Conference Overview Home Speakers 1 Register Sponsorships Day One Agenda Speakers 2 Conference Blog About ESM 08 Day Two Agenda Venue Speakers Blog Feed Conference Community Register for Executing Social Media for Internal & External Communications, Atlanta, October 15-16, 2008. Testimonial from ESM LA08: “The Social Media Conference in Pasadena was the best conference I have been to yet! Just like they say in the blogging world, it’s now how many, it’s ‘who!” All the right people were there. I learned so much and the interaction and ability to talk through our own particular issues was phenomenal. I’m sending my team to the conference in Atlanta for sure!” Robyn Eckard, Director of Public Relations, Kelly Blue Book, about Executing Social Media, Los Angeles 08 You can download presentations and see coverage and and videos from Executing Social Media LA 08 on the Executing Social Media Blog. If interested in attending or speaking at the next ESM Conference in Atlanta Oct. 15-16, email us or call 480-816-5550. Roundup Of Coverage of Executing Social Media Los Angeles 08 There were lots of good blog posts and "tweets" on Executing Social Media Los Angeles 08.  Please comment if you have other coverage to add. Sally Falkow on smallbusinessnewz Blog: Taking Advantage of Social Media Executing Social Media was a good conference.  Everyone participated in the sessions, so we got the benefit of some very smart people sharing ideas about what works and what doesn't. There were two excellent keynotes: George Wright from Blendtech spoke about how the Will It Blend campaign came about and why it has been so successful. The videos have had over 40 million views and sales are up 5X. Peter Shankman woke everyone on day two with his energetic keynote about where all this social media sruff might be going. Being wired and on the grid is a fact of life.  We have no privacy. Someone always has a camera or a laptop switched on and everything you do or say could end up online. What we do have is the ability to control what gets seen or found online. His prediction is that we are moving towards a world where we have one tool that connects us and it's more about how we live our lives than the tools we use.  More Morpheus Media Blog: Social Media Tools, Use and Abuse Over the span of just two days at Executing Social Media, Los Angeles 2008, I learned how a group of 50 people usually communicate with millions and how they do it. There was a variety of influencers present at this conference. There were people working for media agencies, in-house social media gurus, and people looking to understand what it means for their product. In this kind of space, it isn’t uncommon to sit in a group of hundreds of chairs watching talking heads shout things at you that you’ve heard a million times at every conference. In a session titled; “An Executive Survey of Social Media Tools & Resources for PR, Customer Service, and Marketing.“ by Brian Solis, we talked about Social Media tools and the right ways to use them. There are many social media outlets on the web but it is not necessary or always correct to be using them and many of them could be wasting your time. In the case of anything dangerous; it is wise to consult with a professional prior to engaging in social media activity.  More 1 Tim Street Blog: How To Turn Your Marketing Department Into A Profit Center    Today I'm at Executing Social Media Conference and I'm really enjoying George Wright's presentation about Blendtec's Social Media Marketing and how it has turned Blendtec's marketing department into a profit center. Described as the “The best viral marketing campaign ever,” George Wright’s Will it Blend? viral marketing campaign has changed the face and the future of online marketing. It's been seen by millions on Youtube, Revver,programs like the Today Show and the Tonight Show and as reported by the Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, and Forbes, Will it Blend? has delivered a 500 percent increase in sales for a small blender company while delivering unprecedented awareness for a company with an initial investment of $50. George has a proven track record of delivering strategic thinking, brand awareness and cutting-edge marketing and advertising strategy to local and international corporations to drive strategic, sustainable growth. These successful strategies and tactics can be adapted and implemented by any company and do not require a large investment. During his career, George has produced award-winning campaigns and is the recipient of multiple awards, including the .net Award for the best viral marketing site, 2006 Clio Award finalist, YouTube Awards short list, PRSA’s Silver Anvil, IABC’s Golden Spike Award, and 2007 Best of Broadband.  More Chris Heuer's Insytes Blog: Is Social Media bad for the environment? In talking with some folks at the Executing Social Media conference last night, I mentioned this event idea and Nathan Gilliatt remarked we will always have some walled gardens and I replied with my standard “we can’t have walls, we need semi-permeable membranes”, meaning there needs to be some trust filter to keep the bad actors out and the good actors safe - which is the role Facebook claims to be playing in safegauding its users privacy from Friend Connect sites. More Stephanie Weingart's Look Sharp Blog: Executing Social Media L.A. Wrap Up The Executing Social Media conference this year has produced many strong connections and have proved many wrong. A lot of people had great experiences being able to sit in on round-tables that discussed exactly what they needed to talk about and for others, it was just going over a lot of the same buzz words over and over again. But the great thing is that everyone participated. Whether you played the role of a teacher or a student you gained a ton of knowledge on socializing on social media which is topic I feel many people have a hard time explaining. Got to meet Brian Solis of PR 2.0 who explained social bookmarking and networking sites and potential PR disasters and successes within them. The one issue that really struck a chord with me is, Where is all of this going? The Future of Social Media, written by Jackie Peters for Mashable. Peter Shankman spoke on a lot of topics that I am sure people are thinking about with clear minds now. Everyone is always so consumed with how unorganized social spaces are, and naturally as an expert in his field, he reassured us that there will have to be a method to the madness soon. His thought, the future of social media is one grid, one feed, opt in or just watch. It’s really fascinating if you think about it. More Web Metrics Guru: Executing Social Media and it all comes down to The Flip Camera and One Intelligent Platform plus zillions of RSS Feeds Getting back to Social Media and where it's all going - think The Flip (according to Peter Shankman who spoke at Executing Social Media L.A. Wrap Up, which I didn't attend - but I've been using The Flip for over a year, and took it to me to France, twice, and more or less with me everywhere.  I've gone through two Flips and I'm on my third one right now (they don't survive a drop very well - one drop could bust it, but in practice, it might take two or three times of dropping it to take a Flip out). According to Stephanie Weingart, who attend Executing Social Media: "...One very important thing learned and reinforced by the pros is the necessary purchase of the Flip TV camera. First pointed out by Phil Gomes when he shared an interactive review of the ESM Live Will it Blend of a Rake. Showing how 3 minute videos are more powerful than commercial, more engaging, and can be put into interactive forums with communities like PR Open Mic."  More Previously mentioned: Chris Heuer & Cisco's Jeanette Gibson At Executing Social Media Los Angeles 08  Putting Social Into A Social Media Conference  Mashable Covers Executing Social Media 08, Pasadena  Lena West's coverage of ESM LA08 for WomenEntrepreneur.com  Social Media Resistance Survey - Preliminary Report by Francis Pereira, USC Summize results for #esm View the first in the Communitelligence Executing Social Media Key Words Series: Conversation. (1 min, 20 sec.) To learn more about the Executing Social Media conference series, watch Jess Todtfeld's interview of me for the Speaking Channel.