This is the first of two posts on how to find a social media conference and then having found one how to assess its merits. Full disclosure: I am an organizer of a conference at the Rochester (N.Y.) Institute of Technology on Sept. 29 called the Social Media and Communication Symposium. To avoid seeming self-serving I will not specifically reference that event here.
Keeping up with changes in social media and social media strategy can be daunting. So what better way to hear from some leaders in the field than at a social media conference?
But how do you find a conference that might meet your needs? Sadly there is no one catch-all place to find social media conferences.
One site that does list upcoming social media events is Mashable and its listing of upcoming events. But, as good as it can be it does not appear to be posted on a regular schedule.
So here is what I’m sure is an incomplete starter list of social media conferences. Please feel free to add others in the comments area below and I will update this post as I can:
140 Characters Conference: A yearly conference founded by Jeff Pulver that gathers leaders in the tech industry to discuss Twitter and the real-time Internet. In dozens of 10- to 20-minute addresses, conference speakers cover topics about how Twitter influences the world and Twitter's effects on various industries.
Blog World & New Media Expo: This event includes a Social Media Business Summit and claims it is the world’s largest social media business conference. It says it features social media thought leaders and corporate pros.
Corporate Social Media Summit: This event, organized by Useful Social Media offers "best practice examples and in-depth case studies from some of the leading companies using social media today – Adobe, Dell, SAP, AT&T, Best Buy, the Coca Cola Company." It also offers recordings for a fee.
Social Crush: A two-day, hands-on, interactive social media business conference with a lineup that changes by event, but has recently included speakers and trainers from Twitter, HubSpot, Foursquare, Edelman Digital, Hashable, SayItSocial and PRNewswire.
Social Fresh: A one-day social media conference for marketing professionals that features, according to its site, "case studies, group discussion and learning, instruction and drilling down on topics."
Social Media Plus: A one and one-half day, three-event conference featuring in-depth workshops and expo and 21 seminars led by "marketing directors, technology professionals and social media experts, telling you how they have used social media to build brand, interact with customers and generate revenue. "
Social Media Strategies Summit: A three-day event where, according to the website: "Attendee’s will learn how to best utilize and integrate the myriad social media platforms to engage customers directly at a fraction of the cost of traditional marketing. … Through presentations, case studies and workshops presenters will provide attendees with the skills needed to attract and engage quality customers."
Ragan Communications: This company offers numerous social media-related conferences and online learning opportunities (often with a public relations focus). As someone who has attended Ragan events I can only say that, although expensive, they are very much worth it in terms of the quality of the program and the speakers.
SXSW-Interactive: The “Big Kahuna” of social media events with literally too many venues and too many panels and presentations for one person to take in. Best attended by small teams who split their time and share what they learned. It should be every person in social media’s goal to attend this event at least once, if not every year!
Online:
Social Media Success Summit: This entirely online "conference" features 24 social media speakers and thinkers and runs over a three-week period. The sessions are live online and also available taped if the timing is not good for you. This may be a good solution if taking time away from your job or home is impractical.
So there it is. My incomplete, I’m pretty sure, and possibly biased short list of social media conferences. I hope it helps you chart your next learning opportunities in social media and social media strategy.
I was awakened in the early hours the other morning by a cool sound … an owl’s haunting “Hoo-hoo, hoo-hoo.”
While lying there listening I got to thinking about owls and how they have adapted to the busy, crowded world of birds. It struck me that many of the ways an owl acts to separate itself from the flock, as it were, are things we could all do to be better observers and survivors in the increasingly crowded social media space.
For example, an owl is almost never seen and seldom heard from. They have become almost completely nocturnal hunters and their chief survival skills are watching and listening.
According to Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s All About Birdssite the owl I heard was a Great Horned Owl. It’s a very common owl.
It has adapted to life, according to the site “from the Arctic tundra to the tropical rainforest, from the desert to suburban backyards.”
So how does being more owl-like help in Social Media? Let me list the ways:
Owls have spectacular vision. Their eyes are nearly the same size as humans and they can discern the smallest details in the lowest of light. We could all use better eyesight when it comes to observing what is happening in Social Media and learning from it.
Owls have great flexibility. Their eyes do not move in their heads, so they must move their heads to see better – they can swivel their heads through 270 degrees or the equivalent of from 12 to 9 on the face of a clock! Just try that sometime. This flexibility means they are constantly changing their perspective or way of looking at things … surely a useful skill in Social Media observation.
Owls have superb hearing. They have one ear slightly higher than the other so that by twisting and tilting its head an owl can determine the direction, distance and height of a sound. Again by constantly changing the way we listen to others we will be exposed to a deeper understanding of what is being said and where its coming from.
Owls are patient observers. They sit high in trees watching and listening. They pick the moment to strike very carefully for maximum likelihood of success. How often do we jump too quickly into a conversation and miss an opportunity that may have come had we just been a little more patient?
Owls ”talk” infrequently … and then only out of necessity. Their calls help a mate find them or find food. If only all observers in social media would communicate only when they had something essential to say.
Owls are very smart consumers. At least the Great Northern is. This species is known to kill larger animals (raccoons for example) that even its strong wings and talons could not carry away. So in winter they will let the dead animal freeze and then later use body heat to thaw small sections for consumption. Being a smart consumer and only taking what you need is a survival lesson (social media or otherwise) for all of us.
Things that will (at least) earn you a bad rep or (at worst) get you fired
Social Media can both be a very forgiving and a very unforgiving environment for a newbie.
It can be forgiving when users are genuine in their interactions and confess their sins, own up to their errors and behave politely. Under these circumstances it is likely their community will understand and forgive them.
Social Media can also be unforgiving when it senses someone is behaving in an “anti-social” way. While many of the acceptable norms in Social Media are obvious, some may be less so.
Therefore here are 10 Social Media No-Nos. Commit any of these sins and watch your reputation slide, or worse if you are publicly representing a business, you may get fired:
1. Not Listening: This happens a lot in life and Social Media is no different. If you want to get more out of your interactions with others you need to be a good listener. For a great take on this see Five Levels Of Social Media Responses
2. Not Responding: Just as in life it can be rude to not answer someone who is talking to you. There are rare exceptions: When someone is being rude to you, they do not always deserve a response.
3. Not Responding Appropriately: You should always respond in kind (or better yet take the high road). If someone says something you disagree with privately question them. “Flaming” someone (engaging in an ugly public debate) will leave everyone charred.
4. Not Being Genuine: Social Media lives on the Web so if you choose to be less than “real” you will be discovered. Fakes do not survive long in the ultra-connected world of SoMedia.
5. Not Being Humble: Your life may be the best and your successes too numerous to count, but nobody likes a public braggart. Your ego may fight you on this, but you need to remember Social Media is about everyone else and a certain equality of ideas and opinions.
6. Not Being Responsible: Social Media can be a powerful tool. With power comes responsibility. Be a jerk, slander someone or be hurtful online and it will come back to haunt you.
7. Being Rude: Manners cost you nothing but some forethought and consideration of others. If you truly don’t know the right thing to do in a given situation you can always try the searchable database at The Emily Post Institute.
8. Not Being Sympathetic: Life is hard. People make mistakes and suffer misfortune. Being seen as unsympathetic will earn you a bad rep in life – online that rep will spread even faster and further.
9. Not Sharing: If you are fortunate enough to have expertise or access to resources that can help others please share them. Social Media rewards those who share with good Karma points. Many of today’s online superstars got there by being good at sharing themselves and their resources.
10. Sharing Too Much: Conversely, there are those who share too much detail, too much noise and too much irrelevancy. Know your communities and understand what it is about you they most want to hear.
Which communications schools are teaching Social Media integration?
The use of Social Media continues to explode.
News organizations, advertising agencies, marketing firms and public relations businesses are working mightily to add Social Media to their arsenal of weapons and tactics for reaching the unwashed masses.
And yet universities in the United States seem slow to grasp the significance of the changes in the world of communications.
A Google search on the terms “social media” and “communications school” brings a little over 900 results. But less than a half dozen of these links take you to a four-year college that teaches classes in Social Media. None offers a four-year degree in a subject area such as Social Media and Public Communications.
While there are very good schools offering one-off classes and add-on labs it's fair to say that generally American academia has not been sufficiently impressed by Social Media to offer in-depth academic course work in its various elements.
A notable exception is American University’s Center for Social Media. With its mantra of “Helping people make media that matters” and a mission to “investigate, showcase and set standards for socially engaged media-making” it is a shining example of what a higher-learning institution can do. And yet …
Somehow, it seems to me, Social Media will only have “made it” when classes such as “Twitter 101: How Twitter Fits Into the Public Communications Spectrum” and “Twitter 201: Using Twitter to Add Meaning and Value to Public Communications” are among those in a four-year curriculum in Social Media.
Clearly American academia (and the people who fund it) have yet to grasp the colossal change going on in Public Communications. Still content to teach “push” media such as television, radio, newspaper and magazine, they may offer one class on the “new Social Media” here or there.
Ironically many students graduating from communications schools in the next few weeks will know more about Social Media than their professors – a lot more – and they will have learned it on their own.
As they look for jobs in real world media it’s a very safe bet their knowledge and abilities with Social Media will set them apart from those who simply stuck to the curriculum.
When will the majority of communications schools wake up?
If the two world views met on the street, here’s what they might say …
First a visual: As much as I think the Mac-PC TV commercials have both upsides and down, for the purposes of this exercise imagine that the actors are representing each side of the argument.
I’m sorry, but Old Media gets the PC actor John Hodgman and Social Media gets the Mac actor Justin Long
On Customers: Social Media: “We need our customers.” “They are our best source of information.” “They are the best judges of what they want.” “Our role is to try to provide the information they want, when and where they want it.”
Old Media: “Our customers need us.” “They depend on us for information.” “We are the best judges of what is news.” “Our role is to provide information on the platforms we have on a schedule we can manage.”
On Communication: Social Media: “We believe worthwhile communication happens on any platform, anywhere.” “And it should be free or nearly free.” “We will pay for delivery of services only if we see value.”
Old Media: “We believe no worthwhile communication can happen in 140 characters or less.” “You get what you pay for … therefore freeloaders won’t ever get any good stuff.” “We need money from advertisers and subscribers … or we don’t have a business.”
On The Future: Social Media: “We believe that vast collective knowledge will help everyone.” “And those with the best information will gain the most credibility.” “We see a future that is a bright information-sharing and interconnected age.”
Old Media: “We believe only our expertise can help you sort through all this information.” “Who better to judge the best information than the people who have done it for more than 100 years?” “We see a bleak future without a clear information-sharing structure … a future without us!”
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