SNCR

Tuesday, February 02, 2010

NewComm Forum is coming. Will you be there?

Five years ago, I spoke at a little conference in Napa, California. Two social media enthusiasts put it together with a very specific goal: let people who are on top of social media get together. People with specific expertise would present to small groups, there’d be a couple of keynotes, but mostly it would be about gathering and sharing.

Out of that first NewComm Forum, the Society for New Communications Research (SNCR) was born, and the Society and the Forum have been linked ever since. NewComm kept getting better and better. There are plenty of Social Media 101 conferences out there—it seems like one is taking place every day—and plenty of gatherings that are more social than educational. NewComm—along with SNCR’s annual one-day Research Symposium—stand out as the best social media learning opportunity of the year. At each one of these, I hear the same refrain from first-time attenders: “How come I’d never heard of this conference before? This is awesome”

Now, NewComm is affiliated with a company that has the resources to kick it up to another level. With Redwood Collaborative Media‘s backing, NewComm’s original co-founder Jen McClure (Elizabeth Albrycht was the other) and her team have put together a program that’s tough to top in terms of business-focused substance.

My FIR podcast co-host Neville Hobson is one of the keynoters, along with other well-known social media professionals Jackie Huba (co-author of “Citizen Marketers”), Scott Monty (who leads Ford Motor Company’s social media effort) and Tim Westergren (founder of the killer music service, Pandora. Also keynoting is Charles Holt, senior strategist for emerging media for the U.S. Department of Defense.

The list of breakout session presenters over the four days reads like a Who’s Who of business-focused social media. Here’s just a partial list:

Eric Schartzman, Katie Paine, Todd Van Hoosear, Paul Chaney, Brian Solis, Shel Israel, Paul Gillin, Susan Getgood, Maggie Fox, JD Lasica, Chuck Hester, Kami Huyse, Beth Kanter and Geoff Livingston.

More compelling, though, are session topics. In addition to the standard complement of introductory sessions for social media beginners, there are sessions like:

• Social Media and the New Purchase Process: New Frameworks for Marketing and Sales Planning
• B2B Video: Why a Corporate Video Channel Makes Sense
• Social Media Governance
• Social Media for Regulated Industries

Consider Brian Solis’ session, “The New Media Style Guide,” which “will focus on exercises and methodologies for establishing a brand personality cycle that effectively weds brand and representative.” It’s part of the “New Communications & Communities” track, one of five that also include “NewComm Essentials,” “Social CRM,” “Markets Are Conversations: Putting Theory into Practice,” and “Understanding the New Media Landscape.”

In other words, it’s not the same old “How to Get Twitter Followers” sessions so seem to characterize so many other conferences. This is meaty business content that you can use right away to help your organization use social media strategically to move the business needle.

And don’t forget, the sessions are just part of the attraction. The opportunity to get together and talk with others who are well-versed and serious about the business dimensions of social media and where’s going is unparalled at NewComm. It’s more than three montns away and I’m already getting stoked about it.

As for my involvement, I’m presenting a pre-conference session from 1:30 to 5 p.m. on April 20 on the characteristics of a networked organization and the steps required to get there. Then, I’m presenting a breakout session on April 21 titled “Stop Blocking” (sounds familar, doesn’t it?), which will cover the business advantages of unfettered employee access to social sites and the steps organizations can take to minimize risk.

The conference is in San Mateo this year, on the San Francisco peninsula. Don’t miss it.

Friday, November 14, 2008

Live Blogging SNCR Research Symposium

Tuesday, September 02, 2008

SNCR award deadline approaches

When you’re well-connected to the community of communicators applying social media to their companies’ and clients’ communication challenges, you come across a lot of truly excellent case studies. If you’ve produced such an effort, why not get recognized for it?

Recognition does far more than boost your ego. When honored for a program you executed that some in your company don’t understand, the fact that an esteemed group of judges deemed it worthwhile can elevate the value of the program in the eyes of company decision-makers. The more exposure of award-winning strategic applications of social media, the greater the number of converted leaders who will see the benefit of getting their own companies similarly engaged.

Put it this simply: I recently got an email from someone who was reading about the means by which social media channels can improve communication but lamented, “I can’t find anyone, anywhere who really wants to use these impressive tools.”

As competitions shine the light on the truly brilliant uses of these tools, that attitude should change.

A couple opportunities to show off your work are on the horizon, beginning with the Society for New Communications Reseach’s (SNCR) Excellence in New Communication Awards. The deadline is a week away—September 8. Awards are presented in six divisions—corporate, government, media, nonprofit/NGO, academic and technology innovation (focused on vendors and suppliers of social media tools).

There are seven categories in each of the divisions, ranging from online reputation management and internal communication to blogger relations collaboration and co-creation.

The entry fees shouldn’t be an obstacle for anyone—$70 for non-members and free for SNCR members. Winners will receive their awards in Boston on November 14 at SNCR’s annual Symposium and Awards Gala (which I’m planning to attend).

So do yourself, your profession, and business in general a favor: Dust off your best social media effort and submit it as a SNCR entry.

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Francois Gossieaux at NCF

Francois Gossieaux from Emergence Marketing and Corante introduces results from an ongoing study of online communities in business. This is just a brief clip from the beginning of the presentation.

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Live blogging from the New Communication Forum

UPDATE: Evidently, ShiftEdit is having trouble connecting through OpenID, so I’ve had to log in using my Facebook account and recreate the NewComm Forum live blogging page. It’s here: http://www.shiftedit.com/Thread.aspx?Id=243

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I’m trying a service for live-blogging, currently in alpha, called Shift-Edit. I’m heading over to the New Communications Forum (just about a 90-minute drive for me) around 10:30 this morning, with both my laptop and mobile phone in tow. I can post from either to the New Communications Forum section I’ve set up in Shift-Edit (the latter via email). If you’re interested, you can catch the posts here:

http://www.shiftedit.com/Thread.aspx?Id=239. They should start around 3 p.m., after the board meeting ends.

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Share your thoughts with SNCR on press release ROI

I’ve been part of a team working with the Society of New Communications Research (SNCR) conducting a study into the ROI companies derive from posting press releases online. The study is based on some interviews and a survey. The survey’s been online for a while but time is running short to contribute your thoughts. It only takes a couple minutes. SNCR and I would value your answers.

There’s a benefit to taking the survey, which is sponsored by Vocus, which owns PRWeb, the online press release distribution service: You’ll get a pretty nice discount to the New Communication Forum, which starts next Tuesday in Sonoma. If you’ve been on the fence about coming, the lower price might help tip you over. The survey results will be presented at a special Forum session.

Speaking of the New Communications Forum, not too many people are signed uip for the pre-conference sessions, which offer 3-1/2 hours of in-depth learning on topics ranging from measurement to new media education and training. The sessions are only $249, and discounts are available for corporations and non-profits. (Okay, I admit I have a selfish motivation for promoting the pre-conference sessions: Only a couple people have signed up for the session I’m doing on podcasting with Neville Hobson (who will be participating via Skype from the UK).

I hear that the economy is putting a squeeze on a lot of conference. The Conference Board, for example, is seeing a downturn in registrations (or so I’m told). But a discounted $249 rate for a half-day that goes deep on these topics is hard to beat.

In any case, though, taking the survey is free—plus, you’ll get a copy of the study’s xecutive summary—and will contribute to precisely the kind of knowledge base SNCR was formed to provide.

Friday, November 16, 2007

SNCR Symposium looks like a great event

I wish I could be there but I have another commitment. Still, I was surprised to hear that registrations are low for the Research Symposium and Awards Gala, the annual SNCR event set for December 5-6 in Boston. (I was particularly surprised given the combination of a great program and the vibrancy of the Boston-based social media community.)

Speakers include John Cass, Paul Gillin, Richard Nacht and Shel Israel, among others. A slew of case studies will be presented and the registration fee supports the Society, whose work benefits all of us. (Disclosure: I am a founding fellow of SNCR.)

Take a look at the program and give some serious thought to attending.