We have quite a few topics to kick of this steamy July in Phoenix, including our topic of Monitoring, Social Media AZ Conference, and the recent Social Media Day!

Social Media Monitoring: If you’re not listening, how can you talk?

The topic for our July 8th Social Media Club Phoenix is a look at Social Media Monitoring, taken from our Uservoice forum.  If you really want to be part of the conversation about your company or brand, you need to listen to what others are saying about you. Different tools can help with either casual or serious monitoring, allowing even small businesses without a dedicated social media group to participate. It may take time to learn to filter out the noise from the information, but once it is done monitoring is a critical piece of any social media implementation..

Moderator:

• Michael Barber, Director of Emerging Media – Lucid Agency – @michaeljbarber

Panelists:

• Katie Van Domelen, Social Media Manager – Off Madison Ave, @ktvan
• Kathy Jacobs – Jacobs Training and Consulting, kathy@vitaminch.com, @callkathy
• Joseph Manna, Community Manager – Infusionsoft, @joemanna
• Brian Clemens – Cartel Coffee Lab, @cartelcoffeelab

Social Media 101 (ad hoc)

Our usual Social Media 101 instructor is off on a vacation this week, so we will be having the SM 101, just not an agenda.  Jeff Moriarty will be covering the session, and taking any questions and topics for consideration. The sessions are always engaging and enjoyable, so stop on by.

SM101 starts at 5:30pm. Because we only have about 45 minutes for the class plus a Q & A session, please be on time. The class will end at 6:15, giving everyone plenty of time to make it to the main SMCPHX meeting that starts promptly at 6:30.

Feel free to come to either or both talks, at the Jobing.com offices!

Social Media AZ Speakers & Tickets

The Social Media AZ (SMAZ) conference is coming September 9th in Tempe, and is now taking submissions for talks on Facebook.  Submit your Social Media AZ talk and share your ideas!

As a sponsor of Social Media AZ we have a discount code to allow SMC Phoenix members to save 20% off the ticket price. If you’re looking to attend, just enter the code “SMC” when you get your tickets.

We will also be giving away some sponsor tickets at the July and August SMC Phoenix meetups.

Tell the SMAZZIES what’s hot in AZ social media

The AZ Social Media Awards (SMAZZIES) are still accepting nominations in seven categories, hoping to help highlight some of the great efforts going on in social media across the state.  Nominate anyone you think is deserving, especially if they are doing great work and haven’t quite hit the spotlight yet!

• Must Follow – The blog, twitter, or online presence you can’t get enough of
• Business That Gets It – Non-industry company (not a social media/marketing entity) who demonstrates creative and proficient use of social media
• Most Social Use Of Social Media – Best/most innovative use of technology to connect to people in person
• Trailblazer – Out there doing cutting edge things, changing the way people work or think in the social media space
• Up and Coming – Most notable freelance individual or agency that is notably improving its offering
• Most Entertaining – Most all around amusing, insightful, or crazy
• Homegrown Can Of Awesome – Most interesting / promising start up business, technology or tool from right here in AZ

Submissions are open until July 18th, so get your nominations in today!

Mashable’s Social Media Day recap

Last month Mashable declared June 30th to be Social Media Day, encouraging people around the world to meet and connect around social media. While there are already a lot of great social media related events in Phoenix, an enterprising group of people and sponsors came together at the MADCAP theaters in Tempe.

We had over 100 people show up, and shared swapped ideas with the Tucson meetup via Skype.  We gave away some prizes donated by local businesses, shared some of the best local social happenings in Phoenix, and networked to some local music for several hours. For coming together on just a few days notice, it was a lot of fun! We are looking at doing these more network-oriented “Social Media Days” in the future, incorporating a lot of feedback and really making it a fun venue to connect with other SM practitioners across the Valley.

That’s it?

At the moment, anyway!  Lot’s of great stuff going on over the summer, so

If you have specific topics you would like to cover, you can leave a comment here or head over to our UserVoice forum.

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Image by TheBusyBrain via Flickr

The June 10th topic for Social Media Club Phoenix is a look at Comparative Social Media Models, another great idea from our Uservoice forum.

One Size Fits Nobody: Different approaches to Social Media

One of the common responses you hear to any proposed solution for a business treading into social media is “…but what if you’re working with a <insert any business category here>?”  Whether you’re talking about a large brand, a small business, a non-profit, or an individual, there are important differences in need, ability and resources. Those differences need to be carefully considered when drawing up any social media strategy if it is going to be effective.

To explore these differences we’re going to change things up a little. Instead of asking our panelist a series of questions, we’ve created four very different fictional businesses facing a challenge. Our panelists are going to discuss how they would solve that challenge and give you some insight on how and why they made their choices. You can read the fictional business info we’re using and help provide your own input.

So please join us for what promises to be a lively discussion and share your own ideas.

Moderator:

• Oden Hughes, Sr Manager, Analytical Development – The Arizona Republic/Wing-Chair – Social Media Club Phoenix, @coathalia

Panelists:

• Heather Lynne Herr, Social Media Strategist - Terralever, @MsHerr
• Pat Harter, Marketing and Operations Consultant – Provision Team Inc.,  @tryharter
• Chad Swaney, Instructional Designer - Leslie’s Swimming Pool Supplies, @chadarizona
• Jenn Maggiore, President & CEO, Maggiore Consulting and Marketing, @jenn_ex

Social Media 101

Evo Terra will be hosting Social Media 101 at 5:30 — sharp!  This month Evo will once again unravel the mysteries of social media for anyone just entering the field. The sessions are always engaging and enjoyable, so stop on by.

Because he only has about 45 minutes for the class plus a Q & A session, please be on time. The class will end at 6:15, giving everyone plenty of time to make it to the main SMCPHX meeting that starts promptly at 6:30.

Feel free to come to either or both talks, at the Jobing.com offices!

If you have specific topics you would like to cover, you can leave a comment here or head over to our UserVoice forum.

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Image via Wikipedia

The March 11th topic for Social Media Club Phoenix will be focused on measuring the effectiveness of Social Media strategies, suggested in our Uservoice forum.

Assessing Your SM Effectiveness

One of the most commonly asked questions about SM Campaigns is how to measure their success. There are plenty of sites out there that promise the silver bullet answer to quantifying the effectiveness of your SM Strategies but how do real companies measure the effectiveness of their activities. We’ll talk about the different measurements available that you should consider and in what scenarios they can be applied, the tools to use when first starting out and the metrics that are crucial when measuring success of any Social Media Campaign.

Moderator:

• Fred Von Graf – Managing Partner, Web3Mavens, @fvongraf

Panelists:

• Jim Carr – Director of Digital Media, KTVK-3TV & azfamily.com, @azfamily & @JimmCarr
• Dave Cooke – Founder, Strategic Resource Group, @SalesCooke
• Zach Hubbell – Technology Services Consultant, Jobing.com @zachhubbell
• Sheila Kloefkorn – President, KEO Marketing, @keomarketing
• Brian Roy – President, justSignal, @briantroy

Social Media 101

For those of you who are new to defining SM Strategies, Social Media 101 has just the thing for you at 5:30 — sharp! This month we are leading into our Social Media Effectiveness discussion with 10 Things You Need to Consider Before Starting a SM Campaign.

Because we only have about 45 minutes for the class plus a Q & A session, please be on time. The class will end at 6:15, giving everyone plenty of time to make it to the main SMCPHX meeting that starts promptly at 6:30.

Both discussion are open to anyone interested, join in at the Jobing.com offices!

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The next Social Media Club is this Thursday, August 13th, and there will be another Social Media 101 session at 5:30, following by the main topic at 6:30 of Small Businesses using Social Media. The panel will be people who work for Phoenix area businesses with brick & mortar locations, discussing how virtual connections and tools like Twitter and Facebook have worked for them (and where they have fallen short). There is a wealth of experience and insight on this panel, so don't miss a chance to meet and learn from these local business people.

• Joe Johnston, Liberty Market – @realjoe
• Heather Cordova, Bookmans Entertainment Exchange, Web Monkey – @bookmans
• Kristen Esposite, Wildflower Bread Company, Marketing Manager – @wildflowerbread
• Jim Davis, Bobbies Flowers – @bobbies_flowers

This will be an open panel discussion, so bring questions and experiences from your own business to discuss with the panel and the rest of SMC.

Social Media 101

Before you jump in the social pool with both feet, you might want to test the waters. What are people saying about you? Where are they saying it? And what should you do when you find out? Find out the answers in 15 minutes. And come prepared with questions, as this is a beginner-friendly conversation.

The Social Media 101 session starts at 5:30 and is led by Evo Terra. It is entirely optional and you can just attend the main panel at 6:30 if you wish.

Stay Connected

Don't forget to join the SMC Phoenix Google Group to share what's going on in local social media and ask questions.

This Thursday, July 9th, we will be having the first session of Social Medial 101, followed by a panel discussion of Educating Up The Ladder.

Social Media 101 will start at 5:30, an hour before the normal time. Led by local podcaster and general social media sage, Evo Terra, is intended to address any of the general social media questions everyone has when they start working in this space. They tend to come up regularly, so we are looking at setting up a separate time to focus on them.

At the normal 6:30 start time, we will have a panel focused on Educating Up The Ladder – or how to convince your managment, company, or organization that Social Media is a good idea. What tools were easiest to adopt? What "angle" made them easiest to sell?  What roadblocks remain?

Our panelists represent several large companies and non-profits from the Valley, and this promises to be an incredibly valuable session for anyone looking to expand Social Media adoption in their own organization.

• Chad Swaney, Social Learning Strategist
• Chris
  Rogers, Vice
  President Communications, Valley of the
  Sun United Way
• Laurie Buczek, Social Media Program Manager, Intel
• Nina Miller, Graphic Designer Principal, Office of the President, Arizona State University
• Robin Phillips, Online Community Manager, azcentral

If you have any questions or ideas you would like the panel to consider in advance, leave them in the comments below.

This topic was picked based on attendee feedback! If you haven't added your input on which topics you would like to see at future Social Media Clubs, get into the SMC Phoenix Uservoice forum and let us know.

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Francine has done a fantastic job starting the local Social Media Club chapter and running it for so long, but while she has handed over the reins to me for the summer I'd like to try a few things to see if we can reinvigorate involvement. My goal is to reach out to people who have not attended in a while, and get in a wider mix of people than the "usual suspects" that often show up.

To start with, we've set up a SMC Phoenix Google Group to allow people to provide input on upcoming topics and follow-up on previous ones.  It is open to join.  You can also now follow @SMCPhoenix on Twitter.

Clarifying the Scope

There is an enormous wealth of SM knowledge and experience in the Valley, yet it tends to collect in small groups (tribes, communities, whichever…) SMC can help cross those groups to share best practices, new ideas, and creative methodologies unique to the different groups.
SMC should support the social media professionals and practitioners in the Valley, to give them a common area to discuss their challenges. People new to SM are welcome to participate and share their ideas and challenges, but introductory questions about SM are better handled in a different forum.

Tweaking the Format

Rather than single speakers, use a panel format where 4-5 topic experts discuss a given topic then open it up to the audience. This provides a wider range of perspectives, and if the presenters are chosen for diverse perspectives we should get some strong discussion.

Limit introductions of the audience to name and role to save time and limit self-promoting. Encourage people to participate in the many-many discussion with the panel and not a one-many discussion during introductions.

Actively solicit topics, and recruit people to set them up.  Have 2-3 months planning at a time, with different people driving the agendas.

Trying it out…

We're giving this a try for the first time tomorrow night at the June meeting, with the topic of 5 Best/Worst in Valley Social Media. If you haven't attended in a while, please come down and give your input on this and future ideas. 

We would love to have your voice as part of the discussion!

~ Jeff Moriarty

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At last months's SMCPhx meeting, a friend named Bob Hubbard who runs a swim school for kids brought a couple of blind children, the father of one, and their neighbor to talk about an ambitious project to take blind children up Mt Kilimanjaro. They were trying to raise money.

The kids wore t-shirts that said "See Kili Our Way."  The Club made many suggestions about how to use social media to help the cause. And Andy Finkle was there.  He had just moved to Phoenix from New York, and I invited him to come to the meeting to meet the community. Honestly, I had no idea what would happen, but Bob wanted me to get involved with the kids, and I just didn't have the bandwidth, so I offered up SMC

Andy volunteered to meet with Bob and the involved kids offline, and I bowed out.  Tonight I was copied on this email:

OK — I am gonna tell you a story — Kathy and  i got involved a few
weeks ago in helping Max Ashton and his family in their efforts to
raise money for a group of 8 blind people (2 kids under the age of 18
— one of whom is Max — the rest are in their early 20's) — they
are gonna climb Mt Kilimanjaro in June —- 19,000 feet

To me, this outcome represents not only the power of social media, but the power of community. Thanks, Andy, and welcome to Phoenix.  You have made quite an entrance.

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Paul Valach watches as Sally Strebel of Best Party Ever gives a truly useful (and unusualin all the best ways!) presentation at Phoenix Social Media Club last night.
As always, thanks to our sponsor, Jobing.com, which provides a wonderful venue.

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[Thanks to our sponsor, Jobing.com, which has donated a facility to us for over a year now -- and it's a beautiful facility.]
UPDATE:: I took and posted these notes last night, and didn’t add the right frame around them, so I’m adding it now. Social Media Club has decided that this year it will concentrate on four projects: media literacy, sharing lessons learned, establishing industry standards, and promoting ethical behavior. Last night at SMCPhoenix, we tried to contribute to these projects by sharing our own best practices. This led to a very lively discussion about authenticity and transparency, intertwined with a discussion about the use of Twitter for business and another about controlling your social network profile for jobs. Each of them could be a program in and of itself, but here are the best practices of some of the people who spoke at the meeting, which was led by Brian Shaler.
Sally Strebel: Give as much as you receive
Me: Maintain politeness
Brian Shaler: Use social media to meet new people
April Holle: Be as transparent as you personall feel comfortable
Chad Swain:Be real. Especially as we see people using social media as a business strategy, don’t pretend to be a consumer when you are a company employee. Zappo’s CEO uses it for a business tool, but doesn’t always talk about shoes.
Dave Murrow:Transparency being lost sometimes in the business case for Twitter. Was followed by a ticket seller who posted links to ticket sites.
TysonCrosbie: This is related to authenticity.
Alan Sabo: Don’t say or do anything that you don’t want a record of. The Internet is your permanent record
Dave Barnhart: Don’s say anything about anybody that you wouldn’t say to their face in their living room
Ms. Herr: Remember that people who are online and are human and make mistakes. If you mess up, ‘fess up.
Robert Scoble is the best at this.

Can a brand use foul language? yes, if it is consistent with the brand.
Authenticity might conflict with transparency. You must not degenerate into being an impersonal corporate entity. The brand should be an extension of who they are.

If the brand has a persona that you can build on, you can make a Twitter character out of it. Like
View this photo

SkyMall best practice: Support without influencing.

Patrick’s Zappo’s story. Tony sends out a Twitter on a Friday night “What’s your favorite Van Halen song” He got sixteen responses, he said he was going to the roulette table. Patrick won a Van Halen towel and also got a $100 gift certificate for Zappo’s shoes.

Ms Herr: Key to a good blogger: they take you somewhere else, and don’t try to keep you on their site. Don’t make it all about you.

Transparency and authenticity: as human beings, we have to manage the perception of ourselves. We always do unconscious branding.

Jason Calcanis: Tweeting controversial stuff that should be only on a personal site.

Roger Williams: Talk about something you can help people with. Be interesting.
Erin Atherton: Twitters as her business name, Durtbagz. But has a personal Facebook page.
Several people at MSFT are on Twitter, tweeting about their party tonight and how they might drunk tweet some new features.
Alan Sabo: Set up different accounts for centralized topics. Set up a separate account for off-topic rants like political rants. That way the people who follow you for a certain reason won’t be discouraged.

The CEO of a big company has a certain celebrity and cannot easily be separated from his company. Some CEOs like Calcanis, Mark Cuban, Bob Parsons are very outspoken.

Evo: For people who want to get jobs, etc. Make yourself reachable. There should always be a trail back to something that says who and where you are.

Value is number one, be nice, and be an extension of customer service. Something else that’s important is social capital. Give feedback and help.

Social media involves karma. We’re all wired to help people in return who help us, and that builds social capital.
Is there any such thing as truly benevolent giving? Reciprocity should always be kept in mind.
Social media is very indirect. It’s not direct conversions. It builds communities. Community relations managers are here to give. Community managers are not measured by direct revenue. They are like moving billboards.

Heather Herr’s question: Should you clean up your profile or your Google search if you are looking for a job?
This provokes a spirited discusion.
Yes: employers look at who you are on social media
No: “If the employer won’t hire me because of the number of Ron Paul videos I posted or how drunk I got at a party, I probably wouldn’t be a good fit in that organization. I use it as a reverse filtering system.”
Thor from Get Satisfaction: 8 or 10 Judo Moves for Defending Your Reputation Online

OH: “We all Google our friends” Google your boss. Find out who is trying to hire you.
Certain aspects of mass – you can adjust the content. Keep the things that come up fastest in search CLEAN:
LinkedIn, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and your blog.

Best practice: Leverage your content across multiple formats.

As both a hiring manager or a potential employee, do your homework and find out in advance if you are a good fit.

Adjournment to Padre’s Modern Mexican Restaurant!

View this photo
View this photo
Photo Credits: @jamesarcher of Forty Media

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