My Name is Kate

It's like Christmas rush ... in March!

Wow .. I was just updating my calendar.  When did it get so busy??

It all started 10 days ago with Northern Voice. (btw .. James Sherrett and I posted our notes (day 1 | day 2) over on One Degree).

This week (tomorrow!), I'm off to TED2007. This year's lineup is incredible, as always.  So excited!  It's year 3 for me - TED is such a re-charge.  So many interesting and unexpected connections get made, between people and ideas!  I'll be blogging about it here as well as on Center Networks.

Mid-March I'll be in Toronto for the AIMS Event: Marketers Roadmap to Second Life.  I'll be leading one of the break-out sessions following the talks by CC Chapman and Jay Moonah.

End of March - CaseCamp Vancouver 2 has just been announced for March 27.  Excellent news!  And then on March 28, I'm giving a session at the Massive Technology Show in Vancouver, entitled Connecting with Your Customers, a Social Media Primer for businesses.

Beginning of April, I'll be back in Toronto for Webcom Toronto 2007 where I'll be speaking on Second Life as a new interface for business.

May looks relatively clear and then in June, something new for me: nextMEDIA, the Future of Digital Content. I've been talking with these folks;  they have some great sessions planned and ways to connect between content creators and the business (advertising) folks who need content, plus the platform jockeys who deliver it.  Looks to be a great event.  I'll be blogging more about it as it gets closer.  Also, I love their promo materials.

Wow .. where did the first half of 2007 go?

Fear and Loathing in Marketing ... observations from Toronto's DMC

Last week I had the privilege of facilitating a round table at the Canadian Marketing Association's Digital Marketing Conference (DMC).  My topic was Social Media.  The folks around the table were amazing!  I wish every marketing conversation I participated in had such candor.  There were a number of client-side marketers (WestJet, Bell, Raincoast Books and GM) as well as a few folks from agencies.

I had a list of questions prepped (I'll post them at the end), but decided that the group should evoke the conversation (hey, like social media marketing!).  What were the big themes?  Fear.  More fear.  Oh, and a little fear.  Incredible desire and passion for both the medium and their customers.  But lots of fear. (Oh, no real loathing .. that was just to get your attention).

What kind of fear?  All kinds.  A lot of legal fears.  Some about ensuring that they are transparent enough to their users.  Some about making sure they have content and buy-in.  Fear of sustainability.

And these are all good issues.  It breaks my heart that there are so many barriers.

But here's the real kicker.

Those of us who are on the leading edge are instilling the fear.

And that breaks my heart even more.  There are some brands who have taken a real chance.  Starbucks with their Coffee Conversations.  McDonalds with their CSR blog.  Chevy Tahoe's roll your own commercial.

And all of these (and others) have been met with derision.  You can relive the McDonalds edrama on my blog.  You can see what Leesa Barnes has to say about Starbucks as well as what CC Chapman has to say.  And there was LOTS of feedback on the Chevy Tahoe.

So with leaders in the field of Social Media Marketing being ready at the drop of a hat to jump on and criticize these efforts, is it any wonder that other marketers don't take the risk?  Because who wants to be the whipping boy of the blogosphere?

I wrote about fear specifically in regards to the aborted ROM blog.  The ever-articulate Rob Cottingham picked up my ROM thread and left a great rif on fear on a recent episode of For Immediate Release [show notes | Rob's comments are at about the 1:02:04 mark if you listen to the podcast].  Heck, even Seth is talking about fear.  Which is great ... but we must be starkly aware where we as members of the marketing community are perpetuating the fear in our colleagues.  And we need to turn that into encouragement, by sharing best practices and lessons learned.

This doesn't mean we shouldn't offer constructive criticism or that we should tolerate poor quality work or practices from our colleagues - but I would like to see us change the tone of the conversation.  Because behind all these marketing initiatives are people. (Marketers are people too .. LOL .. It's like I'm a Hallmark commercial this morning).

And this is why I love CaseCamp.  It's a forum where we as marketers can discuss the good, the bad and ugly.  What worked, what didn't.  I've shared two cases at two different CaseCamps.  And the best part was saying "You know what, this part sucked.  Don't do it in your programme."  If you don't have a CaseCamp in your community, you need to start one.  Now.  Get the dialogue going.  Change the tone.  Dispel the fear.

 

Photo Credit: Silent Capitol Hill by Irena Kittenclaw

 

Technorati tags: CaseCamp, social media, rob cottingham

 

My initial list of questions for the Social Media Roundtable.  I still this these are really good questions that we need to answer, but until we deal with the fear, we can't even start on these.

1. If Social Media is the future of marketing – what is the future of your brand? What are some ways that your brand can make itself more social? How are you putting your customer at the heart of your conversation?
   
2. Should all companies have a blog? What about a MySpace page? Which companies should; which companies shouldn’t. Bonus question: what is the biggest area of pain for your company? Why wouldn’t you start there?
   
3. A lot of content for Social Media can be extracted from “pent up” expertise in your company. Example: Starbucks “Coffee Conversations” podcasts. What are some areas of pent-up expertise that would be useful to your customers that you could use to jump-start your social media programme?
   
4. Social Media is largely possible as a marketing vehicle because of technology – to what extent do marketers need to become technologists and vice versa?

Heart-care for our customers ...

I'm moderating a round table on Social Media tomorrow at the Digital Marketing Conference in Toronto.  So I've been thinking about what people might want to talk about.  But first, I realised, we need a good working definition of "Social Media". 

There are a lot of them out there .. but they are more about the *media* (blogs, podcasts, etc) than the *social*.  Even a recent talk I gave focused on this aspect.  I want to help marketers go deeper.  This isn't about the technology we use.  It's attitudinal.  It's a fundamental shift in how we treat, regard and respect our customers.  So, here's today's working definition (remember - this is targeted to marketers):

Social Media -- marketing initiatives where customers are at the heart of the conversation.

Two things.  Customers are at the core.  It's a conversation.

I also like the heart bit (though do marketers remember what that is??).

What do you think?  I need something simple to convey to the marketing community that Social Media are not just new shiny tools, but, rather, to indicate that a fundamental sea-change has occured in our relationship with customers.

 

On the "tapping into the cosmic brain vibe front", Tara posts on a related topic - about as an agency, she loves her clients, but loves her clients' clients even more.  Amen.

Photo credit: floating heart by davebushe on flickr

 

Technorati tags: social media, i (heart) customers

R.I.P. ROM blog .. we hardly knew ye!

It was to have it all. Behind the scenes reports from curators. Advance notice of exclusive events. Insight into the Renaissance ROM project. Inside scoop on visiting exhibits. Kept up to date and written, not by a PR or a marketing firm, but by enthusiastic employees and volunteers who want to share their passion for the collection and the institution that is the ROM (the Royal Ontario Museum - for you non-Canadians - our equivalent of the Met in NYC).

The idea was germinated by two young enterprising professionals in the ROM Foundation. And these gals did their homework. They researched current museum, gallery and other cultural institution offerings in social media (there aren't many). They consulted experts on building online community.

They talked with peers and other potential content creators in the ROM. They created a publishing schedule and arranged to have a library equal to 2 months of postings pre-launch so that the blog would never be stale.  They developed a coherent strategy on how to be a leader in using social media to further the Canadian arts community.

They investigated the technical aspects of the blog: how would it integrate into current IT architecture, what questions might IT have, how much technical maintenance would it take.

Then they crafted all this into a presentation and walked it up the chain of command: boss, boss's boss, boss's boss's boss.

And it was welcomed and praised and blessed.

Infrastructure was put in place. Blog software was configured. Content was queued up. A launch date was set!

And then .... old-school marketing struck.

Old-school marketing called an emergency meeting two days prior to launch. (I would like to point out that marketing had been included as a stakeholder from the beginning.)

And the decision came down. No blog. Why?

Because "we want to ensure that there is a solid strategic angle for our entire audience development strategy."

Which I translate to mean ... "I don't understand this medium", "this could fail and my ass could be on the line", "this could be hugely successful and it wasn't my idea", "you're not using my agency", "you're not a marketer, what can you possibly know about our customers", "what if our customers post something I don't like" or "I'm scared to try anything new".

All of which are terrible excuses for a marketer to make in the 21st century.

So, in the meantime, the blog is quashed as is employee morale. The ROM's customers (and potential donors) have lost a potentially rich and vibrant community of unique content. The Canadian arts community has lost a potentially shining example that would raise its overall profile and its relevancy to the every day Canadian. And the ROM has lost an opportunity to be a leader in the global arts community.

Surviving the ROM blog is the Art Gallery of Ontario blog ... artmatters.ca.

--

Disclaimers ... I had some very unofficial (read "chatting over martinis") involvement in this initiative but was not directly involved.

Also .. if you are a looking for some very savvy 21st century PR/marketing/development folks who specialise in non-profits, I know a couple who would do any agency or client proud.

Finally, because I really believed in this project and the kind of exposure it could have brought to lesser-known exhibits at the ROM, I'm posting what would have been the inaugural post on the ROM blog on my personal site (I have permission from the author to do so).  Please check it out.  It's a little dated as it was about the ROM's support of the "General Idea"  AIDS Sculpture through September, but still a passionate and relevant piece by Len Milley.

 

Technorati tags: ROM, Royal Ontario Museum, museum blogs

Nuvvo up for sale

Nuvvo, an e-Learning service and course marketplace, has been put up for sale by owners John and Malgosia Green.  From the blog post:

The Nuvvo eLearning Service you see here is up for sale!

This does not mean Nuvvo is shutting down. Our many thousands of users around the world are dear to us and we will keep the service going for the forseable future.

We are looking for an acquisitor that has the ability to take Nuvvo to the next level. Savvica unfortunately is a humble organization, lacking any outside investment—we’ve brought it as far as we can.

 

Technorati tags: elearning, startup, toronto, for sale

Gearing Up for BarCamp Vancouver

Vancouver's first BarCamp happens this coming weekend (August 25 & 26).  Timed to be a part of BarCamp Earth, BarCamp Vancouver will start with a BBQ on Friday, camping for those brave enough, and then really get into the swing of things on Saturday.  I'm excited to meet a number of Vancouverites who I've only known through their online presence.  Attendee list is 120 strong with an overflow waitlist.  Proposed topics range from Yoga for Geeks to Introverts & Social Software, from the monetization of podcasts to making seach fun.  Can't wait!

I'm also proud to say that Uniserve is a sponsor of BarCamp Vancouver, as are a number of other great local organizations!  Check out the full list of sponsors below:

Uniserve
Business Objects
Belkin
Nitobi
Elastic Path Software
Bryght
Raincity Studios
EQO Communications
WorkSpace
Capulet Communications
Midnight Kitchen
AdHack
Sxip
Jones Sodas
T-shirt.ca

Also, big thanks to the folks who are pulling it together!  Coordinating the logistics of a BarCamp (even if it is an unconference) is no small task!

Andre Charland
Roland Tanglao
Zak Greant
James Sherrett
Darren Barefoot
Kris Krug
Robert Scales
Crystal Williams
Mike Cantelon
Bryan Rieger
Jeremy Hubert
Ianiv Schweber
Megan Cole
Matthew Trentacoste

For those of you in Toronto, there is also going to be a BarCampEarthToronto!

Smart Search Engine Optimization - Susur Lee

Usually, when I make dinner reservations in Toronto, I google the restaurant, visit their site, marvel at how bad it is and eventually find the phone number.  However, the dismal state of restaurant websites is a topic for another day; today, I rejoice in Susur Lee's marketing savvy.  Or at least the marketing savvy of his interactive agency.

I needed to make a reservation at Susur, so I googled it.  And here's what I found

Susur puts the phone number in the page title.  THANK YOU!  I know that Google does the same thing, right above.  But I find it to be small and I usuallly miss it in a quick page scan.  Susur understands food.  And Susur understands search engines. 

Next CaseCamp Toronto is this Friday, July 7

This Friday, July 7th, is the next episode of CaseCamp Toronto!  Key details:

• Friday July 7th
• Jamie Kennedy Kitchen, Gardiner Museum
  111 Queen's Park, right across the street from the ROM
  
• 6:00 - doors open
• 6:30 - the first case begins

Who's presenting?  So far ..

1) Andrew Michael Baron, Co-founder, Rocketboom

2) Pushing the buttons that make Toronto come alive
Matt Blackett, Editor, Spacing.ca

3) Academic evangelsim
Daniel Shapiro, Audience Marketing Manager, Microsoft

And there's room for 1 more case!  Contact Eli Singer over on the wiki and get yourself on the programme. Looks like it will be a great night!  And as before, add your name to the wiki if you're coming out.

Tags: toronto, CaseCamp

Wendy Muller, Head of Google Canada, speaking at Wired Woman

Just got the notice from Wired Woman Toronto that Wendy Muller, Head of Google Canada is the featured speaker at their June event.  Entitled "Google in the Garage", Muller will give an overview of Google's business success and the search engine industry in general.  From the website:

A highly respected leader in her field, Wendy Muller, will share her unique insights on the search engine industry and discuss strategies, lessons learned, technological innovations and what’s next in this increasingly competitive market.

The event is Wednesday, June 21 from 7:00 to 8:30 PM (although registration and networking actually starts at 6PM) and will take place at the Toronto Reference Library (near Yonge & Bloor) [Google Map].  You can register online; the price ranges from $35 to $45 for the event, depending on your membership status.

Tags: toronto, Wendy Muller, Wired Woman, Google Canada

Mayor David Miller .. on MySpace!

David Miller, Toronto's mayor, has a MySpace page.  Awesome.  He's not blogging there (yet?), but his full profile is posted (Mayor Miller is a Capricorn) as is a video about the future of Toronto and how young people are important to that future.

I don't know if this will get younger voters more interested in politics; though Miller has 222 friends and counting. But he gets 2 thumbs up for trying something different.  And I think he actually has the personality and the authenticity to pull off having a MySpace page.  I think of other Canadian politicians .. they couldn't have a page (Stephen Harper on MySpace .. can you imagine?).  But Miller *gets it*.

I know these are early days yet in political candidates using social media, but I have such high hopes.  If we can nail the use of the technology of it, then maybe it can change the content of the discourse.  I mean, people aren't interested in politics because they don't see it as relelvant to them, right?  And talking heads in debates and attack-ads are still not going to be relevant.  But social media, these channels force the conversation to be different.  To be relevant and authentic.  They force it to be a conversation.  Because all of a sudden everyone of my constituents has a voice that is equal to mine.

Is that too naive?  Too Pollyanna-ish?  Maybe.  But I do believe the medium changes the nature of the message. And a MySpace page is a first step to shaping a conversation.

Thanks to Torontoist for the pointer!

Tags: toronto, Mayor David Miller, Social Media and Politics