In the time honored tradition of countdowns in December, Social Media Club of Phoenix is hosting a mash up of the best and worst of this year’s Social Media. We’ll enjoy a lively discussion of a handful of topics to ring in the New Year.

We’ll explore:

• Best Social Mishaps: Anyone remember the Gap Logo Change, B of A fumble on Google+ or Kenneth Cole’s blunder during Egypt’s uprising? We do!
• Hottest Social Campaign: From the creepy “Take this Lollipop” on Facebook to Twitter voting on X Factor…. social media pushed all the right buttons this year. Let’s all share what turned us on in 2011.
• Hidden Gems: We’ll unveil our guilty pleasures and ask you to share what sites you just can’t live without. 
• Biggest Moments of the year: We’ll have you OMGing it all evening, as we explore as a group the biggest social moments of the year.
  
• Social Hangover 2011: Like a bad boyfriend or Friday night regrets there are a few things we just wish would go away. See who and what tops the list, and be prepared to share—after all it’ll one of the few times in your life where complaining is ok.

Like a detective on a case we urge you to pull out your smart phone or notepad and jot down things to add.  Be prepared to share your favorite and not-so-favorite social media moments of 2011.

We’ll see you at our usual hangout on December 8th at 6:30pm at Gannet Local.

Socially yours,
SMC Phoenix

PS Feel free to get a jump-start on dishing out your favorite moments in social media on our Facebook page!

P.S.S. From everyone at Social Media Club of Phoenix happy holidays and best of luck in the New Year!

Image via CrunchBase

In September we will be talking about one of the hottest and most controversial topics online: Klout.

If you’re not familiar with Klout, this is a score that claims to effectively measure a person’s social influence. Klout uses algorithms to look at how you interact online, how often, and with whom, to come up with an easy to read score of your effectiveness. Many tools, like Hootsuite, now include a Klout score when you look up someones profile. You already have a score whether you want one or not. Do you know what it is?

Social media interactions are tricky things, and it can be tough to determine who has real influence versus people just putting up a smokescreen. The term “Social Media Expert” causes eye-rolling for exactly this reason. It makes sense that companies would like a way to cut through the confusion when hiring someone or signing a contract, and there are already stories of companies using Klout scores in hiring decisions.

Which puts a lot of pressure on Klout. Are there algorithms accurate? How do they work? Can they be gamed? Is it even practical to try and boil something as complicated as social influence down to a single number?

Our panel will discuss the challenges of measuring influence, and how Klout specifically works and measures up to the task. We will start at 6:30pm on Thursday, September 8th, once again hosted by the nice people at GannettLocal. Location and other details are on the front page of our web site.

Social Media Twitter Chat

September’s TwitterChat will also cover Klout, and will once again be lead by Cheryl Marquez and Daniel Moran. Whether you’re planning to make the SMC meeting or not, join the chat and share your impressions about Klout.

You can participate anywhere just by following the hashtag #smcphxchat, and can check out the Twebevent at http://twebevent.com/smcphxchat

Because of Labor Day, we will be holding the Twitter Chat on Friday, September 9th, at 2:00pm PT.

Upcoming Social Media Topics

We have some great topics coming in the months ahead for Social Media Club.

• October Topic: Journalism & Social Media – How has social media impacted different aspects of journalism, for both the good and the bad.
• November Topic: How not to be invisible online – Advice on how to talk, tape, and tweet so that your content doesn’t get lost in the fire hose.
• December Topic: Social Media on the Go – Mobile tools and techniques to keep you connected and working while you’re on the move.

If you have other topics you would like to see, let us know on our SMC Phoenix Uservoice Page.

Related articles

• September’s Twitter Chat: Klout (smcphoenix.com)
• Rating 4 social media influence-scoring platforms (manageddotcom.wordpress.com)
• How does Klout rank your social influence? (brilliantthinking.net)

Since the first Friday of the month falls on Labor Day weekend and some of us like to take off early, we’ve decided to postpone the Twitter chat one week. It will happen on Friday, September 9th, at 2:00pm.

Love it or hate it, it seems all your social media friends are talking about Klout. Find out what it is and what it means for you and your business. This month, SMCPhoenix will discuss Klout during our monthly meeting and if you didn’t get to express yourself, we will continue the discussion in the Twitter chat on Friday.

Twebevent: http://twebevent.com/smcphxchat

Here are some questions to think about:
1. What is Klout? Does it really measure influence?
2. Did you know you have Klout even if you didn’t sign up for it?
3. What does it mean when Klout says they measure influence?
3. Is it possible to become influential about a specific topic?
4. What other tools are you using to measure engagement with your audience?
5. How do these other tools compare with Klout? What do you like? hate?

Feel free to throw in additional questions during the chat!

WHAT IS A TWITTER CHAT?

It’s when Twitter users gather at a specified time to discuss certain topics or issues. Twitter chats are usually organized around a specific #hashtag. The hashtag for the Social Media Club Phoenix chat will be #smphxchat short for social media phoenix.

TOOLS TO USE FOR A TWITTER CHAT

We’ve setup a Twebevent: http://twebevent.com/smcphxchat
The best way to follow and participate is to use an app to follow the hashtag. Popular options are using Hootsuite, TweetChat (embedded in the link above), TweetGrid, or TweetDeck.

HOW DO I PARTICIPATE?

Use your favorite Twitter app to login to Twitter. Search for #smcphxchat on the scheduled date/time, use the hashtag every time you have a question, answer, or discussion point related to the chat. If you go to the Twebevent link and sign in with your Twitter handle, the hashtag will automatically be added at the end of each of your comments.

That’s it, we look forward to chatting with you!

Any questions you can always tweet @cherylmarquez or @dmoranjr.

Image by Matt Hamm via Flickr

We’re trying some new things with Social Media Club as we get more people involved in the group, and first up is a Twitter chat on Social Media for Small Business To Business (B2B) Companies.

The chat is this Friday, May 6th, and for those who can’t attend we will put together an #smcphxchat transcript as a blog post with a short summary. Social Media for Business To Business Companies will also be the topic of this month’s main SMC Phoenix meeting on May 12th.

SMC Phoenix Chat Details

Date: Friday, May 6
Time: 2:00 – 3:00 pm
Topic: Social Media for small Business to Business (B2B) companies
Hashtag: #smcphxchat

Co-hosts:
Daniel Moran & Cheryl Marquez

Come with your answers to the following questions or get your burning questions answered.

Discussion Questions:
1. Is SM important for small B2B companies?
2. What platforms/channels do you think work best for B2B (Facebook, blog or Flickr)?
3. What precautions should small B2B companies take when using SM?
4. What has worked the best for you?
5. Is there a difference for B2B product vs. B2B service when developing a SM strategy?

What is a Twitter chat?
It’s when Twitter users gather at a specified time to discuss certain topics or issues. Twitter chats are usually organized around a specific #hashtag. The hashtag for the Social Media Club Phoenix chat will be #smphxchat short for social media phoenix.

Tools to Use for Twitter Chat
The best way to follow and participate is to use an app to follow the hashtag. Popular options are using Hootsuite, TweetChat, TweetGrid, or TweetDeck.

How do I participate?
Use your favorite Twitter app to login to Twitter. Search for #smcphxchat on the scheduled date/time, use the hashtag every time you have a question, answer, or discussion point related to the chat. That’s it, we look forward to chatting with you!

Related articles

• The Power of Social Media for Business-to-business (b2b) (zooruddin.wordpress.com)
• B2B Social Media: 4 Ways to Sell the Value to Management (convinceandconvert.com)
• 12 Observations that will improve your B2B marketing right away: an interview with Mark Schaefer (blisspr.com)

Image via Wikipedia

The November 11th topic is going to be a discussion about issues and ideas for Location Based Services.

Location Based Services – Virtual connections in the real world

Geolocation applications, also known as Location Based Services or “LBS“, seems like a simple idea. They allow people to “check-in” at a physical location by using the GPS in their phone or mobile device, telling all their friends and networks both where they are and what they are doing. Yet this simple action provides the base for one of the hottest trends in social media.

Sharing your location online not only tells your friends where they might find you for lunch, but also lets you compete against them for “Mayorship” and other perks businesses offer their loyal customers. Businesses get incredible information about their customer’s visting habits and demographics. This combination of sharing, gaming, and rewards drove applications like Foursquare and Gowalla to get millions of users. The biggest social network of them all, Facebook, has just entered the fray with Facebook Places and some say it could signal a change to the way businesses shape their online presence.

Where is this trend heading? What does it mean to you and your business?  How can you participate?  Join us for an open discussion on these and other geolocation related topics, chaired by Jeff Moriarty.

The session starts at 6:30pm.  Please help spread the word, and if you have specific questions you would like us to cover, leave a comment here.

Social Media 101 – Geolocation Basics

For those of you who are new to location based services, Social Media 101 has just the thing for you at 5:30 — sharp! We are going to cover some of the basic players, terms, and ideas to get everyone ready for the larger discussion in SMC. It’s a free, open format discussion so come on down with your questions!

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!

Related articles

• HOW TO: Become a Foursquare Super-User (mashable.com)
• Top 5 Location-Based Services [Mashable Awards] (mashable.com)
• Why I Deleted My Foursquare Account (ariwriter.com)

Image via Wikipedia

The August 12th topic for Social Media Club Phoenix will be a break from our topic focused sessions from our Uservoice forum and explore some of the tools and trends that SM professionals around Phoenix are looking into.

SAFE & SECURE: Balancing an online presence with privacy and security

Hundreds of millions of people around the world rush to online services and give little thought to the privacy and security implications of their actions. On the personal level, it is increasingly difficult to participate online without sharing personal information that could impact your life or job. On a business level, topics range from securing your commerce and customer data, to protecting your intellectual property from casual theft and reuse.  Even your location can be available through services like FourSquare, Twitter, and Facebook.

This is an incredibly important but very under-discussed topic in the social media space, but if you want to live or work online, it is something you have to consider. We will explore many aspects of privacy, security, rights, and expectations in what is sure to be a very intense and informative panel.

Moderator:

Panelists:

• Ruth Carter, Law Student – ASU, @rbcarter
• Dan Oseran, Technical Compliance – Paypal
• Laura Rogal, Attorney, Jaburg & Wilk, PC, @lawyer_girl
• Josh Woodward, Partner – Snell & Wilmer L.L.P.

The panel starts at 6:30pm.  Please help spread the word, and if you have specific questions you would like us to cover, leave a comment here.

Social Media 101

Prior to the panel, Evo Terra will be hosting Social Media 101 at 5:30 — sharp! This month Evo will talk about Separating your Personal and Private Identities. You’re online, but do you want your employers to see the same things about you as your friends?  What decisions should you make, and what do you give up, if you’re active in Social Media?

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 set up for the main SMCPHX meeting that starts promptly at 6:30.

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

Related articles by Zemanta

• The Story of a Security Guy at the Marketing Conference (spylogic.net)
• Tips to Protect Yourself Online From the University of Phoenix (eon.businesswire.com)

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.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Social Media Day in AZ: Expressing Your Social Media Story (verticalmeasures.com)
• The Splash of Social Media Day (mediabullseye.com)
• Social Media Monitoring Tools – 2010 Review (intro) (freshnetworks.com)

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.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Social Media Only Part of Sales Solution (quickprinting.com)
• Social Media – It’s Not THAT Difficult (socialmediatoday.com)

Image by National Library NZ on The Commons via Flickr

We’re going to do something a bit different at the May 13th Social Media Club Phoenix, and have a bit of an Open House.  I get a lot of questions offline about the intent behind the group, where it is going, how people can get involved, etc., and it’s just not practical to cover them all individually.  Plus, then I don’t get the benefit of discussion between different members of the group. and their perspectives.  So it seemed like a good time to have a chat.

Open House: SMC Phoenix for the next year

I am really looking for this to be an open discussion with people who attend either frequently or even just once before. What will make SMC Phoenix more valuable to you over the next year?  Below is my rough agenda, but I’d love to hear feedback on other topics you would like to discuss:

• Social Media Club Phoenix – What are the club’s objectives?
• Topic Panels – We’ve been pondering some small changes to the format – how can we make them more valuable?
• Member Involvement & Sharing – How do we get more people participating and sharing in the club? What should the expectation be?
• Member Resources - The Google Group isn’t used much, but the Uservoice forum has worked well. We’re also looking at a member directory. What else should we explore, add, or change?
• Events & Meetups – Is there interest in more?  On what topics?
• SM101 & Classes – We have a lot of demand for offering training material, but many people want it for free. What can we reasonably offer?  Should we be looking at this at all?
• Guest Blogs – Is there interest in blogging on the SMC Phoenix blog to make it more valuable for content in its own right?
• What else…? – What else would you like to see from SMC Phoenix?
• Q & A – If we have time, we’ll have an open Q&A on social media topics.  Anything goes. Though we have a lot to cover so I wouldn’t bank on this too heavily.

I’d appreciate help in spreading the word to get people to come down and get involved in the discussion.  This will help shape the club for the next year, and your input is very much appreciated!

Social Media 101

Evo Terra will be hosting Social Media 101 at 5:30 — sharp! This month Evo will also do some open Social Media Q&A to fit in with our Open House theme, but reserves the right to narrow it down a bit depending on who shows up.

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!

~ Jeff Moriarty & Oden Hughes

Image by JanneM via Flickr

The April 8th topic for Social Media Club Phoenix will be a break from our topic focused sessions from our Uservoice forum and explore some of the tools and trends that SM professionals around Phoenix are looking into.

Tools & Trends: What has everyone excited?

The past few SMC Phoenix sessions have focused on deep dives in specific areas, but we wanted to shake it up a bit with a session on all the tools and trends that people are looking at. Our panel will have several people who attended South by Southwest, and/or are general junkies about the latest ideas in blogs, Twitter, Facebook, content management, and a host of other areas in which we all play.

Our goal will be to great a big list of areas for everyone to go explore, and it will be even more audience participation than usual. We will try to capture as many of the great ideas as we can for a post after the session.

So spread the word and come down to share your own ideas.  The one caveat is no pitching your own startup. We’re all sure it is wonderful, but this is for open sharing and not sales pitches.

If you have specific topics you would like to cover, leave a comment here.

Moderator:

Panelists:

• Kevin Gawthrope, Sr. Manger of Web Services – Isagenix International, @gawthrok
• Katie Van Domelen, Social Media Manager – Off Madison Ave, @ktvan
• Michael Barber, Digital Marketing Strategist, @michaeljbarber
• Kathy Jacobs, Social Media Credit Analyst – The Social Media Party, Kathy@thesocialmediaparty.com, @callkathy
• Chuck Reynolds, Strategy & SEO at rYnoweb, @chuckreynolds

Social Media 101

Evo Terra will be hosting Social Media 101 at 5:30 — sharp! This month Evo will talk about Dispelling SEO Myths. Everyone worries about their search engine plan, but are you worrying about the right things?

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!