GUEST POST: The Last Blog Potomac – “Now” is Gone
Tuesday, October 27th, 2009
Written by Cameron Barry, senior communications specialist at Strategic Conversations.
The fourth and last Blog Potomac, a social media marketing event organized by Geoff Livingston and Debbie Weil, was held on Friday, October 23. From the time this event was first announced, Livingston had made it clear that it would be his last. Livingston has since announced the sale of his company Livingston Communications to CRT/tanaka and his subsequent plans to take time off before launching a new venture (as yet to be disclosed) later next year.
Geoff Livingston (Flickr photo by: lunaweb)
Livingston further explained in his opening remarks that since the first Blog Potomac was held, the social media community in the D.C. area had become well established and that there were lots of other events to attend. The title of this post, by the way, is taken from the “primer on new media” that Livingston wrote with Brian Solis. Published in 2007, the book is still worth reading.
More of a taste of what was to come was evident from the agenda, which divided the day into two parts:
- Traditional Social Media Keynotes
- The Future of Online Media Sessions
Greeting the attendees, Livingston said we were not a “101 crowd,” but for anyone who’s just starting to get their feet wet in social media (and that’s way more than the 100 or so people at BlogPotomac), the idea that we can already consider some of it “traditional” may come as a surprise.
I agree with conference co-organizer Debbie Weil: Social media is not yet widely adopted, but it is widely discussed.
To further this discussion, I’ve organized my review of the conference into seven key takeaways:
1.) Pass the Rhizomes, Please
The day’s first speaker was Beth Kanter, a consultant to non-profits in the area of effective technology use and scholar in residence at the Packard Foundation.
While Kanter’s focus is on non-profits and “movement building,” her approach – working in a networked way, network weaving, creating social cultures within organizations, and transparency – is equally relevant for the private sector.
KEY TAKEAWAY: While for-profit businesses may not be focused on movement building per se, they are (or should be) creating a culture around their brands and fostering connections with and among internal and external communities with shared interests.
Think beyond a blog and the blogging community, Kanter urged, think beyond what technology can do, think beyond what you as an individual can do. Focus instead on “network weaving” to make a culture of creating connections and spreading ideas.
Within an organizational setting, however, this can only be done within a “social” culture where the spread of ideas is supported by open leadership (like rhizomes, which are underground, horizontal stems that send out roots and shoots from their nodes). Transparency doesn’t mean a lack of respect for what’s confidential or violating privacy; it does mean being open to comment or criticism – “being comfortable with discomfort,” as Kanter said. She urged organizations not to view a social culture as one where employees are “wasting time on Facebook,” but rather where the sharing of ideas is seen as beneficial to the cause or brand.
2.) Tools Change, People Remain the Same
Flickr photo by: elstudio (www.elstudio.us)
Shel Israel, author of the newly published Twitterville, was next on the agenda. He says he first realized the power of Twitter in 2008, when he heard about James Buck, a photojournalism student who was arrested in Egypt and subsequently released, largely owing to the efforts of his Twitter network. Shel’s book is about “how businesses can thrive in the new global neighborhoods,” but he gave examples of social media success that went well beyond traditional business, from San Francisco’s BART public transportation system to a village in England that uses Twitter to update residents on weather conditions and school closings far faster than the BBC.
KEY TAKEAWAY: Asked for some ideas about the future, Shel said he thinks we are at the end of the “beginning era” of social media, a period of enormous innovation and disruption that has forced people to do things differently. As the best practices of social media become the norm, we will enter a long steady period of slower growth that may lack the excitement of the early days.
Where will Twitter’s next million users come from? Will Twitter still be around in another year? While these are reasonable questions to ask, the point is more about listening, responding and connecting. The rise of social media has shown us that these are things we all long for because, as Shel said, “the tools change, but people remain the same.”
3. ) Social Gets Mobile
Two very different speakers, Natalia Luckyanova from Imangi Studios and NPR’s Andy Carvin were up next.
Luckyanova’s company develops iPhone games and applications. In such a competitive market, she has to think of ways to get her message out quickly and effectively. Pre-launch publicity is crucial, because after the actual launch, Imangi has just a few hours before the market turns its attention to something else. Not surprisingly, she uses the full range of social media tools to promote her products, from YouTube videos to gaming forums, to encourage connections among players.
KEY TAKEAWAY: According to just about every BlogPotomac speaker, mobile is major, with gaming just one of many uses — some potentially groundbreaking — of this rapidly evolving technology.
4.) It’s Still About Who You Know
Andy Carvin, who describes himself as “NPR’s social media guy,” is also an activist working to bridge the digital divide.
Stephen Ambrose (Flickr photo by: bgrax)
The public can play a role in reporting news, using tools like Twitter that allow people to share information. Stories and details that fall through the cracks are often kept alive using social media channels. However, just as genuine dialogue has become harder to find on increasingly crowded social networks, so too has separating truth from fiction.
The same can certainly be said for traditional media, especially broadcast, which increasingly reports on rumors and then is forced to make corrections. Twitter, Carvin said, can easily start rumors, but it is also a place where rumors go to die.
KEY TAKEAWAY: The issue, as Beth Kanter noted, is knowing whom to trust and that brings us back to the most time-honored connection of all – human relationships.
5.) Social Gets Local
The afternoon’s first speaker, Crayon’s Jane Quigley, turned the discussion to the future in a presentation that focused mostly on the localization of the web.
Ironically, as the “world wide” web continues to grow and change, the excitement most of us felt at having greater access to a larger world is now becoming highly localized. Local, however, can mean anything from using foursquare to explore our neighborhoods, building communities of interest on Ning or using Groupon to drive customers to local businesses.
KEY TAKEAWAY: According to Quigley, social media is dead from an innovator’s standpoint. It’s becoming widely adopted, and in her view tech tools tend to foster shallow relationships. Verticalization and specialization are two trends to keep your eyes on, she said, suggesting, “instead of having more relationships, focus on the depth of those relationships.”
Now, doesn’t @usegraymatter always tell us to get off our duffs and meet each other IRL? (Also see how GrayMatter Minute is working to make sure Social Gets Local in Baltimore-Washington-Annapolis.)
6.) Map It!
Fortius One
Maps, said FortiusOne CEO Sean Gorman, personalize data. As technology and location become more tightly linked, there seems to be no limit to the meaningful things that can happen in the real world. This is especially true of developing countries, where the powerful combination of social media and geo-location has led to improvements in education, agriculture and housing.
KEY TAKEAWAY: In the developed world, where monetizing opportunities abound, the challenge for consumers will be getting smart about privacy versus convenience. As businesses engage in more efficient and effective targeting, at least some of us are going to want tools that help limit constant access to where we are.
I’m directionally illiterate, but I love maps. If you do too, check out FortiusOne’s blog, Off the Map.
7) Local Is Wherever You Are
According to Ning’s Peter Slutsky, the last speaker of the day, the next generation of social media will be social platforms that bring context to people and their interests and passions.
KEY TAKEAWAY: If Facebook connects you to people you know, LinkedIn connects you to professional colleagues and Twitter connects you to real-time news and events, the next generation of media (remember, it’s not “new” media any more) will offer platforms for creating community.
Ning’s research indicates that there is a less than 50 percent overlap between people you know or work with and your interests and passions. In my view, that’s why local can mean more than just your location and what might be nearby; it can mean the neighborhood of cyclists, activists or gardeners that you want to live among.
Ning can be branded, and unlike Facebook you own your data. You can create custom data feeds, and there are already opportunities for monetization in gift stores or using a new virtual gifts platform.
You can find out more at www.ning.com or follow @ning on Twitter.
That’s All Folks
All in all, BlogPotomac offered an inspiring mix of ideas and tools that can help us create, curate and share information that, used to foster connections among real people, could help make the world a better place. So why has Facebook decided to aggregate my news, without asking what I want to see? That seems pretty old media to me.
Cameron Barry, a regular contributor to GrayMatter Minute, is a communications specialist at Strategic Conversations. You can follow her on twitter at @cameronbarry.
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What I find is something pretty incredible. Folks in the profession are not only on there, but are really using Twitter as a professional tool. I see folks using Twitter as a platform to share ideas, articles, legal blogs and ask for referrals. Only the occasional ham sandwich rears its head. Pretty cool. So, I start to follow people. And they start to follow me back.![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_c.png?x-id=99bbc991-45cd-419a-8189-2e4cbce285b7)
