Ahhhh my blog is back
I’ve been struggling w/ a WP admin file in my blog, so it hasn’t allowed me to post until I got off my duff and opened up the hood and did some good ‘ol PHP’ing.
Nuff said.
So many things… I need to pace myself here in this first post in awhile. First things first… I had a great time in Arizona the other week at the MarketingProfs Digital Mixer and met many great social media folks and marketers. I know I’m going to miss a few folks but the social media track was potentially the the most advanced I’ve been to yet… at least the speakers were of high enough caliber that the hallway conversations made the whole conference worthwhile. However, we still need to get beyond ROI and evangelism… we all need to come together and create some sort of “advanced” conference at this stage of the game.
- Chris Penn - caffeinated rock-star extraordinaire led off the sessions. What’s great about Chris besides his energy/personality is that he blogs about a non-competitive commodity, ala Student Loans… Proving alone the power of social communications and how color commentary and a human voice adding value can do wonders for even the smallest of brands/businesses. Any firm out there doubting the value of social communications should look to Chris as a role model and positive ROI for active engagement.
- Scott Monty - I need to pick Scott’s brain more as I feel he and I are in similar professional situations when it comes to social media strategies w/ large brands. He’s Ford’s newly appointed social media czar who shares the up hill battle of turning a sometimes grassroots movement and communications tool into a business environment. Can you say lots of stakeholders?
- Chris Brogan - What can I really say about Chris?? Most social media and marketing folks know and appreciate his sage advice. He said I smelled nice late one night, so I naturally now have a man crush. Stay tuned as I’ll be stalking Chris via Twitter.
- Amber Naslund - Being from Chicago myself… I wanted to talk Democrats and the Cubs more w/ Amber. Glad that I made the contact and hope to ping her more and her company in the months/years ahead.
- Rohit Bhargava - Rohit and I go back a bit. We’ve invited him into Intel to speak at an upcoming event that I’ve planning around Digital Marketing. Always a pleasure, including the fact that he brought his family… the good egg. It made me realize that I should have brought the kids down for a few days in the Aye Zee sun.
- Greg Cangialosi - Greg managed to lead a panel around the value of social media - good stuff. I was able to chat w/ greg a bit, but looking for more connections in the future as I can tell he’s at the forefront.
- Frank Eliason (Comcast Frank) - perhaps exemplifies how brands need to engage w/ customers. I’m sold and as a Comcast customer myself, I actually went home and went for Comcast Voice and cancelled my Vonage. Mark my words… his hands on approach to customer engagement in social spaces is demonstrating leadership and how online marketing needs to evolve. Gone are the days of web marketing where you publish bogus marketing and support content. Frank is an asset to the brand and company because he truly does care… for customers and the brand. He’s done this on his own and I hope that his management appreciates the impact that he’s making. I will and now advocate this approach at Intel and will use Frank as a positive example of how we will all need to evolve in marketing and customer engagement. Its so obviously bottom line stuff.
- Gary Veynerchuk - might be replacing Ben Franklin as my ultimate hero. When I saw him in his first panel, I must admit that I hadn’t heard of him and was a bit skeptical of his approach. But meeting him and chatting w/ him in the hall… followed by his FANTASTIC keynote made me a new man. Its not often when speakers or human beings can do this to anyone… but his drive, his outlook and energy requires everyone to take another look at what they want from this planet and existence. That sounds over-the-top… but it’s really not. I’m constantly thinking now about “what I want” and my own personal brand. I have the luxury and experience to grow both of these understandings and I honestly think about this everyday since I heard Gary speak. He’s the shit. I want the book.
These guys are changing the world… the world of communications… the world of business… human communications. Human society.
I sit on the Intel Social Media of Excellence team and am asked to provide insight on where all of this is headed by Intel and the industry… shaping and defining how we move forward in these new spaces. I get excited when I think of the arc and continuation of human development and improvement.
All of these new technologies and techniques can be traced back to early civilization, when humans first formed groups in the early Agricultural Revolution. I.e. we’re talking 6000 B.C.
With that… The only constant… the only common denominator is increased cooperation and collaboration. This can be traced back to Babylon to this very day. Social communications via the Internet is the continuation… it may sound “heady” or academic, but the World and humans will always improve following this constant.
/bgr