Finding Your Inner Geek

Going social in today’s online world can be overwhelming, especially for business-owners looking to reap the benefits of these new technologies. In 2008 alone, there were more than 130 million blogs documented on the web, at least 350 different social networks used, and over 82 million Americans who created user-generated content online. In an industry that is saturated with connections, networks, and content, individuals and businesses are all wondering, “Where do I get started?”

Alexa Scordato and I invite you to participate in a two-hour beginner workshop that will give you a clearer sense of how to use social media for both personal and professional uses.

PART I
During the first hour of the workshop, we will:

• discuss the basics of social media and its implications on the world today
• outline real case studies from individuals and companies using social media effectively**
• describe how Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn may be used to build a personal brand

PART II
In celebration of historic Hotel 140, the second half of this workshop will focus solely on Twitter:

• What is Twitter and why’s everyone talking about it?
• Getting started - where to begin and how to avoid common mistakes
• Who’s doing it right and what’s the ROI

**John Pepper, CEO and founder of Boloco (our wonderful food sponsor), will give a short presentation on his use of Twitter and what it means for brands to market themselves online.

This event will be hands-on so don’t forget your computer. If you don’t have a Twitter account already, by the end of the session you will! Plus, you will have a bunch of new friends to begin tweeting with.

Date: Thursday, 7/23
Time: 6 - 8 PM (Food and non-alcoholic beverages will be served. Assorted wraps courtesy of Boloco)
Location: Hotel 140, 140 Clarendon St, Boston (across the street from the Back Bay T station and walking distance from Copley Sq)

Questions, please contact Alexa at alexa.scordato@gmail.com or me at maria@mediaawaken.com.

Social Media Jungle Boston

Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending and speaking at Social Media Jungle hosted by Jeff Pulver here in Boston (well, Waltham actually, but close enough). It was a great day with a lot of amazing speakers. The format was casual, which I’ve come to expect at social media conferences and events. Each presenter had 20 minutes to present their thoughts/ideas with no PowerPoint slides. Jeff encouraged all the speakers (and the audience) to think of each session like a blog post–floating ideas out there for people to interact with and comment on. Some sessions were more interactive than others, Laura @Pistachio Fitton had us raising our hands for polling purposes, Steve Garfield had us uploading pictures to the web real-time and Christopher Penn has us shouting out what numbers matter to us like a game show. Lots of other amazing people presented that day and I highly suggest checking out the assembly of blog posts that came out of the day. And don’t forget to check out the Twitter stream from the day too.

A few of my take-aways from the day:

• Be human, be real, be vulnerable — we are people talking to people. Not brands talking to brands or companies talking to companies.
• One email can make all the difference (of course this is one of my take-aways, it was mine and Alexa’s session ;-)
• We need to stop talking about social media in social media. Time to spread the gospel. Or time to just use the tools without always talking about the tools.
• Be HELPful - Hustle, Engage, Listen, be Passionate
• Engage each generation, utilize each one of the generations’ specific talents. No one is irrelevant, no one is too inexperienced. Each generation brings a unique perspective to the table. Be cognizant of that and use it to your advantage.
• Numbers matter. But don’t let them matter too much. (CC Chapman first spoke about how the numbers don’t matter, then later in the day CS Penn rebutted with how certain numbers do matter, and matter a lot. The balance of the two points of view was perfection.)
• The influencer doesn’t matter. The message matters. If you say something good, and say it for long enough, people will hear. You don’t necessarily need a loud speaker. And having one doesn’t necessarily mean that people are going to pay attention.

At the end of the day, it all comes down to passion. BE PASSIONATE about what you do. Excitement can be found in the most mundane of details and tasks if you look hard enough. And in this crazy world we live in, with the economy spiraling out of control, my one little piece of advice–keep breathing.

BlogHer Comes to Boston! FTW

I was really bummed this summer when I couldn’t make it out to San Francisco for the annual BlogHer Conference. Lucky for me (and you!), the Outreach Tour is coming to Boston this weekend - Saturday 10/11! As I’ve been sharing my glee with everyone who will listen, I’ve been getting a mixed bag of reactions (I find that I often get mixed reactions from people whenever I talk about an event/conference/anything that has “women” “her” “female” etc in the title. These “mixed” (read: usually negative) reactions are often, if not always, from men).

I was talking to one of my guy friends about BlogHer a few days after getting back from BlogWorld Expo in Vegas, and he said he didn’t get it — why, if I had just gone to a major conference about blogging, was a conference for women bloggers necessary? I sputtered for a moment, I mean, DUH. But then I stopped to really think about it. Why is it important?

My guy friend said he understands that women have not reached equal standing in many aspects, but that new media seems to be a field where the playing has been leveled. This made me pause again. It’s true, there are a lot of prominent women in the field. So, if the field is leveled, why does the idea of a community for women seem so darn important?!

I have been extremely fortunate in that my life has rarely been limited by my gender (I’m a girl…in case you were wondering *wink*). But, I know this isn’t true for all women. So, is this why it is important? So that women have a place to feel equal? Is it because tech is usually a sphere reserved for guys and diving in can be daunting? It is for the camaraderie?

Since I obviously don’t have the answer (I think it is a combo of a lot of things), I went a-hunting. One of the first thing I noticed while scouring the BlogHer website is that the answer wasn’t there. Their mission statement gave me a starting point

BlogHer’s mission is to create opportunities for women who blog to pursue exposure, education, community and economic empowerment

but somehow that isn’t enough (no offense!). I read that and think “yea! right on!” but there is something more than that that is triggering a reaction in me (and others - for good or bad).

I’m still trying to figure it out. So, in the mean time… What is your reaction (positive or negative) to BlogHer? Why do YOU think BlogHer Conferences are or aren’t important?

Regardless, I’m SUPER psyched for BlogHer Boston this Saturday. If you are there, please say hi!!