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.

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:

1. Traditional Social Media Keynotes
2. 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

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.

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!

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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On Friday, June 12, I attended BlogPotomac, in Falls Church, Virginia. BlogPotomac is a social media marketing event held for the greater Washington, D.C. community. Attendees enjoy a one-day event with nationally renowned speakers and advanced discussion of best social media marketing practices.

Thought I’d share my top five takeaways from the day.

1. It’s Not About The Technology.

Scott Monty, head of social media at Ford (and on twitter @scottmonty), spoke in the morning and this particular statement of his turned out to be highly “tweetable.” He talked about how social media is not about any given technology, but about a culture shift. It’s a shift we watched take place when the telephone entered the business world and then again when email entered our every day experiences. To paraphrase, technology, he said, will continue to evolve and change; it’s merely a tool to facilitate conversation and an opportunity to leverage more communication channels.

2. If The Leadership Doesn’t “Get It,” Don’t “Get In It.”

This one’s a Scott Monty paraphrase, as well. Bottom line? His success in social media at Ford is owing to the commitment of the company’s leadership to “listen” and “become a better company.” He’s not online “to sell cars” but to build a reputation. He was very clear that he could not have accomplished all that he has without the absolute support and backing of Ford’s leadership. (To read more on this, visit: Buzzcast #71: Scott Monty / Ford Motor Company (Video) and Scott Monty, Ford’s Agent of Change or simply google scott monty and settle in for some good biz-reading.)

3. Don’t Fear Negative Comments; Trust Your Community.

Can I help it if Scott Monty said so much good stuff? His point here? Know when it’s appropriate to respond to negative comments and when it’s not. Once you’ve built a community, you will see that when someone says something negative or untrue about you (or your brand), your community will oftentimes step up and respond for you to set the record straight (because you’ve taken the time and effort to build those positive relationships). I would append to this a comment from the next speaker at BlogPotomac, Liz Strauss. Liz is on twitter @lizstrauss and she blogs at LizStrauss.com. I tweeted at the event that Liz was worth the price of admission. To this end, she made the point that it’s easier “to trust” when you know who you are as an individual and a business. As a small business owner, I get this. And I’ve watched companies (and individuals) with a strong “sense of self” make a smooth transition into the social webs, so the point was well taken. Liz drove it home by adding that “social” should be INTERNAL, first. That is, “you can’t be truly social with customers if you’re not an open-conversation company on the inside.” Think on this one for a sec: Is your company social internally? Is there a strong communication and relationship-building effort between employer and employee? It’s a GREAT question and has never been more timely. (And it speaks to a company’s cultural preparedness to engage in the broader culture shift that social media is ushering in.)

4. Do You Need To Get On An Airplane, Or Get On Twitter?

Well, it doesn’t have to be twitter…it could be a video phone, skype, email, or any other tool. (It’s not about the technology!) At BlogPotomac, Liz Strauss reminded us all that “you don’t lead with the tools, you lead with the relationship.” With social media, you can build those relationships in a handful of different ways these days. (Whereas 10 years ago, you might have had to get on a plane, repeatedly, to build a quality relationship, you can often do more online these days to reduce the time you spend flying the friendly skies.) No one is saying the vis-à-vis isn’t of value, but the virtual can do a heck of a lot for you in between those meetings, if you use it appropriately. If this statement doesn’t resonate with you, then you might ask yourself how you use the telephone or email to build, maintain and support relationships (they’re “virtual,” too) and consider that social media offers similar opportunities to “connect.” If it feels unfamiliar, it’s only a matter of spending the time to learn how to use them well to pull – and push – value.

5. You Don’t Own Your Reputation.

Okay. I like this one. So the same thing we say about a company’s brand can be said about your own reputation. What do we say? Well, we say that “you don’t own a brand, you earn a brand.” So, too, with your reputation. YOU don’t define your reputation – your COMMUNITY/NETWORK does. You know who you are and you live it. They affirm and share it. This was the topic of discussion when Amber Naslund (who works for Radian6, blogs at Altitude Branding and is building her reputation @AmberCadabra) and Aaron Brazell (a.k.a. @technosailor, blogging at technosailor.com) took the stage. Fascinating stuff to consider. Brands are managed by businesses, but “controlled” by customers. To this end, you can’t control what gets put out there about you. You can only do what you do and do it well. The reputation follows. I focused on this portion of the dialogue, though much time was also spent on the notion of “personal branding,” as well as the balance between the personal and the professional brand. To me, it all goes back to reputation – whether you’re a business or an individual working on building relationships – all you can do is be your best you, every day. (Oh, and if you don’t want something showing up online, don’t put it there!)

Blog on!

Thanks to Geoff Livingston for a putting on a really great BlogPotomac. If you missed it, there will be another held in October. I think I heard October 23rd, but you should check the official website for official deets.

One final thought for business leaders and marketing veeps…

When you consider that you “allow” employees to communicate with clients on the phone and via email every single day, “allowing” them to communicate on the social webs (with best practices guidelines in place, of course) is simply a matter of evolving and extending your trust in your employees. An inappropriate email could easily be made public and a phone conversation could be easily converted to an mp3 and posted online for all the world to hear. Employees don’t do those things (typically) because most don’t set out to betray the trust of the company that employs them – or jeopardize their own reputations.

If “fear” feels like a barrier to social media, remember that businesses once feared email and, before that, the telephone. It’s simply not about the technology, it’s about trust and reputation. Social media is giving us all an opportunity to examine and extend the reach of both.

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