Tag: SMW14

Getting Lost in the Show: 5 Minutes with Highline Ballroom

Posted on by Nicky Yates

Chelsea has been long a hub of artistic activity in New York, brimming with galleries and artist lofts. This artistic legacy coupled with the renewal project along the Highline made Chelsea the perfect place to open the Highline Ballroom — a space that doubles as a nightclub and concert venue. NYC jazz mogul, Steven Bensusan and musician, Lou Reed opened the venue in 2007.

The Highline Ballroom allows artists to play intimate shows without sacrificing the production quality of larger venues, making it popular with big-name artists. Since opening its doors, The Highline Ballroom has hosted an all-star lineup of musicians including Lady Gaga, Paul McCartney, Amy Winehouse and even Justin Bieber. And we were honored to have them host us this year for our VIP Closing Party.

We get to sit down with Jeff Mann, Head of Digital at Highline Ballroom, to answer some questions for us about his work at the Highline Ballroom and the ways that increased digital interconnectivity affects music venues and the artists that perform in them.

  1. In what ways has the Highline Ballroom been a part of the change occurring in the neighborhood?
    Highline Ballroom has been becoming a household name in the Meatpacking District over the past few years. We are a tremendously flexible space that provides a unique experiences for all our clientele, all of whom want to enjoy the chicness the location of the Meatpacking District offers. From providing extraordinary concert experiences during the week or a destination hotspot for club life on the weekends, to being a unique event space to hold a holiday party or closing party, we’re able to offer an outlet for all types of nightlife.
  2. How has digital strategy played a part in Highline Ballroom’s success?
    Digital analysis has never been more key. Since our booking varies greatly across all genres of music, numerous outlets of marketing and promoting must be applied and measured. Knowing the ROI on each effort becomes increasingly more important to stay efficient and effective for future bookings. Tracking links with referral IDs, targeted online ads, Google analytics, online survey data, targeting previous customers based on purchase behavior, and an effective social presence all play a part in our digital strategy.
  3. Through social media, fans have unparalleled access to their favorite stars. How does this new level of connectivity impact artists as they perform live?
    As marketers and promoters, we all want sneezers, don’t we? Someone who will provide that positive word-of-mouth marketing for our brand. Social media has made it easier for artists to do just that. Fans constantly share their concert experiences with their friends through live-tweeting, posting to Facebook or Instagram, or recording and later posting on Youtube, increasing the artists’ reach, and hopefully fan base. While I’ve never seen an artist tweeting live throughout a performance, artists have taken photos w/ the audience while on stage and posted it to their social platforms, making fans excited in other cities for that upcoming concert in their town.
  4. Digital music is completely disrupting the traditional music industry. How has the move toward digital music changed the way artists are thinking about their tours/concerts?
    Touring has increased, whether artists are touring more or there are more artists touring. Many artists will meet their fans after the show, hoping to increase merch sales. Some artists have created VIP upgrade packages through their fan sites, offering an autographed album, merchandise, and a meet & greet. We also see several artists enhance their ticket options by offering a download to a new single or bundling an album with the ticket. Some artists have gone so far as providing free downloads with a purchase of a ticket. These various alternatives are sometimes just what the artist’s fan base wants.
  5. Whether Instagram or live-tweeting, do you think that the use of social media during a concert enhances or detracts from the experience of the music?
    For the right venue or event, it could work. One night using a hashtag, we had live-tweeting displayed on our LED wall while a hip-hop trio incorporated it into their rap battles. Festivals have integrated large displays posting tagged posts and images, sharing what’s happening all over the grounds. Otherwise, on a small club setting, I feel it detracts from the experience. Some concert-goers spend a large time buried in their phone typing away social posts, which can lead to missing a memorable moment on stage. Others spend half the show watching it through their smartphone, sometimes even face-timing with a friend. Since the artists are giving it their all performing for us, as fans we should be giving them our all and experience the show.
  6. As a concert venue and nightclub, what are some of your strategies for connecting and building relationships with your customers?
    Several platforms are used to give back to our customers. We provide numerous opportunities for fans to win tickets to upcoming shows, whether through onsite activation or online social outlets. Twitter and Facebook have become important customer service tools for our box office, rather than solely a push marketing tool. Through social check-ins, we provide our repeat customers with free drinks or appetizers. Using past purchase behavior, we are able to email offerings to those of similar music genre tastes, foregoing the clutter of shows fans wouldn’t care for.
  7. Lastly, what was the best Highline Ballroom show you have ever attended?
    It would have to be a tie between Yann Tiersen and DeVotchKa, who each spent two sold out nights with us. I was so into the shows, lost in the music, enjoying it with friends, I don’t think I took my phone out once.

A big thanks to Highline Ballroom for hosting us again. Make sure you check them out, and see our photos from the night here.

The Third Metric: Beyond the Self

Posted on by Allison Heaps

In preparation for The Third Metric’s upcoming event Thrive in New York, D.C. and Los Angeles, industry leaders attended a special session at NYC Social Media Week. A diverse selection of startups, including GitaSutra, BRB, Casper, Greatest, Headspace, DonorsChoose.org, and Fueled, discussed the opportunities and challenges that exist for emerging technologies to improve individual growth.

Juice bars and gym memberships saturated the self-improvement movement of the past. The Third Metric’s mission to “redefine success beyond money and power” is rapidly rising in our culture. This month’s TIME magazine cover story even features The Mindful Revolution. Francis Pedraza, co-founder and CEO of Everest, observed in a Huffington Post article that human’s “social need” for connection, as described by psychologist Abraham Maslow in the 1940’s, has been satisfied by our hyper-connected lifestyles. Indeed, Facebook, Twitter, and texting, have created instantaneous human connections. Pedraza asserted, “with less of our time taken up by basic survival, our need to improve ourselves will move from the back-burner to the front.”

Self-actualization is at the top of Maslow’s needs hierarchy pyramid. Today, basic self-actualized peak experiences appear in many forms, whether it’s running marathons, pursuing advanced degrees, or achieving a “personal best” in a hobby. This intense focus on the self sometimes manifests as ego validation, so it is crucial to understand the distinction between the two. Whatever the case may be, the CEO’s from wellness startups who attended Social Media Week New York last week offered solutions to get you there.

While some are compelled to disconnect from their electronic devices, others prefer to remain firmly connected. CEO of HeadSpace, Rich Pierson, cleverly coined the phrase, “plugging in to unplug.”  

HeadSpace is a free guided-meditation app that contains bite-sited pieces to foster meditation, starting with 10-minute sessions. Derrick Flanzaich, CEO of Greatist.com, a fitness, health and happiness start-up commented, “I firmly believe that never has wellness been more important- I think there is a reason HeadSpace is catching on and picking up steam; we are truly changing in the way we prioritize how we spend our day and how we value success.”

Still can’t bear the thought of cutting the cord? BRB (Be Right Back) was conceived when the founders went to dinner and realized everyone was looking at their phones. BRB is a virtual secretary that will inform others that you are not available — but will Be Right Back, of course. “There is a constant social pressure to be on the devices all the time,” co-owner, Noah Levy added.

The expansion of Maslow’s self-actualization concept in 1971 emphasized a move beyond the self to achieve the highest level of self-actualization. For those who are “just too busy,” social media now facilitates such a pursuit. For example, Donorschoose.org is a non-profit organization that helps teachers acquire materials for their classrooms. By utilizing technology, we can create a culture of service and gratitude. Margie Cadet shared, “technology has made it easier for people to give and engage… 1.3 million people have given to the site Donerschoose.org, and “50% have given to schools in a 20-mile radius from their homes.”

For those who choose to “unplug,” Rasanath Das, an ex-Wall Street executive turned full-time Yogi, practices an in-person approach to wellness at GitaSutra using the Bhagvad-Gita and Enneagram as psycho-spritual development tools for executives. Classes are personalized and include, “Excavating your Ego Type” among others. Das very humbly prescribes an actionable daily program of service and gratitude, “At the end of the day, if you can spare fifteen minutes, and take of stock of one act of kindness that you did or one lesson that you learned, even by observing someone, and see how it has affected your life and store it inwards, keep it with you, and carry it with you for the next day. It’s those small things that make a big difference.”

Today, I challenge you live the mission of The Third Metric by redefining your success beyond money and power by embracing its mantras of Well-Being, Wonder, Wisdom and Giving.

Allison Heaps is corporate wellness advocate living in New York. In her spare time, she practices yoga, runs marathons, and sings jazz. She is a master’s candidate at NYU with a concentration is organizational effectiveness. Contact her here.

(Almost) Everything you Missed at SMW NYC

Posted on by Sara Adam

Social Media Week New York was a whirlwind of excitement with all Official Events under one roof for the first time. Though it would be impossible to dive into every single incredible event from the week, we will try to outline some of our more memorable moments (for our short list, check out our CULTURALIST Top 10 here).

We kicked things off at our VIP Opening Night Party nomming on Chipotle chips and locally grown appetizers from Wholefoods. This party certainly helped get things started on the right foot, showcasing some of the awesome installations on the ground floor at Campus at Highline Stages.

Campus buzzed with excitement on Tuesday morning about hearing BuzzFeed’s Jonah Peretti interviewed by Social Media Week’s Executive Director, Toby Daniels. Percolate packed the house, sharing seven useful tools for content marketers and Refinery29 dished on how to make money through digital publishing platforms. For attendees in regulated industries, Pzifer and Liveworld discussed the nuances of connecting to customers within the restraints of their industry. Tuesday evening ended with a panel on Startups To Watch, where 10 companies showcased their value propositions.

betaworks CEO, John Bothwork, discussed the betaworks approach to product creation on Wednesday morning, and Eli Pariser of Upworthy made an announcement (you won’t believe what happened next!). Next, leaders in the non-profit tech world inspired us with the ways that technology can be leveraged for the good of society. Steve Case, founder and CEO of venture firm Revolution, was interviewed about the industries most ready for disruption, and Merck tackled innovation in health. Tech in Motion hosted a fashion show of wearable tech. Though we might be biased, one of our favorite Wednesday events was the launch of our book, “On! The Future of Now,” whose profits will go toward the amazing work happening through charity: water to increase global access to clean drinking water.

Halfway through the week on Thursday morning, Lisa Gansky, Robin Chase, and Seth Godin shared with us the value the can be created simply by connecting people and their resources to one another. In a three-hour track they brought together some of the leading minds creating value through collaboration. Unmetric quizzed everyone on their brand knowledge, while Cindy Gallop hosted a three-hour panel about Changing the World Through Sex. MKG led a discussion on mobile innovation, and our evening ended with a screening of the documentary, WEB.

Nokia announced Friday that they would be powering the live camera-feed broadcasting Fabien Cousteau’s record-breaking expedition, Mission 31, in real time. Planet Earth always fascinated us, so we can’t wait be a part of this ocean adventure! Then, Spotify brought together an incredible lineup from the music industry to discuss the future of music, and The Huffington Post explored new definitions of success at The Third Metric. MRPR looked at the ways millennials are changing the landscape of the Internet.

And throughout all week, we were in and out of Nokia’s NOWStudio, making awesome short-form videos, visiting 140 Proof to get our social portraits, getting glammed up for Leica’s close-up, and checking out the other installations throughout Campus.

Our Closing Party hosted by Nokia MixRadio did not disappoint with a great acoustic performance by husband-wife duo, JOHNNYSWIM, DJ Sean Glass, followed by a performance from The White Panda. Between booze sponsors keeping us in the proper spirits and music to dance to, the closing party really was the only proper way to end another epic Social Media Week. And if you missed out on anything, be sure to check out the sessions on Livestream and make sure it doesn’t happen again! See you in 2015!

Full Circle: An SMW Wrap-Up

Posted on by Gary J. Nix

This is a guest post by Gary J. Nix.

Contrary to the belief of some, digital marketing conferences are not merely another chance for people to showoff how awesome they are, learn new autocorrect facts, such as the word Livestream converts to Kirstie Aimee (don’t ask), and come up with new-fangled buzzwords like screenagers and platblishers. These conferences are an opportunity to reinforce the fact that, no matter what adjective you use, it’s all marketing. This is something we must all remember, especially once you see the tag #MarketingMarketing on Twitter. And here’s why:

Games People Play

The IAB conducted a discussion on the relationship of today’s gaming and social experiences, both on and offline. Besides the fact that data tells us that two billion people are playing games digitally and about 900 million of those are doing so on mobile devices, the huge point is that people enjoy competition, collaboration, and sharing. These three levers are used in digital gaming now and have always been used in marketing.

Adding these elements in your marketing mix at the right time and in the right way will give consumers another reason to be involved with your brand. Plus, there’s a reason “Shall we play a game” is one of the most popular movie lines from the 80’s.

The Revolution won’t be Televised, but it May be Streamed

As expected, there was plenty of talk about content at Social Media Week. The most poignant from a marketer’s general point of view was presented by Percolate in a discussion that was really about content delivery has been revolutionized. While it is important to understand the seven core components of content marketing — audience, trigger, brand element, topic, campaign, business objective and platform — along with the importance of context, content has been delivered way before we’ve done so digitally. I only mention this to clearly state that content marketing is not a magic bullet. It is important for discovery and delivery in the world as we know it today; however, it is nothing new. We’ve been doing this for many moons and will continue to do so. It’s marketing. #NODISRESPECTOTPERCOLATE #ALLDISRESPECTTOJIMMYKIMMEL. That last hashtag was clearly a joke.

Millennials are Humans

This is a direct quote from a fun-filled discussion about the millennial demographic. Many truths about millennials were examined, such as their actual loyalty coupled with the ability to adapt, their demands regarding innovation and entertainment, their level of thoughtfulness, their aversion to banner ads, and their respect for serious issues. However, we have been talking about them as if they were some new species. Many of us have gone through a period of life with these characteristics, and some of us, like me, are still going through it. It’s good to know what makes this age group tick, but please don’t confuse them with a flying machine that can make the Kessel run in less than 12 parsecs. Please don’t confuse them with #GenerationSelfie either.

Culture and Behavior Trump All

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, marketing relied heavily on focus groups and surveys for the data needed to understand what people wanted. Yes, these are still important actions, but we can get a plethora of information from the social web by simply listening. The discussions that take place reveal so much psychographic information as to how people behave and people follow and create culture.

To me, this is the most important recurring theme of the conference. At times it seems that we forget that the most important part of marketing is figuring out to whom we will market our product or service. We’ve become so caught up in how we will deliver the message, we’ve forgotten to make sure it goes to the right people or that the message even makes sense. So, before you go off with a beautifully designed visual campaign with bells and whistles on the newest platform, make sure that you remember that the consumer retains control over our businesses and we need to go to them and show them value. They’ll appreciate you for it.

Just my two cents…

Gary J. Nix is known as many things: Your favorite brand’s de facto ambassador. Propagator of true brandwagoning. Zeitgeist Firestarter. [American] HYPE man. Digerati Deputy. Random comedian. Life observer. Founder of #bespokehashtaggery a/k/a Cobra Kai. Enigmatic wunderkind. Zen BRANDarchist. Keyser Söze. But most importantly, he’s all about marketing, identity, and branding in business. Strategy, Testing, Implementation — all of these things must be done in order to ensure success. Risk & Reward are his R&R. Learn more here.

“Games People Play” image courtesy of Joshua, WarGames, MGM.
“The Revolution won’t be Televised, but it May be Streamed” image courtesy of Web Solutions of America.
“Millennials are Humans” image courtesy of Disney/LucasFilms/The Corellian Engineering Company.
“Culture and Behavior Trump All” image courtesy of KeyChangeNow.com.

Tech Needs a Posture Check

Posted on by Deanna Utroske

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If you’re reading this on a mobile device or while sitting at your desk, I’ve got bad news: “The moment the spine collapses the brain collapses” (B. K. S. Iyengar).

We sit 9 1/2 hours each day. And though our minds accomplish feats of strength in front of the computer, our bodies and our brains suffer when we slouch at our desks and sag our heads forward over our phones.

Your Spine Online: The upstanding team of Breathe Repeat bloggers — Joyce Englander, Tracey Toomey and Jamie Lugo — led a masterclass on the hazards of tech neck and text head and how to remedy these nasty evolutionary adaptations of the digital age. “When you go online, your spine goes offline,” Toomey warned during Social Media Week 2014.

A better view: Your spinal alignment correlates directly to how others see you and how see yourself. Better posture makes you more confident, more memorable, and more likely to be viewed as a trustworthy leader.

Clever you: Good posture gives your lungs space to breathe fully and your brain nourishment to think clearly. Find your best alignment, and the creative solutions will flow.

In a slump?: Notice how you’re sitting. Yes, you. Now.

Being mindful of your alignment is the most important technique to improving it. Breathe Repeat recommends simply noticing your posture periodically, as well, as occasional field trips to the wall: with your heels, backside, shoulders, and back-of-the-head lined up, you’re standing tall!

Time is of the essence: You stay focused on your work; there’s an app for posture. Several, in fact. Posture Track monitors you through your computer’s camera and alerts you when things begin to collapse. StandApp reminds you to get up from your chair. And, Kripalu Yoga Break is a collection of 22, 5-minute yoga activities to keep you fit and refreshed throughout the day. And Perfect Posture is made for our Windows fans to mimic posture building exercises. Maybe tech is good for your posture after all.

Can I get that delivered?: Yoga’s more nourishing than the same old lunch from your local takeout joint, and it’s restorative too. You can get all the benefits of yoga from the comfort of your desk and share the goodness with your colleagues. The pros from Breathe Repeat will gladly drop by your office, and then you’ll be sitting upright, exuding creativity and productivity in no time.

Send them a quick note, and they’ll deliver yoga to you. It’s like Seamless for your spine!

Deanna Utroske is the Social Media Brand Director for New York Women in Communications, where membership includes a YogaWorks discount.  Deanna writes on women’s career issues, lifestyle topics and more. Follow her on Twitter @DeannaUtroske.

SMW NYC: You Made It, So Thank You!

Posted on by

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Thank you for playing your part in helping to make Social Media Week such a huge success. We were thrilled that you were able to contribute to the incredible energy at our new Campus experience last week.

Together, we saw some inspirational speakers, from Don Tapscott exploring how we can solve problems together to Seth Godin joining Robin Chase and Lisa Gansky to expound on the future of the sharing economy. Other highlights included:

  • + Fabien Cousteau announced the launch of Mission 31, his first attempt to live and work underwater.
  • + Jonah Peretti of BuzzFeed joined our founder for a keynote interview.
  • + Percolate showcasing the power content and distribution at scale.
  • + We held our first Wearable Tech Fashion Show, in partnership with Tech in Motion.
  • + Chipotle launched their new (unbranded) series, “Farmed and Dangerous.”
  • + 10 incredible social entrepreneurs competed for $10k with Yoxi.
  • + Our NOW Studio, powered by Nokia, was packed full of some of the world’s most prolific Vine artists, illustrating how to become a better content creator.
  • + Leica was at Campus shooting beautiful portraits of our attendees.
  • + 140 Proof brought to life your social profile with a caricature artist.
  • + Under Armour presented daily yoga.

While off Campus AOL threw a great bash, and SUXORZ returned to give out worst in social awards. Sociality Squared and Contra Studios explored how creatives can keep their creativity and sanity in our always on world. And this is just a handful of all the activities last week.

Most importantly, we were honored to have you join us. As our first year hosting all Official Events in our new Campus, we know we faced some challenges, but thanks to your real-time feedback, we adjusted our process, which we hoped improved your experience over the course of the week.

As we reflect and regroup, we are asking for you to tell us what you thought of the experience. How can we get better? What needs to improve? What was missing for you?

Please take 5 minutes to complete our survey here — and we’ll be giving away a prize pack, allowing you a chance to win either a Nokia Icon or Lumia 1520 plus, Purity Monster In-Ear Headphones and a FitBit.

Thank you again — for your time, for your participation, and for being a part of SMW14.

A very special thank you to our production partners MKG, our Global Headline Sponsor, Nokia, and supporting sponsors including, Spotify, Merck, Prodigy Network, Google+, Unmetric, and Percolate. We want to give credit where credit is due, and SMW wouldn’t be what it is without them.

Social Media at Sochi: The Impact of Facebook, Twitter & Instagram

Posted on by Stephanie Carino

The Olympics have always been a time where nations gather around television sets worldwide, and watch to see how their country’s athletes measure up in the grand scheme of things. What’s different this time around, is that social media has evolved so much that this is not the only view we’re getting of the Olympics.

Because of the power of social media, athletes’ freedom to post whatever they want has been suppressed by the International Olympic Committee. Sharing on different social media outlets has become so influential that guidelines needed to be provided as to what was considered acceptable. This advisory apparently does not apply to journalists covering the event, who have been posting their less than livable sleeping quarters. There’s even a Twitter handle named @SochiProblems, giving viewers a behind-the-scenes look at the games that they would not have been privy to otherwise. The focus on the Olympics now becomes not just about the games but also the conditions surrounding it. In fact, the supplementary Olympics content being shared on social media may be getting more buzz and overshadowing the games themselves.

Instagram was launched in October of 2010, so it didn’t even make the February 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver. This has given us an entirely different avenue to view Olympic content. Adhering to the guidelines that the IOC has set forth, athletes have been posting photos in their uniforms, videos from their practices, and documenting iconic moments, like the Opening Ceremony. This way of sharing content has become so influential, that even a publication like The New York Times is posting Instagram compilation articles. That being said, Instagram and Vine videos are also new to the games. These outlets are not only creating a way for viewers to become a part of the conversation but are also becoming another way to document history.

According to metered-market results, the television ratings for the Opening Ceremony of the Olympics was down, Forbes commented on the lackluster spectacle as well, but it didn’t stop numerous outlets from “live blogging” about the event. The Wall Street Journal, Yahoo, Mashable and more, all were providing their own play by plays in real time, commenting on what was being aired. This of course wasn’t live, since the ceremony was air-delayed for the US and sparked a negative backlash on Twitter with the hashtag #NBCFail, proving once again, the voice of the viewer and the exponential growth of social media since the last games.

This year’s Olympics in Sochi are a perfect example of the influential power that social media has on everything. It can completely change our view of an iconic event like the Olympics because we’re now getting more than the one view of what we’re seeing on TV. In the future, I can see our experience evolving to include something similar to Google Glass, so we can feel like we’re walking around at the Olympics, while never leaving the comfort of our own home. Until then, we can always live vicariously through participant’s Vine videos or whatever sharable media they come up with next.

Want more Vine and Instagram? Make sure you check out Nokia’s Now Studio at Campus next week! We’ll have on-hand stars from the platform to show you how to maximize shortform content.

More interested in dealing with regulation? Then, you’ll want to check out our special three-hour track with LiveWorld/Pfizer.

Stephanie Carino has spent over the past 10 years working in the city in the Fashion, Food and Event industries. She currently works in the PR Department at leading Technology and Business Book Publisher, Apress. On the side, she also writes event coverage and reviews for, Socially Superlative, a NYC-based event website, covering predominantly food, travel and entertainment stories. Connect with Stephanie on Twitter.

Rising To the Top: Percolate Reigning Content Marketing

Posted on by Nicky Yates

When one of your founders is labeled a Brand Genius in New York, you know you’re doing something right.

tumblr_m0kvc1VzZy1qln7vao1_500Percolate, a platform that publishes and measures brand content on social media sites, was founded by Noah Brier and James Gross. And both have business savvy and some serious tech knowledge. Only 3 years old, Percolate is a tool that many big brands rely upon, like Ford, Nickelodeon, and Jawbone. They’ve also seen some tremendous growth in that time, telling of their success. (Fun fact: the SMW offices took over their recent offices, in which we have NO idea how they fit their entire staff!)

They will be leading a special track focused on what will be a crucial skill for marketers in 2014: content marketing. To get you ready, we talked with James Gross a little more.

  1. James, can you tell us a bit about Percolate and what you do?
    At Percolate we have a vision to redefine marketing through technology and a mission to be every brand’s content marketing platform. We do this by providing technology to a brand across planning, inspiration, sourcing, creation, publishing, monitoring and analytics. If that sounds like a lot, it is. We are excited by the depth of our platform and our growing client base.
  2. Percolate is a New York tech darling. In only 3 years, your team has seen incredible growth. Can you explain how you’ve achieved such success and the foundation for Percolate?
    We believe in 2 things:

    Find the biggest challenge marketers have. We have found that with content, the atomic unit of marketing. Similar to how Salesforce built technology to help the sales department manage contacts, Percolate helps marketers create and manage content. When you solve the content challenge, you have the ability to work across the entire marketing department.

    Find the best people to come work with you. We believe NYC has some of the greatest people in the world across all the areas that we care about: engineering, design and business. We are proud to say nearly 100 people in NYC now work with us.

  3. Can you explain why content marketing should be integral to brands’ marketing?
    We believe in a social, mobile world your content is your ad. As marketing becomes more and more driven by platforms with billions of users and unlimited targeting capabilities, the challenge is not how are you going to reach people. The challenge is what are you going to say to them, and how are you going to scale and sustain it. Percolate is the full end-to-end solution for a marketer who is looking for a technology platform to scale their marketing efforts.

  4. User-generated content is often seen as a holy grail for brands. But it’s not often done right and there is a debate on how to properly use this content. Percolate has recently developed some tools to assist. Can you elaborate on why this was a focus and how brands can land on the right side of this powerful tool?
    Billions of people on social platforms capture branded moments every second of the day. The challenge for the brand is often times they can’t acquire the rights to UGC in a scalable, legal manner. Before Percolate, brands used all sorts of crazy techniques to try and secure the rights to images, videos and other UGC.

    Only with Percolate does a brand have the unique opportunity to reach out to anyone who has captured a brand moment and get the legal rights to re-use that content in any way they see fit. For the user, our experience is just better than anything they have ever seen before as it relates to how they can rights manage their content. We have seen both happy clients and happy users with our UGC product.

  5. A lot of Percolate’s tools focus on making content more visually appealing. What is the importance of a visual strategy and how can brands get started?
    At 1.2 billion images shared daily across the four largest social platforms, there is no question that brands have to have a visual strategy. Brands also naturally like to communicate visually whenever possible, as this aligns well to the type of storytelling they are used to in a medium like television.

    Brands can get started by reusing images from their archives, tapping into the enormous potential of UGC across platforms, and enabling their workforce to capture and share brand moments.

    At Percolate, we have built technology to help surface content from archives, manage and acquire UGC, and iOS/Android apps to activate the employee base. Our app Photographer that puts the power of creation in the hands of a brand’s entire workforce.

  6. What advice would you give to a startup or entrepreneurs in being more effective with their marketing?
    Buy Percolate as your first marketing investment. 🙂

    Also, take your brand seriously. There are two key components to a business as Peter Drucker once said – Innovation and Marketing. The rest are just costs. You live or die based on your brand, start building it from day one.

We’re honored to have Percolate join us this February. And we know you need to be in attendance when they’re on stage. Get in on the action here.

10 Questions with PINCHme’s Executive Chairman, Jeremy Reid

Posted on by Stephanie Carino

When I was introduced to PINCHme at TechStyle Lounge in September, I knew the Australian venture was going to be huge before they even debuted in the US. The thought behind it seemed like Birchbox, but free. The idea of getting complimentary care packages sent to you with products that you choose seemed too good to be true.

Since their US launch on November 12th, 2013, the company has had over 400,000 people signup for the chance to get their very own blue boxes sent to their homes. I had the chance to pick Jeremy Reid’s brain, PINCHme’s Executive Chairman, to find out how they started this consumer revolution.

  1. How did you come up with the concept for PINCHme? 
    JR: I started looking at the way CPG (consumer packaged goods) companies were marketing their latest products, and it became evident that product sampling was the most effective means. However, I realized that product sampling in its traditional form is very wasteful and inefficient, so I started looking at the ways in which the CPG industry had embraced the digital age. It became apparent that in comparison to other industries, CPG was significantly behind the curve. I thought that if I could marry both in an efficient and accountable sampling platform, it would prove as a pretty exciting initiative.
  2. Where did the company name come from? 
    JR: ‘Pinch me, I’m dreaming. How great is this? I get to try all these new and great products for free in exchange for my feedback.’
  3. What made you decide that the US should be your second market?
    JR:It was always our intention to launch PINCHme in the US. We launched first in Australia, serving as our beta market since the PINCHme business model did not yet exist, or rather had been tested before in the US. Following the success of the Australia launch, it was always our goal to expand to the US within 12 months, which we achieved.
  4. When PINCHMe launched in the US, the website advertised an once in a lifetime trip to Australia for two winners and their guest. Were the winners chosen?
    JR: The competition closed on December 31, 2013 and winners will be announced next week.
  5. What can you tell me about your experience with “the power of free” through this experience so far?
    JR: Free clearly sells very well. In the past 8 weeks alone, we have had over 400k consumers sign up to be members of PINCHme. This, by any means, is extraordinary growth. Our goal, over time, is to build a multi-member community, which we are on track to deliver.
  6. How do you decide what products get featured? Are there only specific items you guys are willing to showcase or is it “the more, the merrier”?
    JR: Yes, we have a curated approach where we are really trying to offer our members both exciting and new quality products to try. In order for sampling to work well, consumers must have a rewarding experience with the product. Thus, it’s important for us to ensure that we maintain a high standard of offerings to keep both our members engaged and to deliver an attractive experience for our brand partners.
  7. What’s the craziest story you have through the brand thus far? It could be pertaining to a customer or brand or the experience of building up the company, etc. You can be as vague or specific as you want.
    JR: We recently ran a campaign for a major car air-freshener company. The company was focusing their marketing efforts on an older demographic that they believed were buying more expensive cars and wanted to keep those cars smelling nice. Once they offered the product on the PINCHme platform, we saw significant demand from a much younger demographic. Particularly, 18-29 year olds.

    What we discovered through our insight was that the product was substantially more popular for younger people who were smokers concerned with keeping their cars smelling good. Through the PINCHme platform, this brand now has a whole new target market to go after.

  8. Your company is very social media driven. Can you tell me why you think this was important for PinchMe?
    JR: In today’s world, where everybody is connected online by numerous social media platforms, it’s critical for all brands to have a strong social media presence. Additionally, brands  need to be well represented within the social realm, as many consumers today will look at peer-to-peer recommendations before buying a product.
  9. What would your dream accomplishment from this company be? 
    JR: From a consumer standpoint, PINCHme is the go-to destination where consumers can discover, discuss, and buy new CPG products. From a manufacturer’s standpoint, PINCHme is the preferred media platform for launching new consumer products and receiving valuable feedback.
  10. Any exciting news coming up for 2014 that you’d like to divulge? 
    JR: PINCHme is currently in discussions with several major CPG companies, where they will be using the platform to launch new and exciting products into the market. Also, we are on target to have the largest database in the sample box category.

Stephanie Carino has spent over the past 10 years working in the city in the Fashion, Food and Event industries. She currently works in the PR Department at leading Technology and Business Book Publisher, Apress. On the side, she also writes event coverage and reviews for, Socially Superlative, a NYC-based event website, covering predominantly food, travel and entertainment stories. Connect with Stephanie on Twitter.

Using Social To Support The Human Dynamic: LiveWorld & SMW14

Posted on by Nicky Yates

For the past 18 years, LiveWorld has been helping corporations improve relationship marketing, customer support, and market learning through engagement, moderation, and insight. They provide a customizable platform with a range of social networking features, having worked with the world’s leading brands, like Pfizer, Wells Fargo, Johnson & Johnson, Louis Vuitton, and Kimberly Clark, as well as the number one companies in the world in retail and consumer packaged goods.

We’re honored to have LiveWorld and Pfizer joining us again this SMW NYC, and we think it’s time you got to know more about them. We sat down with Peter Friedman CEO and Chairman of LiveWorld to learn a bit more about how they work.

Make sure you catch them in action this February at our new Campus for “Making Social More Social Within Regulated and Consumer Sensitive Industries” and their famous cocktail party. It’s an event you won’t want to miss — especially if your brand deals with regulations in any form.

  1. LiveWorld has been around since basically the beginning of social. Can you tell us more about how the vision that helped create LiveWorld and where you see social going in the next few years?

    Friedman: Our core team began work in social, or rather online community, all the way back in 1984 and 1985 at Apple, with products such as AppleLink, which today would be called an Apple industry social network. The entire industry side of the world of Apple — employees, dealers, developers, user group leaders, point people at K-12, universities and IS — were all in that community. Later, our work included AppleLink Personal Edition, which later became AOL, as well as, eWorld and Salon. Our core team left Apple in early 1996 to do for other F1000 companies what we had done for Apple — use online community/social media to help them deepen their customer relationships to improve marketing, customer support, and insight.

    Our vision for social has its roots at Apple. We fundamentally believe social is about the transformative power of online dialogue and relationships. That conviction underlies our major focus on the human element, enabled by technology. It’s similar to Apple’s core belief in the transformative power of personal technology with a major focus on the human experience. And just like at Apple, we focus on the brand’s presence in social as a deep cultural experience.

    Social has had explosive growth; but it’s only the beginning. While we have a massive number of people in the medium, the strength and richness of usage patterns still has a ways to go. Certainly we see a continued shift to mobile social, as well more visual social. That shift will definitely include more video and live camera — but we think photos will dominate. On the business side, we think social media marketing is still mostly traditional advertising, print, digital, and PR broadcast messaging being shoved at customers through social channels. This is beginning to change as brands realize they have to focus on engagement. But even that, for the most part today, is about interacting with broadcast content. Where it needs to go, and will go eventually, is to a focus on dialogue and relationships that truly involve customers — building their commitment to the brand and affecting sales.

  2. Many of the brands you work with have to address federal regulations. How has LiveWorld learned to navigate this area and still excel?

    Friedman: First it’s important to define goals and strategies that factor in the regulatory environment: understand the regulations, how they affect the business goals, and how to manage, mitigate, or eliminate the associated risks. The customers have moved to social, and so must the brands. The regulations are intended to protect consumers but haven’t necessarily kept pace with the media. Still, the brands can manage in a regulatory environment by having a systematic, organized model, plans, and process flow, with support from appropriate technology. Again and again, we have helped our clients’ legal and marketing departments partner together; the issues can be dealt with as long as they are thought out well. One legal counsel put it this way: “We know we need to go into social and we want to help marketing do it. We just want them to plan well and execute more with a thoughtfully aimed rifle shot, not shooting from the hip.”

  3. Our global theme this year is The Future of Now: Always On, Always Connected. We’ll be addressing how to use tech to be more human and connected. Recently, you expressed that living more balanced would be a focus for your organization. How do you see that playing out within the company and industry?

    Friedman: Social by definition is a medium about humans connecting, engaging, and being social with each other. We have to remember this at all junctures. Use technology to support the human dynamic, help customers get closer to each other, and the brand to get closer to customers. Rather than getting seduced into thinking technology can replace that human dynamic — or enable us to avoid it.

  4. What important trends are you seeing as important for marketers and brands to understand this next year?

    Friedman: As the market grows in size, users, usage, vendors, etc., it’s becoming more difficult to achieve true engagement that causes a customer to really think and feel about your brand on a sustained basis. Some brands will stick with prior strategies and find themselves slipping away from their customers. Others will develop longer form social storytelling and other models that will deepen customer involvement.

    Customers are going cross-channel and brands will need to do so as well — partly to follow the eyeballs, but also to provide richer experiences. However, brands need to be careful not to follow a “one-post-fits-all-channels” mentality. Each channel has its own unique character, and the brand-fostered experience is best tailored to fit that unique context.

    Increasingly the primary competitive dynamic will be how brands leverage social for real-time customer insight and then action it.

  5. This is your second year joining SMW NYC. Can you share more about why this partnership is exciting for your team and what attendees can expect from LiveWorld and Pfizer?

    Friedman: Pfizer is a great client and a great partner. They are a social media leader in the Pharma industry and currently support the corporate brand and many product brands across multiple social channels and community websites. We’ve worked with them to create engaging customer experiences, while managing within the regulatory boundaries. They are also committed to moving the entire industry forward (or rather industries, meaning both pharma and social), which leads us to Social Media Week last year and this. Our goal was to provide a focused series of sessions that would be informative with practical take-a-ways for the group — not generic “good social,” but experienced based insights. Our program last year included a panel on “Legal and Marketing in Social: Friends or Enemies,” and a keynote by the CMO of the Cleveland Clinic, with network cocktail hour. Feedback was great.

    This year we’re bringing a wider set of panelists together to discuss the challenges and approaches in regulated and consumer sensitive industries overall (not just healthcare). We’ll cover managing in a regulatory environment, achieving true engagement, and how to scale.

    And don’t forget the cocktail party. That is a returning favorite.

Registration NOW Open & Last Call on Early Bird Discount

Posted on by Nicky Yates

Social Media Week is just over a month away. And, as the saying goes, never put off until tomorrow what you can do today—which is register for the events you’d like to attend! That’s right, as of today, attendee registration is open.

Powered globally by Nokia and MKG, this year’s event explores our always on, always connected world through the theme, The Future of Now.

New York will host hundreds of events led by more than 200 unique speakers (including Eli Pariser, Robin Chase, Cindy Gallop, Harper Reed, and Jeffrey Colen), all under one roof at our new Campus at Highline Stages in the Meatpacking District.

We hope you’ll join us. Simply check out the schedule, filter according to your interests and goals, register for the events that pique your curiosity, then share with your friends.

Don’t want to have to choose? (We know, we hate decisions too.) Purchase a pass! Holders of this golden ticket, so to speak, enjoy exclusive benefits, unlimited access to all official events throughout the week, and are sure to deepen their SMW experience. Plus, today is our LAST day to grab our 20% Early Bird Discount.

Sign up soon! Like a 7AM SoulCycle class, spots won’t be open for long.

Read This On The Move: Mobile At SMW NYC

Posted on by Dani McNally

Reading this on your phone? We thought so. A recent report shows that more than half of emails read last month were opened on a mobile device, reiterating what we already know: Mobile isn’t going anywhere (well, obviously, it’s going everywhere, but you know what we mean…).

With barely a month left until SMW14 kicks off and registration opening tomorrow, here are a few of the mobile-related presentations to add to your must-attend list:

Tap That App: Get Turned On By Mobile Innovation
Everyone’s favorite kindergarten activity is back: show-and-tell. But rather than waxing poetic about baseball gloves or teddy bears, 10 of today’s titans of tech, design, food, and more, are revealing the apps they can’t live without. Hosted by MKG, this event is sure to reconfirm your love for tried-and-true standards—and introduce you to a few surprises.

Man Vs. Machine: Advertising’s Epic Battle for Human Attention
Advertising dollars follow the eyeballs, and as the number of sidewalk run-ins show (53% of cell phone users have been affected by “distracted walking,” according to a Pew Research survey released last week), eyeballs are on mobile devices. But more than 40% of mobile ad clicks are accidental or fraudulent, and the online digital advertising economy loses an estimated $6 billion a year. So what’s the future of advertising? Truex’s Joe Marchese reveals all.

Content Is King, But Distribution is Queen
Social networks are the town criers of the 21st century, spreading articles, pictures, and videos that users deem newsworthy, interesting, or just damn entertaining. You know that to ensure your content gets clicks, it better be good. But not all good content goes viral. Distribution is key to getting users to not only consume your content, but share it. Buzzfeed’s VP of Agency Strategy and Industry Development, Jonathan Perelman, explains how to combine the two successfully.

Mobile will be a part of these and so many more of the innovative and forward-thinking events happening February 18-21. This is just scratching the surface. With our partner Nokia, you know we’ll be going even deeper. So, join us (and Nokia) to explore the future of our always on, always connected world.

Register for your pass today here and receive a 20% discount. Early bird discounts end January 15!

Stealing The Show: Jonah Peretti on The Colbert Report

Posted on by Nicky Yates

We know BuzzFeed’s Jonah Peretti has a few things to share about the future of journalism. So, when he took the stage with Stephen Colbert last night, we were thrilled to see what came out. Colbert brings his normal satire, grilling Jonah about sexy pandas, Syria, listicles, and click bait.

It’s a great 6-minute interview that will get you ready for Jonah taking the stage with us in February. Watch it below, and share what you want to hear Jonah share this SMW14! In the words of Colbert, “go click on it.”

Keeping You Moving: Citi Bike & SMW NYC

Posted on by Nicky Yates

It didn’t take long for Citi Bike and the launch of the bike share program to capture our hearts. In just the 5 months it’s been active, there are over 80,000 members who have taken more than five million trips with the program. Citi Bike regularly sees six plus trips per bike per day, outpacing London’s system. During the launch, we looked at the pros and cons of the system. And since then, Citi Bike has done a lot to help meet user needs and expectations.

It has has grown more rapidly in terms of ridership than any other bike share system in the nation, and their blog provides fun and engaging ways for users to get the most out of their memberships. Just check out their haunted bike tours for Halloween to see what we mean.

All this has us excited. We’re big proponents of collaborative consumption, and Citi Bike helps solve transportation issues while minimizing resources. So, we’re thrilled to offer a free week rental to our Insider and CMO Pass Holders as an added benefit for joining us at SMW NYC. It’s just one of the many perks, so make sure you check out all the options now.

Grab your pass and a sweet bike ride to accompany it here. Enjoy!

For more stats, check out how Citi Bike did their first month:
Citi Bike, Bike Share, NYC, Collaborative Consumption

Casting Call: Event & Blogging Partners Wanted

Posted on by Nicky Yates

Next week we’ll host our first SMW NYC Community Meetup. On November 25th, we’ll bring together our event partners, influencers, bloggers, advocates, and advisory board members to share our new vision for Social Media Week New York and the various ways you can get involved.

As we grow and enhance the SMW NYC experience, we want to give you more opportunities to get involved. From hosting events to speaking to taking a star role on our blogs, we’ll be on hand to answer any questions you have about taking part this February.

+ The Event Submission Process
+ NYC Campus Programming
+ Future of Now Theme
+ Content Ideas and Formats
+ Special Event Opportunities
+ Writing & Editorial Opportunities

Event submission ends earlier this year (December 6th). So, join us at MRY to meet our team, learn more and kick off the holiday season.

And not to worry, we’ll provide the drinks and snacks. RSVP here.

blogger, SMW14

New York Special: Last Day for 40%, Plus Naked Wines Perk

Posted on by Nicky Yates

This SMW NYC is going to be big. Powered by Nokia, SMW NYC returns this February 17-21.

Bringing a lineup of incredible featured speakers like Robin Chase, founder of Zipcar and Buzzcar and Steve Case co-founder of AOL, Revolution and the Case Foundation, we will deep dive into how people and businesses can be more human in an Always on, Always Connected World. The lineup is looking incredible, and we want you to be a part of it all.

If that wasn’t enough, we also have some amazing added benefits for all Insider Pass-holders to SMW NYC, including:

  • + $50 of free Naked Wine credit
  • + 4 Free plates from Plated.com
  • + Uber Ride Discount
  • + 1 Free Yoga Shanti class, courtesy of Breath Repeat

 
Today is the LAST day for our 40% special. PLUS, if you grab your Insider Pass today, we’ll increase your Naked Wines credit to $100! We all love wine in NYC; here’s your chance to score big.

Learn more about the lineup of amazing speakers and Pass Options & Benefits here. This offer expires tonight at midnight, so this is your last chance to save big.

See you in February!

Blow Shit Up: Cindy Gallop Taking SMW NYC By Storm

Posted on by Nicky Yates

Cindy Gallop, Porn

Cindy Gallop has been a long time friend to Social Media Week. An active member of our Advisory Board and a frequent speaker, we’re honored to have her on our team. She’s a woman of action. The founder of two powerful organizations, IfWeRanTheWorld and Make Love, Not Porn, Cindy stays busy. IfWeRanTheWorld helps create microactions to turn human and corporate good intentions into action.

IfWeRanTheWorld works with businesses to create specifically tailored and unique Action Programs that integrate social action and their business objectives. Her goal is merge business and social responsibility. Cindy’s vision is that this creates Action Branding, communication through demonstration. Cindy acts like a business innovator for these brands, selecting only brands that want to change the game. What we love is Cindy is straightforward and not afraid to shake things up. Her motto sums it up best: “I like to blow shit up. I am the Michael Bay of business.”

In addition to IfWeRanTheWorld, Cindy launched Make Love, Not Porn. Stemming from a realization that hardcore pornography is distorting the way a generation of young men think about sex, she launched a site to counteract it. Make Love, Not Porn expanded into a series of talks and even a TED Book.

Cindy is known as a staunch advocate for women, but as with all of her activities, she’s not your standard feminist. Not shying away from the word, she wants to see women be more self-confident, aggressive, and a general shift for more gender parity. Something we love here at SMW (check out our Gender 50/50 initiative).

“Because it is uncomfortable to work with women, because we are different from you. Women ask tough questions, they ask them in life and they ask them in business. Greatness comes out of discomfort. Hire women, champion women, promote women, spend time with women. It is not as comfortable as hanging out with the guys, but it’s going to be more productive.”

We think you’ll love her disruptive views. Challenge yourself and join us at SMW NYC this February.

Get your pass here.

Seasons of Change: A New Mayor, A New SMW NYC Vision & Home

Posted on by Nicky Yates

The city has a new mayor, creating a new beginning and shift in the air. And here at SMW NYC, together with the city, we embrace this change. We celebrate change. This February, we’re bringing a new vision; a renewed passion.

This is our sixth year of SMW NYC, and we’re bringing you a totally new experience.

A New Home: Official Campus

We want your SMW14 experience, to be more social, more interactive, and more productive than you ever thought possible. Powered for a third year by our long time partners Nokia, we’ve moved all official programming to our Official Campus venue at Highline Stages to give you a more unified and cohesive experience.

A Unifying Theme: The Future of Now

SMW is where we make progress in terms of how technology and humanity come together. This February we will look at this through our theme The Future of Now, which will explore our always on, always connected world. Driving the conversation will be our keynote speakers, which this year include:

+ Steve Case – Revolution, founder of Case Foundation, and founder & former CEO of AOL
+ Robin Chase – co-founder of Zipcar and CEO of BuzzCar

Both Steve and Robin have built and sold hugely successful businesses, and both continue to drive change in their respective fields. In addition to these pioneers in business, you will also hear from:

+ Nancy Lublin – DoSomething.org
+ Doug Rushkoff – Author of Present Shock
+ Eli Pariser – UpWorthy
+ Scott Heiferman – Meetup
+ Cindy Gallop – MakeLoveNotPorn.tv
+ Soraya Darabi – Zady

We will be making many more speaker announcements over the coming weeks, but for now we have a really exciting offer to get in early! All events at Campus will require a pass, and today we are announcing an incredible offer, just for you, our existing community.

Because you’ve been a long standing member of our community, we want to thank you with a special offer. If you buy your pass in the next 24 hours and share it with your friends, you get 50% discount. SMW is designed to be social, so invite your friends.

Three floors of activities; four stages of content; four days of programming; and four ways you can experience it all.

Learn more and get the pass that’s right for you here.

Thanks and we can’t wait to show off all we’ve been working on this February!

Events That Pop: Event Submission Tips

Posted on by Nicky Yates


We’re planning some exciting changes for SMW13, including hosting all official events in February at a three-floor 50,000 sq.ft. Campus at Highline Stages. Campus will feature three stages on innovation, advertising & marketing, and society & culture; several masterclass and roundtable breakout rooms, an exhibition, and collaborative workspace for attendees to connect at the conference.

As with every SMW, we want you to be a part of it. Event submissions are open until December 6th, and we’re looking forward to some incredible sessions from the SMW NYC community. To ensure you have the best chance of getting your event approved (and increase the likelihood we’ll feature it at Campus), you’ll need some tips and guidance.

Here are a few things to keep in mind when organizing your event and what we’ll be looking for at The Future of Now NYC campus:

TOPICS BY STAGE

+ INNOVATION
Trends & Predictions, Early Stage Innovation, Emerging Technology, The Collaborative Economy, Open Innovation, Internet of Things and Open Data

+ ADVERTISING & MARKETING
Big Data Analytics, Realtime Marketing, Mobile Advertising, Second-Screen Advertising, Storytelling & Content Marketing. Native Adverting, Platforms & Tools, and Future of Media & Publishing

+ SOCIETY & CULTURE
Open Government, Nonprofits & Social Enterprise, Education & E-Learning, Health & Quantified-Self, Design, Art & Film, Fashion, Lifestyle & Food, Music & Entertainment, and The Future of Work

DETAILS

+ CONTENT: Plan event content that pushes boundaries, provides thought leadership and shares fresh insight.
+ THEME: Focus on themes, topics and conversations that serve your audience needs. No sales pitches.
+ STRUCTURE: Encourage interactive discussions and debates through balanced & objective assessment.
+ FORMAT: Consider creative event formats that promote openness, collaboration & inclusivity.
+ SPEAKERS: Select speakers and participants who have proven credibility in their respective fields.
+ MODERATORS: If you have a panel, make sure someone with a strong opinion is driving the conversation.
+ DIVERSITY: Support cultural, ethnic and gender diversity, as well as differing opinions, in your programming and speaker selection.
+ HUMOR: Try to inspire the audience with a bit of comedy. Lightly poking fun at a topic or brand is entertaining.
+ VISUALS: Integrate technology and/or multimedia into your event in value adding ways.
+ PACING: Keep it moving. If attendees are not given something compelling, interactive, or creative, you’ll lose them.
+ TAKEAWAYS: Practical takeaways, instruction, and arming attendees with a skill provides a lasting memory of the event and your brand.

These topics, formats, and devices are just a starting point to organizing your own event, and we’re always excited to see ideas that are outside of what we had anticipated.

Be sure to submit your event here soon and indicate if you would like your event to be considered for our Official Campus. Again, we are considering submissions for Campus on a first-come, first-servce basis.

Event Submissions Open: Your Invitation to Join Us

Posted on by Nicky Yates

Over the past 5 years our mission has been to capture, curate and share the most meaningful ideas, trends, and best practices with regard to technology and social media’s impact on business, society and culture.

This February 17-21, together with Nokia, we’ll be bringing SMW14 to multiple cities around the world to explore our new global theme for 2014 The Future of Now. And today we’re inviting you to join us in New York for our 6th annual event.

There are four ways for you to get involved:

  1. Attend & Add to your calendar
  2. Submit an event
  3. Apply to speak (or nominate someone)
  4. Become a brand partner

 

What does getting involved really mean?

It means that you have an opportunity to join thousands of other leading industry practitioners to help design the SMW experience — as an event partner, speaker, or brand partner. More than 600 organizations hosted more than 1,000 incredible events last February.

THIS is your chance to join the world’s most important event that explores technology’s cultural and economic impact. We want to see you on stage, taking an active role in our February event.

Submissions to host an event or speak will close December 6th — and the earlier you apply, the better chance you have to be approved. You’ll even have the chance to apply to be considered to be hosted at our new Official Campus.

If you need some inspiration or guidance on what we’re looking for, review our Event Submission and Speaker Guide and take a look at this year’s Global Theme “The Future of Now.”

We know SMW14 at NYC will be incredible, and we’re looking to you to help bring some of the best ideas forward! Help us take SMW14 to deeper levels.