Faster than a speeding bullet! More powerful than a blog post!! Able to leap through platforms with a single click?

Welcome to Toronto – POST G20…

I’m not going to discuss protestors, politics, police or commentary. If you are looking for answers regarding what transpired in downtown Toronto last month, close this window and search the many news portals throughout the interweb!

Today, I’m going to discuss the speed of meaningful and hurtful message delivery online. Companies can be reluctant to maintain a positive online brand because of the possibility of negative posting by users! Yes, WE ALL have a voice now with ‘super powers’ acquired through concepts like “Broadcast Yourself”, “Interact & Engage” and “Join The Conversation”.  With all these powers developing at ever increasing rates, the phrase “With great power comes great responsibility” comes to mind! Yes, cartoon super heroes (and their uncles) have a lot to teach us!

If anything, the G20 summit proved how quick messages can be delivered, consumed and passed along to shift public opinion. Think about how many real time tweets were posted right from the centre of the protests accompanied by pictures and video of “protestor aggression” or “police brutality”! Without the proper journalistic skills and research, who is to say what really happened? A 140 character message really isn’t sufficient to justify cause and action but today it really has become a driving force in the broadcast news industry. The mass collective are now socialized to receive quick answers to quick questions without the flow of information being bogged down by things like integrity, diligence or plausibility.

Content Snacking

Content snacking is the way we consume messages and information online. It’s like receiving an executive summary on elements of interest. Users get headline feeds, snippets of articles, mobile episodes of TV shows and news broadcasts in quick, bite size form. Think of Twitter and how fast posts flow through your feed. In five minutes, a message is posted and gone – not lost, just off your feed! By searching the hashtag #G20 (or any topic of interest), you can find thousands of posts from EVERY angle and viewpoint, but most times, posts are disregarded!

So it comes to this – what catches the eye of online users? What makes them click a link and read/watch? What is it that gets a meaningful post viewed, RT’d (Re-Tweeted) or reposted to other platforms? Similarly, what makes a hurtful post stand above the positive ones? Before the planning process even begins, these are the questions that companies MUST answer in order to understand the social sphere!

Steps to creating meaningful content

I am very fortunate to know Lara McCulloch, a.k.a. @ready2spark . She is a thought leader in the event industry and a social media marketing and branding enthusiast who speaks around the world. Lara is an inspiration to me and to thousands of #eventprofs across North America! I have asked Lara her views on this subject and below are her five essential qualities that will help your messages spread across multiple platforms:

 

1. Relatability - If you write for everyone, you'll find it hard to captivate anyone. It's easy to get overwhelmed by the thought of all the people who can read your post. I often tell my clients to imagine sitting in a cafe with their target market across the table from them. Write as if you're talking directly to them. 

2. Obvious Value – Your readers have to see (very quickly) what they stand to gain from your post.

3. Emotional Connectivity – Whether they tug on our heart strings, get us angry or inspire us, messages that incite emotions are much more likely to spread than those that don't.

4. Clarity – The more convoluted or complex your point is, the more likely people are to move on. 

5. Originality – There are a lot of blog authors that regurgitate information from other sources. Blogs that have gained notoriety and have a high share ratio are those that contain original thoughts and content.

Most importantly, when writing meaningful messages, ensure that it is easy to share! Avoid creating too many steps for the end user. “Incorporate social sharing links that make it easy for people to share your content in one click” Lara says. If users have to jump through too many hoops, your content will not travel!

How to avoid hurtful messages

With everyone having a voice through social platforms, it is virtually impossible to avoid hurtful messages. Lara says that “With the advent of social media, the number of connections we have and the sheer number of people who can be exposed to our thoughts have grown exponentially.” What is fantastic about this is that we can now dive into the minds of our customers and improve on our brands by using their feedback – negative or positive! We can listen to what they are saying deeper than ever before and improve ourselves, our teams and our companies as a whole. If you are successful at taking negative feedback and turning it into a positive, you are able to create better experiences for your followers and customers.

Is time a factor?

Web 2.0 has created a stage for all to become Lois Lane or Clark Kent! As responsible marketing/event professionals, it is important when developing your company’s online brand to remain as candid as possible. Create a welcoming and accessible presence in order to help your brand stand out against the digital clutter. I’ve always said to clients beginning their online journey that you cannot hide behind your logo and push out content like an indifferent machine. Your posts will get lost and disregarded. Meaningful posts are personal, intuitive and contain original content. Sounds pretty easy, but has proven difficult for a lot of brands because of one MASSIVE issue – TIME! Who has the time to sit online and post consistently? To lead the conversation, you truly have to be accessible online as much as possible to prove social worth. It does take time to build yourself as a thought leader who CAN provide meaningful posts, but once you reach that status, the benefits of being able to get your message heard are huge! Yes, time is a factor, but the payoff is worth the investment!

Thanks and feel free to connect with me anytime!

@JaredGolberg

jared@5thelementevents.com

www.5thelementevents.com

Foursquare: It’s All in The Tips!

 

There’s a new Social application in town (Really? A new one? That’s weird) and some are seeing it as a rogue cowboy – Intrusive, deceiving and a little eratic! It has the ability to connect people through venues, clubs, restaurants and interesting sites around major cities. It can provide easy directions to that swanky club you always wanted to go to and also lets you know which friends are there. A little creepy? I dare you to actually try it – Foursquare that is!

We have a terrible flaw embedded in North American culture, but I am not here to discuss the sociology of the technological revolution – although, that would be incredibly fun for me! We judge and ridicule things before we actual know anything about them. I understand lack of time to research EVERYTHING. In the digital sphere, things change way to fast, but before you judge Foursquare as an intrusive no no, listen to what I have to say. There may be great possibility for your business – Especially with large public events!

What is Foursquare anyway?

Foursquare is a ‘Location Based Social’ network that helps you link to friends and newbies using GPS through your mobile device. With easy accessibility through Social mobile PDAs, this application has taken huge strides in major city hubs across North America in the passed eight months. As Twitter before it, many don’t understand the point to this genius! People always thought Twitter was pointless! Who wants to know what people are doing every moment? But something morphed – enter the content highway and the ability to connect through content snacking! Foursquare has entered the same drama! Who cares where people are? Check ins? Points? Explorers? I don’t care that you’re at the AMC seeing ‘She’s Out of My League” for the third time (great movie by the way). What Foursquare has done is created a game. Yeah, so you check in, but the question has always been, now what? 2009 saw huge rise to the personal brander. People focused on showing their online communities that they were busy, what they were doing and where they were at any given moment! The unique twist with Foursquare, is that you gain points for exploring your city, gain badges once you reach different stages and meet new people as well. Yes, many think this is a joke, but it actually has caught on extremely well and has integrated itself into the push of Facebook and twitter seamlessly. I won’t get too much into the different badges and levels you can reach because I feel there are other useful points to Foursquare that are more relevant to our industry as #eventprofs… The Tips!

Leave tips for your friends and become a trustworthy connection!

This application has a lot of great features, but I want to focus on what has been successful for me. When I started with Foursquare, I realized very quickly how to give tips. As a user, you can leave tips for your friends on various locations that you have been to. Say you have been to an incredible restaurant with your significant other, you can leave a tip for anyone else who checks in to this restaurant. For example, “This restaurant has an incredible clam chowder! Also, ask for a seat in the upper level, the atmosphere is perfect for a first date.” Now, anyone who checks into this restaurant or any location in the Foursquare network near by, will see this tip pop up – Friend or not, and will also let them know who said it. Are you aware of really obscure places in your city? Well known as a connector? These tips are perfect to promote yourself, your brand and your city to your online community.

Large events and connecting the city

Canadian Music Week, NXNE, SXSW, Molson Indy and other major events have an opportunity to really engage fans, conference goers and business folk using this application. All of these public events use multiple venues around major cities. The integration of Foursquare sponsorship, check points and contesting can really make their conferences interactive. Imagine being able to see what shows your friends are at while also having the ability to meet them through GPS tracking, all while gaining points to win a major prize (Canadian Music Week and NXNE/SXSW). Venues and businesses are already finding ways to connect with their patrons by offereing deals and free gifts just for checking, making tips and yes. becoming the mayor of their facility! Enter the new age of 'Travel Marketing'. The possibilities are enlightening!

I leave you with this…

Location Based Social Networking is here. These types of applications and technology were inevitable. The intrusion is yours! If you feel you don't want people to know where you are, then may be this application should not be a platform you choose. I personally use it for event purposes to let clients, staff and others know where 5th Element Events are happening and always follow up with live Tweets, pictures and video to accent the campaign. Foursquare is great in conjunction with other tools you are using. The possibilities to promote yourself and your company can be great if you develop a strong startegy of placement and integrate useful tips for your network. Build trust as a suburban connector and you'll see the amount of people who try to connect with you not only on Foursquare, but other platforms you repersent your personal brand on.   

 

@JaredGolberg

Interact, Engage & Inspire

jared@5thelementevents.com

www.jaredgolberg.com

It’s time to spread your wings and TWEET! Twitter is NOT about what you had for Lunch! Try it already!

Below was a Tweet sent out by my good friend Eric Kazekewski who's been a fantastic resource and community member in the #eventprofs network! He’s the Marketing Director for Echolon and is quickly becoming a fantastic ‘Thought Leader’ in the Social Sphere for young professionals in our industry. He sent it out while listening to a speaker at a US conference – Read this:

ericlukazewski Hashtags are filters for content management and community development. #ex10sm #exhibitor2010

How many event planners, managers, designers, coordinators, florists or sales directors know what this means? In the Canadian Event Industry – NOT MANY AT ALL! A low percentage of individuals are tapped in or can even SEE this!

For me and many other social media lovers, this is second nature! Tweeting without hashtags is tweeting BLIND! Almost a waste of time! It’s so engrained in my vocabulary that I forgot to look back at where I started with all this Social Media jargon and digital madness. I can’t blame others for not engaging, unless they have been given the proper direction or opportunity! I understand how event companies stick with what works and don’t find use for Social Media, but I truly believe professionals will be left behind unless they start now! It’s going to be a way of life and a major means of communication very soon! We as thought leaders need to make a better effort to teach others as we build our own personal brands, in order for this revolution to find its roots and to make a real impact in our industry!!

The tweet that Eric sent means ‘everything’ and instead of giving reasons why Social Media is great, it’s about time we SHOWED companies and individuals HOW TO. Twitter is the most confusing (so people say), so let’s begin!

Twitter 101

“Twitter describes itself as, “a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?” – Mashable, The Social Media Guide

Twitter gives the ability to send/post content, start a conversation, ask questions or post pictures, video and other media to a micro messaging platform. Most importantly, it’s a platform to build a community or join an already existing network of like minded individuals. Twitter gives the opportunity to connect to many, but also provides a stage to discuss YOU or your BUSINESS! Building on the concept of status updates, users have 140 characters to write ANYTHING! Successful Tweeters always have links to external content (your website, blog, pictures or articles) in order to provide followers with relevant information! Through the use of ‘hashtags’ (this means putting # in front of a word or phrase in order to make it clickable and searchable) users can associate their tweets to trending topics which makes it easier for people to find you and your content. You’re followers are those who enjoy what you tweet and your friends are those YOU follow. Tweets of your friends will show in your live feed for you to read, reply or re-Tweet, which becomes a viral conversation. Associating your tweets to people, is the best thing you can do! Sound confusing? Probably! Let’s move forward and give examples!

Eric’s Tweet: ericlukazewski Hashtags are filters for content management and community development. #ex10sm #exhibitor2010

Eric makes a great point on why hashtags are used and then he associates the Tweet to two different communities – ex10sm and exhibitor2010.  These hashtags are event conferences and anyone tuning in via online, can now click and see EVERYONE tweeting in this network! The conversation with like minded individuals can move forward and you can build your online community!

Mentions, Reply & Re-Tweets

What I mean by associating your Tweets to people is this: If I wanted to Tweet a link to my new blog post and know that certain people really enjoy my writing, I will ensure to use their twitter handles in my Tweet (Your Twitter handle is your name – mine is @JaredGolberg). Here’s an example of association:

@EricKazekewski @LindsayFultz @Akthe5th you’ll enjoy my new {Blog} post re: #SocialMedia Rehab http://tinyurl.com/yg929ks #eventprofs

I’ve picked three individuals who I know would enjoy the information in my post. I have also put a link to the blog istelf and also hashtaged the eventprofs network and social media so other event professionals can read and join in! By associating people, you have now started a conversation (if these three people don’t know each other, even better – Building your community as a leader through introduction). This is actually called a ‘mention’. Knowing Eric, Lindsay and Aaron, all three would reply and also Re-Tweet the information through their own networks! This is where your content can receive further reach and become viral! Just ensure that the content you are sending is great and people will take notice and engage in conversation!

Re-Tweeting is a way to help get a specific point, article or content out further than the original Tweet. It’s what makes Twitter so viral! Here’s an example of a re-Tweet!

RT @LindsayFultz 6 Simple Ways 2 Give Older #Blog Posts Additional Exposure http://bit.ly/xKkwV via @flipbooks

By putting RT in front of this Tweet and sending it through your network, you are letting your followers and community know that you are pushing a point that is not yours! It’s common courtesy and social media etiquette. It’s appreciated and helps to build trust and friendship through your online peers. Without the RT, it’s almost like plagerism (it is). Always RT a few times a day and put a little intro to it. This let’s everyone know you have read the content.

#EIR Engages, Interacts & Re-tweets

The hashtag #EIR has become a sign for those who engage in conversation, who interacts on all levels and who re-tweets content. It’s almost putting a sign over someone’s head saying “I LIKE TO TALK AND DISCUSS – FOLLOW ME! FOLLOW ME”. People use this in order to inform other community members that this individual is a thought leader and can provide great content you can learn from and use. Example:

#EIR @EricKazekewski has a fantastic point of view on tradeshow marketing using multiple #SocialMedia platforms www.echolondesignin.com #eventprofs

I am letting other #eventprofs members know that Eric is someone to engage with and learn from! While also hashtaging social media (always a trending topic), #eventprofs can also figure out that Eric knows how to leverage multiple platforms. Finding great resources will help your journey and also build your trust online! Trust is your currency, so ensure you KNOW the people you engage with! Pick up the

phone, email and get to know your peers! That’s how social media works! Twitter works very well if you reach out rather then reach in – meaning, don’t just push out content. Associate your content to people and converse!

I leave this with you…

I hope this has been helpful for those in need of Twitter help! Through my research and discussion with individuals who have not engaged in social media, or Twitter to be exact, most say "I don’t get it!" Of course the information above is not the full POWER SESSION, but it’s a start to get your feet planted. I am always here to help you on your way and please feel free to connect with me on any of my personal platforms: Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIN or Wordpress.

Tips:

www.mashable.com is your online bible for Social Media. Anything you want to know about any platform is avaible in great articles and learning tutorials.

www.tinyurl.com is your link shrinking application. Keep it handy when you need to shrink links in order to fit into tweets, blogs and other digital mediums.

 

@JaredGolberg

jared@5thelementevents.com

Interact, Engage & Inspire

Engaging consumers with ‘Ad-vertainments’.

 I’m going to start this off with a bunch of questions (as I always like to do)! Would you stop in your tracks to play catch with an NFL quarterback, as if appeared from no where? Even if walking down a major city street looking for Starbucks on a major caffeine fix? I would (Hmmm… is he about to discuss Flash Mobs?). May be it could happen? Monster Media definitely thinks it could! Wait a minute, they made it happen! How? Let’s chat people…. You have a lot to learn about NEW advertising!

  

  

Eat this first! Then read on…

The attention span of an average human being today is similar to that of a humming bird. Flap, Flap, Flap, turn head, turn head, ohhh flower! With massive saturated clutter of Advertisements, billboards, television, digital networks and smart phones, businesses have a split SECOND to grab your attention to say “Look at me! This is Awesome!!”  What does it take to engage the individual? Welcome the age of AD-vertaining! Where advertising meets entertainment!

 

Ad-vertaining, coined by the Monster Master, John Payne

President of Monster Media

 

Monday Night Football or… Digital Streetball?  

ESPN wants fans to join in!

ESPN was looking for a new campaign that would get fans off their couches and into the game! Monster Media teamed up with Wieden + Kennedy and MacDonald Media to engage passers-by in a full-body responsive, real-time, street-level interactive ad where users can really get 'in the zone' and challenge a quarterback from the upcoming game. Through touch screen and sensor technology, people would ‘literally’ have a chance at playing virtual catch – on the street – with a billboard – in the middle of the day! The incredible part is that players can see their scores match up against players in other cities. A perfect concept that helps consumers remember brands and engage the conversation virally, a concept growing larger everyday in Social Media. These structural billboards were strategically placed in highly-trafficked locations in NYC, Boston and Chicago with incredible ROI – online and off. Want more? Here ya go…

What would you like to do before you die? 

In promotion of MTV’s ‘Buried Life’

MTV partnered with Maude to create an impactful NYC storefront advertisement promoting 'The Buried Life'. The masterpiece was constructed outside the MTV building with full interactive touch screen capabilities, enabling the user to list what they want to do before they die. Monster Media took it a step further and programmed Social Networking capabilities and users lists were posted to Facebook walls. We just took Ad-vertaining from live engagement into the digital sphere. Imagine actually FEELING advertisements! Imagine PLAYING with advertisements! Now imagine TAKING advertisements and transferring it from out of home into the digital sphere! That JUST happened! John Payne says “Ad-vertaining is the cherry on the Sunday,“ but it is imperative to keep traditional marketing and advertising within your budget and overall strategic plan. Major markets across the globe are adopting new technology that has immediate impact on the consumer, but magazines, newspapers, billboards, etc. still have essential impact to all markets. Let’s face it, bad creative is bad creative whether it’s large scale moveable billboards or a full page add in Rolling Stone magazine. As a business, it’s a matter of expanding ideas, collaborating with others and  finding ways to engage your target audience to experience your brand!

I leave you with this…

In all honesty, I was scared for a while! New technology, digital growth and the interweb have rapidly engrained into our sociology almost TOO fast. Kids are playing ultra sophisticated video games instead of playing hide and go seek or street hockey. Access to thousands and thousands of digital applications are literally at your fingertips and I was starting to feel our culture began to get lazy and complacent. It’s company’s like Monster Media that provide a new creative outlet to pull the user off the couch and experience a unique sensation. Even with the Nintendo Wii, we can get up, move and still play (had to throw this in, love the social implications of the Wii)! As the concept of Ad-vertaining begins to grow, it seems full integration possibilities with Social Media platforms are inevitable, but more so, John Payne thinks the integration of cell phones with television advertisements is something to begin accepting. You tell me….

@JaredGolberg / Interact, Engage & Inspire

 

Link with me via Twitter, Facebook & Wordpress 

 

 

Welcome to Vocally Digital: Join The Round Table

How do you start off a brand new blog? Typical introduction? Who I am? What I do? Where I've been? This is a blog surrounding the trends and growth of Digital Marketing and Social Media so let's get right to it, shall we?

The event industry is calling out to the 1s and 0s and very little response has been made! Yes, the younger generation is online virtually everywhere/all the time, but what about the older generation within a SALES based industry? What are THEY doing to gain perspective in a world where digital networks grow daily and the ease of connection to fellow peers and clients literally is ONE click away? Do they really have to tap in? Does Social Media have ROI? I will answer these questions and hopefully help you with any fears you may have…. Don't be scared! We're about to have a LOT of fun!

OK FINE! May be a little background on myself would help!

I am the Community Marketing Manager for 5th Element Events, an event design firm in Toronto, ON. Canada. We handle full service event design including staging, lighting, audiovisual and full decor for many advertising and marketing firms across Canada. You are probably asking what an event designer is doing talking about digital spheres, networking and the OVER USED term – Social Media! Well, at 5th Element, I handle all marketing, branding and digital initiatives. I launched our Social Media campaign last year with extreme growth in less than 6 months. I was named COMMUNITY Marketing Manager in July of 2009 enabling me to engage in conversation with our online followers, peers and partners and exchange ideas that helped build our network and client list. I am a thought leader in the digital community and speak at various conferences and events on leveraging Social Media portals for Face to Face meetings & personal branding. I am a graduate of Ryerson Univeristy's Radio & Television Arts program and was the Marketing Coordinator for Wind-up Records Canada via Warner Music handling a lot of online initiatives for their artist roster from 2006 to 2008. I have always been a very 'DIFFERENT CHARACTER' with a lot of versatility and 5th Element Events has had great success with my endeavours and expertise – Which has lead me to Canadian Event Perspectives and my new role as a contributing writer.

What to expect from Vocally Digital?

As the digital sphere continues to grow and more and more platforms rise, I will be here to guide you and share ideas. I'll help you through your journey of connecting with fellow event professionals and potential clients! Each week I will provide you with background information and thoughts on topics like Ad-vertaining, engagement marketing, video chanelling and providing interviews with some of the best minds in Social Networking and marketing. If you don't understand Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Youtube, Vimeo, Viddler (the list goes on and on), I am here to tell you, it doesn't matter! We'll tap into the best platforms and learn how to use them successfully for YOUR needs… I am your resource and I encourage you to interact and connect with me!

I leave you with this…

This is a very unique time in history! Marshall McLuhan said we live in a global village through new technology, but I don't think he ever thought the world would literally fit in the palm of your hand by 2010! The aspect of human interaction has changed and I am here to tell you that it's up to YOU on how you use it. My job as a writer for CEP Magazine is to discuss the best ways to use new technology to enhance your business and I promise to do so with the best of my ability!

Cheers!

@JaredGolberg / Interact, Engage & Inspire

Connect with me via: Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIN & Wordpress