16 Sessions At SMW New York That Marketers Will Love

Posted on February 10, 2015March 4, 2015 by Tyler Becker

Marketers attending Social Media Week New York this month will hear from industry leaders and brands spanning the marketing, advertising, and media world. You’ll hear from organizations such as General Electric, Shutterstock, The New York Times, BuzzFeed, Vimeo, Hootsuite, Medium, Barbarian Group, and more. Whether you’re attending each day with a few breaks at the co-working tables, or stopping by for a morning or afternoon, here are 16 sessions you should bookmark right now.

1. MEASURING ATTENTION AND INTENTION, WITH THE NEW YORK TIMES

Tue, Feb 24 – 10:45 AM – 12:00 PM
With the rise of video and native advertising, combined with social distribution, digital advertising has blossomed into a method to capture attention.

2. FROM FANS TO ADVOCATES: HOW TO BUILD COMMUNITY AND GROW #BRANDLOVE

Tue, Feb 24 – 1:30 PM – 2:30 PM
Join Hootsuite for an interactive session discussing the best practices and real-world examples of how a strong community of fans and followers can become a powerful tool in activating others to get involved and fall in love with your brand.

3. CREATING VIDEO CONTENT FOR HOW IT’S CONSUMED

Tue, Feb 24 – 2:30 PM – 3:45 PM
Jonathan Perelman, BuzzFeed Motion Picture’s Vice President examines the evolution of media and how new innovations in distribution technologies have changed how it’s consumed, we’ll dive into the science behind creating shareable content for the social web.

4. SWIPE RIGHT: WHAT CAN TINDER TEACH BRANDS

Tue, Feb 24 – 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM
Peer through the window into the microcosm of human behavior that exists behind the walls of online and mobile dating services, and ultimately reveal how marketers can connect with their audiences in a more meaningful way.

5. WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SOCIAL MARKETING AND SOCIAL PR?

Wed, Feb 25 – 10:45 AM – 12:00 PM
There’s a clear-cut difference between social marketing and social PR. Unfortunately, the majority of brands are overlooking the business value of the former and focusing too much on the latter.

6. THE 10 RULES OF AN OPEN BRAND: EVOLVING WITH YOUR CUSTOMERS AND INDUSTRY

Wed, Feb 25 – 12:30 PM – 1:30 PM
This presentation provides guidelines for companies to use in establishing themselves as an open business; one that can build meaningful relationships with peers and consumers, and adapt and thrive when faced with change.

7. IS SOCIAL MEDIA JUST MEDIA? THE FUTURE OF PAID, EARNED AND CONTENT

Wed, Feb 25 – 2:30 PM – 3:45 PM
For brands, is there such a thing as earned media now, or has paid media taken over social media? Will content marketing continue to thrive even as social platforms demand more paid budgets? In 2015 and beyond, how social can media be?

8. NETWORKS OF INFLUENCE: HOSTED BY TRANSLATION, ELITE DAILY, AND CRIMSON HEXAGON

Wed, Feb 25 – 4:30 PM – 5:45 PM
This event will target advertisers and marketers who seek to spread messages, ideas, and products to the upwardly mobile, millennial consumer. In this session we will uncover how brands can tap into the dynamic of this coveted audience and benefit from the network of influence.

9. FOSTERING SELF-DISRUPTION, COLLABORATION AND INNOVATION AT LARGE COMPANIES

Thu, Feb 26 – 9:00 AM – 10:00 AM
Executives are realizing they need new methods for approaching innovation, internal collaboration, and creating opportunities for disruption. This discussion will feature a roundtable of leaders looking to affect change within their large organization, along with entrepreneurs that are seeking insight and direction post-acquisition.

10. TAKE COMMAND OF YOUR DATA: HOW TO STRATEGICALLY USE SOCIAL LISTENING IN BUSINESS

Thu, Feb 26 – 10:30 AM – 12:30 PM
Advanced analytics and insights have now equipped brands with a ‘sixth sense’ of the online landscape, driving businesses toward a new level of social intelligence. Listeners will walk away with an in depth understanding of not only how social listening and intelligence can reinvent business, but also how the landscape is quickly evolving.

11. A FIRESIDE CHAT WITH B. BONIN BOUGH OF MONDELÉZ

Thu, Feb 26 – 12:30 PM – 1:30 PM
Join B. Bonin Bough, Vice President of Global Media and Consumer Engagement at Mondelez International, for a discussion on the evolving relationship between artists and brands.

12. USER GENERATED CONTENT: THE ULTIMATE HUMAN CONTENT CONNECTIVITY

Thu, Feb 26 – 2:45 PM – 4:00 PM
From crowd-sourced contests and event social media walls, to compensated word of mouth endorsements and use of user reviews and comment sections for UGC campaigns, you’ll walk away with new ideas, best practice advice and also some legal “watch-outs” that anyone considering a UGC campaign should keep in mind.

13. RETURN OF THE PODCAST WITH ALEX BLUMBERG, FOUNDER AND CEO OF GIMLET MEDIA, AND ANDREW McLAUGHLIN, PARTNER AT BETAWORKS AND CEO OF DIGG

Thu, Feb 26 – 4:30 PM – 5:30 PM
Join Alex Blumberg, award-winning reporter and producer for This American Life; co-host of NPR’s Planet Money; and founder and CEO of Gimlet Media, for a discussion on the rising popularity of podcasts, technology’s influence on the future of audio content distribution, and also what he has learned on the journey of a startup from idea to execution.

14. STORYTELLING WITH VINE: HOW TO CREATE SHORT VIDEOS THAT PEOPLE REMEMBER

Fri, Feb 27 – 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Today, storytellers are finding increasingly imaginative ways to share their ideas with interactive and visual elements, bringing their messages to life. This masterclass will explore storytelling techniques using Vine, specifically how to create short form videos that people remember.

15. SOCIAL STORYTELLING AND THE HUMAN CONNECTION: PROFESSIONAL STORYTELLERS ILLUSTRATE WHAT’S AT THE HEART OF CONNECTING TO YOUR AUDIENCE

Fri, Feb 27 – 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM
With the introduction of technology and social networks, the mediums may have changed, but the power of stories and their ability to draw people in remains the same. In this fun, interactive session, you will help dissect these stories, the elements that made them so engaging and how brands can apply these principles to make consumers a part of their story in a very real way.

16. SMW NYC OFFICIAL VIP CLOSING PARTY

Fri, Feb 27 – 7:00 PM – 10:00 PM
To wrap up the 2014 edition Social Media Week organizers Crowdcentric and are hosting the Official Closing VIP Party in New York City. The Closing Party is by invitation only, however, if you wish to attend there are a limited number of Insider Passes still available, which grant you access to both the official Opening and Closing events.

10 Noteworthy Community Events To Attend During SMW NYC

Posted on February 9, 2015 by Tyler Becker

We like to think of Social Media Week as an “open-sourced” conference, where individuals, groups, and corporations can join us by organizing events in and around SMW cities during the week of the conference. These independent events are integrated into the SMW schedule for attendees to discover, attend, and enjoy. From happy hours and exclusive film screenings, to Q&A sessions and even game shows. Community events throughout SMW history is the special sauce that adds a unique flavor to each city, every year.

Take a look at some of the Independent Community Events we are most excited for. You can find the full list of Independent Events on the SMW NYC schedule, and just click through to the “Register” button on each page, which will take you to the respective organizer’s registration page.

The Digital-First Broadcast Mindset: How Facebook and Digital Agencies Are Changing the Game
Tue, Feb 24 – 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM
“How can marketers create impactful video content with broadcast quality, but in a digital-first environment? Learn how reshaping your team’s mindset to think more like digital-first agencies and less like traditional broadcasters can improve performance and engagements”;
Content Marketing Revolution – Successful Strategies for Avoiding Costly Mistakes
Tue, Feb 24 – 10:00 AM – 11:30 AM
“Transparency is key to building trust in the social and mobile advertising space. Hear about regulatory and self-regulatory guidance that can help you avoid pitfalls and build trust with your customers”;
The Connected Generation: Engaging Millennials in a Social World
Tue, Feb 24 – 5:30 PM – 7:00 PM
“For brands targeting 18-34 year-olds, they have to be even faster and more authentic to stay relevant with this tech-savvy generation. Participate in the conversation on how brands should evolve content and messaging to creatively meet the needs and desires of the world’s most powerful generation”;
Being Ready To Be Rapid: Lessons From the Marriage Equality Fight
Tue, Feb 24 – 6:00 PM – 7:30 PM
“In 2013, the Supreme Court struck down a key section of the Defense of Marriage Act. One year later, momentum for marriage continues to grow, as same sex couples have the freedom to marry in 35 states and Washington D.C. Every organization — whether a brand, advocacy, tech, media company, or political — has its big moment when major breaking news hits, a critical piece of legislation is up for a vote, or unprecedented traffic hits your site”;
Get Big Things Done: How to Connect Intelligently to Catapult Your Career
Tue, Feb 24 – 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM
“Your successful future depends on your connections – meaningful connections in your job, community, and with companies. But how can you connect intelligently – better, faster, more efficiently – while at the same time influencing the greatest number of people in your life? Until now no one has cracked the code of how we can all go big with our passions, career interests, initiatives, and innovations”;
The Evolution of Social TV: How Emerging Tech is Pushing the Boundaries
Wed, Feb 25 – 9:00 AM – 10:30 AM
“Social TV is changing the way entertainment marketers understand television audiences across screens, portals, and platforms. A panel of social TV’s greatest champions and innovators will discuss how social TV insights are changing the way we create and prove value in the television business”;
Thought Leadership: Social Change in 140 Characters or Less
Wed, Feb 25 – 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM
“Many people try to capture public consciousness for a purpose, but few become true thought leaders. As agents of change, most leaders of small nonprofits or social enterprises understand the importance of building support for those ideas and issues that impact the community-at-large. This workshop will explore ways to harness big ideas, interject your opinion and create dialogues and connection that lead to change”;
2015 and Beyond: The Future of Going Social
Wed, Feb 25 – 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM
“The tools and techniques have changed, but according to recent studies, the consumer conversation holds more power than ever before. In this session, you’ll learn about the new research, new technology, and new strategies to make your brand or product the most talked about in its category”;
Political Connection: Does the Internet Really Change Power Politics?
Wed, Feb 25 – 6:30 PM – 8:00 PM
“At the end of the day, no discussion about the power of connection is complete with how it alters the interaction between the upwardly mobile, their governments and their leaders. In the United States in particular, there is a sense of an increasing gulf between elected representatives – responsive to money and special interests – and an increasingly connected, vocal, but marginalized citizenry”;
Using Social and Mobile Technology to Stay Connected in Africa #SMWLagos
Thu, Feb 26 – 6:30 PM – 9:00 PM
“In Africa, according to the 2014 “Emerging Nations Embrace Internet, Mobile Technology” report by the Pew Research Global Attitudes Project, approximately 78 percent of internet usage in Africa is for social media. This lays the foundation for Africa’s estimated $14-billion social media industry. With the internet expected to contribute a minimum of $300 billion to Africa’s GDP by 2025, social media could contribute almost $230 billion to Africa’s remarkable growth by that time”;

The 8 Best Ideas From @SMW14 #NYCRewind

Posted on October 29, 2014October 28, 2014 by Nicole Brown

Social Media Week New York featured so many amazing moments from Eli Pariser taking to the stage to talk all things Upworthy, for the first time since the site has become viewed by over 60 billion people a month, to Vice’s discussions on long form video to JWT stressing our need to change as images take over the web.

Below, we pulled together the best ideas that came out of last year’s sessions. Are you ready for more? With the all-inclusive Insider Pass to the standard Campus Passes to just scoping out the HQ, we want to give you the opportunity to see it all. Starting Wednesday, November 5th, SMW NYC Passes will be available at a Super Early Bird discount, saving you 50% off the standard price. This flash sale won’t last long — just 48 hours — don’t miss it!

What’s trending isn’t always important

Good news organizations (and brands) bring together aspirational and behavioral signals to balance their content. Both need to be treated equally and both need to be fed. This includes looking at what people do (share, click, create community action) and what they say.
Is the content both compelling and substantive? The answer should be yes. And importantly, companies like Upworthy are looking at a new engagement metric they’re calling attention minutes and are going to the community to get their feedback on what they want the future of content to be.

By reading behavior in the context of aspirations, we should now look at content in terms of “Am I doing it right?” and not “Are they interested?”

Data will rule – but we won’t care

Data is becoming more relevant and accessible and more tailored to our personal interests. By 2020, we might see Google Now-like technology permeate our lives, making data available before we ask for it, and helping us keep track of our habits and routines. Our main function will be to optimize the feed, or adjust it in the moment.

Any app that’s relevant to you will be able to provide alerts or info, relevant to you, at a key time, possibly before you ask for it. For example: Your fitness-activity monitor, which knows you go running every Tuesday and Thursday, will let you know one of the streets on your route is closed due to construction and will know how to adjust your route, while keeping your distance, elevation, and other metrics generally the same.

The leaders of the next digital revolution will be unexpected

Steve Case, CEO of Revolution, a Washington, D.C.-based investment firm he co-founded in 2005, is best known as one of the founders of America Online, launched when only when only 3% of personal-computer users were online. AOL was the first Internet company to go public, in 1992, when it had only 200,000 users. “You just gotta persevere,” he said.

To find innovation, it pays to look beyond Silicon Valley and New York City. “Good ideas can be anywhere,” Case said, citing hidden gems like Austin and parts of North Carolina. Young entrepreneurs live in a world of greater diversity and opportunity where the people behind the company matter less than the quality of the idea.

To fully access troves of talent, America needs immigration reform to compete with countries with more lax laws, Case said.

The death of CPM ad units is near

Storytelling is exactly the same as it was 50 years ago. That’s how we like to consume information. The “way” we tell stories is what has changed. Can’t just put an ad on the internet because it doesn’t make sense.

Native advertising has a great role to play in the solution, but makes up a very small amount of ads. We have developed banner blindness – so we can develop social sponsored blindness too.

Advertisers should be scared by the prospect of Pandora One, Netflix – places where consumers pay to not see ads. Just because attention is there, doesn’t automatically mean advertising will follow. But if we do have the attention, the frequency model goes away. Everything changes.

Great content will come from anywhere

We need to be more creative with multimedia in an age of social and mobile. At one time, text was the main tool of reporting news. But with more people creating rich media content, mainstream reporting has discovered new ways to use multi-media.Anything that doesn’t entertain, engage and inform will not break through the noise. Ironically enough, the most accessed and engaged content on the NYTimes.com website isn’t even a feature or news story. It was a quiz that identified your regional dialect though a clever quiz…written by an intern!

This is proof that great content can come from anywhere, not just professional sources.

Things designed to be shared will have higher value

Trust is the most profound part of this collaborative economy. In a sharing economy, buyers and the sellers are peers, and entrepreneurs are designing things that are more easily shared because we want them to go through many hands. Thus, things designed to be shared will have higher value. For example, people drive 80% less when they use Zipcar than if they owned their own vehicle—and 40% of users have never owned one, which has led to our streets being filled with 40,000 fewer cars.As Robin Chase, founder of Zipcar and Buzzcar noted: “You have to be building community in everything you’re doing.”

Longform video works…if you do it right

The whole notion that people don’t want to watch long stuff on the internet is not true. People are watching longer videos than ever before and not just the 2 minute plug & play. Of course this only works if they are packaged effectively. It’s more about how you package and showcase a story than having a well-known celebrity in your video.Where do publishers like Vice and Motherboard get their stories for videos? By reading everything and being early to report. It’s about working with what you’ve got. If you have a good story, go out and make it.

“When we look for a great character, we look for someone is going to be open and has a great personality,” said Motherboard’s editor-in-chief, Derek Mead.

A cleverly staged moment in a long form piece, can result in a genuine emotional reaction from your viewers but if the story drags on, it won’t work no matter the length of the video. Always leave them wanting more.

Content lasts longer on Pinterest

Each day there is 60+ million users, 100s million pins, 1B+ connections on Pinterest. It’s a very aspirational platform and allows you to show who you want to be. On the other hand, Twitter is about what you are doing and Facebook is about who you are.It makes sense that the half life of a tweet is 5-25 mins, the half life of a Facebook post is 80 mins, and the half life of Pinterest content is >1 week. This means you MUST think about quality rather than quantity when you pin, and determine what the best content is around the topic that you can curate? It’s especially important as pins are more than images. Rich pins provide context, commercial foundation, and addresses stale links.

As content lives longer, if you want to get people for the Christmas rush, posting in November is too late. The optimal time to pin for Christmas is August or September due to the long half-life.

SMWNYC Attendee Tips…from an Attendee

Posted on January 24, 2012 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.

Tumblbeasts: 14; Lisa: 0

Posted on January 23, 2012January 23, 2012 by Lisa Chau

I started blogging around 2004. Frankly, I didn’t think much about my choice of platform. Most of the blogs I followed were hosted by Blogger, so I registered there as well. Then Dartblog started offering students a blog presence. If you can’t already tell, I bleed green. Of course, I signed up for a Dartmouth-affiliated page. Shortly thereafter, more & more of my friends started LiveJournaling. Thus, I was “forced” to join LJ if wanted access to posts locked from public viewing and commenting.

That’s how these social networking sites gain new users. Make people register for accounts even if they only want to view content. Insidious!

Speaking of insidious… Well, hello there, Facebook. Do I really need to elaborate? I think we all know what happened. They know way more about the last 5 years of my life than my family knows about my entire life. (Granted, I chose to put all those details into their database.) Looking back, I’ve left a scattered legacy of abandoned false-starts & experiments on Blogger, Friendster, Orkut, Twitter, LiveJournal, Flickr… Just to name a several. I had multiple accounts on a few because wiping the slate completely clean was simply more efficient than editing an unruly mass of existing content. All part of the learning process that has led up to the internet as it exists today.

Which is to say, social media has matured, but it still has a ways to go. Every time Facebook makes a major change in its appearance, interface or “Terms of Service,” I liken it to a teenager trying on another identity. It’s getting a little old, though, and I’m surprised a younger upstart hasn’t disrupted the Zuckerberg monopoly.

Yet.

In any case, I decided late last year to take everything I’ve gleaned from my virtual journey and funnel it into a persona standardized across multiple platforms, connected via my personal launching page. You’ll see I left Blogger to try Tumblr. I didn’t think much about my choice of platform. This time, however, I was sorely disappointed.

* * *

Despite the deplorable color scheme of Blogger, it always worked. The interface was intuitive. Features most people would need or want were built-in. My self-taught HTML skills were handy on occasion, but not necessary. Kind of like buying a Subaru Outback for winter in New Hampshire. It’s not a stylish car, but everyone drives one because it does what you need it to do. Function over form.

Every so often, I am startled by my naïve expectation that new, hyped products on the market are supposed to be an improvement over its established predecessors. Isn’t that what is accounting for their popularity? No.

I learned that lesson the hard way. I let myself be lured by the Siren song of Tumblr. I could barely finish reading their “30 Reasons to Love Tumblr” list.

Email address / Password / Choice of URL

Start posting!

Easy!

Car salesmen wish it were that easy to sell lemons. And that’s what I got. A pretty, hollow lemon.

First, I had to dust off my HTML coding knowledge to customize my template. There are a lot of pre-fabricated choices, but many are very similar with slight variations. Then, because Tumblr doesn’t support native commenting, I had to install Disqus. Then I had to add anti-spam measures. Then Google Analytics…

When can I start blogging? This is tedious! I expected a fully loaded car—erm—blogging platform.

Too many hours later, my blog looked close enough to presentable. I was ready to take it out for a spin on the [information] super highway, but…

WHY DIDN’T ANYONE WARN ME ABOUT THE TUMBLBEASTS???

Tumblbeasts are to Tumblr as the Fail Whale is to Twitter. The Tumblbeasts are enough for me to consider moving on to WordPress; however, if you are undeterred by them, I have other reasons to leave:

No auto save.
No one-click button to save drafts. (I’ve had to re-type several long posts.)
The bullet function does not work past one level. Indenting doesn’t work, either.
Dragging and dropping to rearrange the order of queued posts is inefficient, especially if you have several long posts.
Is there some way to compact the view of individual entries?
The dashboard feed takes too long to load, even if you’re on a dedicated Ethernet line.
A navigational button bar should follow user scrolling.
The feed page: It’s ugly and only utilizes a third of my page.
Tags that users have already created should be listed for easy reuse.
Where’s my tag cloud?
Grouping. I want to read my philosophy feed separate from my fashion feed separate from my social media feed.

The only reason I’ll consider giving Tumblr a little more time to convince me to stay is that it seems to be building critical mass. Fast. And in Web 2.0, you need to be where everyone else is.

Lisa Chau has been involved with Web 2.0 since graduate school at Dartmouth College, where she completed an independent study on blogging. She was subsequently highlighted as a woman blogger in Wellesley Magazine, published by her alma mater. Since 2009, Lisa has worked as an Assistant Director at the Tuck School of Business. In 2012, she launched GothamGreen212 to pursue social media strategy projects. View her online portfolio or follow her on Twitter.

E-Commerce Knocks On Gentlemans’ Closets

Posted on December 16, 2011 by Abdul Fattah Ismail

The e-commerce marketplace for men remains undefined. A swarm of websites has emerged, offering a multitude of collection pieces. Statistics have proven for years that men despise entering a store to purchase clothing. As a result, hubs such as Mr. Porter and Gilt Groupe flourish by providing esteemed labels at lower price points. Gilt Groupe has built a microsite, segmenting even more exclusive men’s fashion named Park & Bond. A former Ebay executive is entering the market with a new concept named Trunk Club, where shoppers receive a booty of goods, choose their favorites, and return the rest. Aldo, the Italian shoe designer, also rolled out a new microsite dubbed Mr. B’s Gentleman’s Boutique. The collection, unlike the other purveyors, showcases original leather-crafted products, ranging from bags to footwear.

It is clear that men have far more channels to survey available products. Marketers, nevertheless, are still trying to solve the dilemma of drumming up sales figures. Ricardo Poupada of AskMen.com believes that a brand has to add a little more. “With deals targeting men, the smart money is moving beyond product discounts to deals that offer novel experiences, with a focus on quality.”

As a man who places a high quotient on sartorial matters, I couldn’t agree more with Mr. Poupada’s sentiment. I scour all types of forums to identify, locate, and purchase goods. I not only want to find exclusive products, but also durable ones that will last over time. They become part of my personality, telling the world of my life experiences upon first glance.

Men live for discovery. They also want to stand out amongst their peers. Creators of men’s products should heed these tidbits for 2012. E-commerce merchants have built outstanding user experiences online. Many more need to connect offline for the hearts and wallets of men.

Abdul Fattah Ismail is an interactive marketing specialist with expertise across a range of online strategies. He lives in New York and is an MBA graduate in Marketing Management from St. John’s University. He has contributed articles for Blueliner Marketing and Talent Zoo.

Hub Spotlight: Google

Posted on February 5, 2011 by Isabella de Medici

Social Media Week New York begins next week and posts this week will include overviews of each of the five Content Hubs, which is where much of the programming is taking place.

We are incredibly excited to be partnering up with Google, host to the Science and Technology Hub. The company continues to remain on the cutting edge of technology rolling out concepts like Google Ideas, a hybrid think tank based in New York, developing policy and solutions based not only on traditional research and analysis, a pragmatic approach to resolving complex, international issues. Events at Google throughout the week will cover how social media is revolutionizing and complicating human interaction.

What would happen if you couldn’t be single until you changed your relationship status on Facebook? Our cure for the Monday blues is this hilarious session hosted by SpaientNitro, and hear what the experts say would happen if we could only communicate with the same methods used through social media.

Then join Wired Google for the next panel, on the developing situation in Egypt. that will cover how citizens are using Web 2.0 technologies to assemble and protest their regimes.

Then you can attend an awesome tech panel hosted by DOTGO, featuring technologies integrating text messages into websites, mobile and other software.

Tuesday takes you to an exciting conversation on the power of crowds, hosted by the UN Global Pulse. Find out how incredibly diverse groups are, and the influence they have from a grassroots level to international.

Want to know what all those Facebook and Twitter updates are doing to your brain? A Social Media Scientist might be able to tell you at our next event, hosted by Opera Solutions.

Our final event looks at the power of leveraging social media analytics, and how mass collaboration is launching scientific discoveries forward at unprecedented speed.

Come to Google on Friday, and witness a provocative discussion led by Douglas Rushkoff, Erick Schonfeld and Josh Harris. They’re sure to having a heated talk on how connected we really are to each other through technology, and fodder we’re providing to advertisers with our online content.

Our final event covers how current and emerging technologies are impacting governmental response to a crisis. Mobile and internet access are redefining global response time and attempting to resolve them at a granular level.

Isabella de Medici, author of polichic.com, is a contributor to the NY Social Media Week blog.

Social Media Week Announces Five Content Hubs in New York, Invites Industry to Help Curate Program

Posted on December 9, 2010December 16, 2010 by Ben Scheim

We are now two months out from Social Media Week this February 7-11, and a LOT is going on. Following yesterday’s announcement that Nokia will serve as global headline sponsor of Social Media Week, today we are pleased to announce a new twist to the week for our third weeklong event in New York: five distinct “Content Hubs,” reflecting key areas of focus for conversations on the societal impact of social media. These five physical hubs will host daily programming and cover these themes: People and Society; Art and Culture; Business, Media, and Communications; Science and Technology; and Music, Sports and Gaming.

With today’s announcement, we are also releasing a very preliminary version of the schedule of events for New York, as well as select sponsors and keynote speakers. Many events are still TBD and of course there are many more to come, but please take a look to get a sense of some of the exciting things to look forward to in February. The preliminary schedule can be found here: http://socialmediaweek.org/newyork/schedule. Registration for these events will open on Tuesday, January 11, 2011.

CONTENT HUBS

The locations of four of the Hubs have been confirmed already with Google hosting the Science and Technology Hub; global advertising agency JWT hosting Business, Media, and Communications; The Paley Center for Media hosting People and Society; and Red Bull Space hosting Music, Sports and Gaming. We hope to announce host Art and Culture Hub within the next week.

“JWT is heavily involved with Social Media Week on a global level,” said Social Media Week Board Member David Eastman, who is Worldwide Digital Director and North American CEO at JWT. “The conference has grown in importance and stature, much as the social media space itself has. By hosting and participating in this essential series of events, we are helping both educate the audience as well as ourselves.”

PROGRAM

Continuing the collaborative theme of Social Media Week, the New York organizers are looking to co-curate a significant proportion of the content by soliciting event ideas from some of the city’s leading thinkers and practitioners in the fields of social and mobile media.

Stephanie Agresta, Social Media Week board member and EVP and Managing Director of Social Media for Weber Shandwick said, “Social Media Week is leading the charge to globally scale the community of digital thought leaders driving this important channel. By creating connections among influencers around the world, SMW is providing a valuable service to consumers and brands alike.”

In addition to Weber Shandwick, confirmed content curators in New York include: MTV, Financial Times, New York Times, Frog Design, the New York Public Library, Edelman, the Barbarian Group, Saatchi Wellness, 360i, GOOD, The Personal Democracy Forum, Morris & King, Deep Focus, Publicity Club of New York, Fenton Communications, Wholefoods, Foodspotting, DotBox, Comedy Central and many more to be added. Confirmed speakers include JWT’s David Eastman; Foursquare CEO Dennis Crowley; Meebo CEO Seth Sternberg; John Winsor, founder and CEO of agency Victors & Spoils; with many more to be announced.

Social Media Week New York is one of nine cities simultaneously hosting Social Media Week this year, along with London, Paris, Rome, San Francisco, Toronto, Hong Kong, São Paulo, and now Istanbul, which was added to the global lineup this week.

Global support for Social Media Week is led by mobile communications giant NOKIA, with additional support from global partners Meebo, a social platform with more than 180 million users; and JWT. Other brands involved around the world include Google,Vodafone, Oi Telecommunications (Brazil) and Fiat Motors.

The strength of Social Media Week lies in the collaborative efforts of the community. There are many ways to get involved in the conference. To participate as a brand partner, sponsor, event host, panel speaker or volunteer, please visit: http://socialmediaweek.org/get-involved.

You can see a full version of the release here: http://bit.ly/hPghw5

For all press and media inquires, please contact Ben Scheim of Crowdcentric/Social Media Week at +1-347-224-3996 or by email at ben@crowdcentric.net.

Higher Education’s Future: Collaboration, Augmented Reality, Faculty Education

Posted on February 6, 2010February 10, 2010 by davidberkowitz

Friday’s Future of Social Media in Higher Education hosted by McGraw-Hill Student Innovations offered five great professors (matched with a masterful moderator) to explore the challenges and opportunities in using social media to advance higher education. The faculty included:

Adam Ostrow Editor in Chief, Mashable.com – @adamostrow

Dr. Kathleen P. King Professor, Fordham University; President, Transformation Education LLC – @drkpking

Greg Verdino VP Strategy & Solutions, Powered; author of microMARKETING – @gregverdino

Mary Casey NYU Student and Founder of Jatched.com

Vineet Madan VP Strategy & Business Development, McGraw-Hill Education

Yianni Garcia (Moderator) Marketing Specialist, GradeGuru.com – @yiannig

On to the panel coverage…

Yianni: One in four students in 2 or 4 year programs are taking at least on course online.

Question: How does social media play a role?

Kathleen: Distance education is moving more swiftly in community and 2-year colleges. Community colleges can respond more quickly to changes in demographics, the economy, etc. Four-year-universities and research centers can’t move as fast. Distance ed is a good connection for us with social media – the faculty’s already using technology, and students are embracing it. Working on using other tools like Twitter, Facebook, etc. We also must address the needs of non-traditional students – this used to mean older students in their 20s through 70s. That term “non-traditional” are outnumbering traditional students.

Mary: Beyond distance learning and online courses, there’s the trend around open content. There are intellectual property issues, but they can spark interest from those not present in a class.

Vineet: Of 12 million college students, only 6 million are 18-24. A big reason for dropouts is lack of engagement. We need to promote engagement more than just enrollment.

Greg: Students want to text with deans or people admissions offices.

Adam: Social tools present new ways for students to participate, rather than the old way of getting graded just for showing up.

Question: How do you use various tools to engage students?

Mary: Blackboard is great, but it’s not collaborative and archival. You can only collaborate with students in your class, that semester. NYU has taken the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn under its umbrella. They’ve tried to develop collaboration between that and Stern Business School. Needed: apps for collaboration. Gradeguru is one that fits in, provides incentive for collaboration – “it’s kind of revolutionary.” Facebook’s Courses application: you can submit which classes you’re enrolled in to get opinions of a class. Another: Dropbox – lets more than one user edit documents at a time.

Question for Mary: Are you using Google Docs extensively?

Mary: Yes, a fair amount.

SGO is Coming! Social Graph Optimization, Sponsored by Meebo

Posted on February 3, 2010February 3, 2010 by amandarykoff

Amanda Rykoff is a NYC-based sports fan, TiVo junkie and social media enthusiast. She shares her observations, commentary and diatribes on these and many other topics at The OCD Chick. You can follow her on Twitter @amandarykoff.

This popular event, hosted at the spectacular midtown offices of JWT and sponsored by Meebo, attempted to answer this potentially multi-billion dollar question: with so much choice in how consumers tap into their social graph, how do media and brands reach, connect and influence these networks at scale?

An outstanding panel took on that question and many more, and engaged in an entertaining, intelligent and extremely informative dialogue about this new and evolving topic. Here’s who shared their insights and opinions with an engaged, constantly tweeting crowd:

Moderator: David Berkowitz (@dberkowitz) Senior Director of Emerging Media & Innovation, 360i
Seth Sternberg (@sethjs), CEO, Meebo
Mark Ghuneim (@MarkGhuneim), CEO, Founder of Wiredset and Trendrr
Hashem Bajwa (@HashemBajwa), Head of Digital at Droga 5
Anna O’Brien (@annaobrien), social media enthusiast and data analyst (“Anna the Analyst”)

Berkowitz led the panel through a practical (and slightly aggressive) agenda, including: What techniques will work? How can marketers maximize the audience? And what’s next in this new and constantly evolving world of social graph optimization?

What’s a Social Graph?

But before we even get to those questions, there may be a few of you out there who want to know what a social graph is. And just in case you need to know, you’re in luck. When people use the term “social graph”, they’re referring to an online representation of our relationships (personal, family, business) on social networking sites.

Social Graph Optimization

Social graph optimization is just the term for how to maximize a presence in a user’s social graph (Twitter, Facebook, etc.). Or to put it another way, for people that run websites and brands, how to get SEO optimization and lots of visibility in all the feeds in the social graph?

Simple, right? Not so fast.

We’re in a new, constantly evolving social media world, both as consumers and marketers. The social graph and the ways to reach consumers constantly changes and grows. As consumers are provided with seemingly infinite networks, marketers need to be creative, sensible and practical about ways to connect with consumers. Social media and social graph optimization represent important new tools to be explored, but aren’t the so-called magic marketing bullets.

Tale of the Tweets

What follows is my recap of the panel, which I call the Tale of the Tweets. It’s a collection of live tweets from the event which provides an entertaining, unfiltered and real-time look at what the panelists discussed. For more insights from the Twitterati (and there were a lot of people live-tweeting the event), Twitter Search #smwgraph.

Just Getting Started

Aaand like every #smwny event, we’re starting a half hour late.

Panelists: @dberkowitz of @360i, @annaobrien, @sethjs of Meebo, @MarkGhuneim, @HashemBajwa. #smw #smwnyc #smwgraph

Search v. Social Graph

Search has been great traffic driver. Now social media drives and needs to be optimized (@sethjs). #smw #smwgraph

Social graph optimization = increasing your visibility in social graph, like SEO optimization does for search. #smwgraph #smwnyc

This is the wild wild west. #smwgraph

What is a Social Graph?

Ok, let’s take a step back: what the hell is a social graph? #smwnyc #smwgraph

P.S. I wasn’t asking what a social graph is. That was asked at the panel! #smwgraph

How to Optimize the Social Graph?

Social graph optimization: study users that are already fans. Do things that make them want to tell their friends. @sethjs #smwgraph

Most important part of any business is to listen and understand what your customers, competition is saying. What you should be saying. (@annaobrien)

Listening to consumers isn’t new to marketers. It’s just way more complicated today. @HashemBajwa #smwgraph

How to Encourage Sharing?

Bottom line: if you do something well, it will be shared. Quality gets shared. @MarkGhuneim #smwny #smwgraph

RT @db: Someone relatively small that’s connected to a lot of other big influencers is just as influential. -@annaobrien #smwgraph

ET @CatherinVentura: If you get 1% of daily use visitors to share, you are doing well (@sethjs of @meebo ) #smw #smwgraph

Sometimes it’s not that complicated: make it easy to share. @sethjs #smwnyc #smwgraph

People love to share videos and photos. @sethjs of @meebo. #smwnyc #smwgraph

I may have a blackberry, but thank god I have a black MacBook to help save my credibility at #smwny.

RT @CatherinVentura: Words that work in promoting buy in to shared content are “play with me” and “help me” @sethjs #smw #smwgraph

RT @dwag29: Create natural messaging for your users to make their friends want to click. @sethjs #smwgraph

What Does SGO Mean to Your Business?

Did I make you more $, did I save you more $, and did your brand grow? Nothing else really matters. @MarkGhuneim #smwgraph

BTW, @MarkGhuneim is founder of Wiredset and Trendrr. He’s built products to listen to the conversation real time. #smwgraph

Meebo bar: 3 goals: more users, more engagement w/content and revenue. Work to move all 3 metrics via social graph @sethjs #smwgraph

Location-Based Applications in the Social Graph:

Aha! Hot question: where do mobile location-based applications factor in to the social graph? #smwgraph

Your Twitter stream and your Foursquare streams are very different and achieve different goals. @HashemBajwa #smwgraph

RT @dwag29: @Foursquare adds value to the environment we’re in. – @HashemBajwa #smwgraph

Sharing: How much? How little?

To share or not to share: that is the question. @annaobrien #smwgraph #smw #smwnyc

Social media has created a new term: “oversharer” (used by @dberkowitz) #smwgraph #smwnyc

RT @db: “How do we stop amusing ourselves to death? The conversation needs to evolve” -Mark Ghuneim, Wiredset / Trendrr #smwgraph

RT @db: “Where’s the line w/ sharing? There’s going to be people that cross the line but that needs to happen” -@annaobrien #smwgraph

Digital and Social Media Education

Education is key. We’re failing to teach the tools that are necessary to succeed in this new media environment. @sethjs #smwgraph

There are people who know how to consume information and those that don’t. @sethjs #smwgraph

RT @dwag29: Massive audience doesn’t know diff btwn web page & application. Need digital education. -@sethjs #smwgraph

What’s Next in Analytics?

Who are my real friends? Various levels of relationships. It’s no longer “everybody is friends.” @annaobrien #smwgraph

RT @dwag29: Moving from “everybody is friends” in SM to diff types of friends and groups that need to be targeted. -@annaobrien #smwgraph

Data. There is so much data out there. Need to figure out what to do with it. That’s the key. #smwgraph #smwnyc

Facebook Connect

Ah, we have a Facebook Connect sighting. @MarkGhuneim: it removes a giant barrier of entry and is effective that way. #smwgraph

RT @CatherinVentura: “I just commented” and “I just rated” work well with Facebook Connect (@sethjs) #smwgraph

You can’t just add the Meebo Bar or Facebook Connect onto your site. It won’t work. There needs to be strategy. @sethjs #smwgraph

Companies are trying to become “identity management systems” rather than social sites. @annaobrien #smwgraph #smwny

You want to publish where your users are, but don’t give up your own home. @sethjs #smwgraph

RT @CatherinVentura: Balance publishing on other publishing platforms (eg Facebook) & publishing on their own (@sethjs) #smw #smwgraph

On Customer Service

The 759th time I’ve heard it, but it bears repeating: social media can be a huge key for customer service. @MarkGhuneim #smwgraph

Quote of the Day

“When I lose a follower, I consider that optimization. They weren’t listening and weren’t relevant.” @MarkGhuneim #smwgraph

Want to read more about Social Graph Optimization? Check out this article.

This was a great panel. And stay tuned. We’ll soon be talking about “SGO” in the same way we’ve been talking about “SEO” for years.

#SMWNYC’s Crystal Ball Panel: What’s Next in 2010

Posted on February 3, 2010February 3, 2010 by RebeccaWeiser

About this Social Media Week Guest Blogger: Though Rebecca recently graduated from The University of Texas at Austin’s Advertising program, she has been a social media enthusiast for years, and is honored to guest blog at #smwnyc. To learn more, visit her blog and follow her on Twitter @rebeccaweiser.

What’s Next: Social Media in 2010
Panel at the Roger Smith Hotel, NYC

Panelists: BL Ochman, Howard Greenstein, David Berkowitz, Brian Simpson.

What expectations, measurements and results do we plan on seeing in 2010?

There is a lot of buzz surrounding the way Social Media will shape the business and communication landscape. Addressing these speculations, the panel outlined expectations, measurements and results we can hope to see in 2010.

Expectations: “Big companies need to take it seriously.”

As explained above, one reason why big companies don’t engage in Social Media is because they are scared.

In 2010, the panel unanimously agreed that many more big businesses will realize how valuable of a communication tool Social Media can be. Not only is it challenging, interesting and fun, “but it has the potential to be very lucrative.

Every client wants long-term strategies, and the panel predicts that in order to achieve this, clients will begin investing 5-7 figures into social media campaigns.

Less about what we do, and more about the reason they talk. A good business practice uses social media as means for proliferation, not an improvement to the service/product. It’s easy to get carried away, but a successful business model has a truly quality offering, while providing the means with which to share the experience it provides. Social media allows others to talk about how great business-x is.

Measurement: “Social Media should come at the beginning.”

Traditional measurement will have to change, as Social Media carries different weight. For instance in the old model, 20 impressions were no big deal. However, now whenever 20 impressions are served through Social Media, they are each an invitation to interact and communicate with one another.
Each social media channel holds different weight. A YouTube video response has different implications than a retweet.
For more information, visit David Berkowitz’s blog post – http://bit.ly/100ways

Results: “Social Media should come at the beginning.”

Ideally, an increased focus on social media will result in an increase of sales. Howard Greenstein brought up an example of a local barber shop that, through social media, was able to successfully increase its customer base for next to nothing cost.
David Berkowitz explains the 4 major social media necessities for producing results: Goals, Assets, Rules and Volume.

Networked News Gatherers Panel Share How Social Editors Work at #SMWNYC

Posted on February 2, 2010February 4, 2010 by davidberkowitz

David Berkowitz is Sr. Director of Emerging Media & Innovation at 360i. You can follow David on Twitter @dberkowitz.

Let’s meet our panel for today on Networked News Gatherers: Defining the Social Media Role, hosted by Time Inc:

Moderator: Melissa Parrish, Director, Community Strategy for Lifestyle Digital, Time Inc
Jennifer Preston, Social Media Editor, The New York Times
Rachel Sklar, Business/Project Development, QAbrams Research and Writer for Mediaite (and she admitted she doesn’t know what Farmville is… so embarrassing)
Cyndi Stivers, Managing Editor, EW.com

Question: How are you involved with using social media across your organization?

Jennifer (NYT): Twitter usage there started when one developer wanted NYT Twitter headlines on his phone. There’s a big team involved with a lot of different constituents across different departments.

Rachel (Abrams Research): I’ve learned a lot. There’s not much of a filter in what I post as my own brand in this space. “It’s very much an authenticity thing… and being conscious of the user experience as well.” It was funny watching Huffington Post get fully on the Twitter bandwagon – at the Democratic National Convention, all I had time for was checking what was happening on Twitter. We’ve gotten to the point where we can use the word Twitter without flinching.

Cyndi: We have a really active community. We were on Facebook before it opened up. By summer of 2008 we were on Twitter – last year in January Twitter was 138 on the list of referring domains, and then by May it was number 7 (leveled off around number 5). We feel like a startup even at a huge company.

Question via Twitter: How is social media changing relationships people have with writes?

Rachel: You can update something very fast. Writers are called out publicly things.

Jennifer: It’s made a big impact in terms of crowdsourcing. Brian Stelter has been a real leader in the newsroom, showing colleagues how to use Twitter in a very effective way. In the newsroom, many journalists use Twitter. Beyond crowdsourcing and engaging with users, we found there’s tremendous benefit in using social media just to get into the real-time web. When Fort Hood broke, we put up a Twitter list, and on our Lede blog, we took content from the Twitter list and put it in a module. An important thing about journalists is trust – Ann Curry mentioned this at yesterday’s panel. In breaking news situations you need to provide real-time information but you have to verify it.

Question: What’s it like using social media in a crisis?

Jennifer: My first month I wanted to hide under my desk. I was learning in a very public way. Through colleagues and friends in the space I found these incredibly welcoming, helpful, kind people. … Instead of imposing many rules we’ve encouraged people to get out there and experiment and innovation.

Question: If you’re hiring for a position called a Social Media Editor or Social Marketing Manager, is it more important that they have personal experience in social media or that they have an editorial/web/print background?

Rachel: I’d say it all together would be perfect. The most important thing is enthusiasm. Understanding the rules of sharing is important but common sense is key.

Question: How do you determine the line between editorial use and promotional use?

Rachel: If we’re going to survive as an industry we need to figure out new models. Old models aren’t working. There have to be creative solutions. With the McFlurry scene in 30 Rock, I don’t know if it was paid for [it wasn’t – and it directly led me to buy a couple McFlurries – Ed.], but I didn’t care.

Cyndi: Didn’t help that it was funny? It’s not traditional advertising by any stretch.

Question: As editors, are you just as happy to get people talking even if it’s negative?

Rachel: When Mediait launched there was some perceived backlash due to some misconception. That never came to anything and is not attached to the brand but it drove me bananas. You also have to be careful how you respond. Monitoring how your brand is being perceived is important.

Jennifer: People have been talking about New York Times content for a very long time – the dinner table, water cooler, the horse and buggy. We want to be wherever that conversation is taking place.

Audience question: How will NYT’s plan to charge for content effect things?

Jennifer: The metered model won’t be put in place for another year. In that time, we’ll make sure the user experience in terms of the payment process will be frictionless. A lot has to be worked out. For people coming to our site through Twitter or Facebook or a recommendation that will stay open. [So that means just find what’s posted on Twitter everyone, and you don’t have to pay! Yeah, let’s see how long that lasts… -Ed.]

Question: Is the social media editor role here to stay?

Cyndi: Everyone needs to have those skills. Curiosity’s a trait of our business. It’s just another element in the toolkit, and I think it’s not going away.

Rachel: I think both – you have to do everything, and you have to promote your own stuff, but it takes time. The bigger you get the more you need that person.

Jennifer: [I missed the first part of her response due to my exceptionally loud sneeze. – Ed.] We’re turning over the keys to our different desks and they’ve done a fabulous job with Twitter, modules, etc. That’s the real challenge of a Social Media Editor – to push it out through your organization.