Aloha Summit - get your business “social media-ready” in just two days

March 7, 2008

Aloha Summit: March 18-19th, Waikoloa, Hawaii. It's custom-made for savvy businesses who want to understand geek secrets like how Google works, what's behind YouTube, not to mention Twitter, Flickr, podcasting, and more.

Of the many disruptions we are seeing in the marketplace as a result of the internet, the trend toward unconferences and lobby-styled events are some of the most interesting to me. I am a communicator. As much as I have enjoyed giving formal presentations for the past 20 years, the real juice usually occurs in the one to one and small group discussions in the hallways between and after the didactic sessions.

What's In It for You?
Coming up in a few weeks is The Aloha Summit, being held here on the Big Island of Hawaii. It is a two-day event limited to only 28 guests, plus several experts in social media and internet marketing, including me. This is designed for the participants to dive right in and:

Learn about and see demos of how social media, podcasting, and web 2.0 networking applications work, up close and personal.
Ask your personal questions as they come up in the conversation, and as detailed and specific to your business as you want to get (or not - you are in control.)
Create new marketing, communication, and advertising strategies for your business, using the hottest web tools.
Show you how to manage your time and filter out the things that may not apply to your business.
Share power user secrets so you don't make costly and embarrassing mistakes as you venture into the always-on, transparent, and personal nature of today's leading business practices.
Understand what things you can get for free online and what things are worth paying for when it comes to both strategy and implementation.

Your Own Team of Private Experts and Tutors
We know how busy you are. It's like having a team of experts at your private beck and call. We won't be covering anything that is not directly relevant to the people sitting in the room with us.

We will be walking the talk and helping you learn to do the same. It will be private, intimate, hands-on and hand-holding: a two-day working class with smart, friendly, connected instructors. You help guide the questions; you set the pace; you reap the rewards. We are here to support and educate you.

Still Trying How to Decide to Attend?
On the other hand, it's not for you if you don't like immersion-style learning or don't want to get your hands on the secrets of the web today. If your business is doing fine without knowing how to find out what others are saying about you or without finding and supporting customers via technology, then you can skip this.

However if you think your business is being affected by unknowns on the internet or if you want to use the internet more effectively but don't know how, then this event is perfect for you.

Ideally, you may want to bring one other person from your company. The social web is all about having buddies. If you come alone, no problem. I'll be recommending some tools the attendees can use post-event to continue your learning and support together too.

Special Pricing for Hawaii Residents: $495
Click here to get a very special rate of $495 for locals only. Use code "kamaaina" for HI residents and pay only $495 or use code "rox" for non-residents and save $250.

Though we here in Hawaii are so great at networking locally amongst ourselves, many are really behind the curve when it comes to networking our businesses with others around the world. The most frequent comments I get when speaking at local business events, are that "our company is not that tech savvy" or "the majority of our staff are older than 30 and we just don't understand a lot of this stuff that's happening online." If you can put two days in to The Aloha Summit you can single-handedly change this and catch up on the amazing changes that have taken place online in the past three years.

Tourism is a key industry that would benefit from using social media, both for our visitors as well as kama'aina. It could even bridge some of the growing gaps between those two groups. Other industries IMO with untapped opportunities are some of the innovative startups we have in Hawaii, especially those related to energy and lifestyle products and services.

Think Your Business is Too Large or Too Small to Matter?
It's not. Companies as large and sophisticated as Walmart have tried to use social media with unexpected negative results. If you're big and you don't have social media experts on staff or on-call, this program is critically important to your business.

Meanwhile, very small companies are using social media to create global brands on shoestring budgets. It's an opportunity that has never before existed.

Personally, I would love to see some of my friends in PR, Communications, Advertising, Tourism, and government at the conference. There are so many ways we can build our own businesses (and those of our customers) by using the collaboration tools of web 2.0. It's close, it's convenient, it's private, it's efficient. I can't think of a better way to go to the head of the social media class.

Got questions?
Please call my mobile and we can talk directly: 808-384-5554. I am traveling across time zones so try 6 am - 4 pm HST (which is 8 am - 6 pm PDT). Use code "kamaaina" to pay $495 if you are a Hawaii resident. Not lucky you live Hawaii? No problem! Enter code "rox" to save $250.

Filed Under Social Media, Speaking · Leave a Comment

HAF - Links from Roxanne’s Presentation

January 24, 2008

This post is a summary of the conversation we had at the Hawaii Advertising Federation Conference. Please feel free to join in. Tip: Lots of links here, so right-click or control-click to open them in a new window.

Advertising online is fraught with challenges. Most web savvy consumers have learned to tune them out, as people are increasingly displeased with advertising in general. A large part is due to ads getting noisier and more ubiquitous. I was on a US Air flight recently and when it came time for drinks, and the tray tops came down covered in ads, I heard three different people complain out loud. People are tired of the intrusiveness and one-way-ness of most ad messaging. They want to have conversations that are two-way. The nice way to put this, is that advertising is due for an upgrade.

Since my expertise in online, the underlying theme today was to convey how the internet is a foreign country. It has it's own practices, many of which are the opposite of their offline counterparts. The pace is faster, the look and feel is less polished in most cases, the interactivity is high, and there is a good chance someone is talking about you whether you know it or not. You may use email, Google, and have your own website. (That's web 1.0). To be a successful traveler, you've got to leave the Holiday Inn in this foreign country and go out to meet the vocal locals. (That's web 2.0.) The social web is filled opportunities and pitfalls for advertisers.

A Few of Our Group Metrics

Most of the 70 or so people in the room had read a blog before.
Less than 10 had left a comment on a blog.
2 had written in a blog.
About 10 belonged to LinkedIn.
1 person was on Twitter.

Benefits and Buzzwords
Your power comes from joining the conversation. At it's most basic form, by adding a comment, you create a valued in-bound link back to your web site. You also add your point of view. You can in many cases claim thought leadership for your company, for your industry, for your customers, for your vendors. Read my post on how and when to leave blog comments.

Remember relationship marketing? The tools and apps (applications) of web 2.0 are relationship marketing on steroids. People stay longer on sites that allow them to do something other than read some text or look at a some pictures. On blogs and socnets (social networks) people click through to more pages. That translates into longer session times and more page views which are a resource you can sell, or sell ads on. And the relationships you build with your visitors? Priceless.

Accepting comments on your site allows people to tell you what they love, what's not working so you can fixit sooner than later, ideas for new products and services, and most importantly they build trust with you. If you talk back in the comments, it shows you pay more than lip service to the concept of listening. When it comes time to buy, they will come to you first, because you have already established a relationship and possibly market leadership too. All the while you are getting free market research data, if you think of it that way.

And regardless of whether or not you (as the company) are engaged in online conversations, your brand is being discussed, debated, celebrated and parodied online. This brand democratization can be ripe with opportunity as well as fraught with bloopers. Your odds are better the more you are engaged. Here's a "link to the YouTube Mac vs PC" ads, the real ones and the spoofs, some of which Jason Sperling showed to us at lunch today.

Social Networks
Thanks for joining our "analog" social network! Now that you've had practice creating a profile and sharing a few details about yourself with someone you did not previously know, you are ready to go out an join an online social network. Try one under a personal screen name to get some more practice before you start doing this on behalf of your company. And check out Mitch Joel's blog on personal branding to get tips on how to benefit from your participation.

Free Blogging Services: (Set one up and play with it for personal use)
WordPress
Blogger
iWeb - if you're on a Mac (It's part of the iLife software package)

Sites I mentioned:
CNN - Click on "From the Blogs" link below an article to see recent, related blog posts
Honolulu Advertiser - find a news item and look for "Reader Comments"
Technorati - indexes millions of blogs; look for blogs here and claim your blog here once you have one
LifeHacker - popular blog with tips for managing your life
Chris Brogan - Look at the "MyBlogLog": in the orange-bounded box in left column to see recent readers (we left a comment on the Mac Book Air post)
My Sister's Site - pets and kids in southern california
My Mom's Site - Blanche's Art Show

Business Examples:
Mary Schmidt - marketer who grew her service business with a blog
Association for Downloadable Media - Association for Downloadable Media; multi-author association blog
MightyJ Music - local girl band who gets bookings by having a video blog; doubled site traffic after an appearance on Beach Walks with Rox, as compared to zero traffic increase after appearing on local morning television in Honolulu
Legal discussion of Hasbro/Mattel - Scrabble and Scrabulous discussion of Hasbro/Mattel/Scrabulous trademark infringement
Discussion of Ford Black Mustang Fan Club issues

Social Network (SocNet) Sites:
LinkedIn
MySpace.com
Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
Viddler

Please leave a comment and tell me what you liked, didn't like, and anything I may have missed! I am working on some additional training programs targeted for agencies and business communicators to learn how to use the social web effectively. Let me know if you're interested.

Mahalo nui for inviting me. I had a blast - and hope we can continue learning together.

Filed Under Activism, Branding, HowTo, Social Media, Speaking · 2 Comments

Pep Talk and Talk Prep for HAF

January 24, 2008

I'll be speaking this morning at the Hawaii Advertising Federation's annual "university." This is a day when the ad pros come together to network and open minds to new ideas.

First off, I say congrats. There is this sticky wicket in that the more a person becomes an expert, the more confusing it is to find space for new information. If you are like me, you can hear the echo of a client somewhere saying, "But you're the expert - why didn't you know that already or why are you going to this seminar?"

Of course, true experts and wise people understand that with information being created at an inconceivably fast pace, no one can be an expert for more than a few moments in time. I prefer to think of myself as a lover of knowledge, and that inspires me to learn as much as I can, plus I am interested in sharing it with others. That is my time-saving gift - I will do the research and make some of the silly learning mistakes so I can fast track you with a new tool.

This session is a tour of the deep parts of the tubes. The internet truly is a culture of its own, and I will be your tour guide making the trip inside fun and informative and safe. It will be a living example of how the net works these days, so please expect some interaction, some social networking, some gossip 2.0, and some key takeaways for how this can impact your business and those you serve.

Filed Under Gossip 2.0, Social Media, Speaking · Leave a Comment

Video Podcasting for Unconferenz 2008

January 12, 2008

Here is my talk at Unconferenz 2008 in Honolulu on Jan 12, 2008. I am using the social networking site for slide shows, SlideShare.net. It does not play the embedded video — for that you'll want to be live! UPDATE: Ryan Ozawa has posted this video compilation from the day's events.