Yesterday I sat on a panel at the PRSA T3 Conference with my buddies Paull Young from Converseon and David Bradfield from Fleishman-Hillard. Our session was called, “Tech PR & Social Media: New Skills & Opportunities for PR Pros.” There was quite a back channel of conversation on Twitter.

What made our session stand out, in my opinion, was the use of actual case studies (B2B, B2C, etc.) that actually illustrated how our clients are using social media platforms. Too often, you see the same four or five case studies (Dell, Blendtec, Boeing, Wal-Mart, etc.) so it was refereshing to talk about something else.

At the end of our session we forgot to direct attendees to the list of Delicious links we created, so check it out. There’s even an RSS feed OPML file you can download there to get you started if you don’t currently use one that features links to the blogs from most of the speakers.

I was most looking forward to Brian Solis’ session “Return on Participation: Measuring Social Media Strategies in Tech PR.” It was a bit discouraging, in that Brian’s main recommendations seemed to require heavy manual search, web analytic software on your own website/blog, the implementation of widgets and of course,  checking your Facebook/Twitter numbers. These are all absolutely important, but also already adopted by many social media practitioners.  I hoped to hear more about how to actually develop the strategy with measurement in mind.

I was running late, and I forgot to bring my camera, which means I have no pictures to put up on Flickr or to include in this post. Also, I recently bought a larger memory card so I could use my camera to capture video as well, and it would have been really useful to be able to interview a couple of the people I met there. Stupid!

Anyway, I’ve said it before, but conferences are an important way to build meaningful relationships offline with the people you interact with online for the majority of the time. If anyone reading this attended the conference as well, please share your impressions or any key takeaways with us!

© Aaron Uhrmacher. Visit DISRUPTology for more posts on social media and communications.

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Social media is not just about participating in online conversations, but building closer relationships with the people in your network offline as well.

Robert Scoble is a great example of someone with a high profile blog who travels constantly and uses those trips to meet as many people as possible. In fact, he uses the social travel site Dopplr (as do I) to update people on his whereabouts.

So if you’re inclined to network with other bloggers in your niche, here’s a couple of upcoming opportunities in a variety of cities that might appeal to you. You’ll also learn a heck of a lot about social media in the process:

1. PRSA T3 PR Conference (New York, September 11): I’ll be hosting a panel with Paull Young from Converseon and David Bradfield from Fleishman Hillard titled, “Tech PR & Social Media: New Skills & Opportunities for PR Pros.” In addition to our panel, there are some fantastic speakers lined up, like Paul Gillin and Brian Solis. Check this link for the registration and more details.
2. Interop (New York, September 15-19): If you work in tech, this show is not to be missed. It’s a virtual who’s who of technology bloggers, evangelists and decision makers discussing the future of mobile, wireless and cloud computing at the enterprise level.
3. Web 2.0 Expo (New York, September 16-19): Head to Interop and get two for the price of one. There’s a whole track dedicated to Web 2.0 at work.
4. Blog World Expo (Las Vegas, September 20-21): This is one of those conferences that seems to get bigger each year. Topics range from Intro to New Media to Community Development and Business Blogging.
5. Social Networking Conference (London, September 22-23): The organizers of this event are hosting similar conferences in other regions as well, but if you want to know more about the state of the social networking space in Europe, this might be a good place to start. The largest European gathering of social media folks takes place at Le Web in December, so keep an eye out for that as well.
6. Blog Orlando (Orlando, September 25-27): This is a free “Unconference,” which means that anyone is welcome to lead a session on the topic of his/her choice. I’ve participated in a couple of these in New York and Boston. The content can be great depending on the presenter, but the topics here are pretty compelling .There are sessions scheduled on Blogging Relations, Crisis Communications and a few industry focused tracks as well (politics, travel/tourism). And the speaker lineup thus far is pretty damn strong.
7. Social Media Forum (Hamburg, Germany, September 29): The site is in German, and although my surname would indicate some level of comprehension, I confess I used Babelfish to translate the site. What I like about this one is the number of case studies that will be presented. We often hear a lot of high level strategy at these events, but rarely hear real world examples from which we can learn.
8. Aloha Social Media Summit (Boulder, Colorado, October 6-7): A bunch of social media rockstars, no PowerPoint and a cap of just 25 attendees? I’m intrigued.
9. PopTech! (Camden, Maine, October 23-25): Think of it at the TED Conference for the East Coast. It takes place in upstate Maine. The trip might be tough but you’ll leave inspired by the speakers and tapped into a community at the bleeding edge of whatever comes after Web 2.0.
10. Blogging Fundamentals (Boston, December 11): Forrester analyst Jeremiah Owyang will lead a one day workshop on corporate blogging. He’s among my favorite bloggers and a couple of hours with him are well worth the investment!

Leslie Poston has taken the time to capture an even bigger list over at Media Bullseye, which I recommend you check out as well. In addition to some of the conferences I outlined above, she included a host of free events as well.

Regardless of how you choose to participate, keep building your network!

© Aaron Uhrmacher. Visit DISRUPTology for more posts on social media and communications.

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If you’re planning to attend the SXSW Interactive Festival in Austin next March, it’s time to vote for the sessions you’re most interested in seeing. Organizers recently launched the Panel Picker, which empowers participants to review all of the proposal submissions and cast a vote for the sessions that sound most appealing.

According to the site, voting will account for about 30% of the decision making process, while the remainder will be at the discretion of the advisory board and organizers.  Categories range from advertising to community to new technology, each of which have close to 200 submissions. That’s why you’ll probably want to use the robust panel search function, as you can also just look for keywords you’re most interested in, like panel submissions that include the word ‘suck. If you want to vote, you first have to create an account. It’s a pretty cool search function, and will help you wade through all of the different submissions.

Voting closes August 29, so if you have a panelist you want to see or topic that you want to hear, now’s your chance to let it be known. I highly recommend (cough, cough) voting for the one that I’d be a part of, “PR for Peanuts.”

And if you live in Austin and have a couch I can crash on in March, let me know!

© Aaron Uhrmacher. Visit DISRUPTology for more posts on social media and communications.

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Thought I’d share some interesting posts I’ve read in the last week or so from participants in a variety of recent social media related conferences:

• MediaShift’s Mark Glaser discusses his participation in the NewsTools2008 UnConference.
• CNET’s Stefanie Olsen reports from the Dealmaker Forum 2008.
• Lee Odden’s share his notes from a panel on Facebook marketing at the Web 2.0 Expo.

If you’re interested in more upcoming social media conferences, check out this recent list from Mashable.

© Aaron Uhrmacher. Visit DISRUPTology for more posts on social media and communications.

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I’m pretty sure that this post from the IABC InSession blog will be the only time that Nicholas Negroponte and I will be pictured side by side:

I kind of like his pic better. It might be time for a new headshot that makes me look less…I don’t know…shady?

Anyway, if you’re attending the IABC International Conference in June, I hope you’ll consider participating in my pre-conference workshop.

We’ll be discussing social media best practices from the ground up. I’m putting the presentation together now.

If you were going to a three hour workshop, what are some of the topics you’d like to learn more about?

© Aaron Uhrmacher. Visit DISRUPTology for more posts on social media and communications.

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