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

By: socialmediabirmingham

socialmediabirmingham — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 18:30:10 +0000

Thanks for the comment, Matt.

I wasn’t trying to decide who was a “social media person” or not. That was not the intent of the comment. It was more to the fact that the format didn’t really give the feeling that those putting on the conference (Brad and yourself) understood that social media was more about conversation breeding information. I would go to say that Social South tainted my view of #nmatl quite a bit. However, I can clearly see now that both of you understand and are looking to improve by the pure fact that I’ve see your comments in the community. I look forward to the future of #nmatl and would love to be a part of the feedback process for the planning on #nmatl2. Please keep me informed.
–DW

By: Matt Fagioli

Matt Fagioli — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 15:19:06 +0000

Definitely listening. One of our awesome speakers at nmatl (Jeff Turner) talked about “stepping back and looking for the pattern” in the collective noise. That’s what we’re doing right now. Please keep the info coming.

One spot above where I think you may have gone a bit wrong is…

…”I seriously doubt that they are Social Media people”.

So, who gets to decide if “we’re social media people”? What is that anyway?
Did I miss a certification class or something? I think we’re all just people – who are now connected more actively by social media. Everyone.

It seems to me (at least I hope) that all us social media people are inclusive-not divisive; friendly and understand-not critical and negative, right? So can’t we all be social media people together? all trying to figure out what’s next together? figuring out how to nail the next conference together?

If we’re seeking to build a community event where all have a voice and all groups are coming together in Atlanta (and that’s our intent with nmatl) then there will be no room for who’s in and who’s out. It’s just an event where we’re ALL in – having a great event together.

Certainly welcome any and all wisdom on how to create community like that.

By: Brad Nix

Brad Nix — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 13:49:04 +0000

thanks for the feedback. we are certainly listening, working hard to filter the noise and find the signal. glad to read that “Hearing Brogan was worth the price of admission.” and really appreciate the format suggestions. we need all the help we can get to raise the bar next event and put Atlanta on the national stage. my hope is that negative becomes constructive and detractors become volunteers, partners, or advisers.

By: Josh

Josh — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 03:17:50 +0000

Great post! I think #soso was so much more valuable that #nmatl. All the speakers at #soso engaged with their audience so well. Sad to see that all except @chrisbrogan fail to do that at #nmatl.

By: Emily

Emily — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 17:53:27 +0000

You’re right about the format. There were so many smart people in the audience that would have loved a more interactive format. We would have all benefited. By trying to make social media people conform to a one-way conversation and ask questions only at the end, they forced the use of BackNoise which they decided to listen to and then complain about it later. I saw snarking that these were real estate people and maybe this kind of format works in that industry.

I want there to be great conferences in Atlanta which is why I went. Like you say, we have have the ingredients. I’d add that there some nice events held by local professional groups– AIMA, CHI*A, etc. We just need a real social media expert to bring the groups together and come up with a program that has good blend of esoteric and broadly appealing topics. And run it well.

By: Celia Dyer

Celia Dyer — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 16:49:29 +0000

Atlantans are complaining about the New Media Atlanta conference, too: http://bit.ly/DSkgb