of interactive media experience. Paul is the GM of next generation studio, Magnet Media Originals, which combines the best storytelling with the best of social engagement into high quality web series originals and video content networks.In 2012, Paul was elected to a second term as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the International Academy of Web Television, a non-profit organization founded in 2008 to promote and recognize excellence in web video. Paul provides leadership and strategic vision to the industry through such pioneering efforts as the IAWTV Awards at CES, and by representing producers, distributors, and advertisers at industry events.As Lead Advisor to Outrigger Media, Paul co-developed and launched OpenSlate, a online video analytics data platform which is the only platform to deliver actionable information about the value of YouTube video to advertisers. OpenSlate launched in mid-2012 to the advertising and online video communities and is tracking the top 15,000 producers. Prior to Magnet Media Originals, Paul was the Vice President and Group Director for Brand Content at Digitas’ The Third Act, where he led the development of original and partnered digital brand content entertainment offerings. Paul was instrumental in orchestrating the first ever Digital Content NewFronts in which video leaders – YouTube, Aol, Hulu, MSN, and Yahoo – held web originals advertiser upfronts in New York City along with 15 other leading content and distribution organizations. Paul has executive produced numerous original and branded web series, has appeared in a number of publications and digital media books, co-founder of the web video meetup BigScreen LittleScreen and a regular speaker at digital video and media conferences.

 

12 Events to Register for NOW

Posted on by Lindsey Taylor Wood


With hundreds of events (over 200!!!), we aim to highlight the ones that catch our eye and share them with you. Here are a dozen that grabbed our attention this week, each from industry leaders — several of which were just named Fast Company’s most innovative companies of 2013 — aiming to bring you the best content and conversation at SMW NYC:

  1. Ogilvy presents: Contextual Awareness: What Is The Future of Social Intelligence?
  2. BuzzFeed presents Genuine Appeal: Creativity and Authenticity in the Social Age
  3. Games for Change presents: Half The Sky Movement: Using Transmedia to Inspire Real Impact
  4. Pfizer & LiveWorld present: How to Improve Social Media in Regulated Industries and Consumer Sensitive Markets
  5. OfferPop presents Keeping Up With the Agile Consumer
  6. Time.Inc presents: The Secret Sauce of Native Advertising? Authenticity.
  7. Conversocial presents: The Social Engagement Hub: Re-Imagining the Contact Center as a Critical Marketing Tool
  8. Imagination presents: Connections: How the Internet of Things is Transforming Our Social World
  9. Code for America Presents: We Built This City: The State of Civic Technology, with Code For America and IDEO
  10. House Party presents: All Earned Media is Not Created Equal: Winning Hearts, Minds & Wallets via ‘Experience-Driven Social Marketing’
  11. Google Presents: Google+ Hangouts: Go Way Outside the Box(es) – expert tips & tricks to further innovation
  12. SideTour presents: SideTour: The P2P Experience Economy: Four Unique Events for the SMW Community

For the FULL SCHEDULE click here. And keep in mind, if you want to skip registration and lines, and attend events that are already full, you can still BUY A PASS here.

5 Minutes With Jared Hendler

Posted on by Lindsey Taylor Wood

Advisory Board Member Jared Hendler, EVP, Global Director Digital & Creative at MWW Group took a few minutes to chat about Social Media Week New York City:

1.  What is your or your organization’s greatest success with social media to date?
Nikon. We have been able to execute some incredibly successful programs throughout the years across multiple social channels.  The fan base is of course fantastic.

 2.  What do you think is the most exciting thing happening in the emerging technology and/or new media space right now?
Wearable technology and embeddable technology: http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/The_Internet_of_Things_2538. Crowdsourced funding aka: Kickstarter & Indiegogo

 3.  What speaker or event are you most looking forward to at SMW NYC?
Rather than call out one panel or speaker, I am incredibly excited about the new creative direction around actionable participation using social media as we connect in person vs. at panels during the event.

 4.  What prompted you to join Social Media Week’s Advisory Board?
I have known Toby professionally since before the start of SMW.  Being a part of the digital and social community  from its beginning — how could you not be a part of SMW!  It is a great way to connect with our peers and give back to the community.

 5.  What is the most creative way you’ve seen social media used?
Fundraising, social and humanitarian change.  The ability to empower every citizen is the promise of every evolved governing body, and the technology allows us to do this.


Jared Hendler brings over 20 years of creative management experience in branding, advertising, digital media & technology forged from over a decade in the corporate world along with having founded and managed 2 new media startups.At MWW, Jared directs digital, social and creative strategy across all practice areas. As digital continues to democratize media, MWW recognizes the need for it’s clients to leverage the power of digital and social strategy, content creation, distribution and measurement.Prior to MWW, Jared worked with Katalyst Media. Founded in 2000 by Ashton Kutcher, Katalyst was named top 10 in advertising and marketing by Fast Company, Katalyst is a studio for social media that connects entertainment with technology and brands. Prior to Katalyst, Jared was the Worldwide Executive Creative Director for Edelman Digital. Jared directed creative strategy with a focus on digital engagement. Expertise included everything from web site builds, Facebook programs, e-kits, online media relations, online promotions and partnerships, to email marketing and mobile campaigns. Jared’s entrepreneurial spirit was grounded with 10 years of experience within the WPP family at Grey Advertising. Jared was the Executive Creative Director and co-founder of G2 at WPP from 1992 and grew the group from 2 people to over 100+ in NY, while spearheading the development of over a dozen international offices around the WPP network. Jared is the author of a digital media blog, a prior board member of the Art Directors Club, a Blue Ribbon Judge for the Emmy Award’s broadband category and is an advisory board member of Social Media Week. Jared participates at industry events such as: Adtech, Digital Hollywood, Adage 2.0. He is a graduate of the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, CA and resides as their East Coast Chapter Chair.

5 Minutes With Sharon Chang

Posted on by Lindsey Taylor Wood

Sharon Chang, Founder of Yoxi and Advisor to SMW NYC, shares her thoughts on the maker movement, upcoming SMW events and the most successful employments of social media. See her #SMWNYC favorite events here, and learn more about this powerhouse below:

1. What is your or your organization’s greatest success with social media to date?
Yoxi had great success spreading our crowdsourced social innovation competition “Trim The Waste of Fashion” using Tweetchats between our competitors and judges.

2. What do you think is the most exciting thing happening in the emerging technology and/or new media space right now?
The burgeoning confluence of social innovation and the maker movement is fascinating, and a truly democratizing force in entrepreneurship, design and technology.

3. What speaker or event are you most looking forward to at SMW NYC?
I am eager to experience The Hurricane Sandy Transmedia Project. Authentic and participatory storytelling around an experience which deeply impacted the NY community is key to thinking about future urban innovation and disaster preparedness.

4. What do you think is SMW’s greatest value add to the tech/media space?
Social is where everything happens now — business, entertainment, ideas, partnerships and collaborations — and SMW allows that pollination to happen in a fun, organic and inspiring way.

5. What is the most creative way you’ve seen social media used?
#Giving Tuesday is fantastic (http://givingtuesday.org/) as a way to rethink our Black Friday obsession. Also, Tumblr never fails on the fun, amusing front. I could name a thousand fantastic memes. I love this one because it’s particularly satisfying for someone OCD like me: http://thingsorganizedneatly.tumblr.com/

Editor’s note: Learn more about Giving Tuesday at the following SMW event, hosted by Fenton: GIVING GANGNAM STYLE, An Ideathon with the #GivingTuesday Team

Sharon Chang is the Founder of Yoxi, a global citizen and true New Yorker who is obsessed with food and travel. She is also a creative director, brand strategist, media executive, social entrepreneur and impact investor.

Best in Show: LiveWorld at SMW NYC

Posted on by Lindsey Taylor Wood

With only a few weeks until Social Media Week New York, we are daydreaming constantly about one thing: the opening party. Our partner LiveWorld, a user content management company and trusted partner to the world’s largest brands, is one of several sponsors making it happen. Along with Nokia, BuzzFeed and Whole Foods, LiveWorld is throwing a most fabulous VIP fete at the Metropolitan Pavilion – home to our new Global HQ.

Featuring, interactive installations, a mobile photo studio, a live simulcast lounge and food and drink, the event will mark the 5th anniversary of SMW NYC. As an added bonus, you’ll also have the opportunity to strike a pose at LiveWorld’s flip book photo booth and nab a complimentary copy of Ekaterina Walter’s bestselling book “Think Like Zuck”, which illustrates how to make your mark in the world using the five success principles of Facebook.

(Please note: The Opening event is by invitation only, however, if you wish to attend there are a limited number of Insider Passes available, which grant you access to both the official Opening and Closing events, Ideas Connected at Global HQ and full access to all four Official Content Hubs.)

But LiveWorld didn’t stop there! They, along with Pfizer, are hosting an afternoon long series of events at Pfizer Headquarters, focused on social media engagement for regulated and consumer sensitive markets such as Healthcare, Financial Services and CPG. This event will appeal to communicators and marketers in Healthcare, Pharma and other regulated industries. See the agenda, below:

  • 2 PM to 3 PM: Case Study — Building A Global Brand Through Content Marketing, Cleveland Clinic
  • 3 PM to 3:30 PM: Coffee break
  • 3:30 PM to 4:30 PM: Panel — Legal & Marketing Social Media Allies or Enemies
  • 4:30 PM to 5:15 PM: Keynote by Peter Pitts — Social Media and Pharma: The age of Reality
  • 5:15 PM to 6:45 PM: Cocktail Reception

To see the full details of this day, and register for the event, click here.

We look forward to seeing you there!

 

Event Spotlight: Internet Zero to Rock Star Shero

Posted on by Lindsey Taylor Wood

If you didn’t think Google+ alone could make you a household name, think again. Singer songwriter Daria Musk went from internet zero to rock star Shero in the span of a 6.5 hour online concert.

To learn more about Daria’s remarkable story and the ways in which social media can double as a star making machine, join her along with iCrossing’s Vice President of Marketing, David Deal, and Google+ Business Marketing Manager, Caro McCarthy on Wednesday, February 20th from 2:30 – 4:00pm at Hearst’s Lifestyle and Culture Content Hub. Register here.

For a quick look at Daria’s back story, check out this video:

SMW 101: The Full SMW NYC Experience

Posted on by Lindsey Taylor Wood

Today is the day. Registration is open. Conversations are starting. Excitement is building! If this is your first Social Media Week, however, you probably have a few questions. No problem. We’re here to break it down for you:

What is it? Social Media Week is a global event that explores how technology is shaping our lives, and how social media is impacting society, culture and economies around the world. And you’re just in time for our next series of activities — happening, simultaneously, in 10 cities around the globe — February 18th through 22nd.

Interested? You can attend SMWNYC in person or join via our SMW Livestream – which you can also access from your phone when you download our Social Media Week app. To participate:

1. Create an account or Log-in

2. Register for Events

• Visit the Schedule page and identify the events you would like to attend

• Click “Attend” (Note: A small number of our event partners choose to use 3rd-party technologies to process registration. If this is the case, the event page will clearly provide instructions on how to access the 3rd-party event registration page)

• Verify your registration by going to your profile and selecting “My Schedule”

• For those joining virtually, events eligible for streaming can be identified by a camera icon on the schedule. The corresponding livestream link will be updated as soon as we have it.

• We will continue to add events through February, so keep checking back!

3. Purchase a Pass
(Though most SMW events are free, we’re shaking things up this year by introducing our first Global HQ and a number of passes that will provide a more exclusive experience. Note: if you would like to attend events at the Global HQ a pass is required.)

• Insider Pass: Full access to ALL Hubs, Global HQ, VIP Opening & Closing Parties, guide & special offers. No pre-registrations needed. No walkups.

• Global HQ Pass: Full access to events, classes, lounges and more at our new Global HQ (pass required), plus special offers.

• Hub Pass: Unlimited access at this Hub, plus special offers. No walkups.

4. Volunteer:
Interested in a more immersive experience? Volunteer! SMWNYC relies upon volunteers to make SMW a reality. Checking in attendees and providing assistance to speakers and panelists are only a few of the many critical roles that volunteers play. Not sure what to expect, find out what past volunteer Amelia Shroyer had to say.

We’re looking forward to the most rewarding SMW NYC yet. Here’s to you for being a part of it!

2013: A Bright, Collaborative Future

Posted on by Lindsey Taylor Wood

Today is the last day of 2012. It marks a number of triumphs for our team at SMW NYC, but it also marks the day before a New Year’s adventures begin.

One of those adventures, our 5th annual Social Media Week New York City, occurs in less than two months. And as you may have read in blogs prior, producing it is no small feat. It takes a number of talented individuals to pull together an event with over 11,000 attendees and more than 2,000 events. But the challenge is greater than logistics alone, it’s the thought, care and intellectual investment that goes into crafting something we hope you will enjoy.

As we develop the programs that underpin our theme Open and Connected in a Collaborative World, we continue to reflect on the new and exciting ways in which new media is created, landscapes affected, and industries impacted. You would be amazed at the conversations (yes, philosophical conversations about social media are possible!) that unfold as our staff shapes the programming. So, it‘s in this vein that we would like to invite you into these discussions: conceptual, comical and otherwise. After all, it’s you we are creating this content for!

From the Individual Industrial Revolution to Global Perspectives On Openness to Peer to Peer Economy and Crowdfunding, we are diving deep into the ways social media permeates our culture today. Starting this week, we hope to give you a front row seat into the making of SMW NYC. So please, feel free to comment, email, Facebook or tweet us. Let us know what you think of the events, speakers, and opportunities as they unfold. Make suggestions, give us feedback, or submit your own.

You should also be on the lookout for blogs by our Media Partners, Advisory Board Members, Sponsors and Speakers. We aim to include them in the conversation too!

Happy New Year from all of us at NYC’s Social Media Week team. We look forward to a bright, collaborative future ahead.

A Student’s Perspective: Investors in the Hot Seat Helps Entrepreneurs Help the Health Sector

Posted on by smwnyc

Stephanie Vatz is a student at Columbia’s School of Journalism. She is one of ten students providing on the ground coverage of SMWNYC- all from the student’s perspective. She is providing her report from Investors in the Hot Seat. You can follow Stephanie on Twitter at @stephvatz.

 

The Saatchi and Saatchi Health and Wellness Hub displayed an array health tech devices on tables this Thursday, as entrepreneurs wandered around the space, mingling with investors and other business people all looking to use their start-ups to improve the world of health. They had all come to hear a team of health investors answer their questions about how to gain seed or development money for their projects.

Among the company heads was Kevin Dawkins, who runs CFFone, a mobile social network company that provides support for teenagers with cystic fibrosis. Ordinarily, Dawkins explained that cystic fibrosis prohibited the teens from spending time with other cystic fibrosis patients because of risk of infection, but the social network allowed them to share stories of their disease and support each other digitally.

CFFone had already received a grant from NIH, but the grant was going to expire in about a year so Dawkins came to the event to learn more about how to find the right investors and pitch to them.

“The people who spoke are exactly the types of people we are going to be pitching to,” Dawkins said after the event.

Those investors he was referring to were Steve Krein of Startup Health, Dave Whitlinger of the NYeHealth Collaborative, Todd Pietri of Milestone Venture Partners, Mohit Kaushal of West Health Fund, Maria Gorsch of the New York City Investment Fund and Brad Weinberg of Blueprint Health.

The six panelists took the stage to describe their own businesses as well as the model companies they wanted to invest in–organizations that could bridge the disconnect between the government stakeholders and patients on the ground in order to create better and more affordable health care.

The conference comes at a time when the stimulus package that President Obama passed was like giving “rocket fuel to this sector”, when West Coast investors are beginning to invest in East Coast companies and when health industry is looking to the private sector for new software and technologies.

Like at many of the other SMW events, the speakers mentioned “Big Data” and discussed how it could be a valuable tool for emerging technology companies to offer, whether it be through software for hospitals or analysis and access to data for patients themselves.

“Everything we do is around lowering the cost of health care,” Kaushal said.

A Student’s Perspective: The Sanofi Open Innovation Challenge Discusses its Own Challenges (and Advantages) to Putting Together An Event of Its Magnitude

Posted on by smwnyc

Stephanie Vatz is a student at Columbia’s School of Journalism. She is one of ten students providing on the ground coverage of SMWNYC- all from the student’s perspective. She is providing her report from How We Did It: The Sanofi Open Innovation Challenge. You can follow Stephanie on Twitter at @stephvatz.

Last year, French pharmaceutical company Sanofi partnered with Data Design Diabetes for the Sanofi Open Innovation Challenge. The Challenge took young entrepreneurial innovators and health experts alike to develop a way to improve the quality of life and care for the over 25.8 million Americans living with diabetes.

To explain how the Open Innovation Challenge came to be, Michele Polz, Senior Director of Patient Solutions at Sanofi, and Aman Bhandari, Senior Advisor to the CTO of Health & Human Services came together on Feb. 15, discussing their initial project and upcoming the 2012 competition.

Polz described her desire to move “beyond the drugs” as a diabetes franchise and look at new models for treating diabetes including new technologies and designs. From this, stemmed the challenge–a five-step process that gives away over $200,000 in prize money and grants health entrepreneurs the chance to raise seed money and get their name out.

This year’s process is as follows: first, Data Design Diabetes and Sanofi use online crowd-sourcing to figure out what areas of diabetes care need the most repairing. Next, everyone can submit ideas for designing a product that addresses what matters most to people living with diabetes in the United States. Five of these entries are picked to win $20,000 and to enter an intensive project mentorship program and design boot camp. From there two are selected and given an additional $10,000 to bring their projects to real communities and one winner is chosen.

Last year’s winner, Ginger.io also appeared at the Health and Wellness Hub talk to describe their behavior analytics company that uses a mobile sensing platform to change patient behavior depending on health conditions and symptoms.

For the 2012 Challenge, the crowd-sourcing online survey has just been closed and the company is selecting a focus for this year’s competition, but the team seems almost as excited for other company challenges that have been inspired by Sanofi.

“It’s great to see someone who’s an entrepreneur and innovator, up there on stage with someone who is a major player in their field,” said Bhandari. “We are very serious about spurring innovation and entrepreneurship, whether it be in the public sector or private sector…We just want to promote the best ideas.”

Leveraging the Power of Digital and Social Media to Elevate Voices

Posted on by smwnyc

This is a guest post by our event partner, The Brooklyn Bureau. Mark Anthony Thomas is the Director of City Limits; a New York City based non-profit investigative journalism organization. The Brooklyn Bureau Launch is an official Social Media Week event.

 
Social media has changed the way we communicate with each other, and we’ve seen the introduction of new tools that were beyond the scope of the human imagination even a decade ago. While we can’t claim that our generation’s innovations are more novel than similar groundbreaking technologies of the past, something about the last few years feels especially transformative.

Now that we’ve convened for Social Media Week— which has seen tremendous growth in its three-year history— and connected the globe, the next question should be: how do we transform it?

In this creative era, we’re simultaneously archiving the world’s history while creating new platforms for expression and teaching technology literacy while beta testing new models. This can be exhausting for even the most tech-savvy to stay attuned to, let alone grasp the pulse of how fast things continue to evolve.

The world we live in is one of great opportunity and great inequity, a place of open democracies and closed societies. While we see new technologies break down the language, educational, and geographic barriers that have inhibited many—what’s next? How does this lead to social progress? What does the strength of our collective voices now mean?

Instead of looking to technology to help us shape our lives, we must understand how we can use technology to shape our societies.

First, we must understand that we are social media. Every voice matters and without a variety of voices, the platforms lack full potential. Social platforms are best used when connecting audiences with the best content and information, and enabling opportunities for organizations and curators to cultivate a following and conversations.

Grassroots organizing through digital tools—understanding that free democracies are built on bottom-up activism—can help employ action to truly leverage social media’s power to stem social transformation.

The Arab Spring and the Occupy movements are the latest in the history of human movements and protests, but social media has made it easier to connect as equally as archiving of history has made it easier to learn from the past.

New York City, with all of its amazing assets and diversity, is still one of America’s least civically engaged cities, providing ample audiences and opportunities for us to truly tap into the city’s underserved communities to elevate voices and make an impact here at home.

Just as urbanists look to New York City as America’s largest city to understand how we tackle our most critical issues, the next few years should challenge us to truly leverage the power of digital and social media to turn the tide on citizen apathy and engaging underserved communities.

City Limits and the Brooklyn Community Foundation are taking a step to do just this in Brooklyn, with the launch of the Brooklyn Bureau. Our new site will provide in-depth coverage and civic commentary in Brooklyn—which if separate would be America’s 5th largest city. This project is one of 19 digital projects jointly funded by the Knight Foundation that address community information needs.

Our event was an invitation to learn more about what we’re doing in Brooklyn, and overall, to serve as a model for leveraging the power of media to increase civic literary. See us in action now.

A Student’s Perspective: Frank Moss of the MIT Media Lab Makes Health Innovation A Collaborative Effort

Posted on by smwnyc

Stephanie Vatz is a student at Columbia’s School of Journalism. She is one of ten students providing on the ground coverage of SMWNYC- all from the student’s perspective. She is providing her report from Frank Moss on The 2012 MIT Health and Wellness Innovation Hackathon. You can follow Stephanie on Twitter at @stephvatz.

As head of the New Media Medicine group at the MIT, Frank Moss heads entrepreneurial biotechnology projects that attempt to improve health care and medicine.

He displayed inventions like an artificial intelligence nurse that helped record patients’ auditory and visual problems for a real-life while responding to patient concerns to demonstrate comprehension. Using the example of a young woman with diabetes, Moss illustrated how the woman could use the artificial intelligence system to connect with a real doctor and solve her problem more efficiently. The whole system was a bit similar to the way Apple uses artificial intelligence to answer customer support questions.

“We have to combine academia with industry,” he said when discussing the huge risks the MIT Media lab and his own company, BlueFin Technology, try to take when thinking of medical models for the future. “Big companies don’t take risk, but they must have the willingness to take risks and fail.”

Not all of Moss’ projects were as complicated; some even seemed easy to implement into today’s healthcare world. Applications for mobile phones, for example, could be used to improve the likelihood of a patient taking care of himself.

Among the apps that Moss suggested were medical clocks to inform the patient when to take his medication, medical charts so the patient could see the problems for himself and social networking to provide comfort and camaraderie among patients.

A Student’s Perspective: Monday’s Health and Wellness Keynote Speakers Carol McCall and Michael Graves

Posted on by smwnyc

Stephanie Vatz is a student at Columbia’s School of Journalism. She is one of ten students providing on the ground coverage of SMWNYC- all from the student’s perspective. She is providing her report from Carol McCall on Big Data & The Eye of the Beholder and Michael Graves on People First: Redesigning the Hospital Room. You can follow Stephanie on Twitter at @stephvatz.

In the realm of health and medicine, Social Media Week NYC has been bringing technology and humanity to the forefront in some surprising ways.

On Monday at the Saatchi and Saatchi Wellness Hub in SoHo, two keynote speakers, Carol McCall and Michael Graves, discussed improvements and potential solutions to patient care problems.

As the Chief Strategy Officer at GNS Healthcare, Carol McCall’s main job is looking at data. Her presentation however, was more focused on using technology to alter patient behavior both as a preventative health measure and a way for patients with similar experiences to commiserate or share stories.

McCall drew upon examples to illustrate the idea of taking an active role in one’s own health by changing attitude. Her primary interest was patient psychology and she offered techniques to either change people’s perspectives of their own life stories, positively modify self-perception, or find new ways to help people help themselves.

A key theme in Monday’s discussions was innovation. With social media it appears that experience in the field you work in might even be a detriment to thinking outside of the box and shedding new light on old problems.

The second keynote speaker of the morning, world-renowned architect and designer Michael Graves, knew very little about health care until he had to. Graves rolled to the stage in a wheelchair after a CBS Sunday Profiles clip of him finished playing on stage.

In 2003, a mysterious infection paralyzed Graves from the waist down, suddenly making him dependent on others, even inside his own hospital room.

Once he was on stage, Graves pressed a button on his wheelchair that made the front wheels roll under the back wheels until he was tall enough for everyone to see. It was the first example in a string of innovative design to come.

He started his discussion of reinventing in hospital room design by talking about his own frustrating experience of being unable to reach the sink faucet at the hospital, or being able to see himself in the mirror. Constantly, he was reminded that he couldn’t walk anymore.

“Oh, that’s not for me,” he said he once thought about the out of reach faucet, “that’s for people who can walk.”

Now, Graves is dedicating his career to designing new products, furniture and buildings with the disabled in mind. He displayed images of reinvented hospital bedside tables that would be easier for cleaning crews to disinfect, more functional shower stools, chairs that were easier to get out of and patient chairs to make the transition from operating room to hospital room more comfortable. He even made his employees sit in wheelchairs while designing some of the new products for him.

Although Graves couldn’t stand-up himself, his audience stood for him; he received a standing ovation before and after his presentation.

Beauty’s In The Eye Of The Blogger

Posted on by differencesmag

This post is a series of blogs contributed by SMW NYC media partner Differences Magazine. To learn more about Differences Magazine and to see the original post by Jessica Bender, please click here. 

Our relationship with the concept of beauty is a complex one – one moment you feel like the most gorgeous person in the world, and the next you’re cowering in a corner because you’re so ashamed of how you look. On average, only four percent of people believe they’re beautiful, and most of the blame can be given to forms of media like Sports Illustrated’s annual swimsuit issue or plastic women dominating the airwaves. However, as discussed on February 15th at The Changing Face of Technology: Click Here for Beauty, social media is redefining what beauty is.

According to the panelists, platforms like blogging and social networks are breaths of fresh air when it comes to talking about beauty. “Social media can give you a clearer idea about what’s beautiful,” says Art Markman, professor of psychology and marketing at the University of Texas at Austin. “It gives people the opportunity to make them feel better about themselves…and provides the opportunity to think outside the box about beauty.”

beauty techFor a younger demographic, the opportunity to speak their minds about what’s beautiful is appreciated. “With younger [people],” Real Simple’s Beauty and Health Director Didi Gluck said, “there’s more acceptance of different standards of beauty because everybody has a voice where they can voice how they feel.”

Consumers typically find a community of their own to connect with, but beauty brands welcomes conversations about beauty and their products with open arms – in exchange for customer loyalty and future revenue. “The bloggers [who are avid consumers] who are taking over the online world tend to be normal women,” NewBeauty Magazine Editorial Video and Interactive Director Susan Yara begins. “They push the bottom line for a lot of brands…if they don’t trust or like you, they’re not going to buy from you.” More importantly, brands want to be a huge force on social networking sites like Twitter or Pinterest. For this very reason, Yara stresses, “Social media is making brands accountable, so [your brand doesn’t] want to be a bad boyfriend on social media.”

“A relationship with your neighborhood sells more than anything,” says Markman. “Brands have to develop a personality, so authenticity from top to bottom is key. [They] have to get out of the mode of constant advertising…[and] engage in real conversation [with their customer].”

The Power of Social Media in Education: #Latism

Posted on by differencesmag

This post is a series of blogs contributed by SMW NYC media partner Differences Magazine. To learn more about Differences Magazine and to see the original post by Vivian Nunez, please click here. 

Education and technology should not be viewed as two distinct entities, especially in today’s world. There are many ways that the younger demographic, K-12 age group, could benefit from having more of what would be considered “their world” incorporated into their everyday learning schedule. In the panel for “The Power of Social Media in Education” many topics were discussed especially those pertaining to just how much the Latin community needs a dose of technology in their day-to-day life.

For example, it is important that social media be used as a bridge between students, but equally as important is the need to involve parents. Social media should be a leverage to get a grassroots movement started within a community. Angelica Perez-Litwin identified the issue when she assessed that Latinos “need a lot more one on one contact and social media will be a good way to start that.” The use of social media is the perfect tool but it is only the beginning, different resources or mentorship programs have to come hand in hand with the upgrade in technology.

Mentorship programs are just one example of how using social media could really have a strong impact on a child’s life. Another example would be the use of Google, Google+, or Google Docs. All of these Google branches are being implemented in schools to help students work in groups, while still allowing the teacher to moderate who does what amount of work. They are all very user friendly and they demonstrate how technology could be used in the most positive way to complement, not supplement, what is taught the traditional way in class.

Nonetheless the most important point I took away form this particular panel is that many students might not be fully aware of all the resources that are available to them. The implantation of technology in less affluent school districts is not an easy feat, but it is not impossible either. Students in all areas of the world deserve the chance to incorporate the newest technologies into their educational world. Social media would be able to be a catalyst for change among these communities if only they were given the chance.

While many initiatives are being made to bring a technological revolution to communities that are lacking access to computers or internet, there is still a need for “new content to try and get Latino parents to help kids in their education” as stated by Jose Luis Rodriguez. The new content aimed at the Latino community has to be both geared to their necessities and understanding of their possible limitations. A implementation of both a grassroots form of communication coupled with social media seemed to be the verdict set out by all the panelists.

It’ll Be Cool to Text + Tweet in Class Soon

Posted on by differencesmag

This post is a series of blogs contributed by SMW NYC media partner Differences Magazine. To learn more about Differences Magazine and to see the original post by Jessica Bender, please click here. You can watch the original SMW12 presentation on livestream. 

Teens are craving new ways of learning. With the average student sending 50 texts and watching five hours of YouTube per day, along with spending 31 hours a week on the Internet, more likely than not they’re going to get absorbed into what’s on a screen rather than what’s in a book.

Fortunately teachers and professors on most education levels are listening for new teaching methods and switching up their curriculum to cater to their kids’ new needs. Education experts at the dual panel/discussion The Future of Higher Education: Will Colleges Survive? and The Classroom of the Future: How Social Media Can Better Our Education System at Thomson Reuters dove head first into innovative new ways to engage students from middle school to graduate programs.

Eighth grade teacher/blogger Melissa Seideman is the model example of a socially savvy and tech friendly teacher pushing to make social media classroom-friendly. While most educators would have a problem with texting, Seideman encourages it; she says that it’s a perfect way to send out announcements and homework, and allows students to ask questions if they’re mute in class. Blogging is also a major part of her class structure, as it allows students to take ownership of their learning. The most surprising method of teaching she uses in the classroom, though, is Tweeting. With software like My Big Campus, her classes can have a dialogue while chatting about content in the classroom in 140 characters or less.

education

By the time you get started on your undergrad and graduate degrees, 2tor co-founders John Katzman and Jeremy Johnson think it’s vital for universities to focus on strengthening their online programs. With a huge majority of students interested in taking a semester online to accomplish other goals like studying abroad or interning, Katzman says that the goal of undergrad programs is to “make education more efficient”. It’s not effective if you throw in an online program just to have one, though. Katzman adds, “If you don’t think you can give a program as good online as in the classroom, why do it? If you can’t do it well, you shouldn’t.”

More than anything, though, all the panelists agreed that social media is essential for the education system because it builds a sense of community and collaboration. “In order to get a higher quality education, you need to interact and engage in conversation,” Johnson said. “It’s important to build a network of peers to help you after the education is done, so the college experience [is about] integrating yourself in society.”

Seideman stresses that “classrooms can be a media-rich environment.” If you give students the tools they need to be 21st century learners while having them connect with material using videos, music and social media, “students [will] be excited about going to class.”

Engaging in Conversation: The New Ghostwriter Panel

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This post is a series of blogs contributed by SMW NYC media partner Differences Magazine. To learn more about Differences Magazine and to see the original post by Vivian Nunez, please click here. 

The New Ghostwriter Panel included Aliza Licht, Terry Li, Sam Graham- Felsen, and was moderated by Todd Wasserman; to say it was incredible is an understatement. Each panelist is an expert in his or her field of interest and throughout the conversation it showed.

Mr. Graham-Felsen demonstrated extensive knowledge in the meshing of politics and social media, which ultimately transcended that niche and flowed into personal branding and the importance of authenticity. Having been a blogger for the Obama 2008 campaign, Sam understands how essential it is to have a voice that is all your own and to be able to have a candid conversation with those that interact with your material, a trait that the Obama campaign perfected. The ability to give a personal voice to the blog is what set Sam and the Obama campaign apart from any other organization that used ghostwriters, which is simply the middleman or filter between what the brand or politician wants to say and what you as a follower actually read or hear.

All the panelists opposed directly to the use of ghostwriters because it takes away the transparency of any brand and in specific Sam admitted to being a strong proponent of “cutting the divide between a company or politician and an audience”. Terry Li partially disagreed with the statement because he finds the ghostwriter to be useful if used wisely, like when someone has a speech written by someone else. Yet ghostwriting provides a specific dilemma because it takes away from the “social” side of social networking, it makes any young adult vulnerable to falling for the pretense that they are communicating with their favorite celebrity when they really are talking to his middleman.

Aliza Licht or @dkny as many might know her, has perfected the ability to remain authenticate, engage in conversation, and still represent the brand quite well, without having to resort to ghostwriting. An easy feat she admitted simply because while tweeting she is being herself. The key lies in the authenticity and the ability to create a flow of information; each young adult is aware of that natural flow because they take part of it every single time they use a social network. You engage with others on social networks assuming that it is personally them and although advertising might be involved subtly, like Terry Li and Bre.ad manage to do, you still feel like you are a part of a genuine conversation.

As a part of the younger demographic this is how you want to develop all your personal branding ventures after because between Aliza’s personal touch, Sam’s lens in storytelling and engagement, and Terry’s ability to create an unrecognizable divide between interaction and promotion, you are able to find a perfect equilibrium to propel your own personal brand.. During the Q&A plenty of the answers provided were geared toward young adults and advice was given. For instance if what you want is to be a strong influence in social media a key is to provide material not seen before or to truly engage in conversation, not just disseminate information. The topic of the panel might have been ghostwriting but the advice shared here goes beyond who sends out twitter messages, it is about a personal brand, and by personal I mean YOU!