In January, Todd Earwood and I officially founded the Social Media Club’s Louisville chapter. We had about 35 people show up for our first meeting. Since then, we’ve met monthly and had a great time learning and growing our networks together.
Last night was our May gathering and the format was an open discussion. I started the group of 25 folks off with a general topic: What do you want to get out of the Social Media Club?
What ensued was a vibrant and involved discussion from some amazing people, some new to social media wanting to learn, others deeply nested in the web social computing can tangle you in. I told them the informal steering committee I’d put together for the club was challenged with coming up with programs for a wide net of folks. Our audience ranges from complete noobs who would struggle to even define social media, to experts in the field; and from developers, programmers and software engineers to marketers, PR folks, to small business owners and venture capitalists. Bottom line: It’s hard to figure out what’s best to cover.
But last night opened our eyes to a great deal of clarity. We have a mission. We have a purpose. And our group, I think, defined it.
The Social Media Club Louisville’s mission is to educate the community about social media and social media tools to improve and enhance its member’s productivity, connectivity and online experience. In doing so, we also evangelize the use of social media for both business and personal success.
That is what I heard last night. Those in attendance (below) can certainly chime in via the comments to ensure we all contribute to that definition, but evangelizing social media seemed to be the consensus. And, even if you are trying to look at SMC involvement as a business opportunity, it makes sense. If more people adopt social media, there’s more of an audience to reach, more potential clients to recruit and the like.
And what a convenient time to get this message from the members! Social media enthusiasts in Indianapolis and Charlotte have contacted me recently wanting to know what I did to start SMC Louisville. Andre Natta, Ike Pigott and my former peeps in Birmingham are dreaming up un-conferences and WordCamps and the discipline is growing elsewhere also.
As we sit here today, we are all on the forefront of what I believe will be an explosion for the social web in the next five years. More and more case studies are going to come down the pike to give even the most fearful and conservative of businesses the value proposition they need to say, “yes,” to what we are recommending. As social media thinkers, enthusiasts or even just interested parties, the time is now. But that time is what we make of it.
Today you should show someone how to use RSS feeds. You should explain the usefulness of Twitter. You should illustrate the value in sharing bookmarks socially to someone who still uses browser favorites. You should help someone find their ideal blog topic.
Teaching social media benefits you. It gives you a broader network of individuals to choose from, brings expertise in areas outside the bounds of our own to our friends lists, our communities. It provides greater depth and breadth to conversations. It might even connect or reconnect you to old friends, classmates and even family members.
And for those of you in the social media business, it puts you in the position of expert to people who might one day be in need of more experienced thinking or strategic planning for social media programs.
Part of our discussion led us to wonder what nursing homes would be like if we could teach all those patients who go through life with a sense of loneliness how to use social media to connect with each other or their families. Imagine how impactful we could be!
But we only can be if we stop talking to each other and start showing the rest of the world what social media is. Get out of the echo chamber and show your mother how to find you using tweets and “@” signs. Find a friend and show them how to cut down on surf time by subscribing to RSS feeds.
More importantly, join the Social Media Club in your area. If there isn’t one, start one. If you want to know how, ask. Or check out the national organization’s blog or wiki.
Educate + Evangelize
It’s going to take an army of us to push this ball up the hill. But there is a summit and the other side is going to be fun to see.
Those in attendance in Louisville last night included:
Jake McKee, one of the foremost experts on on- and off-line community and brand ambassador building will be the featured guest and speaker at the July gathering of the Social Media Club Louisville on Tuesday, July 15. McKee, who blogs at CommunityGuy.com, is the principal and chief ant wrangler at Ant’s Eye View, a Dallas-based customer collaboration strategy practice. In a past life, McKee was the Global Community Relations Specialist for the LEGO Company, where he spent five years on the front lines of customer-company interaction. A well-known and respected social media expert, McKee is a highly sought after conference speaker and consultant.
The event will take place from 6:30 until 8:30 p.m. at the Louisville Visual Arts Association at the Water Tower, 3005 River Road at Zorn Avenue in Louisville. Complimentary hours d’ovres will be served. A cash beer and wine bar will be available. The evening is co-sponsored by the Louisville Visual Art Association and Doe-Anderson.
Those interested in attending are asked to RSVP by emailing us at smclouisville — at — gmail.com. And spread the word — it’s not everyday we get a chance to learn community building from an expert of Jake’s magnitude. Just please encourage people to RSVP via email.
Special thanks to Ashley Cecil and the staff of the Louisville Visual Arts Association and Doe-Anderson for their generosity in bringing Jake to town and providing such an exquisite location for our July gathering.
Image via WikipediaThe June gathering of the Social Media Club Louisville will take place from 6:30 p.m. until 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 17, 2008 at the Fox & Hound Pub & Grille at 302 Bullitt Lane (behind Kohl’s next to Oxmoor Mall) (Google Map It!). This month’s event will be strictly for networking, informal meet and greet, discussion and conversation. Food and drink will be on your own. Please RSVP by sending us an email at smclouisville -at- gmail.com to ensure we have an accurate head count.
Also, after last month’s edict from the group that SMC Louisville should be more proactive in educating those not familiar with social media and furthering the education of those of us already involved, the steering committee has been hard at work formulating plans for outreach. If you are a member of another professional organization in town and would like to arrange for members of the social media club to get involved or present to your group, please let us know. We’ll reach out to several on our own, but the more contacts we have, the more far-reaching our efforts will be.
Keep an eye on the blog for news of an upcoming Social Media Breakfast series geared toward the novice social media users as well.
In January, Todd Earwood and I officially founded the Social Media Club’s Louisville chapter. We had about 35 people show up for our first meeting. Since then, we’ve met monthly and had a great time learning and growing our networks together.
Last night was our May gathering and the format was an open discussion. I started the group of 25 folks off with a general topic: What do you want to get out of the Social Media Club?
What ensued was a vibrant and involved discussion from some amazing people, some new to social media wanting to learn, others deeply nested in the web social computing can tangle you in. I told them the informal steering committee I’d put together for the club was challenged with coming up with programs for a wide net of folks. Our audience ranges from complete noobs who would struggle to even define social media, to experts in the field; and from developers, programmers and software engineers to marketers, PR folks, to small business owners and venture capitalists. Bottom line: It’s hard to figure out what’s best to cover.
But last night opened our eyes to a great deal of clarity. We have a mission. We have a purpose. And our group, I think, defined it.
The Social Media Club Louisville’s mission is to educate the community about social media and social media tools to improve and enhance its member’s productivity, connectivity and online experience. In doing so, we also evangelize the use of social media for both business and personal success.
That is what I heard last night. Those in attendance (below) can certainly chime in via the comments to ensure we all contribute to that definition, but evangelizing social media seemed to be the consensus. And, even if you are trying to look at SMC involvement as a business opportunity, it makes sense. If more people adopt social media, there’s more of an audience to reach, more potential clients to recruit and the like.
And what a convenient time to get this message from the members! Social media enthusiasts in Indianapolis and Charlotte have contacted me recently wanting to know what I did to start SMC Louisville. Andre Natta, Ike Pigott and my former peeps in Birmingham are dreaming up un-conferences and WordCamps and the discipline is growing elsewhere also.
As we sit here today, we are all on the forefront of what I believe will be an explosion for the social web in the next five years. More and more case studies are going to come down the pike to give even the most fearful and conservative of businesses the value proposition they need to say, “yes,” to what we are recommending. As social media thinkers, enthusiasts or even just interested parties, the time is now. But that time is what we make of it.
Today you should show someone how to use RSS feeds. You should explain the usefulness of Twitter. You should illustrate the value in sharing bookmarks socially to someone who still uses browser favorites. You should help someone find their ideal blog topic.
Teaching social media benefits you. It gives you a broader network of individuals to choose from, brings expertise in areas outside the bounds of our own to our friends lists, our communities. It provides greater depth and breadth to conversations. It might even connect or reconnect you to old friends, classmates and even family members.
And for those of you in the social media business, it puts you in the position of expert to people who might one day be in need of more experienced thinking or strategic planning for social media programs.
Part of our discussion led us to wonder what nursing homes would be like if we could teach all those patients who go through life with a sense of loneliness how to use social media to connect with each other or their families. Imagine how impactful we could be!
But we only can be if we stop talking to each other and start showing the rest of the world what social media is. Get out of the echo chamber and show your mother how to find you using tweets and “@” signs. Find a friend and show them how to cut down on surf time by subscribing to RSS feeds.
More importantly, join the Social Media Club in your area. If there isn’t one, start one. If you want to know how, ask. Or check out the national organization’s blog or wiki.
Educate + Evangelize
It’s going to take an army of us to push this ball up the hill. But there is a summit and the other side is going to be fun to see.
Those in attendance in Louisville last night included:
Image by @bdthomas via FlickrTuesday night’s expert blogging panel was yet another resounding success for the Social Media Club Louisville. An unofficial count of 55 people attended to hear Chris Pearson, Rob May, Michelle Jones and me share thoughts and experiences on blogging. Our co-founder, Todd Earwood, saved the day for those of you either not in attendance or in the back of the room (I promise we’re trying to find a more suitable venue for meetings).
Here are the videos, chopped up for ease and distribution of time commitment. Come back often to see them all if you can’t squeeze them all in now. And do scroll down for some great photos and links to other posts talking about our panel.
Just a note to let everyone know of an additional learning opportunity this week, in addition to reminding everyone of Tuesday’s April Gathering of the Social Media Club Louisville.
And Tuesday night will be our regular monthly gathering (Have you remembered “Third Tuesday” yet?) featuring an expert panel on blogging. We’ll meet from 6:30 p.m. until 8:30 p.m. at Fox and Hound Grille and Pub next to Oxmoor Mall. If you haven’t RSVP’d, please do so via email at smclouisville — at — gmail.com or on the Facebook group. For more on the panel, check out our announcement post here.
How exciting is it that five months ago, people in Louisville weren’t talking about social media much, and now there are back-to-back days with learning opportunities? Can’t wait to see you Tuesday. Be sure to go out and support Aaron, plus see what the others have to say Monday if you can.
Since our adventure into social media began with our inaugural gathering in January, I’ve continually solicited feedback both generally at meetings and via club communications and individually with folks involved that I know and trust. The one thing that continues to come up is that not enough people feel like they know everyone. So instead of programming something for March, let’s just get to know each other.The March gathering of the Social Media Club Louisville will be an evening of networking, informal content producing (I’ll interview people for our blog, my blog or even your blog if you like!), game playing and general get-to-know-you goodness. Our friends at CNET have graciously extended their gathering space as a venue, which includes Wii, X-Box and PlayStation3 set ups for the gamers in the club. We’ll have some informal dinner and snack options (suggestions are welcome) as well.
Hopefully, the fun and frolic will better enable us to connect to one another. We’ll concentrate on continued learning in April and may even use March to gather suggestions from everyone on what we want to explore next.
WHO: Champions of social media and those wishing to learn
WHAT: March Gathering of the Social Media Club Louisville
WHEN: Tuesday, March 18 (Third Tuesdays, remember?) from 7 p.m. until 9 p.m.
WHERE: CNET, 1630 Lyndon Farm Court, Louisville, Ky. (Off LaGrange Road between Whipps Mill and Hurstbourne Parkway) (Google Map It)
WHY: To network, mingle and have fun
For more information, email us at smclouisville - at - gmail.com or subscribe to the RSS feed of our blog.
Another SMC Louisville member interviewed at our inaugural meeting in January is featured this week on WebProNews. Brian Wallace of NowSourcing.com chats with Mike McDonald about social media. Kudos Brian!
Today’s Business Firstcover story about social media was, without a doubt, more than we could have ever imagined. Terry Boyd couldn’t make our first meeting last month. He called me the following Friday to follow up and see if anyone showed. Obviously, he was impressed with the turnout and fascinated with the subject matter that unites us all: social media.
Having worked in public relations and journalism for over 15 years now, I’ve learned that your first reaction to stories is always on the negative side, even if it shouldn’t be. You wish they had interviewed more of the people involved, that they’d offered more links to many of our companies’ websites or blogs, or that they gave WebProNews the appropriate credit for that goofy picture of me. But after your initial reaction settles a bit you realize what it means: This was a fantastic door-opener for the conversation about social media in Louisville and the region.
Talking to Todd Earwood tonight, he said it best:
“This is the perfect publication and the perfect audience to read this. The people who read Business First are the people we want interested in social media. Granted, they’ve got a long way to go before the ‘get it,’ but this puts it in front of them.”
I would add that it probably puts social media in front of many of them for the first time.
Terry Boyd is a friend in the media for us. If you get a chance to meet him at some point, or you know him, be sure to thank him for turning the legacy media eye on us new media folk for a little bit. He truly is fascinated by the world we’re playing in and may even wind up coming to many of our meetings.
Congratulations are in order for Todd and Joe Fowler for representing us well. Anyone who read the article knows now that Joe is skeptical and leery of folks like me (who work at advertising agencies) but having that counterpoint is what captivated Terry so much and led to a larger piece than we expected. I’m always for balance in the discussion and even agree with Joe that marketers must learn to play by the rules in social media or they won’t be welcome.
While I’m excited to hear what our three February discussion leaders have to say about selling social media in a couple weeks, I think we’ve gone a long way to the possibility of doing so in this market with this article.
Just a quick post to give everyone the link to our COVER STORY in today’s Business First. They want you to subscribe online to read the whole thing. The issues hit news stands today. Todd and I will try to summarize it and our thoughts as soon as we can get hold of the full copy!
Click here for the teaser on Business First’s website.
(LOOK! Our blog is on the front flippin’ page! How cool is that?)
The article was written by Terry Boyd. I can’t wait to read it! In fact, I’m going to go buy a copy right now.
And sometimes, you just have to write a little extra to ensure the graphic hanging off the bottom of the post doesn’t mess with your layout. Okay, now I’m going to buy my copy.
Selling Social Media will be the topic of discussion at the February gathering of the Social Media Club Louisville. The group will meet from 7 p.m. until 9 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2008 at Ramsi’s Cafe On The World at 1293 Bardstown Road (http://www.ramsiscafe.com or Google Map It!).
Three members of the group have graciously volunteered to lead our discussion, which will focus on selling social media to clients, bosses and CEOs and the public, media and more. Brian Wallace of NowSourcing.com, a full-service social media and reputation management consulting firm, will share his thoughts and expertise on pitching social media to clients. Clay Marshall, a social media specialist with Digital Business Solutions (DBS), will tackle the topic of convincing bosses and CEOs to buy in and Rick Redding of The Ville Voice (and LEO columnist) will offer his insights on selling social media through to the media, advertisers, media buyers, friends, co-workers and more.
We anticipate the three will provide great information but strongly encourage everyone to come ready to share their own experiences as well. Each will present, but then lead a discussion through the topics involving the group. There will be informal networking time prior to and following the formal discussion.
WHO: Social Media Club Louisville (Champions of Social Media and Those Wishing To Learn)
WHAT: February Gathering
WHEN: 7 p.m. until 9 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2008
WHERE: Ramsi’s Cafe on the World, 1293 Bardstown Road, Louisville
WHY: To share, learn and grow as social media experts both individually and together
To RSVP (for a Ramsi’s head count), please email us at smclouisville — at — gmail.com. You can also join the discussions and activity on our GroupHub or Facebook group.
Last night was our May gathering and the format was an open discussion. I started the group of 25 folks off with a general topic: What do you want to get out of the Social Media Club?
Jake McKee, one of the foremost experts on on- and off-line community and brand ambassador building will be the featured guest and speaker at the July gathering of the Social Media Club Louisville on Tuesday, July 15. McKee, who blogs at 
Today’s 