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CHOWNEY ON REPUTATION

Social media events need less talking and more doing

Mon, 8 Feb 2010 | By Vikki Chowney

Last Monday we started a bit of a debate on Reputation Online to coincide with the start of Social Media Week London.

I’d noticed some criticism over where the value of such events really lies and whether this space had become too saturated with events. Following seven days of voting about who benefits from the week, the majority of feedback has been positive, with almost half of respondents stating they thought the industry as a whole would benefit.

However, the second most popular answer was ‘no one’, with agencies coming a close third. There are obviously fairly diverse opinions on this matter but, to be fair, I’m sure it’s the same for most events. Surprisingly, no one chose ’clients’.

I’d love to think the notion of being a better service provider is the driver for most, but more often than not new business is front of mind. The ‘experts’ and ‘gurus’ know that brands or businesses which aren’t sure what to do in this space congregate at events such as these with the idea of pouncing when necessary. Some of those leaving comments on the poll dismissed it as a backslapping exercise, while others said it was cliquey as agencies liked to portray a sense of being the only ones to understand the space.

This is unfortunately representative of many, but not strictly all. Jess Greenwood from Contagious raised a good point, saying we hadn’t included the end user as an option to vote on. We’d been considering the direct benefit of attending more than that of the long run (which could be another contributing factor to the lack of people choosing ‘clients’).

However, it’s interesting that she was the only one to pick up on this, which in my mind further proves the sentiment above. Many people used the comments field to vent and we saw a lot of emotive responses. Many people have invested time and resource planning events throughout the week and that’s never something to be sniffed at.

Some of those attending and even organising the events seem to agree with a lot of the negative points – specifically around going over old ground and a lack of direction – but still want to try to create a productive environment. Hats off to them, it’s a brave thing to take a subject so hyped up and overanalysed, then try to find a new angle or simply retell the basics. I tend to agree with those who asked for less talking and more doing, but it’s important to remember that many parts of the digital and social media spaces exist in very small circles.

These events have a wider appeal to those outside the industry and, although the usual suspects might little find value in them, they’re not solely set up to cater for their needs. There’s also some responsibility that lies with the attendee as well, and personal objectives need to be clearly defined in order to make the most of any event, regardless of its topic.

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Readers' comments (5)

  • gareth wong | Mon, 8 Feb 2010 5:07 pm

    Its great that you guys are all doing this, but sadly barrier to entry of 'organising' is low.. it all depends on quality of people and insights (and whether it wld be shared)..

    It would be great if we have some visibility of which 140 event is really 'must attend' and also if you guys (NMA? RepOnline?) can curate a 'who's who' list..

    I am not just talking about numbers of followers.. but specific tasks (either as job, or self appointed responsibilities ).. and also key guys/girls who are leading from business sector(s) and agency/advisors point of view..

    that would help and also drives tonnes of traffic to your site.

    hopefully win-win-win.

    sadly I have not been to many social media events now (most I tried once at least)..

    time=money..

    BR

    @GarethWong

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  • Sam Michel | Mon, 8 Feb 2010 5:45 pm

    Hi Vicky - thanks for raising the points, and it's good to get the feedback from the poll. I bet, if you'd included consumers, they'd have ranked as low as the client.

    This is indicative of the fact that this is such a new area, with agencies/brands/consultants still developing the area of practice.

    Hopefully we'll be tackling this again next year and can take on-board all of the feedback.

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  • Jon Clements | Tue, 9 Feb 2010 1:58 pm

    Vikki
    Something that's being tested as an offshoot of the Social Media Cafe Manchester is the Social Media Surgery. This is where people interested in learning about social media and how to use it for business can come along and get free advice from members of the Social Media Cafe.

    In fact, there's one happening today with a live blog from the session:

    http://socialmediamanchester.ning.com/events/february-manchester-social

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  • Vikki Chowney | Wed, 10 Feb 2010 4:36 pm

    @Gareth That's a good point, but quite often I think in the spirit of not wanting to leave anyone out, or possibly just create a varied programme of events, people with passion to organise something are always welcome. And how do you even decide who's 'worthy' and who isn't? That's tough to do before an event has even happened.

    Re: 140 events, I'm assuming you mean either the Media 140 events or Jeff Pulver's efforts? I'm wary of creating a who's who, as that feels a little cliquey in itself. There are plenty of calendars out there and when we think a conference or event is coming up, we'll cover it on the site or talk about it online.

    If you want to look at some of the thought leaders in the business, we speak to them regularly and include them in our posts :)

    @Sam Thanks for stopping by. I agree with you re: including consumers in the vote. I'm not sure if it's just because it's a new space, but admire your persistence to try and create a decent event!

    @Jon Very interesting, and sounds like something that's developed naturally. Often the best way to create an educational environment - based on demand rather than guesswork (not that I'm saying #smwldn relied on this).

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  • PaulieA | Wed, 10 Feb 2010 4:45 pm

    interesting post, particularly the fact no one answered client! Should be first, surely?

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