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The Tuesday after… #nmatl, For Social Media People, Not By Social Media People

Sep 29

Posted by socialmediabirmingham in Alabama, Atlanta, PR, Social Media, marketing, twitter | Comments

Wow! What a weekend of Social Media goodness. I honestly wish I could have done more (not that 2 conferences isn’t enough), but alas, I’m only one person. So, let’s get to it, shall we?

New Media Atlanta – For Social Media People, Not By Social Media People

Friday morning at about the butt-crack of dawn, I jumped into the car with @briancauble, @andreafwalker, and @joshgrenon for a little road trip goodness. As the anointed driver of the group (voted most awake and most caffeinated), I navigated us (via GPS) to GaTech for New Media Atlanta.

First think I must say about #nmatl is that it was well organized. But from the time that I walked into the lecture hall it was being held in, I knew it wasn’t going to go well. It immediately reminded me of a quote that I had recently hear from one of those big named social media folks…

The difference between an audience and a community is which direction the chairs are pointing.

Now, having been to #soso in August, (not nearly as well organized as #nmatl) I realized that while the people who ran #nmatl may use Social Media, but I seriously doubt that they are Social Media people.

#soso focused on interaction, not just lecture. Granted we grouped together to hear @ajkeen and @mideastyouth, but most of the conference were tag-team sessions that promoted more discussion than lecture. One great example was where @jasonfalls and @RichardAtDell discussed creating a Social Media strategy and asked the audience the question while guiding the conversation. Kudos to those guys for a great session and the organizers of #soso for using that format.

Now I realize that most of the people in attendance were marketers (a live pole was done via text) and that marketers are used to the “bullhorn”. But, social media is about interaction, discussion, networking, etc. And I quite frankly feel that I didn’t get that kind of value from #nmatl. The biggest takeaway from the conference is that I won’t be back next year if they don’t change the format.

With the exception of Brogan. Hearing Brogan was worth the price of admission. Just wish I had known that a week ago, and I would have planned to go listen to him in Nashville.

Now, don’t think I’m spiteful. I think that #nmatl is a great idea and would benefit from some tweaking of the format. I’m hopeful that the organizers will listen to the feedback (hopefully they are hearing the same feedback that I have been) and change the format of the conference. Atlanta has a great deal of marketers, PR people, companies, conference space, etc. Essentially, all the ingredient to make #nmatl nationally recognized as the place to be for Social Media Pros.

I think a lot of people will be interested to see what happens next year.

What is the "Complete Package" when it comes to Social Media Consultants?

Apr 28

Posted by socialmediabirmingham in Consulting, Job Skills, PR, Social Media, business, marketing, public relations | Comments

Now, I’m not a guy to take one thing and stick to it. I deal in systems. Things working together to make a whole. Like a computer. Like a retail store. Like a company.

And a Social Media Consultant has to be a product of a system. Be versed in not just Social Media, but other aspects of how a business operates. I’m not just talking about day-to-day operations. Yes, you need to know those to be able to generate content. I’m talking about 3 other key “job skills” that will make anyone in Social Media (consultant or otherwise) successful.

1) Public or Media Relations – I worked as a student social media consultant for a university for a little under a year. The little bit of information that I picked up there has probably served me better than any other former job that I’ve had. You never realize how a little bit of the wrong information can cast a bad light on an organization. Now, I’m not telling corporate blogger not to be honest and genuine. I’m just saying that you don’t have to post every detail of everything.

2) Marketing – I spent 4-5 years working closely with the same university’s athletic marketing department. I learned two things from them: the real definition of hard work (I swear they never slept from August to May) and how to market effectively using a hell of a lot less resources than you should have. Trust me, as a consultant, I emphasis to my clients that I do things as cost-effectively and user-friendly as possible. There are a lot of free services that, if coupled with some low-cost options, are just as good as some “all-in-one” services.

3) Running – No, I’m not talking about a marathon. I’m talking about being a student runner in the same university’s provost office (can you tell that I was busy in college?). Being able to watch how a business worked and how business works (which ARE two very different things) has taught me more about connecting with people than social media will ever teach me. While Social Media is great to get information about people, actual face-to-face contact with someone will never replace how business gets done. Making that personal connection personalizes the interaction and makes people more responsive to opportunities.