Digital Mayhem | Halifax | Nova Scotia

A Pod Camp virgin

I felt a bit like Steve Carell in the 40 year old virgin today. If you haven’t noticed from my profile or some of my blog posts, I’m an older spirit and with age most would expect that there would be a certain level of wisdom and knowledge. After travelling the world for 20 years participating in conferences and witnessing lectures on everything from igneous rocks through to sexual harassment guidelines, you’d think I’d have lost my conference virginity by now. The adrenaline rush of the first time should be long gone or it least that’s what I had thought. But today I found the new conference Viagra, Pod Camp Halifax brought back that loving feeling that I hadn’t felt since my first conference in 1983.

It was a serene moment as I walked down the long hallway leading from the Dartmouth ferry terminal to the annex of the Alderney Gate library entrance. My eyes wandering from pole to pole looking for the arrows pointing to the registration desk. The anticipation built as I walked towards the library doors, I could feel my heart racing. Would anyone be there? Was it going to good or waste of my time? When I originally reviewed the list of speakers there certainly wasn’t anyone on it that made me want to jump out of bed on a Sunday morning and race to the event. Curiosity of the unknown was more of a driving force behind my attendance. The whole concept of an Unconference was intriguing and sexy. So like a typical member of the male species I was lured into the spider’s web.

Unconferencing or unstructured conferencing seemed bizarre to me much like Uma Thurman’s character in Pulp Fiction – odd but captivating. It had a schedule, it had a registration list, speakers –I couldn’t figure out the difference between it and a regular conference. Following registration I picked up my list of presenters, scanned it and quickly shuffled off to a small board room to see a fellow social marketer, Joel Kelly speak on “unfriending” people you don’t really know on Facebook. Joel’s presentation was short and sweet focusing on why we invited people who are not really our friends into our social networks. He showed 10 slides and had more questions than answers. At first I was thinking okay, 15 minute presentations, this is pretty weak. But right when I thought Joel had finished and we were all going to get up and leave something really cool happen. The audience started a conversation.

I’m not sure if Joel had intended it or not, but the room shifted from a one-way presentation to a full on conversation about the benefits and drawbacks of social networking. For the next 45 minutes the crowd did the presenting. We covered ethics, legality, employer stalking, Facebook interviewing and the social impact of journaling your life online. It was at that point that I realized the true meaning of  the Unconference. Much like the online social media applications we use everyday, Pod Camp presentations are decentralized. They’re not about one-way conversations where the presenter delivers their point of view. They’re about conversations and sharing information using an open platform.

For the Pod Camp veterans in the room my realization was probably old news, but for me it was a moment of true, unadulterated insight. Pod Camps are social events where the people who converse online get together and do it face to face. Presenters post their opinions and look for conversations and much like online social networks, the audience drives the bus. The host is a passenger who only pipes in to stimulate the conversation.  Pod Camp Halifax was by far one of the most unique conferencing experiences I have ever had in my extended conference history. I think Pod Camp TO is next on my list.

Tags: Facebook, Pod Camp, Social Networking, unconferencing, Unpresenter

Why online marketing will flourish in difficult economic times

You don’t have to look far these days to find bad news on the global economy. The American credit crunch has pushed the panic button on an economic time bomb that has ticking for the past 5-10 years. Inflated energy costs, low price mortgages, record high personal debt and an overheated stock market have helped to fuel one of the biggest economic slowdowns in 75 years. Businesses are tightening their belts for an extremely challenging 2009 and as a result marketing departments will have to do more with less. When dollars get tight every expenditure has to be justified. The importance of measurement grows along with the need for accountability. Businesses scrutinize every marketing tactic and begin look for new, more innovative ways to generate results. For online marketing this shift will present a huge opportunity for growth as dollars get move out of underperforming media into online budgets.

Carol Krol, a senior analyst for e-Marketer says, “The shift in consumer usage toward digital media will continue to erode TV’s share” (in 2009). According to eMarketer; television, radio, newsprint and magazine advertising spends are all going to decline in 2009 while online marketing is set to increase. The shift in dollars is fueled by an anticipated 44% growth in online video and 15% growth in online search. Search engine marketing is a great example of the value online can offer in terms of measurable results. People who search for a product are in the early stages of their buying decision and are often researching their purchase.

The Internet has become the research tool of choice for today’s consumer, they spend hours reviewing websites for product, price and brand information. They use search to find what they want online. When they have less money to spend they look harder and research more. What once was an impulse buy, now becomes online homework. If you’re not showing up on their search radar, chances are you’re not going to make it on their list.

If you’re a business, search helps your customer find you while online communities help you find your customer. The importance of reaching out to your customer and making them feel good about your brand intensifies in difficult economic times. Emphasis on maintaining and building existing relationships kicks into overdrive. Customer retention strategies move to top of mind during economic contraction. Online communities are a great way to build customer relationships that help support retention strategies. You can educate customers, listen to their needs, respond to requests and measure their reactions on a global basis.

The beauty of the Internet is its innate ability to track everything a user does when online. Where they click, what they watch, how many times they watch it. Information that network television pay millions of dollars for is now easily accessible online. Starbucks Coffee recently launched a great example of how this can work. Hit hard by the economic After being hammered by the downturn in the US economy that saw them close over 600 stores, Starbucks has responded by building an online bridge to their customer that allows them to connect and listen to their needs. They realize the importance of listening, measuring and tracking their customers. Rather than spending millions of dollars on focus groups testing ideas to help them react to the changing business they choose to go directly to their customers and as them their opinion online. Starbucks realizes the benefit that online communities can offer and has begun to leverage them to help redefine their business model.

The momentum of online, its ease of measurement, global reach and affordable value will help to propel its growth through these tough economic times. The web is still a shiny new toy in the marketers pocket. Most are still trying to figure out how to use it effectively. None are debating the value of its interactivity and power of engagement.

A tight "Knit" Community

Social networking is not just for kids! Knitters of the world are all over it thanks to Casey and Jessie from Cambridge, Massachusetts. In 2004, Jessie who is an avid knitter started writing a blog sharing her thoughts on knitting and looking for input from others who share the same passion. By 2007 she had over 440,000 followers. Recently, with the help of a number of community members, Jessie and Casey fundraised enough cash to built a social networking site called Ravelry. Launched in November 2007 and still in beta release, ravelry.com has over 100,000 members and is growing by more than a 1000 per day! It has a waiting list of 6,800 people who are chomping at the bit to get in the door.

I don’t have the skill required to join this group nor the interest beyond its marketing implications. A friend of mine, who really enjoys knitting, brought it to my attention. She was compelled to tell me about it even though she probably knew I had no interest in knitting. As she described the site you could hear this real sense of genuine excitement in her voice. It was almost like she had met this new friend who shared the same interests. In reality she had met over 100,000 new friends.

When you arrive on the site its façade is very simple, but much like an iceberg, the bulk of its mass is underwater. The first step to seeing this involves putting your name on a waiting list. When I looked at the site there were 6845 people at the pearly gates waiting to be accepted into knitter heaven. People are waiting 6-7 days for there invitations to be processed. Meanwhile, as they chat amongst their social circles, the anticipation of becoming a member is creating all kinds of word-of-mouth awareness for the site. Yeah, I know, hard to imagine people getting that excited about knitting, but believe me there are millions who love it and this site is their Facebook. Go to blogsearch.google.com and search “ravelry”, bloggers are buzzing about the site’s stickiness.

When you get inside the walls you can understand why there is a line-up at the door. Thousands of free design patterns, groups of people blogging, sharing common interests, and forums with 1000’s of postings on 100’s of different topics. The site is already a thriving online community with a massive resource base and it’s only 6 months old. It is a great example of how online communities can be used to facilitate sharing in a very productive fashion. From a marketers perspective this is a farm of information that is primed for harvesting.

100,000 plus enthusiasts in a community that is designed to facilitate two-way communication. If you’re a multi-million dollar yarn company focused on building brand and innovating this has to be on your marketing radar. It’s a huge opportunity to build relationships with the people who have the ability to influence your brand. At a bare minimum you should be listening. The smart brand would be investing.

Why? With all the ambient noise in traditional advertising channels it ‘s hard to reach the true influencers who become champions for a brand. Online communities like ravelry.com are at the forefront of a wave of change. Consumers are tuning out all the noise marketers are making and looking for ways to eliminate irrelevant messages. They expect marketers to know what they want to hear when they want to hear it. Brands that use mass mediums to spray their message all over the place are finding it much more difficult to reach the their core customers. Online communities are helping them connect with their customers and build real one-to-one relationships. The Internet has turned up the volume on the voice of the consumer. Brands have to start listening else they will quickly become extinct. In an early blog post I noted a great example of how one of the world’s most coveted brands, Starbucks is leading the way in this arena. (i.e. www.mystarbucksidea.com)

Communities like ravelry.com have purpose that extends beyond socialization. They are aggregates that collect influencers who, thanks to a certain level of social anonymity, are often ready to engage in a conversation with brands that they perceive as relevant to their interests.