Everything Enoch

So after a LOOOOONG day at work I was excited to see the alarm on my phone go off. "90 minutes to SMCSLC" was the alert. 5:00 already? That meant I only had 15 minutes to finish my coding and jump in the car. @DeanGirls was waiting for me to pick her up and ride up to Salt Lake City for the Social Media Club event and last time I was late … well …. Let's just say I can't be late again.

So we were talking about what was going to happen that evening. A Meet and Greet. Door prizes. And then a panel discussion. What were we going to discuss? Who knew? It didn't really matter because the last event was pretty cool (see Last Night at the Social Media Club …) so we were excited to see what was going to happen. I've been doing a lot of Consulting with local business owners so seeing other people's viewpoints is always exciting and educational. People grow by being willing to listen and understand various viewpoints.

So we drove and talked for the hour it took to get there. The location changed to the Neutron Interactive facilities in Downtown SLC so finding it for a non-local always takes a few more moments. So we found the place and parked. There were a bunch of people walking into the same building and heading up the elevator to the event so I hoped we didn't miss it … And you couldn't. Not just because @paco_belle and @jyl_MomIF were waiting for everyone at the door, but because IT WAS PACKED WITH PEOPLE!! This was great because a bigger crowd meant more people to meet with and connect.

But I was really hungry, so I mainlined to the drink table to get some water ignoring everyone around me. My apologies to all the people I was rude, but … I really needed something in the tummy. Afterwards I saw @ThomAllen looking at the big Twitter screen and I thought that I would say hello. @ThomAllen has been working REALLY hard on setting up the second PodCampSLC and I wanted to make sure things were going well. I also thought that I would offer help since I also put on a semi-big conference in the fall (WABCON) that Thom has presented at. Just as we were starting to converse the announcement came that the panel was about to start.

So first there were door prizes given out to a number of people. Some pretty cool ones to: Ski Passes to Park City, an eBay gift card, Tickets to Hoogle Zoo and various other items. Then the panel was introduced and given time to talk about themselves. Here are the people and a quick précis about what they said.

• @apowerpoint – Anthony Power – A very diverse technological man with a degree in Psychology, Anthony talked about TRUST and what that means to the conversation in Social Media. He stayed very focused on marketing throughout the meeting and had some great insights and points. For a snippet of insight: http://apowerpoint.blogspot.com/2009/02/explaining-social-media-and-marketing.html
• @todaysmama – Rachael Herrscher – A very insightful woman who spoke about mothers and how influential that demographic is becoming in the world of Social Media. She urged us to be mindful of this growing group and utilize that understanding in how we create campaigns and strategies for Social Media.
• @jesse – Jesse Stay – A hugely popular Social Media connector and author who spoke about creating the "Real Connection" instead of just the virtual connection. He shared a story about a business startup that he was tweeting about that took the time to send him a thank you card and attention about his needs and desires for using their product. It showed that there are real people behind some of the these virtual personas that we sometimes fail to connect with.
• @sarabanut – Sara Brueck Nichols – A strong mannered woman who spoke with great passion about not abusing the connections you have with people. She spoke about non-profits and how by providing information about what services you are provided how powerful that is in the minds of the people you are asking for donations. She also mentioned the power of twitter in the world of @Tweetsgiving and how there are other means of connecting with people who don't know who you are and what your organization is about.
• @comcastcares – Frank Eliason – A surprise panel presenter who arrived a little late. Comcast Cares Frank has become a celebrity in the Tweeterverse with all that he has done for support with Comcast. He didn't have time to talk about himself, but shared some wonderful insights about being personable, connecting and dealing with people who are haters.

So the panel took about a half an hour to give their introductions which left a half an hour to ask questions.

• How do you make a conservative executive take notice of Social Media?
  • Get started using the technology and then show them how it's used
  • Show how being connected can improve product quality and customer satisfaction
  • Build excitement as people see what is happening
• So is "Less is More" truly effective when it comes to getting your information out to the public?
  • Yes. Engage the people who are like minded and you find successful in the future
  • Don't focus on just making money, focus on the relationships    
• How do you differ from the "company" brand to the "personal" brand when you become a bit of a celebrity?
  • It's better have advocates for the company than just the company
  • Recommend looking at the "Zappos" model how to interact in Social Media
  • Branding employee is also Branding himself
  • Train employees to use the Social Media effectively and make the presence known
• What are the psychological trends that make people want to share their lives?
  • A tough question because that if it get's answered the experts would like to know
• Do you fear of spoofing that might ruin your credibility/integrity?
  • Having proof that you are who you say you are is important
  • Link your social sites to your web-sites to prove that it's you
• How does one manage the amount of people when you get above a certain number of connections?
  • Twitter is about the information stream, utilizing applications will help manage the information

I wish I could remember all of the comments made during the evening. Unfortunately my memory isn't that strong but you can find out all the information by watching the UStream video that's online. It shows most of the Panel conversation so everyone can participate in what went on during the evening. On the whole … it was a great event with some very excellent insights.

But it wouldn't be a post without a couple critiques. Here we go:

But even with my insignificant critiques the evening went very well. Congratulations to SMC SLC on a wonderful evening. Keep us all updated on what's goin' on next. We're all listening.