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Listen up! Here’s 10 top snippets from Social Slam!

by Jonathan Barrick

Social Slam 2013 has concluded, and that makes me sad. However, Social Slam 2013 was awesome, and that makes me happy. The content was brilliant, the speakers were tremendous, and the people were the best. Social Slam is without a doubt, a must-attend event for ANYONE working with digital tools, professionally or personally, to connect and communicate.

Scanning back through the countless tweets sent out during the event, there’s so much gold it’s clear that everyone walked away from the event energized and excited to get to work using new techniques and approaches to the digital space. Here is but a handful of the great content that was shared during Social Slam, but for those craving more, simply search for the #soslam hashtag on Twitter and immerse yourself!

“You’re not just competing with the guy down the street. You’re competing globally.” – @jeffbullas

My take: Jeff’s own presence at Social Slam after over 40hrs of exhaustive delay-ridden travel time reminds us all that there are no borders in social media. Forget about competing locally, and be awesome worldwide.

“Social levels the playing field for introverts and extroverts.” – @jeffbullas

My take: Your content isn’t judged based on how you act at cocktail parties. It’s judged based on its value. By creating great content, even the most meek and mild of us can become social superstars.

“Use your social media to tell your whole story: employees, community, environment.” @xanpearson

My take: Your story is not contained within your logo, your mission statement, or your brochure. It’s contained within the actions of every single one of your employees, customers, and partners. Use the power of social to share the entirety of your brand.

“Blog comments come from emotional reactions to your content. They need to WANT to share their take on your content.” – @dinodogan

My take: Dino reminds us that comments don’t appear simply because you wrote something. They appear because something ‘sparked’ inside the reader. An emotional impact triggers the desire to comment. Want comments? Write something that creates that ‘spark’.

“Community is at the heart of everything we do.” – @gabriellenyc

My take: Wow! What an INCREDIBLE talk this was. Gabrielle captivated the entire audience with her amazing stories and reminds us all that everything we do connects us to other people. Everyone we meet, shake hands with, share a laugh with, share a moment of sadness or of joy with, inevitably becomes part of our personal community. Social media amplifies this and makes our communities grow stronger, larger, and faster, stretching across the globe.

“You can’t teach how to blog unless you blog. You can’t teach Twitter if you don’t use Twitter.” – @markwschaefer

My take: In other words, if you want to be a great communicator, then you need to COMMUNICATE. Invest the time in learning the tools, honing your voice, and appreciating your audience. Becoming great in social takes time, and takes practise.

“Common sense is strangely uncommon most of the time.” @JeffBullas

My take: Think before you do. Read before you post. Choose your words wisely. Jeff’s statement is deceptively simple, yet speaks volumes. Many of those using social do so with very little forethought. Be smart about how you use social media, use care and caution, and pay attention to the perceptions of your audience. It matters.

“Automation isn’t evil. Use it right & save time. You can’t automate & then bail on your audience.” – @ChrisQueso

My take: Social media is not a ‘set it and forget it’ kind of media. It’s real-time, and is fuelled by interactivity and engagement. Using automation for certain repetitive tasks can be a huge time saver for many of us, but it does not mean that your social networks are now self-sustaining. It needs to have your personal interaction and attention, otherwise you’re just advertising.

“If all you’re doing is sharing mediocre content, you’re amplifying the suck.” – @jenkaneco

My take: ‘Meh’ content does not get retweeted. It does not get liked. It certainly doesn’t get commented on. Don’t just post for the sake of posting. Post because you’ve got something that is bursting at the seams with awesome. Deliver value, all the time, or your brand will be one big ‘meh’.

“It’s hard not to like someone once you know their story. – Mr. Rogers” – @ducttape

My take: Your story is your brand. Who you are, what you’re all about, what you do and why you do it. This is why people like you, this is why people like your company. Don’t seal up your story away from your community. Share it & be proud of it. Your community isn’t just listening to your story, it is an integral part of it.

In addition to being an event overflowing with great content, it was also one of the greatest networking events I’ve ever had the pleasure of attending. Speakers did not run back to their hotel rooms or to the airport after their time on stage had concluded. They became part of the crowd, attending other sessions, and talking with everyone they could find. I was absolutely honoured to personally meet many of the brilliant headliners, had some truly brilliant conversations, and lots of fun hanging out at the pubs!

(So glad I got a chance to hang out with so many brilliant people, like Jeff Bullas & Gabrielle Laine Peters!)

My most profound thanks to Mark Schaefer for making this an incredibly valuable event that will undoubtedly influence attendees to go out to their various corners of the world and utilize the awesome lessons that were learned, and share these lessons with their own communities. I know that I’m already looking forward to Social Slam 2014!

http://soslam.com>

Who I want to meet at Social Slam, and why.

by Jonathan Barrick

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Ok, so the title of this post is a bit deceptive because ideally I would like to meet everyone at Social Slam because it sounds amazing, but that’s likely not possible in the span of a one-day event. So, here’s a handful of brilliant speakers that will be dishing out the awesome in Knoxville in April, and why I want to meet them face-to-face and shake hands.

Dino Dogan – Dino’s the founder of Triberr, a tool founded on the principle that awesome bloggers helping other awesome bloggers distribute awesome content is a great thing. Triberr is a brilliant way to expand the reach of your content. I’d like to ask Dino what the future might hold for content sharing tools like Triberr, and what he thinks about the negativity surrounding automated sharing methods.

John Morgan – John literally wrote the book on no-BS branding. ‘Brand Against the Machine’ is an inspiring read. It provides real-world examples of what it takes to build a powerful and distinct brand with passionate advocates. I’d like to ask John what his opinion is on the power of small brands vs big brands in the age of social. Does he believe the passion of small brand advocates can overpower the big dollars of major brands?

Kim Garst – Do you recognize the hashtag #youcandosocial? If so, you’ve most likely seen it attached to tweets from @kimgarst. Kim is a content machine, producing & curating tons of smart marketing and social business articles. I’d like to ask Kim what she believes the core social strategies should be for unknown or obscure business types that don’t necessarily have thriving or passionate customer bases.

Mark Schaefer – The guy who founded Social Slam, author of {grow} blog and the books ‘The Tao of Twitter’ & ‘Return on Influence’. He’s wicked smart and a class act. I was fortunate to have met him at an event in Toronto in 2012, and I’d like to shake the man’s hand again. I’m not sure exactly what I would ask Mark at this point. His thoughts on the ongoing ROI debate? His premonition on the fate of the ‘new’ MySpace? His views on who the up-and-coming superstars of social business will be? Perhaps by April 5th I will have it figured out.

I look forward to seeing what Social Slam delivers. By the look of the speaker lineup, it should be a pretty incredible day of great content and intense conversations. I would love to hear from any other people headed to Social Slam who they’re looking forward to meeting, and why! What has you fired up for the event?