“It’s not social media if the rest of the PR industry isn’t socializing…”

I was a last-minute invite to the Bulldog Reporter Advanced PR Technology in Practice event in San Francisco recently to discuss Social Media and successful examples in today’s PR landscape.I joined Sally Falkow, a fellow Social Media Club member, and Eric Schwartzman, on the “Brave New World of Social Media” panel.

Topics included:

- How Will Consumer Generated Media (CGM) Change PR Forever
- How PR Can Tap into New Social Media Networks

In the middle of my presentation, I realized that the panel might have been a little ahead of its time.While many in the audience blog, many didn’t. And, just because many PR pros blog, it doesn’t mean that they fully understand how to leverage Social Media.

Social Media should be wedged into traditional PR/marketing conferences just because it’s a hot topic.All of us in the Social Media realm are flying so fast and so high that we are definitely soaring over everyone’s heads – not just at the conference, but everywhere. In all honesty, this was a very insightful week, and the conference was just the icing on the cake for this realization. 

I wrote a series of “How to Write Social Media Press Releases” (Article #1 and #2) which culminated in the transmission of an actual Social Media Release over MarketWire which announced a “how to write a SMPR” template. This was my way of trying to help the masses understand everything behind the buzz.

It worked in the sense that it got people talking. But, while some got it, many needed perspective and the explanation of social media and the elements that make them social – and also why.

It got me thinking…

Christie Goodman captured it best in her post, “Questions About Using the Social Media Release Format.” It was definitely an eye opener.

In an impressive move, industry leaders simultaneously jumped in to help out. Kudos to Todd Defren for jumping in to also provide some helpful explanations, in his post “Basic Answers to Some Basic Questions re: Social Media News Releases.”

Mark Goodyear also had a great post that attempted to help explain things a little better in his comprehensive article, “Social Media for Dummies (and Parents).”

After countless conversations with industry leaders, I believe there’s a way to help.  And, this is why I’m part of the Social Media Club.

We, as a community, need to help each other advance, while also helping everyone else “get it.”Chris Heuer and I discussed the idea of hosting a series of day-long, maybe even two-day, conferences dedicated to explaining social media, one panel at a time - across the country. We can even have representatives from popular social networking and media sites on hand to answer questions, help set up accounts on-the-spot, and maybe even sponsor the events.

Here’s are some ideas…with everything relating back to how it benefits advertising, PR and marketing:
Session I – What is Social Media and Social Networking
Session II – What is Social Bookmarking
Session III – What is Social Photo and Video Sharing
Session IV – What are Social Content Websites and How Do They Work
Session V – What is a WIKI
Session VI – Explaining tags
Session VII – Distribution Channels, Wire Services and RSS
Session VIII – Blogs, Podcasts, Vlogs
Session IX – Social Media in Action
Session X – Blogger Relations
Session XI – Search and metrics

Of course there are a ton of other topics worth reviewing and considering.

If this interests you, let’s talk. Maybe we can actually get this conference rolling. I’d like to see wire services, PR industry organizations, clubs, newsletters, etc., and influencers jump on board.

For the complete slide deck from my presentation, jump to flickr.

Many thanks to Greg Narain who helped me prepare my presentation while we attended the Web2point2 conference in SF. Also, thanks to Giovanni Rodriguez, who helped me simply by writing this brilliant post. 

Please for this story at NewPR!

Tags: pr bulldogreporter bulldog+reporter publicrelations public+relations advancedpr advanced+pr pr2.0 pr+2.0 socialmedia social+media socialmediaclub greg+narain gregnarain hubbub giovanni+rodriguez prsa prweek lacp media social delicious facebook myspace cluetrain manifesto cluetrain+manifesto technorati todd+defren onlinepr smpr smr hrelease marketwire pressfeed sally+falkow cluetrain