Social Media Rockstar Event in D.C.

Last night, my husband and I attended a really fun event held by the DC New Media Tech (Web / Video), which is run by its dedicated leader, Paul Worsham . Kady (I did not catch her last name!) organized this particular event. She did a great job and I plan to find out more about her work as a social media contractor for Booz.

Just some quick highlights from the presentations:

Justin Thorpe who is the Developer Community manager at Clearspring. He described his job: "as a Community Manager I get paid to make friends"

Jared Goralnick of Awayfind offered some pragmatic advice: be nice to people and make friends *before* you need them!

But the most memorable presentation was from Chris Melissinos, Chief Gaming Officer, at Sun Microsystems. His presentation was like a study of the cultural anthropology of gaming. I'll never forget some points he made, like: "for the first time in history, we have gamers raising gamers" and how today's youth are very "thumb oriented" (I can't do his presentation justice here, you have to hear him tell the tale!) Chris is a dynamic, engaging presenter -- If you ever see him on the agenda at an event, you have to go! He is a MUST SEE!

How Social Media swayed me to vote for Obama

I heard a word on TV last night that I don't think I have ever heard on TV before. "LAYAWAY." It's certainly not a new concept -- I've just never heard it on a TV ad. K-Mart is advertising to "start your holiday shopping early, put it on layaway and you'll have it in time for Christmas."

My husband's parents amassed a small fortune despite having a modest income and raising 9 children. Whenever I asked Dave how they did it, he said "they grew up during the Great Depression." For the first time in my life I actually understand this mentality. I am very fortunate I don't have to make any tough choices (yet) but I chat with the security guard at our office who had to stop taking his law school night classes because the cost of gas.

Younger Americans are going to be affected by the economy. The cost of college is skyrocketing, and recent Business School grads will find that there are no jobs available.

I was planning to vote for McCain until about a month ago. The choice of Sarah Palin as running mate was disappointing, but I am strongly opposed to big government because I have had experience working with unmotivated, uninspired Federal workers. They are not rewarded for taking risks, only punished when things go wrong. I worked for a Federal contractor and I saw how they stretch out a project -- the longer it takes, the more money they get. This is why I want my tax dollars to stay local; I am suspicious of "big government."

But I was swayed by the passion and enthusiasm I see in the user-generated content on YouTube -- GenY LOVES Obama. I also saw the fanatical support on my Facebook network (Gen X), and through the people I follow on Twitter. Several of my good friends (Fay Mark, Karen Henke and Mary-Dixie Carter) were rabid Obama supporters from the start. The social network "My.BarackObama.com" helped them reach out to people like me.

Times are tough, and we're probably only seeing the beginning. When people are losing their homes, their savings, and the promise of a prosperous future, the only thing that is going to keep them going is hope. This is why I voted for Obama. But I might not have really seen the passion people have for Obama if it weren't for my online social networks.

I got inspired to write this blog post when I read this article from Wired: Propelled by Internet, Barack Obama Wins Presidency

Help create believers in Social Media!

Help me show how effective social media can be as a recruiting tool! I've already spammed my networks on LinkedIn, but now I'm casting a wider net by posting this on my blog. I'd love to raise some eyebrows and impress my colleagues here at VeriSign with the effectiveness of online social networks.

Help me find qualified candidates for these jobs which are in Dulles, VA; Mountain View, CA and New York, NY. I figure that at this point all of us know *someone* who is looking for a job. And, as the self-crowned "social media queen" of VeriSign it behooves me to create a real-world case study for Twitter and Blogging. (full disclosure: I'll get a referral bonus if someone gets hired - but that's not what is motivating me here, ok? REALLY!)

Jobs in Mountain View, CA and New York City


Jobs in Dulles, VA

A Social Media Case Study from Radian6

Since June I've been bugging social media experts like Amy Paquette of Cisco, Gia Lyons of Jive Software, Steve Mann of SAP, Tac Anderson of HP, and Jeff Moriarty and Kelly Feller of Intel. I've been looking for the "Holy Grail of Social Media" - namely, case studies and ROI. So I'm pleased to tell you that VeriSign is now featured in a new case study from the brilliant Social Media Monitoring company, Radian6. Now I finally have something to give back to all of these folks who have been so generous with their time.

What Radian6 does is amazing. With all those "Google Alerts" and other info available, it can get tough to figure out what's worth paying attention to. Radian6 is a blogosphere monitoring tool that helps cut through the noise and understand:

-- Who is talking about your brand?
-- What's the level of engagement around any particular post?
-- What's the overall influence of the blogger?

The tool takes a little training, since it is a bit complex. You create your own customized "River of News" which is an apt analogy, because without this tool you're drowning in data. Radian6 (and Mike Manuel and Ryan Lack of Voce) have helped VeriSign stay on top of current trends, and much more...read the case study!

VeriSign and Voce Communications: A Radian6 Case Study

Dear Pepsi: Stop Anointing and Start Listening

WHEREAS
I don't really give a rat's a** what your logo looks like, as long as you don't change the taste of Diet Pepsi (by the way, I preferred the way it tasted last year, when the cans were light blue. It tastes funny now.) However, I would appreciate it if I could get Diet Pepsi at every fast food joint, restaurant and Movie Theater. My preferred soda is notably absent at AMC Theaters and Chik Fil-A.

It's clear that you are not asking your customers what they want. If you had asked for MY feedback, instead of rebranding, I would have suggested you focus on improving your distribution.

FURTHERMORE
Stop anointing people as "top 25" influencers. The other hundreds of top influencers are probably peeved that they weren't chosen in your top 25. Remember that they all got to be "influencers" because, much like entertainers, they seek the approval and attention of the outside world (no offense to anyone, I'm in that category too.) This reminds me of Intel's stunt with their "insiders" campaign. I'm sure those chosen ones are enjoying their new Macbook Airs. At least Intel used the pretense of asking social media experts for guidance. But YOUR lucky top 25 are getting packages full of old cans and bottles. Where's the fun in that? I'd rather be an "Intel Insider" than a Pepsi "top 25-er"

IN SUMMARY
Here is my "Pepsi Challenge." If just ONE Pepsi employee responds to this post, I'll be thrilled and will tell MY huge following of 200+ Twitterati that Pepsi "gets it." If not, well then Pepsi will just join my list here on my blog of the companies that DON'T. But yeah, I'll still drink Diet Pepsi anyway.

What Roswell Taught Me about Social media

As we walked through the Best Western in Roswell, I noticed that people sat in their rooms with their doors wide open. I thought, "Are they waiting for a pizza delivery? Why else would they just leave their doors open?" My husband, said "They are waiting for their friends to stop by." I have never seen people do that. It turned out that the reason for the crowds was the Eastern New Mexico State Fair. I begged my husband to take me to the fair. He did not understand the fascination, but he indulged me.

I saw pretty much everything you'd expect to see at a state fair, but since I'd never been to one, the whole experience was pretty exciting for me.I saw a bunch of shorn sheep who were mournfully saying "baaaa." I got to pet a cow, who tried to eat my belt. I was thinking I could put this image on some Moo cards...


I saw a New Mexican delicacy called "Frito Pie."


Every time I visit this small town , I am struck by the friendliness and openness of the people. You sense it everywhere you go, just listening to conversations. People spend more time actually talking to each other. My father-in-law was an extraordinary man, and it seemed like half the town came to his funeral. Most of us don't experience this type of strong family and community. Especially those of us who grew up in urban and suburban settings or come from fragmented families.

Human beings are social animals. We run in packs, like dogs (which is probably why we like them so much.) It's that craving for human contact that compels me to get sucked into Facebook for hours, just to find out what acquaintances ate for dinner last night, or to dwell on random twitter posts and blogs. But I don't consider social media a substitute for a "real" social life, probably because most of my friends are not "users." They are starting to catch on, though, and when they do, the applications will become even more relevant to my life.

Steal This Social Media Plan!

I recently put together a Social Media Program plan for 2009. My hope was to expand our existing blog program into a larger entity that would coordinate and oversee the social media efforts of our disparate business units. There is a need for proper processes and policies, and especially for education around the "dos and dont's" of social media. I caught wind of some rogue marketers who plan to spam the blogosphere with their messages. I quickly pinged Amy Paquette of Cisco, who has been a great source of knowledge and advice. She advised that training and education should be a primary focus of any social media program. Well, here is my proposed plan. I'm not sure how well it has served my purposes, so I encourage everyone else to see if there is any value in it for them. Then at least I won't feel like I have wasted my time.

An Actual Social Media Program Plan / Strategy

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