I’m off to Syndicate in the morning on the crack of dawn train. I’ll be there through Thursday morning, so if you are at the conference, or just in NY, give me a shout. Email sgetgood@getgood.com, cell 617/ 967-0169.
Since I am live-blogging the event for Corante, I have a media badge. It will be fun to experience a conference from the "other side" for a change.
Don’t worry, I promise to use my powers for good. 🙂
It’s a rite of passage — that moment when you realize that the bulk of industry conferences and trade shows are scheduled in the Spring and early Autumn. Not all, mind you. There are trade shows going on all year long in the USA. But the concentration in May June September and October, at least in the US, is amazing. You could literally go from conference to conference, just returning home to get clean shirts and underwear. I suppose some people do…. At least I hope they are getting clean undies….
Anyway, here are a few conferences and events coming up over the next few months that marketing and PR folk should check out.
Next week in NYC, Syndicate (May 16-17). Everything you always wanted to know about syndication. I will be live-blogging the conference for Corante. Posts will appear here and on the Corante Marketing Hub for sure, maybe some other places too. PubSub is aggregating the blogs from speakers, sponsors and attendees.
Next month:
NYC, June 8-9, the 2006 Innovative Marketing Conference, sponsored by Corante and the Center on Global Brand Leadership of Columbia Business School. It is a two-day event. The first day is a "CMO Summit" for CMOs and VPs of Marketing. The second day is a "Marketer’s Forum" open to the public. I’m not attending this one, as I have a conflict, but the speaker list is fantastic, so I urge you to check it out. Somewhere in my pile of email is a note that my readers can get a discount, so if anyone is interested, drop me a note and I’ll dig it out.
Interested in bank marketing? I certainly am, thanks to my client who sells CRM systems for banks! The Boston Chapter of the AMA is getting an exclusive first look at TD Banknorth’s new marketing campaign from Tom Dyck, TD Banknorth EVP and Director of Marketing. The presentation will be held Friday June 9 from 11 am – 1:30 pm at Banners Restaurant at the TD Banknorth Garden in Boston. Plus we get a special behind-the-scenes tour of the Garden, including areas not usually accessible to the public.
July:
San Jose, CA July 28-29. BlogHer. Day One is sold out, but last I heard, there was still space at the cocktail party and for Day Two. Come be part of the Business Blogging unpanel on Day Two that I am doing with Yvonne DiVita and Toby Bloomberg. We want you to come share your stories!! The whole concept of the unpanel is that everyone participates and together we build a collective deliverable. In this case, we’ll call it best practices for business blogging. More background on the unpanel in this post. And more to come late May, early June.
Disclosures: I am a member of the Corante Marketing Hub and the Boston Chapter of the AMA, and a speaker at (and longtime fan of) BlogHer.
Tags: BlogHer, RSS, Syndicate, AMA Boston, business blogging, bank marketing, Corante, trade shows
"I’m through accepting limits
‘cuz someone says they’re so
Some things I cannot change
But till I try I’ll never know"
– Defying Gravity, from Wicked
Last night, my husband and I saw Wicked at Boston’s Opera House. The play (and the book it is based on) are wonderful, but the theme that really resonated for me was the friendship between the Wicked Witch and Glinda.
This is a busy week, so the blog will be pretty quiet. But tonight, I want to tell you about some "wicked" women bloggers who I truly value. In no particular order:
Toby Bloomberg, Diva Marketing. Toby was one of the first bloggers to welcome me into the blogosphere, and I continue to value her business and marketing blog perspective.
Yvonne DiVita, Lip-sticking. Yvonne is a pioneer in the field of marketing to women online. She is also one of the most delightful and genuine people I have ever met.
Toby,Yvonne and I will be facilitating a business blogging "unpanel" at BlogHer this July. Come and share your blog marketing experiences.
Elisa Camahort. I met Elisa when I submitted a speaking proposal for the first BlogHer conference last year. I was, and still am, totally impressed what she and her BlogHer partners Lisa Stone and Jory Des Jardins have achieved with the BlogHer conference.
Kami Huyse. I virtually met Kami (and Andrea Weckerle) as a result of a notorious PR character blog. Kami is passionate about the practice of public relations, and her blog is full of information that helps us all be better communicators and professionals.
Andrea Weckerle. Andrea is one of the "quiet ones." You know, the folks who you think/know are totally serious and then they surprise you with another side of their personality. I’m still laughing at some of the content she and Bill Green came up with when they subbed for Scott Baradell at the Media Orchard. Andrea cares, and she uses her blog to make a difference.
Elizabeth Albrycht. Elizabeth is a fellow Corante blogger. Her background is strong and rich in PR practice, but currently she is working toward her Masters. As a result, her blog tends to have a more intellectual/theoretical bent. And we all benefit from her perspective. Down in the dog eat dog trenches, it is nice to spend a few moments every now and then on why.
Mary Schmidt. There are no words sufficient to describe Mary. Seriously. Mary is also a Corante blogger, and her perspective on marketing (and particularly customer service) is spot on. Even if you are already reading tons of marketing blogs. Frank. Honest. On your side. Friday Martinis. That is Mary. I’m glad she’s on my side.
In fact, I am glad that all of these wicked, wonderful women bloggers are on my side, and am glad to call them friends. As my regular readers know, the label "friend" means a lot to me.
"Who can say if I’ve been changed for the better?
I do believe I have been changed for the better
And because I knew you…
Because I knew you…
Because I knew you… I have been changed for good."
– For Good, from Wicked
PS: There are a lot of great male bloggers on my reading list too. But tonight it is all about the wicked women bloggers. Take no offense!
Tags: women bloggers, PR, marketing
Gotta love it. Tomorrow is No Pants Day.
Hat tip to Benjamin at I Got News For You
Puts it all in perspective, doesn’t it?
Tags: no pants day
Intrinsic. adj. Of or relating to the fundamental nature of a thing; inherent. (Webster’s)
Blogging, whether you think of it as a form, a medium or a vehicle, has no intrinsic value.
Strong words, especially when you consider that I’ve recently been characterized as a blog fanatic (and by the way, I did not take offense at all). In the sense that I believe Daniel Bernstein meant, that I am a believer in the value of blogging and "social media" for both individuals and business, yes, I am a fanatic. But it isn’t "the blog" per se that I value — it is what it gives us.
For the real value of blogs (and all social media, whether wiki, forum or podcast) isn’t the thing itself. See above. In and of itself, it has no value.
The value is in what it gives us. For individuals, blogs fill all sorts of needs – community, conversation, education, reputation, validation. There as many reasons why as there are bloggers. But the answer to why do we blog is never simply "because." It is always because something.
We shouldn’t expect it to be any different for a business. Yes, there are many reasons why a business might consider blogging. But never "just because."
It has to come back to the business and marketing plan. Blogging has to fit into the business plan and deliver to an existing business objective. It doesn’t have to be an overt sales/marketing objective — it could just as easily be something important for customer service or development.
A big part of the value of blogs — of even considering doing a business blog — is the focus on the customer. That’s why I embraced blogging in the first place. I have long been a proponent of customer-centric marketing, and blogs are most definitely (and sometimes painfully) customer centric.
But if the business doesn’t understand how blogging will deliver to something that is ALREADY important to it, it will NOT do it.
When it does….
Companies of all sizes are embracing blog monitoring. It’s a no-brainer, really. We already monitor the media; blogs are an obvious extension, and a great way to listen to customers and other influencers. And cranks too of course, but the most important thing is to listen and take action when appropriate. You don’t actually have to respond to every comment.
In fact, we should never feed the trolls. It only encourages them.
It’s also why we hear a lot about companies using blogs internally. Blogs connect employees, as workers and as individuals, in highly beneficial ways. That fits the plan. So, if a company NEVER does a public corporate blog, but encourages internal blogs, and maybe even/eventually employees blogging externally, connecting with customers, we’ve got something good. Makes this blog fanatic happy anyway 🙂
So whether you are talking to the Fortune 500 or a mom and pop shop, stay focused on what’t important to them as a business. If a blog makes sense, recommend it, but make sure you couch the recommendation in a solid business case. Because they aren’t going to (and shouldn’t) do it "just because."
Tags: blogging, business blogging, customers
