We thought about doing one of those standard evaluations - you know, the survey that clutters up your inbox. But then we thought…what’s the simplest thing that could possibly work? A blog post! We know you’ll tell us all the stuff that’s worth telling us–it’s the word-of-mouth way.
So go ahead. We can take it. Use the comments section to tell us the good, the bad, the ugly about your Buzz2009 experience. Here are a list of things we’re curious about.
Andy’s keynote
Case studies with Rob, Brian, Marguerite, Tara, and Jill
Webcast with Guy, Andy, Stephanie, Stacey, and Brendan
Scenarios with Lindy and Maddie
Takeaway exercise with Jeremy
The food
The space
WOM Slam the night before
Happy hour
You can also let us know your thoughts by email–lindy[at]socialfish[dot]org. Can’t wait to hear from you!
Ironworks and Boxwood have stepped up to sponsor the Buzz2009 scholarship program. That means we were able to invite two more people who needed to attend Buzz2009. How awesome is that?!
Please be sure to check out these companies–they are both very active in the association community and have lots of useful insight and experience working with membership organizations.
Thank you guys–Buzz2009 is more fabulous because of you!
We’ve literally run out of seats. If you were hoping to register but hadn’t gotten around to it yet, you can add your name to the waiting list. If we have any cancellations, we’ll invite the first person on the list to come join us on Thursday.
We’re just days away—and the panel is ready to go. The fourth panelist joining us for Association Spotlight session on Thursday is Brian Pratz, Product Manager at IEEE.
Not only will Brian share his experiences with IEEE’s web portals, directories and members-only internet based television network, he’ll also tell the story about Gold Around the World, the innovative and viral project to celebrate the 125th Anniversary of IEEE. You want to see a smart use of video to raise awareness? Check it out below.
So now you’ve got a brief intro for allfourpanelists. What do you hope to learn from them? What burning questions do you have for the group? Submit your thoughts and questions in the comments section below—and I’ll make sure to add them to the list. Of course you can wait until Thursday—but if you’re like me and need to write them down before they disappear—there’s no better place than right here.
Buzz2009 is next Thursday. There are fewer than 10 seats remaining. I’m a last minute kind of girl, myself, but in this case I encourage you to register now.
Today is Friday–on a holiday weekend, no less–so let’s have some fun. I’ve been stalking a few of our speakers and found a little something for everyone.
These three companies are active citizens of the association community and they all happen to be pretty forward-thinking on the social media front. If you’re not familiar with any of them, be sure to check them out.
You can sponsor a scholarship, too!
If your company would like to join the list of scholarship sponsors who are sending worthy scholarship applicants to Buzz2009, shoot me an email today. (lindy@socialfish.org)
You might think it’s crazy to give away the most star-studded session on the program for free. (OK, you might be right about that.) But here’s a little secret. Buzz2009 attendees in the room will have exclusive access to the entire panel, all of whom will be there in-person. Still, if you can’t make the trip to DC on July 9, here are the details for the free webcast.
Webcast Summary
Day: Thursday, July 9
Time: Noon–1:30pm Register for the webcast
In this live video simulcast, experts put shape around the magic behind viral marketing. Guy Kawasaki and Andy Sernovitz will lead a lively discussion with a panel featuring National Geographic’s Brendan Hart, California Tortilla’s Stacey Kane and Return Path’s Stephanie Miller. This diverse and well-rounded group will discuss how they position themselves or their clients well for firestorms of buzz, sales and cred.
There are exactly four panelists joining me for the Association Spotlight session next week at Buzz 2009. That means there are four reasons to join us and learn from those in the trenches. I’ve already highlighted the firsttwo– and the next two are just as exciting.
Take Marguerite Murer Tortorello, senior vice president for Public Affairs at Property Casualty Insurers of America (PCI). She leads advancement of advocacy initiatives and industry reputation management through traditional AND social media strategies. Not only does Tortorello bring association experience to the table, she also brings years of experience down in our neck of the woods for a little operation known as the White House.
My initial discussion with Marguerite was fascinating– and she’s got an interesting spin on how to promote the merits of social media at her association. While most of us dabble in the fine art of “get the intern to do it”– Tortorello educates and engages the board for a “top-down” approach.
She’s got great stories to tell– and we’ll welcome her back to Washington with open arms.
I’ll highlight our last panelist shortly– and then open the blog up for questions for the group.
Maddie and I will be giving away our best secrets at Buzz2009. And as a recovering database addict, I can tell you that our secrets require a different kind of thinking than the usual data mining.
We want everyone to walk away from our session saying, “oh yeah–now I see how all this stuff applies to our association.” So we’ll be re-examining the framework for how associations can build their social media strategy, breaking down the living case study for Buzz2009, and addressing the time-suck factor.
Of course, for our session to have any value, you need to be at Buzz2009 in person (Registering and getting there are the easy parts), and you need to have a clear idea of your social media objectives.
What is your association trying to achieve through social media? Please let us know in the comments!
Earlier this week, I introduced the first of our panelists for the Association Spotlight session at Buzz 2009. While we narrowed the list of participants to four, we’ve got some serious ground to cover. Because every association is unique, we wanted to make sure the group we gathered for this session was as diverse and distinct as our audience. With that said, we travel from the world of consumer electronics to the world of school counselors.
Next up on Association Spotlight panel is Jill Cook, Assistant Director at the American School Counselor Association (ASCA). At ASCA, Jill has been key in developing ASCA’s new social networking site– ASCA Scene. Launched in July 2008 – ASCA Scene has about 5,000 members on board– not half-bad considering ASCA has 25,000 total members.
So if you or your team have ever asked the question, “Should we create our own social networking site?” now is your chance. Hear direct from someone who has taken the plunge– and is seeing results.
Next week I’ll detail the final two participants and start a call for questions.
