They all survived. Maybe there was a little blood spilled, but at the end of the day the panelists at Tuesday’s Richmond Social Media Clob program dig a bang up job addressing the issue of how social media is changing or in some cases, not changing their lives as reporters, editors and members of the media.
There were moments. Like RichmondBizSense’sAaron Kremer admitting to the crowd that he didn’t use Twitter and didn’t see it as a news tool (Aaron, not the right crowd to admit this to….LATE NEWS FLASH: Aaron Kremer is now on Twitter @akbizsense. Nice recovery, Aaron).
Also, Ian Graham of RVA Magazine talking about how there’s little difference between news media and news commentators (I agree with Ian, although most people in the crowd didn’t,
Also, better than standard fare from John Sarvey and Ryan and Rachelat NBC12 on how social media is being incorporated into their daily lives as bloggers and journalists.
Jason Roop at Style Weekly provided some insight into how social media can help weeklies compete on a daily basis and also provided the comic relief of the night (#corndog?).
My big win was meeting the person behind @RichmondGL. Don’t worry your secret is safe with me.
But by far the biggest winner of the night was #SMCRVA itself. After the first meeting at Morton’s that was more social than informative, the new group showed that it can deliver on social and informative providing the right mix of mixer and program.
The big challenge for the group looks to be finding locations large enough to host the crowds that want to attend. Frankly, that’s a great problem to have.
7 Comments
June 10, 2009 at 6:58 pm
Looks as though Aaron has pulled out again … @akbizscene doesn’t exist!
http://twitter.com/akbizscene
June 10, 2009 at 7:07 pm
My bad. It is @akbizsense not bizscene. I have corrected it in the blog as well.
June 10, 2009 at 7:18 pm
One of the problems with some of the social media scene are the zealots who think everyone should be on Twitter, and that it’s useful for everyone and every business. It’s just not so. If you’re an individual and it’s not your thing, so be it. If you’re a business and there’s not a strategic reason for you to be there, then please don’t hop on.
Criticizing those like Aaron Kremer who aren’t on Twitter without stopping to ask them WHY they’re not on just perpetuates the (perhaps reality) that Twitter users are the arrogant, irrelevant elite.
If he has a good reason for not being on (i.e., not part of his strategic plan, or tough to do properly with the other components of his small and growing business) then I actually respect him a lot more than so many folks that are simply bandwagonning.
June 10, 2009 at 7:58 pm
Nice recap Jon.
I thought the panel needed someone like Aaron – a decenting pragmatic voice to counter balance the twitter love fest that the rest of us bring to the table. All in all a great night – really looking forward to getting more involved in the SMCRVA community.
June 11, 2009 at 2:33 am
[...] Jon’s PR 1.5- @jonnew [...]
June 16, 2009 at 7:18 pm
All of you are too kind. I have spoken to several after the event who blasted the program. It was a re-hash of the same old Internet argument, and no audience involvement– demonstrating that at least the program committee “doesn’t get” social media.
June 17, 2009 at 2:36 pm
I didn’t attend this event (it was sold out by the time I heard about it), but I heard about Aaron’s remark re: Twitter from several people who did attend. I have to agree with MacDaddy — if those in attendance jumped all over Aaron without hearing his reasons for not being on Twitter, then shame on ‘em. It looks as if he finally gave in, but I’m interested in hearing what he thinks of his Twitter experience.
I have several friends and colleagues in corporate communications and public relations who are on Twitter but are ambivalent about it. They’re taking it for a test drive, hoping to find some usefulness in it, but ready to jump out if it doesn’t live up to the hype.
It really is all about choosing the right tool for the job. Twitter — or any of the social media for that matter — is not right for every organization and every situation.