Archive for November, 2009

Why Do Conferences Suck?

I absolutely crave face to face time with people. I see offline relationships as the heart of marketing.

This is why I keep going to conferences despite the face that most conferences suck. I am in the heart of this world now since creating my own social media conference series, Social Fresh. Here are just a few of the things that encouraged me to find my own solution.

The Four Horsemen of the Conference Apocalypse

Too much hyperbole there?

1. No Networking – Many conferences just cram as much content in as possible and lose track of encouraging conversations. Provide physical space that encourages connecting. Provide time in the day that allows connecting. Create reason for people to connect.
2. Bad Speakers – Where to begin… Unreadable slides, reading from slides verbatim, simply boring, no examples, no case studies, and please, I do not need your life story as an intro. Cut to the meat.
3. Too Big – Don’t get me wrong, I love SXSW and Blogworld, and Web 2.0 for the shear scale of what they do. And they fill a need. But at some point, finding good content, relevant connections, and just navigating these events successfully takes too much effort.
4. Too Serious – Yes we are there to learn. No, I don’t need an all day happy hour. But, please lighten up a bit. Throw some spice into the recipe. People like getting away from their desks. Make the day a little more than just instruction. Make it an experience.

Complaints that don’t bother me so much

1. No Wifi – I get it, we all want to tweet about an event. It is worth complaining about, but let’s face it, there are plenty of venues and cities that just have crappy cell and wifi capabilities. Wifi does not make an event. And I can attend a great event with no wifi and get just as much out of it.
2. Bad Food – Again, I am not there for the food.
3. Too Expensive – It is business. Charge what you want. I either think it is worth it or I don’t. Conferences can be expensive endeavors. This value equation is completely different for each person.

Over the last year I have shifted from spending most of my professional time on social media consulting to spending most of my time working on Social Fresh. It is much more rewarding. But it is also not for everyone.

Social Fresh is simple. It is specifically for marketers that want to see the full potential of social media. We bring big brands and smart people in the social media space to a city near you. Big event content, small event networking and discussion.

Jason Bourne vs. Jack Bauer

I asked Twitter the other day, “Who would win in a fight between Jason Bourne and Jack Bauer [link]” (because that is the kind of dorky stuff I like to do on Twitter).

The answer was obviously Chuck Norris (as pointed out by Michael Wouri).

The Chuck Norris facts are some of the funniest and longest running internet memes that I know of.

It got me thinking. Would you not love to be the 3rd answer in these conversations as a business?

Not the 3rd best, but the unique brand in your arena, the purple cow as Seth Godin would say. The brand that people bring up to break a mold, the trump a conversation, to make the conversation more interesting.

Beyond starting a 5 year long hilarious self-perpetuating internet meme, what are your options? Being sexy is not always the answer. Jason Bourne and Jack Bauer are well known badasses from their respective Hollywood domains. But Chuck, he has an empire of fans devoted to his remarkable nature. He is different. Remarkable.

Remarkable scales.

10 Great Corporate Blogs

Blogging is tricky. It is part information, part personality. Part entertainment, part education. There are so many directions to take a blog, many of which are not that entertaining or informative. One key stumbling block is we all like talking about ourselves, a lot, and as Chris Brogan points out, we might be addicted to giving our own opinions.

What do I like to see in a corporate blog?

• self deprecation
• humor
• photos (please add some life to your posts)
• video
• interaction
• update more often (I assume you guys come to work every day?)
• talk about me not you (AKA solve my problems)

Who is Doing it Right?

10 Great Corporate Blogs

Zappos – The wild and woolly culture blog at Zappo’s is a great look inside of a fun company.

Southwest – Very true to the Southwest culture, this blog lives on service, family, and helping Southwest customers.

Marriott – No sexy design awards here, but the content is genuine and the community around the blog is strong.

GM – Strong in almost every category I can think of. Big splash, big content, rich media.

Quicken Loans – Quicken’s Whats the Diff blog is a nice mix of company culture and a dissection of “exposing the gap between average and excellent”. Stepping back to such a broad view is a unique a engaging strategy.

Vans – Heaping spoonfuls of culture here with plenty of video, photos, and stories about the consumers and celebrities that dig their shoes.

WordPress – Most of the WordPress blog success can be attributed to an understanding of the audience. They know their bloggers, they know what they love, they give it to them.

Sharpie – Sharpie truly embraces the creation their product allows. They do a great job of using rich media and telling engaging stories.

Kodak – To be fair, Kodak really does not even have to think about including photos. It is kind of required. But still, A Thousand Words really goes above and beyond to feature real Kodak consumers and fans.

PlayStation – Feeding the vast, rabid community that is video game enthusiasts is tough. For most, this blog might be a little overwhelming, but for PlayStation addicts, it is heaven.

Give Thanks, Help Kids in Tanzania #Tweetsgiving

Last year for Thanksgiving, Twitter gathered around a cause to raise $10,000 for a small Tanzanian school. It was a simple rally to help, to give a few kids that are a world away a shot at education, a chance for a new start. [Donate this year, details at the bottom of the post]

Today that school has grown from 6 students to over 350. The students are on Twitter, they are blogging, and now have laptops and some nice books.

TweetsGiving 2009 from LittlePurpleCow Productions on Vimeo.

Scheduled for November 24 – 26, 2009, the 48-hour event created by US nonprofit Epic Change will encourage participants to express their thanks using online tools and at live events. Join the celebration: www.tweetsgiving.org

If there is not a Tweetsgiving near you, give thanks by donating $10 by just text ‘thanks NY’ to 85944. Multiple texts = multiple donations

The Democratization of Advertising

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