Giveaway - Y’all Connect Conference! {$129 Value}

On July 23, Birmingham will once again have a major social media conference: Y’all Connect. Focused on helping companies use social media tools wisely and efficiently, many experts will be teaching the basics of corporate storytelling.

The conference’s director, Wade Kwon, explains the value in this skill: “Many bloggers already know how to tell a good story about their kids or their lives, but businesses often stumble when talking about their own histories. We can help. Instead of selling and marketing, they will find ways to attract fans and customers through good stories and strong engagement.”

The speakers at Y’all Connect will include familiar Birmingham icons as well as national experts, all of whom utilize social media tools with great expertise. So far, this fantastic group includes James Spann, Ike Pigott, Andrea Weckerle, Nichole Kelly, Peter Shankman, Whitney Breaux, Shelly Kramer and Mack Collier.

"Y'all Connect is a conference aimed at CEOs and marketing managers who want to show how their companies stand out,” Kwon explains. “They may have used blogging and Facebook and Twitter, but aren't sure how to use them wisely and efficiently.”

This conference isn’t focused on theory and motivational speeches - there will be practical takeaways so that the attendees can leave and immediately put new ideas to use to expand their business’ social media platform.

"We expect 500 attendees, with half coming from all across Alabama and the rest coming from out of state. I can't wait to show off my hometown of Birmingham," Kwon states.

There will be a kickoff party on the evening of July 22, then on July 23, sessions and speakers will be scheduled from 8:30-6:00, followed by a closing night party. As such, there will be significant amounts of time for learning and networking.

The conference will be held at the Birmingham Jefferson Civic Center, and lodging will be available at a discounted rate in the adjoining Sheraton Hotel.

If you would like to attend, I have one conference pass to give away! To enter, follow the instructions in the Rafflecopter Widget below:


[CONTEST OVER]

But if you don’t win, I do have a Promo Code for the rest of you: Enter ALABLOGSWEET for $30 off regular tickets!

This giveaway is open until Monday, May 6 and the randomly chosen winner will be announced on Tuesday, May 7

Best of luck!

Alabama Social Media Inaugural Meeting: Recap

I attended the Alabama Social Media inaugural meeting yesterday, and it was phenomenal!

The sensation of seeing a roomful of hundreds of faces straight from their Twitter Avatars was extremely fun – I got to meet so many friends face-to-face for the first time!

Zoës Kitchen catered the event with their usual fantastic assortment of food, which would have made the meeting worth going to on it’s own! But the speaker, Ike Pigott, also had some very valuable (and fascinating!) information to share.

Ike talked about the importance of Social Media, especially to corporations. He used the analogy of a Canary in the mine – the miners pay attention to the Canary, because if the Canary dies, the miners will follow unless they leave.

Social Media is this generation’s Canary – it makes a lot of noise, and it can help identify future crises if analyzed in the right way. And companies ABSOLUTELY need to be paying it attention!

"Framing gives context to fact. With the right story, you can change the way people see facts." – Ike Pigott

But not ALL disparaging words spoken against companies are crises - some are just noise. Ike recommended the book, The Gift of Fear, where the author Gavin De Becker arrived at a formula to analyze whether letters to celebrities were threats or not. In the same way, Ike set out to find a way to know whether individual Social Media messages were important or not.

Ike shared several examples of Social Media crises (or averted crises) in his current job with Alabama Power and in his past job with The American Red Cross. He used these situations to come up with the following guidelines:

7 Signs of a Viral Threat:

A – Authority / Assertion – The message must give you the feeling that you now know something important that will truly affect future decisions.

B – Brevity – No one wants to read a manifesto. If the negative message is too long, the average reader won’t want to be the one to foist it upon his whole social network.

C – Clarity – A well-crafted message, to go viral, must be unambiguous. There can be no question about where the author stands.

D – Detail – The position is rooted in incontrovertible fact, not just generalized negative statements.

E – Emotion – How well-written is the message? Does it make you feel as though you could be just as passionate for simply passing it along?

F – Focus- The message must be about one thing, and one thing only. If it makes a reader mentally wander he’ll be less likely to feel compelled to pass it along.

G – Gossip – We like to pass on juicy little tidbits to feel the rush of knowing you knew something before (almost) any of your friends did. This expands our position of esteem and authority.

When asked what tools were useful in monitoring what social networks were saying about your company/brand, Ike recommended Kurrently and socialmention.

*For the full transcript, you can visit the alsocme page.

I was unbelievably impressed with the amazing job that Kristen, Jeff, Wade, Erin, Stacey, Michelle, and all of their volunteers did with the event – it was beyond perfect!

I highly recommend planning on attending the next ALsocme event - the networking is invaluable, and the information shared is awesome!! There is a mixer on Thursday, April 21st, where there are currently only 7 tickets remaining. If you can attend, be sure to reserve your FREE ticket ASAP!

Also, they will have another education event in May – watch their website for more details.

Breaking Social Media News: Alabama Social Media Association!!

I am so excited to tell you all about the latest, greatest aid to the growth and relationships within social media in Alabama - the Alabama Social Media Association!!

Founded and led by some of the most prominent Social Media Pioneers in our state, Alabama Social Media Association (ALSOCME) was created to help businesses and community organizations find their way into our fast moving field.

It's an independent, grassroots nonprofit group, and is open to anyone who wishes to share ideas and grow in their knowledge of social media and how it is used by people and businesses of all types.

"Not only do we want those who are curious about social media on a corporate level to attend and join the Alabama Social Media Association, but we also want Alabama's bloggers who are already showcasing their social media skills to join us and take part," said Executive Director Kristen R. Heptinstall, who works as Senior Producer for Social Media and Community at AL.com. "All of our board members and I are bloggers and 'social media geeks' at a personal level."

The association, although based in Birmingham, will serve the entire state by sponsoring educational programming six times a year, including an annual conference. Social events will be held every month, and all members of the community are welcome to participate, regardless of their digital/social media experience.

ALSOCME’s kickoff will be held Wednesday, March 30, at The Hill Event Center at the Alabama Theatre, 1811 Third Ave. N. Ike Pigott, with Alabama Power Corporate Communications will present “Social Media: The 21st-Century Canary.” Pigott, a nationally known social media expert, will share examples of how he has used social media tools to spot potential crises and the tactics and strategies for using social media to address these issues.

Networking will begin at 11:30 a.m., with a program at noon. A complimentary lunch will be provided by Zoës Kitchen.

Sponsors for the March 30 event are The Hill Event Center at the Alabama Theatre and Zoës Kitchen.

The event is free, but participants must RSVP. To register, or for more information, visit www.alsocme.com. For questions about ALSOCME, write alsocme@gmail.com.

ALSOCME’s Board of Directors are Chair of the Board Jeff Vreeland of Vreeland Technologies, Erin Shaw Street of Southern Living, Wade Kwon (a communications consultant), and Stacey Hood of Stewart Perry Construction. Partners include the Alabama Tourism Department, the Alabama chapter of the Public Relations Society of America, the Internet Professionals Society of Alabama, the American Advertising Federation–Birmingham and Hoover Mayor Tony Petelos.

You can find out more about ALSOCME by following them on Twitter, or going to their website, www.alsocme.com.

Blogging Opportunity from Fox 6

Fox 6 News is launching a new community news feature on their website, myfoxal.com. If you go to their site, you will see a red box to the right that says “Your Neighborhood”. You can change the location so that you can see the news that is directly related to your immediate area or neighborhood!

They are looking for Community Content Providers (CCP’s) for each area, and knew that the blogosphere is a great place to look! They would love to have people write for them that are plugged in and interested in their neighborhood.

And, of course, they'd be glad to have a link to your blog in the post so that you could benefit from extra traffic from their site!

If you’re interested in writing for their site, please contact them at web@wbrc.com.