It’s clear that social media tools offer exciting and valuable benefits to help get jobs done with customers, partners and employees. These benefits have already been demonstrated with early adopters and there is no shortage of press, media attention and predictions around the promise of these tools.
But how are social media tools really being received and adopted among mainstream organizations and consumers in Canada today and how will that impact your company’s go-to-market strategy?
Krista Napier, Senior Analyst at IDC, will be featured at Ottawa, Canada’s 12th Social Media Breakfast taking place on Wednesday morning, October 14th, 2009. Krista will examine how Canadians are using social technologies with an emphasis on social media. Her presentation will deliver insight into what social media technologies are actually being adopted from a business and consumer perspective, how they are being adopted and the business implications.
I recently stopped by the Toronto, Canada offices of IDC Canada and recorded this brief video of Krista giving a preview of her research (apologies to Krista for the shaky & poorly exposed video!):
Interesting! In advance of the Breakfast, we invite you to join in the pre-Breakfast conversation on Twitter with @KristaNapier. As usual, our event tag is #smbottawa. Hope to see you on the 14th!
Housekeeping and SMB Ottawa 11 wrapup
Special thanks to Tara Hunt for speaking at our September breakfast. If you couldn’t make it, here’s a video of the start of Tara’s presentation:
We’ve actually broken up Tara’s 1-hour presentation into six video segments. Here are the links to parts 2-6:
Part 2: Video of Tara Hunt at Social Media Breakfast Ottawa
Part 3: Video of Tara Hunt at Social Media Breakfast Ottawa
Part 4: Video of Tara Hunt at Social Media Breakfast Ottawa
Part 5: Video of Tara Hunt at Social Media Breakfast Ottawa
Part 6: Video of Tara Hunt at Social Media Breakfast Ottawa
Following the breakfast, SMB founder Bryan Person sat down with Tara to discuss the highlights of her presentation. This video is also chunked into segments. Here’s part 1:
And here are the links to the rest of the interview:
Part 2: Video Bryan Person’s interview with Tara Hunt
Part 3: Video of Bryan Person’s interview with Tara Hunt
Many people tweeted and blogged the event. Check out this recap by Erin Bury.
Rob, Ryan and I are mindful of everyone’s time so we’re working with our guest speakers to make sure we’ve got plenty of time for Q & A and for your announcements!
It’s time for another Austin Social Media Breakfast! Join us for an interactive discussion on word-of-mouth marketing on Thursday, October 1. Here is an overview:
Date: Thursday, October 1, 2009
Time: 7:30-9:30am
Location:360 Uno Espresso and Vino, 3801 Capitol of Texas Highway N. #G-100, Austin, Texas 78746. [Google Map] Inside Davenport Village Shopping Center. Parking is available.
Cost: The event itself is free to attend; attendees pay for their own food and drinks. See 360 Uno’s coffee and breakfast menus.
Event details: Word-of-Mouth Marketing Is Still Sexy
The original social media is, was, and will continue to be old-school word of mouth. Yes, online conversations are cool, but the truth is that face-to-face and voice-to-voice conversations about products/services happening in the offline world still have significant sway. Join John Moore for a discussion about stats, strategies, and tactics that will help make your brand–or one that you follow–more talkable by using word of mouth.
About the presenter
John Moore was formerly in marketing at Starbucks Coffee and Whole Foods Market. Today, through his Brand Autopsy Marketing Practice, John shares marketing advice with businesses aspiring to earn unwavering devotion from customers and employees. He is also the author of the Brand Autopsy blog and the business-managment book, Tribal Knowledge.
Agenda for Austin’s SMB10
* 7:30-8:15am
Event begins. Food, drink, and mingling.
* 8:15-9:05am
Interactive presentation and questions
* 9:05-9:30am
More mingling and wrap-up
About the Austin Social Media Breakfast
The Austin Social Media Breakfast series is organized by Amie Throndson and SMB founder Bryan Person; it brings together social media veterans and newcomers alike for a morning of eating, meeting, sharing, and learning.
Marketers, PR pros, entrepreneurs, business communicators, bloggers, videobloggers, podcasters, students, new-media enthusiasts, Twitterers, community managers, recruiters, online social networkers, etc. are all welcome!
The Next Madison Social Media Breakfast will be held on October 2, 2009, at the University of Phoenix Campus on the Far Eastside. The topic for the meeting will be Social Media Profiles – content, pictures and copyright.
Madison Social Media Breakfast is a group that meets for breakfast (hence the title) and discusses various topics around social media, strategy, tools, best practices, and even case studies. Recently there are two new managers, Marivic Valencia of Valencia PR and Wendy Soucie, Wendy Soucie Consulting. They will be taking turns organizing speakers and adjusting locations as the demand and topic requires. If anyone has good recommendations for a steady location, that would appreciate our breakfast business as well as have a good room for us to use, please add your comments and contact info for me to followup with.
Typically its been in a a coffee shop some where in Madison WI, and more often than not close to the downtown area. However for this meeting we have adjusted the venue due to pent up demand and a few coffee shops being scared of me telling them I thought 20 or more people might descend on them at 7:30 am. The venue is the University of Phoenix Campus at 2310 Crossroads Dr, Madison, WI 53718.
I would suggest everyone bring their own coffee to this event as no guarantees on breakfast goods just yet.
Awesome turn out for this month’s breakfast. Two wonderful speakers plus a lot of energy equals an incredible session. Our featured speakers this month were Ginger Anderson and Erika DiProfio from Garden Fresh, otherwise known asSouplantation. Ginger is the creative force behind the company’s online business strategy. She has been with them since 2001. Erika joined Garden Fresh in 2002 and has help establish the company’s PR department. In 2004 she founded the company’s kitchen cabinet, which is a group of brand ambassadors. She leads the company’s word of mouth and buzz activities.
They kicked off their speech by discussing the ways in which they’ve managed to create this group of brand ambassadors. By reaching out to those who are already talking about Souplantation, their goal was and continues to be not only building a communication channel, but making those individuals feel like they are a part of Souplantation not just being another individual that enjoys dining in their restaurant. Their intention is to “create a strong group of brand ambassadors through authentic, transparent, real time and two-way communication” Translation, they listen to their audience. They engage their audience and take their suggestions and comments to help better their restaurants whether it be their food or atmosphere.
They went on discussing more specifically the tools they’ve been using to engage their guests. The two most fundamental social media tools they’ve utilized is Twitter and Facebook. They’ve been on Twitter since November, 2008 and have more then 7,000 followers. They launched a Facebook account in April 2009 and have over 24,000 fans. They’ve used these two tools to keep an open dialog with their audience, to run campaigns and all sorts of contests. They more importantly are using these tools to help keep the brand name consistent. Their continued vision is to build long lasting relationships for Souplantation.
A big, big thank you toGinger Anderson and Erika DiProfio for coming out to speak.
We also went over our Top 10 in 10. Here is what I dug up this month:
1. JetBlue promo is a social media hit: $599 passes to unlimited flights for an entire month. Web traffic to JetBlue’s route-map page jumped 700%
2. Google forced to reveal identity of offensive blogger: A model named, Liskula Cohen discovered a blogger on Googles blogger had been referring to her as “skank” and “old hag”. She went to court to have Google reveal the name of the blogger. Court ruled in her favor. She can now sue the person for defamation.
3. What makes a quality Tweet: 40% of all Tweets are pointless babble from a recent study.
4. Facebook launches a Twitter App: Facebook pages can now simultaneously update both their page and Twitter.
5. NPR’s iPhone app blows other news apps out of the water: NPR news just became available for download. It’s linked to 1000+ NPR radio stations, news proframs and live streams, so you can listen to your news anywhere and anytime.
6. First US Rehab Center for Internet Addiction opens it’s doors: Internet addiction disorder (IAD) It’s not in the DSM, but many argue that this addiction does in deed exist. The Heavensfield Retreat Center has a program called reSTART. It’s a 45 day program. a 19 year old is their first patient who could not remove himself from the World of Warcraft game.
7. Social media tapped to find missing Louisville man: A Twitter account has been set up specifically to find a man named Robert Botts @findrobertbotts who’s been missing since July 30, 2009.
8. Ben Stiller asks Ryan Seacrest for more Twitter followers Video: Ben Stiller just signed up for Twitter and decided to make a video of himself asking Ryan for a “shout out” on Twitter. His account name is @redhourben
9. How Chad Ochocinco plans to Tweet during NFL games: Chad has gotten creative. Since he can’t tweet himself he is launching a contest, in which he’ll fly a person out and pay them to Tweet for him during his games.
10. LAPD turns to YouTube to find Lindsay Lohan’s burglars: There were 3 young adults, two females and one male trying to break in to her Hollywood Hills home on August 23, 2009.
This month’s sponsor was Digital Operative, an online digital marketing agency located in San Diego, CA. Their strategic process has been a proving ground for many great ideas, assumptions, re-designs, fix-its and innovations. If you’re looking for an agency that knows no boundaries, is passionate about the web and has the experience to lead your projects, they are the team for you!
This month in San Diego we will be having our 8th breakfast and our featured speakers will be Ginger Anderson and Erika DiProfio. Ginger and Erika both work for Garden Fresh Restaurant Corp. otherwise known as Souplantation and Sweet Tomatoes. Together, they are the company’s social media team.
Ginger Anderson is the creative force behind Garden Fresh’s online business strategy. She joined Garden Fresh in 2001 with a communications degree from UCSD. Her efforts have lead to a club veg membership of 1 million members, a guest friendly and interactive website and being on the forefront of emerging social media marketing. She has embraced Twitter, Facebook and other social media platforms and has turned them into a priority for the company’s marketing objectives. You can find her Tweeting daily @souplantation
Erika DiProfio joined Garden Fresh in 2002 after working with consumer brand clients such as Tiffany Co., Dave and Busters, Sprint PCS, and the W Hotel at a local public relations agency. She started the company’s PR department in 2004 and has since demonstrated its importance through major print, radio and television outreach. Erika founded the Garden Fresh Kitchen Cabinet, a group of Souplantation/Sweet Tomatoes brand ambassadors, and leads the company’s word of mouth and buzz activities. She helped lead Garden Fresh’s emergence in social media and has integrated this strategy into the company’s public relations strategy and vision.
Ginger and Erika will be discussing how Garden Fresh has utilized social media and how their fully integrated approach has proven successful. They will share examples of their monthly promotions and how social media can be incorporated into web/interactive, public relations, advertising, and local store marketing to build guest loyalty and encourage two way communication about and with their brand.
New Social Project Update:
The THINK Togetherteam will be coming to the breakfast this month. Larry Tenny and Nadia Flores will be driving down from Orange County to meet the members of SMBSD. For those members who have signed up to help tackle their social media challenges, we will be meeting after the breakfast to get this project rolling.
Event Details:
Where:Milano Coffee Co., 8685 Rio San Diego Dr., Ste B, San Diego, CA
Parking: Recommended parking across the street
When: September 16, 2009…7:30am-9:00am
Cost: Free…Bring a friend or 2, but please RSVP
Bonus: Pastries and coffee will be provided
This month’s sponsor: TBD
To sponsor a future event contact Erin Levenson VIA Twitter @SMBSD
This month’s Social Media Breakfast is brought to you by Uptown Uncorked, DimDim and the Manchester City Library.
You already know about Uptown Uncorked, since we are the breakfast maestro each month, and DimDim, who handles the live casting of the breakfasts. Let me tell you a bit about the Manchester City Library:
The Manchester City Library has been a cultural treasure to Manchester and New Hampshire since 1854. In his inaugural address that year, Mayor elect Frederick Smyth proposed the establishment of a free public library for all of Manchester’s citizens. During the previous decade, the Manchester Athenaeum had been used and enjoyed by its members. The Manchester Athenaeum collection was officially transferred to the city on September 6, 1854, bringing to life Mayor Smyth’s dream of a Manchester City Library. (read more history here) The Manchester City Library isn’t stuck in its past, however. It has a thriving technological component, highlighting social media through its blog, Twitter, Facebook, Flickr photos, and more.
Thank you to Lichen Rancourt who helped facilitate the Manchester City Library sponsorship for us!
Location: Manchester City Library Auditorium
Theme for the sixth Social Media Breakfast: Community
The sixth Social Media Breakfast NH (hashtag #smbnh) will be all about topics related to Community. In this struggling economy and shifting paradigm we need to be working together to be more successful and better weather the storm. We should be pulling in all aspects of technology, new media, old media and social media to succeed. This meeting will help us lay the foundation for a richer, better education, tech and new media community in NH.
In addition to myself, who will be your host and MC for the morning, you will have three speakers giving three brief presentations on topics relating to the theme for the morning.
Speakers:
• Opening Remarks by Leslie Poston, Uptown Uncorked
• Welcome Remarks by Lichen Rancourt from the library
• Kevin Micalizzi, Community Manager for DimDim, on Simple Rules for Great Community Management
• Rachel Happe, Co-Founder of The Community Roundtable, on Eight Competencies to Socializing Your Organization
• Heidi Duncanson, Marketing Director at the Children’s Museum of NH, will share tips for building community on a shoestring
This is going to be a great breakfast!
TO SPONSOR THIS OR A FUTURE SMBNH CONTACT LESLIE POSTON via Twitter, Email or Phone.
Let’s make SMBNH crackle with energy and success! See you there!
I was thrilled to lead a discussion on “sponsored conversations” at yesterday morning’s Social Media Breakfast Houston, held at Coffee Groundz, THE hangout for social media events in the city.
A crowd of 25 or so braved the morning rain–and a fire across the street!–for the occasion.
We broke the attendees into small groups to tackle these four questions:
1) Should bloggers (and podcasters, Twitterers, etc.) create an official disclosure policy around sponsored content?
2) What considerations should brands and PR agencies have in mind when approaching bloggers about a sponsored post or experience?
3) How might sponsored blog posts break the trust of the community, and what should bloggers do to keep the relationship with their readers intact?
4) Bloggers vs. Journalists: Are the rules any different?
The wide-ranging discussions that ensued indicated that the ethics and accepted norms of sponsored conversations are still very much in flux.
The next SMB Houston is tentatively scheduled for Friday, October 2. To join the e-mail listen, contact Jennifer Texada: Jennifer – AT – yahoo – DOT – com.
Registration is now open for the inaugural Social Media Breakfast Jacksonville on Saturday September 26th at Five Points Coffee & Spice from 8:00-10:00am.
Event Details: Social Media Breakfast Jacksonville
Please RT: #SMBJax 9/26/09 8:00-10am, Jacksonville, FL, speaker Damien Robinson from CIME4.com discusses the social media change.
Registration is mandatory and closed at midnight on September 21, 2009
Event sign-in starts at 8:00am, followed by mingling and breakfast courtesy of Alva at Five Points Coffee and Spice.
Space is limited and is based on a first-come, first-served basis
Wifi is available
For online media and Twittering, please use hashtag #SMBJax for the event.
About Social Media Breakfast The Jacksonville Social Media Breakfast series is a regular breakfast meetup organized by Bryan Person and Damien Robinson. The Jacksonville SMB is part the larger Social Media Breakfast family, which includes events in more than 25 cities around the world.
We are very excited to announce that Maine’s second Social Media Breakfast is scheduled for September 18, 2009! The topic this month will be Creating Trust and Communities Online.
More than ever, and in every industry, people research their purchases online before they enter the buying cycle. Using the resources available to them (web search, blogs, social networks) they can research your products, services, employees and general reputation. In this session we are going to approach the topic of building trust online with your potential and existing customers.
We have some really great speakers and presentations lined up:
Fund/Participation Raising in the Age of Interactivity or
Getting People to Do Things By Way of the Social Nets.
We also just launched our new site to keep a better stream of information flowing in between breakfast sessions. Our friends at MPX have donated their large conference room for the event. We are really looking forward to this event and have a few cool tricks up our sleeves.
More than 80 participants filled the Capital Repertory Theater in downtown Albany last Friday, August 28, for the area’s second Social Media Breakfast. Justin Levy was the featured speaker and shared a social media case study, detailing how he used social media to increase revenues at his restaurant, Caminito Argentinian Steakhouse. Levy also shared several examples from his work at New Marketing Labs.
The theater provided a fun, intimate venue for SMBTV and the hair salon set of the group’s current production, Shear Madness, served as probably the most unique backdrop for a social media breakfast:
Justin spoke about the importance of listening to customers and monitoring what’s being said about your organization online. He described how he’s interacted with restaurant customers via Twitter to make sure they were having an exceptional experience. Justin also detailed how he launched and grew the Prime Cuts blog and why he chose to create a more general, cooking-focused blog than one that merely recapped the goings-on at the restaurant.
During the Q&A session, moderated by Amy Mengel, attendees asked Justin for his thoughts on ghost-blogging, managing blog comments, tools for measuring and monitoring social media mentions and what’s the right balance of platforms and tools for an organization to use.
Tech Valley’s next Social Media Breakfast will likely be in October. Follow @smbtv for details and join the Facebook Group for pictures and recaps of the event.
We are very excited to announce that Maine’s second Social Media Breakfast is scheduled for September 18, 2009! The topic this month will be Creating Trust and Communities Online. 