One of the intersting things about being involved in the broader social media community within the different cities we visit is being able to compare and contrast regional attitudes and concerns. For me personally, I am always amazed at how much we share in common more so than the differences - the differences tend to be more like the nuanced approach to spices that good chefs use in creating a similar dish - the ingredients are generally the same, but the flavor is a bit different.

So tonight here in DC, rather than heading deeply into the impact of social media on the elections as the focal point, I want to follow on the Round Table in New York last Thursday and our Round Table in San Francisco last Wednesday. So after a short round of introductions around the table and an under five minute pitch on what we hope to accomplish with Social Media Club, I would love to dive into a discussion on “What is Social Media?” While we could talk about that all night, after a while, we will switch into a discussion on the hot topic of Disclosure and the situational awareness of why, when, where and how to properly disclose interests and conflicts of interest. Finally, we can wrap up the last 30 or so minutes and get into the matter of social media in the elections.  There is a very fluid dynamic here, so we will go with the flow and talk about other matters that look interesting as well, but it would be great if we could delve into those three questions.

Afterwards, we are going out for a ‘blogger dinner’ where everyone is responsible for their own food/drink. The last two we have held in DC were at the Daily Grill, but tonight we had planned on going to Buffalo Billiards.  Turns out they won’t let us do the side room without a deposit and guarantee food minimum, so some other venues were suggested like Eli’s.  We will make a decision at the round table and post it here in the comments later this evening if you want to join us, or use your Internet sleuthing skills to find my cell # and give me a call after 8pm.