Celebrating Social Media Day Cincinnati Style

Imagine setting aside one day out of the year to celebrate and build awareness around social media across the world. Top Social Media Blogger Mashable has declared Wednesday, June 30th, 2010: Social Media Day. Mashable states that this day was created “to celebrate the revolution of media becoming a social dialogue.”

Cities around the world are creating their own unique twists around the day and communities everywhere will be able to link their content on Twitter, Flickr and YouTube via the common hash tag #smday. You can keep tabs on the global celebration by connecting to the Social Media Day Facebook Page or Twitter feed.

Here in Cincinnati, the day is being organized by local social media networking group Cincinnati Social Media (#CincySM on twitter) founded by Kevin Dugan, Dan Lally and Dave Knox in partnership with Ignite Cincinnati. Ignite is a cool presentation concept with a quirk. The Ignite website describes it as:

“…a night of presentations with a twist. 14 presenters each get 5 minutes to talk about their subject. 20 slides that auto advance after 15 seconds. It is quick, fun, smart and fills the Know Theater.“

Cincinnati Social Media is known for sponsoring topical, thought-provoking seminars in cool spaces across the city which sell-out within an hour or two of posting. Read more about previous CincySm events here.

Wednesday’s event will occur at the Lavomatic Cafe in the OTR Gateway (Cincinnati’s historic Over the Rhine district) from 5:00 p.m.- 6:15 p.m. According to the event page, free drinks and appetizers will be available until the tab has been reached. This will be followed by the Ignite 3 presentations at close-by Know Theater. The event sponsor is Vitrue, a company focused on technology solutions for social media management.

Here’s an example of a recent Cincinnati Ignite presentation featuring Candace Klein, attorney and founder of the micro-lending program for women: Bad Girl Ventures.

All are welcome to attend Social Media Day Cincinnati, but you will need to pre-register here.

Copyright Michelle Beckham-Corbin 2010

Social Media Ranting: Time to Dialogue!!

Ok, this is simply pathetic. It has been so long since I lasted posted that Blogger has changed it's background design and added some new capabilities. Ugggh. Have been incredibly busy with the business and new clients and projects. All good- but so many very cool things to work on and so little time. I already have lots of people asking me 'when do I sleep?' Ummm, are the dark circles showing or are they just following me on all of the spokes of my social media presence?? I need a clone now!! Preferably one that can make incredible gourmet meals; bake goodies to share with others; clean my house so that it doesn't look like it has been taken over by dust mites; attend out-of-town seminars like the very cool social media event going on in Boston- wait, I WANT to attend that event- the clone can work on client projects...... Anyway,

I have been meaning to blog on several key business/networking events and hoping to deposit the impressions of my experiences in a brand new business blog dedicated to all things flying around in my C3: Creating Connections World- but just couldn't get the blog going and it was causing a stalemate in the writing end of things. No point in developing brilliant business analysis if you have no garage to park it in, so back to Kaleidoscope Discoveries, which as the explanation and disclaimer states: is a place for my random musings.

So, here are some key events that will be future blog posts on the new Biz Blog (coaching note to self- write it down on the To Do list and put a date next to it with the letter 'A'- can we say graduate of Franklin Planner Time Mangement System???):

• New Media Cincinnati 2nd Saturday Event-Topic: Dealing with Competitors
• Digital Hub Inititative non-Conference- Very cool Social Media/Digital Event- won a prize for being the most prolific tweeter of Day 1 at the event #dhi09- link is to Chuck Gose's recap

• Get Motivated! Seminar featuring Laura Bush, General Colin Powell, Rudy Giuliani and others. I have lots to say on this!!!! Would I do it again?......NO!!!

Want to leave you with some very cool quotes from a very eye-catching (especially in the title) presentation on Social Media by Marta Kagan.


"Technology is shifting the power away from the editors, the publishers, the establishment, the media elite. Now it's the people who are in control."

-Rupert Murdoch, Global Media Entrepreneur


"The word blog is irrelevant. What's important is that it is now common and will soon be expected that every intelligent person (and quite a few unintelligent ones) will have a media platform where they share what they care about with the world."

-Seth Godin, Author

Ok, last one from the presentation creator herself:

"If your product sucks, then social media won't fix it."

-Marta Kagan

Amen. I'm outta here- back to the social media of my own business. Remember folks it's all in the conversation. Strike up a dialogue- you just might like what happens (hey, you can quote ME on that one!).










Copyright Michelle Beckham-Corbin 2009

NET-PRINTS: OUR OWN REALITY SERIES

I saw this phrase “…collision of professional and personal worlds” as part of a blog post entitled the “Blurring Lines of Work and Life” by Len Devanna. What happens when you make your total life a personal on-line reality series? What are the losses and gains that occur when you can be accessed and examined 24/7? I have been trying to determine if my uneasiness with the internet privacy issue is due to my age or to my own unique set of personality traits. I have a problem with posting all of my social media site contact information on each of my profiles for complete life cross-referencing. Many people have large lists detailing every possible way in which to connect with them: Facebook, Delicious, LinkedIn, Flickr, Blog site, Website, Twitter. The list goes on and on.

I like to keep my contacts categorized between business and personal social media sites with a few select people walking the tight rope between both of my worlds. I have always been an extremely private person, yet at the same time, I am highly extroverted and have a very likeable and approachable personality. This is a very fine line to operate under.

A great point was made by a friend of mine. He stated that if someone meets him at a business networking event and asks to “friend” him on Facebook, he ignores the request rationalizing that no-one could truly become his friend after a ten minute conversation. I just channel similar requests to my professional networking site, LinkedIn. My Facebook is a place for me to hang out and let my hair down with friends and family. I tend to post lots of pictures, especially from my high school and college years; a veritable “remember when?” collage. I also love to share music videos for favorite bands, some of my creative writing and links to interesting articles. I just don’t need the Vice President of P&G- Tremor to be my friend and pore over my private life unless of course we knew each other way back growing up.

I am a true marketer and I believe that when presenting the brand that is YOU to the public, perception is totally within the eye of the beholder. This is why I believe so strongly in personal branding and being cognizant of knowing who you are and how you want to be represented in the world. Let’s face it; everything on the net is fair game for anyone on the globe to discover about you. We all need to be aware of the dangers of trigger-finger posting and take the time to reflect on whether that Tweet, Blog Comment or public response to a LinkedIn question really captures the essence of who we are and what we are comfortable with sharing about ourselves: our brand identity.

One’s ‘net-print’ runs deep and lasts forever. A hasty post without thought can have repercussions that may last a long time. Stories already abound of people who have come to regret earlier posts that were rants or derogatory statements toward a particular organization or institution. Offers have been rescinded, positions lost and reputations massacred in the public eye. Picture comments you post on Flickr, or stopping by to leave some love on a favorite Blog might not mesh with the professional image you are trying to maintain on LinkedIn or one of the other business-oriented social media sites.

So, if you want your life to be fully displayed on the net through the use of blogging, micro-blogging, pod-casting, vlogging, social network site hopping, etc., then just take some time to determine how you want to be perpetually recorded. Remember, if you wouldn’t want your mother to see your ‘net-print’, then perhaps it’s just not appropriate to post.

As for me, I will continue to keep my professional and personal lives as separate as possible and will do an instant replay in my head before I hit the post button.

Here’s hoping you live a long virtual life with minimal regrets!


Copyright Michelle Beckham-Corbin 2009

NEW MEDIA CINCINNATI

Just wanted to make sure I put out the link to our wonderful group: New Media Cincinnati. Check us out here! We meet on the 2nd Saturday of every month. Great learning and networking event!

Copyright Michelle Beckham-Corbin

DESPERATION LEADS TO CONNECTION

Desperation Leads to Connection

A cry for help reaches my computer screen. In a desperate attempt to assuage the pain, a stranger reaches out from the depths of his despair. A name and a face have been placed on the myriad of headlines that scream out from the daily news feeds: Caterpillar, Home Depot, Sprint-Nextel, Google, and Pfizer….. the list goes on- all have bludgeoned thousands of jobs from their corporations. This daily occurrence tends to inoculate us from feeling the pain that the collapse of the American economy is causing on an individual basis. Unless of course the pain has a way of reaching you in a palpable way as it did for me.

In the midst of a Sunday night of media multi-tasking, a single email burst through the noise of my other endeavors. The plea contained within its short paragraphs, and the pain woven in between the lines of each word, affected me in such a way that I felt an immediate need to contact this stranger in my virtual midst. I responded back to him to let him know that there was help out there. He detailed in his missive, that after nearly 30 years of working for the same company, he had been let go- another victim of the failing economy. With two children in college and another two in private schools and a resume last written while still an undergrad in college, he was reaching out on a social media network in the only way he knew how to do: a straight out appeal for advice, help, free-lance work, a part-time job. As he stated: “No options (given) to take time off, a furlough, nothing…..this is what this economy has come to.”

The great news about this wonderful community that I live in, is that by 9:00 a.m. this morning, many others had stepped to the plate and offered this man advice on the many resources and networking opportunities that are available to him. He is just beginning the journey that many of us have been traveling on for a while now, but it’s nice to know that he is in great company. Reaching out and creating relationships with others- NETWORKING- is the best way to help you get back on the career path. The bonus is that you get to help others along the way at the same time.

So go ahead, reach out and contact a friend. They'll tell two friends, and so on and so on...........

Copyright Michelle Beckham-Corbin

Xavier Networking Event

Awesome day at XU attending the Alumni Networking Event! Kendra Ramirez of Sales Konnect was the featured speaker on the topic of maximizing LinkedIn to build business and make connections. Met some new folks and ran into old classmates and colleagues.

I just love all of the programs that Xavier puts together for their students and alums!!!

Social Networking- Not Tonight!

Well, I was going to post my essay on Social Networking here today, but after looking it over I think it is way too long to post on here. Lol- it's four typed pages and I only scratched the surface with my discussion. Suffice it to say that I am a HUGE fan of social networking and of professional networking site LinkedIn. I have met an incredible number of people I now count as friends and have reconnected with others from my distant past all through use of the site. I am a "Connector" in the Malcolm Gladwell sense and enjoy the opportunity to bring people together.

Here is an article on the LinkedCincinnati Group that Jennifer McClure started. I was featured in the article written by fellow LinkedCincinnati member and former Business Editor for the Cincinnati Enquirer, Stepfanie Romine who is now an editor at SparkPeople.com. I enjoy people, learning about them and discovering what they do. People and data fascinate me so I'm sure they will become recurring themes in my future posts.

Above , is a picture of me giving the graduation address at the Xavier University, Williams College of Business "Back to Business" Program in October of 2007. BTB was a post-graduate certificate program for women with MBAs who had left the corporate world and desired a return. It was a life-changing event for me.