Just a reminder tomorrow, Saturday, is the start of the seven (7)
city Social Media Camp U.S. Tour coming to Seattle (7/12), San
Francisco (7/15), Los Angeles (7/18), Austin (7/30), Miami (8/2),
Boston (8/5) and New York (8/7).

The events are all free to attend, open to anyone interested in the tools (beginner, intermediate or advanced) and will range from 4-8 hours each (see the wiki page for the city near you for specific details).

Hope to see your smiling face at one (or more) of these events.

Listen. Learn. Teach. Repeat.

We love hearing about the various ways folks are using Social Media tools, and this special ‘Tweetup’ happening tomorrow (Thursday, July 3rd) is one we just had to share.

The Austin (Texas) Tweetup Blood Drive.

This event is the brainchild of Michelle Greer and David Neff, who are using Twitter, various blogs and other media outlets to bring attention to the blood shortages at their local blood bank and getting the local community to come together for social good.

Here’s how you can help:

1. Register or log into the Blood Center of Central Texas’s website.
2. Choose the location at 4300 North Lamar.
3. Be sure to pick a time slot from 10 am-4 pm on Thursday, July 3rd.
4. Show up at the appropriate time. Give a shoutout to David J. Neff.
5. Give blood. Eat a piece of the sammichometer. Give thanks that you are healthy and can offer health to someone else who needs it.

Sponsored by groups such as Austin Social Media Club, the 501Tech Club, and Austin Jelly - it is an event we encourage locals in Austin to get behind and other cities to replicate. Blog, Tweet, take photos, shoot video. Get the word out to help those in need.

Our friends over at Yoono have announced Social Media Camp, a one day unconference held in seven (7) cities across the U.S. focused on bringing some of the brightest minds in Social Media together with people interested in learning more about the power of Community Based Marketing. Top local names in Blogging, Podcasting, Live Streaming, and New Media will be on hand to lead sessions - a la BarCamp Style - to share what they know with the world.

There will be at least 2 tracks at each event - a beginner track (think Blogging 101), and an advanced track (think What is Social Capital - and Why Should I Care?).

They are brainstorming topics for the event now - so if you have something you’d like to talk about (beginner or advanced) - or if there is something you’d like someone to cover - add it to the Wiki in the city/cities of your choice.

Who’s Invited: Everyone interested in Social Media. If you’re a Blogger, Podcaster,
Community Manager, Online Marketer, Web Designer, Technologist, Facebooker, or Social Media Junkie then this event is for you. If you’re in Marketing, PR, Advertising, Communications, or Education - or if you work with a Non-Profit - then this event is for you too!

Cost: FREE

Social Media Camp is coming to the following cities:

• Seattle, WA - July 12th
• San Francisco, CA - July 15th
• Los Angeles, CA - July 18th (working on venue)
  
• Austin, TX - July 30th (working on venue)
• Miami, FL - August 2nd (working on venue)
• Boston, MA - August 5th (working on venue)
• New York, NY - August 7th (working on venue)

The Social Media Camp dates and cities were picked to coincide with Mashable’s Summer Tour, so make plans to join your peers in the day for some good Social Media loving, then carry on into the night at the Mashable party. Both events require registration, and information can be found on the respective websites/wikis.

Social Media Club is proud to be a Media Sponsor of this event, and we hope to see you at one (or more) of the gatherings.

A great question that was brought up in the SMC Los Angeles gathering tonight. I can think of one or two issues at hand.

What issue is chomping at your bit?

Do your eyes glaze over when you hear terms like social media optimization and social network marketing? Have you ever wondered how all these new media terms really work and what they mean anyway? You may know that one of these terms helps generate publicity and one is a form of Internet marketing, but do you know how to use them in your daily work?

Now’s your chance to find out in a fun and informative presentation from the San Francisco chapter of PRSA this Thursday, June 26th from 7:30am-9:30am. Digital Strategist and Founder of Social Media Club, Chris Heuer*, will discuss best practices developed from a decade-long career building online communities, while developing the careers of well-known bloggers, podcasters, community builders and social networkers.

Case studies will illustrate how businesses and organizations utilize social networks and social media outlets to establish and grow brands online, build an audience of potential clients and ring the register. Discussion will range from basic search engine optimization (SEO), search engine marketing (SEM), and social media optimization (SMO) best practices to tactics you can implement right away.

You can register for this event online, and we hope to see you there!

*Our good friend Giovanni Gallucci was scheduled to give the presentation, but unfortunately could not make it due to a scheduling conflict, so we would like to thank him for passing the baton over to Chris.

Join us for a blogger meetup on June 26th, taking place before Andy Sernovitz’s Word of Mouth Marketing keynote at the SF AMA.

We will be gathering in the 750 Lounge in the San Francisco Hilton at 5pm. Yes, 5pm. You will want to get there early/on time as this event is only one hour long as the AMA event starts at 6pm.

Andy also has 8 free passes if you are interested in going to the AMA event, simply email him at andy [at] sernovitz [dot] com, everyone else can attend at the member rate.

NOTE: You do not need to register for the AMA event to attend this meetup. It is a come one, come all in the 750 Lounge and we hope to see you there.

We would like to extend our thanks to our friends at the AMA, for their generosity in providing access to some free passes. Thank you!

Here are some other interesting articles that have come down the pipe recently:

• Jeremiah Owyang ponders How Brands Will Use FriendFeed
• Brian Solis gives you The Essential Guide to Social Media
• Josh Hallet recommends you Stop ‘Walking The Walk’, and Start Running
• Lee Odden guides you in Extending SEO With Digital Asset Optimization
• Chris Brogan wonders Will Companies Value Your Personal Network?

Have you come across an interesting article/post you think we should share with the SMC community? Please leave a link here in the comments and we will work to feature it in the next summary.

Chris wrote an interesting piece today that stems from some of his work being done on ‘The Social Media Playbook’ (out in 2008 or 2009 or 2010…have no idea…don’t ask…I know nothing) called Towards a More Social Organization.  It is a topic close to my heart. It is focusing the point of Web 2.0/Social Media back on the people, not the processes or the technology.

In the article, Chris suggests the need for a Chief Social Officer - someone who would work closely with a CMO/CEO. Someone who believes:

…embracing social media is embracing change management; changing the way teams collaborate; improving our relationships with customers; affecting our interaction with partners; overseeing customer support; empowering sales people to be purchase support; altering our product innovation and creation processes; and ultimately, bringing us out of the industrial age, beyond the information age and into a new age of enlightenment. It requires us to break down, once and for all, the silo walls that separate groups, the moats that have created fiefdoms of power and the interpersonal bullshit that prevents us from seeing that we all want what’s best, even if we have different ideas of how to do it.

What do you think?  Is this a new role that needs to be filled?  Please leave your comments on Chris’ blog.

No matter *what* you like to call these ‘things’, they are all happening for the same reason…it seems the more time we spend online, the more some of us crave the offline. You know - the old face:face events from times past.

I am a firm believer in expanding my online network, and meeting folks of all walks of life, to ensure I am exposed to a diverse group of thinkers and practitioners, but nothing can replace the feeling I get sitting next to someone and having a live chat. I absolutely love it. IM, SMS, email, even video chat doesn’t do the same thing for me. Face:face is that piece that ties it all together, which is why I love what we are doing with Social Media Club - taking the power of the Internet enabling these worldly connections to happen and blending it with face:face events around the globe to get the most out of both environments..

Even if there are only five people in your town/community, find a way to gather around one another [consistently], and share stories/knowledge/life with one another.

Want to know some of the places people are gathering face:face this month?

• Social Media Summit in Chicago, IL (USA) on June 9th-June 12th (now!)
• TweetUp in Chicago, IL (USA) on June 10th - ping @chrisheuer on Twitter if you are interested in meeting up
• Social Media Breakfast in the Twin Cities, MN (USA) on June 11th
• TweetUp in Palo Alto, CA (USA) on June 11th
• Web Geeks Happy Hour in Albuquerque, NM (USA) on June 11th
• Social Media Club in Boston, MA (USA) on June 12th
• Social Media Club in Phoenix, AZ (USA) on June 12th
• BlogPotomac in Falls Church, VA (USA) on June 13th
• Tweetup in Columbus, OH (USA) on June 13th (see comment below for details)
• Social Media Club in Louisville, KY (USA) on June 17th
• Social Media Club in Birmingham, AL (USA) on June 18th (launch!)
• Social Media Club in Austin, TX (USA) on June 19th
• Solstice Unplugged in Montara, CA (USA) on June 21st (looking forward to this one!!)
• Social Media Club in Los Angeles, CA (USA) on June 25th (re-launch)
• Social Media Club in Dallas, TX (USA) on June 26th (more details coming)
• Social Media Club meetup in San Francisco, CA (USA) on June 26th (more details coming)
• AMA, featuring Andy Sernovitz, in San Francisco, CA (USA) on June 26th
• Tweetup in Buffalo, NY (USA) on July5th

If there is something else happening over the next month that we don’t have listed yet, please leave a comment here or shoot an email to socialmediaclub [at] gmail [dot] com and we would be happy to promote on your behalf.

Now, get out there and gather, face:face. It’ll do your mind, body and soul some good.

UPDATED: Adding new evens as they are brought to our attention. Thanks!

Chris and I spent most of the Memorial Day weekend printing welcome letters, laminating member cards and stuffing envelopes with stickers and shirts, to ensure the Social Media Club member kits were completed and shipped to their rightful owners*.

As Chris mentioned in the welcome letter sent out with the kit, we are seeing more and more corporations hiring people with Social Media in their titles. This means our work within, and around, Social Media Club becomes more important than ever. We will be working on a new members site this Summer that will promote your involvement and further our main goals, while helping to raise the professionalism across the industry. More news on this will follow in the coming weeks.

We are committed to our original mission of sharing best practices, establishing ethics and standards for technology and behavior, and promoting media literacy throughout our society. Things were moving more slowly then we would have liked earlier this year, but we have downed a couple of Red Bull’s and are ready to dig in…

More information:

• Becoming a Social Media Club member
• Member benefits
• Frequently Asked Questions

* I am still staring at about 30+ incomplete welcome kits as I am awaiting on folks who paid for a Professional (or above) membership to send in their shirt size to me. If you are still waiting for your member kit, please check your email to see if you got a note from us asking for your shirt size -or- shoot an email to socialmediaclub [at] gmail [dot] com and we will track it back on our end.

Yoono excites me for so many reasons, mostly, as I have been craving a one stop shop where I can log in and manage most of [hopefully, it will be all] the ’social networks’ I belong to in once place, with the simple click of a button. They are a sidebar/browser add-on where you can manage your Facebook, MySpace, Flickr, Twitter, FriendFeed, AOL, GTalk, etc. - very similar to what Flock is/was trying to do, without you having to download anything.

Easy. Fast. Consolidated in one place. Cool.

For a short overview of yoono, check out the video shot at Web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco, and if you would like to sign up for the beta, go to this special priority beta url set aside for Social Media Club members that will ensure you are top of the list when they release.

Can’t wait.

SocialMedia Networks is hosting several one day conferences, focusing on passing on real information about what’s going on with social platforms for advertisers and developers.The next one will be held in Los Angeles on June 5th and will feature deep talks on analytics, marketing, brand advertising, performance advertising, and business planning. The conference will leave you with a real sense of the latest information on how the platforms work and techniques for success.

If you are developing applications for Facebook, OpenSocial, etc - this is a must attend event. Tickets are now available and we hope to see you there!

There will be Business Schools in Seattle, New York City and London as well coming in June. Check the SocialMedia Networks website for more details.

There’s a New Conversation
Thursday, May 29th - Palo Alto, CA
Looking back over the past ten years we have learned a lot about what happens when mass markets adopt collaborative online communities, and it is time to revisit the Clutrain Manifesto as it played an important role in starting a new conversation about what it means to be a marketer. What have we learned? What was right and wrong? What was left out that we should have been thinking about? What should we be thinking about for the next ten years? Join

PRSA Silicon Valley Presents: Guerilla PR Technology Practices & Working With Social Media
Friday, May 30th - San Jose, CA
Join us for a two-hour workshop covering hot issues on guerilla PR technology practices and covering strategies and tactics of using Blogs/Wikis/Social Networks, campaigns and programs, audio/video and optimizing the press center with RSS. You will also hear real world case studies, tips on evaluating and measuring success and Crisis communications & reputation management.

Register Today with Discount Code NCF8SP & Save $250!

Social Media Club is a proud sponsor of the upcoming New Communications Forum, and we would like to invite you join us! Gather with other leaders in media and communications in the relaxed and elegant setting of the Hyatt Vineyard Creek Hotel & Spa in Sonoma County, CA to:

• Learn how organizations like Dell, Sony and the Red Cross have successfully incorporated social media and new communications tools and technologies, social media and new approaches into internal and external communications initiatives
• Discuss the future of advertising and marketing in the new world of conversational media
• Find out how new media — from blogs, podcasts, online video and Twitter to citizen journalism—are changing the news business, journalism, society and culture
• Examine the new and increasingly important role of new communications and social media in the political process and public sector communications. We’ll examine how social media is being used in the 2008 presidential race, and more!
• Explore the latest developments and emerging business models for television and online video, music, virtual worlds, publishing and more!
• Learn what’s really involved in integrating social media into a traditional communications program
• Discuss how our conceptions of influence, journalism, community and civic participation are changing

NewComm Forum is designed for leaders who are interested in the changing world of media and communications and will foster important conversations and collaborations across the following professions: Advertising, Marketing, Journalism, Public Relations, Corporate Communications, Politics & public sector communications, Academia, and New media & communications technologists.

Come and enjoy the 4th annual NewComm Forum in the heart of Sonoma County. In addition to a rich educational experience with more than 60 sessions, top speakers, discussions, insights and debates, we’ll have cocktail receptions by the fireplace, wine tastings from local vintners outside under the arbor, a picnic on the lawn and a even a pool party!

Join the thought leaders in emerging media and communications platforms, practices & trends. Don’t miss this unparalleled event. Register Today with Discount Code NCF8SP & Save $250!

This morning 40+ folks interested in SocialMedia converged on Sears Fine Food for an early morning networking experiment overseen by the Social Media Connector extraordinare, Jeff Pulver.

Jeff has put together a toolkit to jump start conversations by taking an online tool (tagging) and bringing it into an offline format to help people meet one another through a very basic exercise. It’s beauty is in its simplicity.

This idea epitimizes everything we love about Social Media as it shows what the tools can do to help connect people - both online AND offline (muy importante to build relationships in both realms).  It is something we have believed in and promoted for some time now, and we are extremely happy to see Jeff ‘productize’ it to give it a giant push forward.

Thank you Jeff and everyone who came out this morning.

In case you missed the post last week, the Evolving Social Media Press Release webinar with Social Media Club co-fonders, Chris Heuer and Brian Solis, is happening RIGHT NOW (11am PST - 12:30pm PST).

It is free to attend, so register and log in if you would like to participate.

Federated Media and Dell, along with Bulldog Solutions, The Conversation Group, and Social Media Club Austin, cordially invite you to join us for an evening of “Conversation Starters” at the Iron Cactus on Monday, March 10, from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m.

Over drinks and appetizers, you’ll have a chance to share ideas with a number of people who have volunteered to start conversations: Shel Israel, Robert Scoble, Jeremiah Owyang, Charlene Li, Chris Heuer, Mack Collier and Lionel Menchaca, as well as several Federated Media authors.

Space is limited, so please register and print out your confirmation.

NOTE: YOU MUST BE A SXSWi BADGEHOLDER TO ATTEND.

Our friends over at Vocus and the Society for New Communications Research are co-hosting a webinar next week on the Social Media Release featuring Social Media Club co-founders, Chris Heuer and Brian Solis in addition to Monika Maeckle from Business Wire and Thom Brodeur from Marketwire.  

The webinar will discuss:

* The challenges and benefits facing professionals adopting the new Social Media Release
* The role of newswires in the evolving social media
* The future of the both the Traditional Press Release and Social Media Release.

If you would like participate, please register here.

Search Marketing Expo - SMX West
Santa Clara Convention Center, California: February 26-28, 2008

Search Marketing Expo - SMX West is certain to be to the “must-attend” interactive and search engine marketing event of the year on the West Coast, delivering superior value to conference delegates and exhibit hall attendees alike.

Social Media Club members will receive 10% off registration by using code: SMX10SMC

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SOCIAL MEDIA for Internal Communications
San Francisco, California: February 4-7, 2008 

Attend this conference to learn how to use social media and leverage the latest interactive tools and techniques to advance your organizational goals. Hear practical solutions you can apply immediately to help integrate social media technology into your communication programs to engage employees and dramatically improve internal communications

Mention “Social Media Club” to receive a $200 discount!

Happy New Year everyone!

2008 kicks off to a good start with gatherings in the following cities:

• Austin, TX (USA) - January 8th (Geek Austin event)
• Boston, MA (USA) - January 10th
• Cincinnati, OH (USA) - January 12th
• Louisville, KY (USA) - January 22nd (launch)
• New York, NY (USA) - January 15th
• Phoenix, AZ (USA) - January 10th
• Raleigh, NC (USA) - January 23rd
• Seattle, WA (USA) - January 31st

We hope to see you at one of these fine events and we expect to be in full swing with the other cities come February, so watch your INBOX!

Don’t see your city on the above list? Check out the Local Teams page on the SMC wiki and if your city is already listed, help kick start that group by emailing the local contact to get involved, or simply take the horse by the reigns and set up the next event on your own - just post to the wiki and send word out via the mailing list.

If your city is not listed, shoot an email to socialmediaclub [at] gmail [dot] com and we will help you get started.

If you get it, share it.

UPDATED: Added Cincinnati

UPDATED: Added Raleigh

SNAP Summit is a one-day, single-track conference that focuses in-depth on the Facebook platform and beyond, taking place Friday, October 26th in San Francisco, CA.

While some local groups are taking summer break, several others are meeting this month. Keep the conversation going at these local events near you:

Social Media Club August - Denver: August 7, 2007
Guest speaker is Brad Feld

Social Media Club - San Francisco: August 9, 2007
Guest speakers include Evan Hansen (Wired News), Chris Tolles (Topix) and Kevin Rose (Digg.com)

Social Media Club - Seattle: August 16, 2007
We\’ll be discussing \’Does Seattle need a Social Media Club?\’

Social Media Club - Austin: August 23, 2007
Guest speaker is William Hurley, aka “whurley”, Chief Architect of Open Source Strategy at BMC Software, Inc. and he\’ll be discussing Open Source, Social Media and the Art of Community.

Social Media Club - Silicon Valley: August 23, 2007
Guest speakers include Steve Huffman from Reddit, Jay Adelson from Digg, and Amy Dalton from Topix

Social Media \’Breakfast\’ Club - Boston: August 29, 2007
It’ll be good food (lots of bacon), and good conversation (lots of bacn).

• San Francisco: July 31, 2007 (pending)
• Philadelphia: August 1, 2007
• Denver: August 7, 2007
• Silicon Valley: August 16, 2007
• Boston: September 13, 2007
• Phoenix: September 13, 2007
• London: September 20, 2007

Some of the following cities took short summer breaks, others are in the planning stages and we should have updates on their upcoming meetings shortly:

Atlanta, Austin, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York, Portland, Seattle, South Florida, Vancouver, and Washington DC.

Welcome to our Co-Founders, SMB Members and Professional Members:
We’d like to acknowledge our new Co-Founders, Small and Medium Business Members, and Professional Members here. Thank you ever so much for opening your heart, and your wallet, to support the mission of Social Media Club.

SMB Co-Founders: General Mayhem, LLC (Sanjay Sabnani, Matt Cohn, Charles Turcich) and One By One Media, LLC (Jim Turner, Tris Hussey)

Professional Co-Founders: Debbie Weil, Cynthia Baker, Francine Hardaway, John Husband, Les Blatt, Daniel Goldman, Steve Eisenberg, Larry Aronson, Conrad Hametner, and Brenda Thompson

Professional: Kelley Burrus, Nate Westheimer, Dave Coustan, Michael McGrath, Greg Peverill-Conti, Jennifer Glass, and Andrew Sweet

Each of the members mentioned above will receive a Social Media Club Member Kit, which includes a membership card and stickers to start, and we will continue to beef the kits up as time goes on with other promotional items, discounts and various other benefits. The really valuable bits will be coming from our soon to be launched community Web site and Club Blog!
——————-

Got a Little Free Time to Donate?
So our vision for the Club is a bit more expansive than one or two people can create, so we have been sharpening our saw while working to focus the organization and prioritize. On the local level, the Boston Club has a great team structure for ensuring all the tasks get completed (http://socialmediaclub.pbwiki.com/BostonVolunteers ), which is a great model for other cities to emulate.

Given that the money is not growing on the tree in our backyard, but the community is growing like wildflowers, we are hoping there are a few folks out there who believe in the future of the Club enough to consider donating some time to propel us forward and complete some of our most crucial missions.

We could really use assistance with:

• Communications/Copy Writing – writing content for the site, newsletter, events, etc. (business and editorial)
• Graphic Design – banner ads, workshop collateral, etc.
• Technical/Coding Assistance – building out new website with Drupal/PHP experience and UNIX system administration
• Event Planner – assisting local groups organize their events
• Volunteer Wrangling - someone to help ensure that all the tasks people take on, get done

Each one of these are critical paths for the success of the organization, and each can be done with a few hours commitment per week/month. While there is no monetary compensation available at this time, we are happy to provide membership scholarships and possibly super huge discounts to future workshops/conferences if that is of interest.

If any of this peeks your interest, please contact socialmediaclub [a-t] gmail [dot] com.
——————

CO-Founder and Local Leader Conference Calls
We are going to begin regular monthly conference calls with both the SMC Co-Founders and the Local Leaders to ensure you are informed on the latest happenings within and around the Club. I had sincerely meant this to be happening already, but over the past few months while we were heads down figuring things out, I have had a tough time writing and sharing as much as I would have liked. This will be changing somewhat, as we are going to begin to regularly and seriously engage in discussions about what we are doing together as a Club to co-create value for our community, our companies and ourselves.

If you are a co-founder or are helping lead your local Club, watch your email for the details on the calls later today.
——————–

T-Shirt Contest Update: Cotton Farmers Get No Love From Us
Unfortunately, we had to close the T-Shirt contest(s) out without any submissions that captured the real spirit of the Club. For the moment, the sheep are safe and t-shirts will not be made.

We will revisit this down the road, but without graphic design help, our hands are tied as I think we would want more than the words ‘Social Media Club’ written in Arial, 10pt font across your chest. Greg Narain did a great job with the Web 2point2 shirts, but has his hands full these days. That said, I want to keep our promises to paying members, and I do have a very basic t-shirt design I made last summer http://urltea.com/hl2 which I am actually wearing right now. If you would like this t-shirt now instead of waiting for us to get just the right one, please email me and I will get one ordered for you.
——————–

Lastly, have you signed up for the SMC mailing list yet? Feel free to join the one in your town, or, if you’re not in a town with a local group meeting yet, join the more general purpose SMC-List. To join a list go to http://lists.SocialMediaClubMail.com/, click on the title, and follow the instructions of the form to join that mailing list. In the new site, this will all be integrated and much simpler, for local leaders and for members.

Social Media Club Local Gatherings:

• Phoenix: May 10, 2007
• Los Angeles: May 16, 2007
• Boston: May 17, 2007
• Austin: May 17, 2007
• Dallas: May 17, 2007
• London: May 17, 2007
• Portland: May 22, 2007
• San Francisco: May 24, 2007
• Atlanta: May 30, 2007 (TBD)
• New York: May 31, 2007
• Washington DC: May 31, 2007
• Denver: June 5, 2007

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Social Media Club Workshops:
Early Bird and SMC Member Discounts Apply - so get your tickets now!

• Silicon Valley: June 11, 2007
• New York: June 19, 2007
• Boston: June 21, 2007
• Austin: June 25 or 26, 2007 (TBD)

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HUGE Members Only Discount for PR Online Convergence 07
One of the benefits we offer members is the ability to partner with other great conferences and events such as the PR Online Convergence Conference happening in Los Angeles from May 17-18. Chris Heuer is joining a stellar line up of experts in the field – truly some of the brightest minds out there, for this timely, hard-hitting event designed for public relations and communications professionals.

We have two great pieces of news to report around this conference:

1. We will be hosting a Social Media Club Conversation on Wednesday May 16 at the conference hotel in Universal City form 6-8pm
2. SMC Members will receive $800.00 off the registration fee of $1,695.00 by using the code 5n68a when you register online! You can also get one half day workshop on May 16 for $295.00 or two half day workshops for $500.00

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FASTtrack: Future of Media, New York City
While Chris Heuer is in LA, Howard Greenstein will be in New York, facilitating this great event with Fast Search. FASTtrack: The Future of Media will feature panel discussions led by executives from several major media companies. Here you will learn how leading industry executives grapple with the challenges of an ever-shifting business landscape on a daily basis.

From their site: The media industry is in flux. In the first act, web search shook the industry by diverting eyeballs, commoditizing content, and usurping digital revenue. But the tides are turning. Today, the media firms are striking back—reclaiming what was rightfully theirs through their own branded, enterprise search platforms. How will you thrive in the midst of this second act? What do you need to deliver unique content to today’s “search generation”? How can you build loyal communities? What does your business model for monetization look like? If these questions are front and center for your organization, then this event is just for you.

Details:
May 16, 2007 at the The Hudson Hotel
http://www.fastsearch.com/fasttrack/media/nyc

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We hope to see you at one (or more) of the events list above!

We just learned our regular venue in London (Fleishman Hillard) is not available to us for this Thursday, April 19th.  Whoops!

Is there another fine business out there willing to open their doors to a crew of 15-20 for a couple of hours Thursday night?  If so, please shoot an email to lloyd.davis [at] gmail [dot] com.

Many thanks!

We have been working our little fingers to the bone and are happy to announce the launch of four new SMC groups over the next 30 days:

• Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (USA): March 26th
• Silicon Valley (SF South Bay Area), California (USA): April 4th
• Berlin, Germany (Europe): April 13th
• Denver, Colorado (USA): April 17th

There are another seven cities that have been requested, and we will be making additional announcements in the near future, so keep watch here on the SMC site. Please also keep in mind we are building the organization smartly (not slowly), so we can properly use the resources we currently have to assist with local event management and promotion while continuing to establish connections between the cities to extend the knowledge beyond your own backyard.

If you wish to launch SMC in your home town, please add your city to the wiki and Howard Greenstein (CEO) will contact you shortly to get the ball rolling.

And to see ALL cities currently gathering, please check out our Events page.

It is another event packed month for Social Media Clubbers so make sure you note your calendars the gatherings taking place in:

• South Florida: March 14, 2007
• Boston: March 15 2007
• London: March 15, 2007
• San Francisco: March 20, 2007
• Dallas: March 27, 2007 (pending)
• New York: March 27, 2007
• Austin: March 29, 2007
• Washington, DC: March 29, 2007
• Atlanta: April 4, 2007
• Phoenix: April 12, 2007
• Boston: April 12, 2007
• London: April 19, 2007

Los Angeles, Seattle, and Vancouver gatherings are in the works and we are looking into launching groups in Silicon Valley, Denver, Philadelphia, New Orleans, Berlin, and Toronto shortly!To get information on an existing gathering, please visit our Sphere: Related Content

]]> http://www.socialmediaclub.org/2007/03/09/event-roundup/feed/ http://www.socialmediaclub.org/2007/03/09/we-live-in-audio-visual-age/ http://www.socialmediaclub.org/2007/03/09/we-live-in-audio-visual-age/#comments Fri, 09 Mar 2007 15:17:58 +0000 Kristie Wells http://www.socialmediaclub.org/2007/03/09/we-live-in-audio-visual-age/

Guest post by Ronna Porter

But so far, we’ve concentrated most attention on video and visual content, and gained only limited benefits in terms of communication, community and distinctiveness from sound and music when it comes to social media. Yes, podcasting is an audio medium, but how many podcasts out there are truely exploiting sound? Research shows that although 83% of all commercial communication is visual, there is a 65% chance that our mood will change when we hear a new sound (see http://www.brandsense.com). I believe we haven’t even scratched the surface in integrating great sound that supports rather than gets in the way of good communication.

Involved in the Social Media Club since its creation, and an active member of the London group, I’ve offered to drive the debate on the use of sound in social media, and I’d love to include your input:

• Attend or watch-out for content from the next London group meeting on 15 March (see http://www.socialmediaclub.org/events/ for details)
• Email me with your questions, topics you’d like us to discuss, or ideas to share. Are your issues based upon skills, copyright, access to resources, technical know-how …? Does sound matter?
• Comment on some of the posts in the Sound Strategies blog, or email your thoughts on these questions:

1. What sticks in your memory? Marketers and communications agencies espouse the importance of music and sound in the promotion of identity and brand. What sounds have stayed with you?
2. New thinking: Sound Strategies maintains a large collection of current research articles dealing with the use of sound and how we react with it. We’ll show you ours if you show us yours!
3. Cool sounds: Have you heard any examples of the effective use of sound? Where … and why?
4. Sound – too much or too little? Technology has provided us with multiple platforms for engaging with sound, but what are the minuses as well as the pluses?
• Look out for and contribute towards an ongoing dialogue in putting the audio into audio-visual!

For those lucky enough to be in Las Vegas – have fun and learn lots!

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]]> http://www.socialmediaclub.org/2007/03/09/we-live-in-audio-visual-age/feed/ http://www.socialmediaclub.org/2007/03/04/what-happens-in-vegas/ http://www.socialmediaclub.org/2007/03/04/what-happens-in-vegas/#comments Sun, 04 Mar 2007 22:31:31 +0000 Kristie Wells http://www.socialmediaclub.org/2007/03/04/what-happens-in-vegas/

…won’t stay in Vegas. It will be podcasted, photographed and blogged.

The Social Media Club founders are headed to Sin City for the NewComm Forum (March 7-9) and Community 2.0 (March 12-14) conferences and would like to invite you to join us for the official launch of the Social Media Clubhouse.

The idea behind the Clubhouse is to provide a low key space where you can hang out with your peers to blog, vidcast, podcast, and chat the night away. It is a space where you can get a comfortable bed to sleep in for $125 per night which includes transportation to/from each conference in our styling six-passenger van (check the wiki for availability). This house also comes with a pool, spa, home theatre, and a pool table, so there will be a few offline events as well. And for those not staying with us in the house - we are only five (5) short minutes to the Venetian and 15 minutes to the Red Rock, so bouncing back and forth is a breeze.

We do not currently have staff or the budget to keep the house open 24/7, but we will plan to have it open each night after the conference (s) and on the weekend inbetween the two events. A full schedule will be available on the SMC wiki and will be updated on Wednesday (3/7) morning.

We would also like to put the call out for sponsors interested in supporting the Clubhouse. We offer several ways for you to participate, or, if you just sold your company to Google and you have a few dollars to burn - take a look at sponsoring the whole she-bang. We are not a venture-backed company, so if the party/BBQ expenses are not covered, we will ask everyone to chip in a few bucks to help defray the cost. Most folks we spoke with said they wouldn’t mind, but I am hoping for a sponsor (or four) so stay tuned - or call me if you know someone who would like to help out.

See you in Vegas!

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