Patrick Barbanes

Some 2010 Highlights (Part II)

Adding to my earlier post of 2010 highlights, here’s an event that I personally am very proud of being part of, and just a few more people whose paths in 2010 I’ve been fortunate to witness. It’s all about heart this time.

CRISIS CAMP MIAMI
Tomorrow, January 12th, will be the one-year anniversary of the incredibly devastating earthquake in Haiti. Within days, a call had gone out to organize what were called “crisis camps” – impromptu gatherings of techies and people who wanted to help. In cities around the world, techies gathered to do actual work to support the relief efforts of those on the ground in Haiti and to continue to pave the way for new advances in the way tech and social tools could be employed in crisis management and relief. In Miami, using just word of mouth and social networks, a team of us spearheaded by Alex de Carvalho and Stephen Malagodi drew over 100 people on January 23rd to CrisisCamp Miami in space donated by the Miami Herald, for a full day of work and workshopping. Some guys who showed up who knew the Creole language were able to help by getting online right there and translating and transcribing some of the text messages for help that were emanating from Haiti; others were able to get online and update maps to help support people on the ground with clear directions; others worked up databases of local resources for the large Haitian community in Miami; while others brainstormed and worked on other projects. We had a Crisis Camp Miami blog, if you want to read more. I met so many great people it’s hard to call them all out here. I will save that for another post. But here’s another big thank you to everyone who contributed a part of their heart that day!

HEARTWARMER – Denise Jacobs
When I first met Denise at a Refresh Miami event something like two years ago, she told me she was a writer. Struggling writer, it turned out. Next time I meet her, she’s wow-ing a crowd at LaidOff Camp Miami with her motivational presentation about turning one’s life around. Shortly thereafter, her life takes a huge turn in 2010 when she gets a contract to write a book, publishes it (The CSS Detective), and becomes a celebrity on the geek circuit, flying to London and other parts of the world to present at conferences about really techie stuff that’s way over my head, and getting nominated for tech awards! Now, that’s heartwarming!

RISING STAR – Jeff Zelaya
I can’t remember exactly when Jeff came to my attention. I think I came across a video of one of his presentations to college students. Jeff has been opening the eyes of as many college students and others as he can reach to the benefits of online social networking, with a primary focus on LinkedIn. He took on the moniker of LinkedInPro, and his positive outlook, vibe and message is infectious. His presence and style will blow you away. He’s also very involved in giving back to the community, which adds big big bonus points in my book, and tears up when he talks proudly of accomplishments in his family (holding his new-born niece and watching his young nephew score soccer goals). Guy’s obviously got a big personality AND a big heart. Here’s a video of Jeff speaking.:

Some 2010 Highlights

I’m going to do a couple of posts about some of the highlights for me of 2010.

Here are a few of the first things that came to mind:

Great example of Personal Branding success – Jenny McCoy
Want an example of how blogging and personal branding can lead to new and greater things, like…a job? Jenny McCoy, pretty fresh out of college, set herself some career goals. She re-branded herself and her work in a very creative way, and in just a few short weeks landed a coveted spot with a major entertainment company! Check out my interview with Jenny about her blogging and personal branding experience.


Most Provocative Blog Post – Mike LaMonica
If anyone needs a lesson in how blogging can improve your visibility, look no further than Mike LaMonica. His “little blog about nothing” (I think he called it once) is always about something that resonates on a personal level – whether it’s parents behavior at their kid’s sports event or the Gulf Oil Spill. His 468-word post about where he was on 9/11 when the planes struck the World Trade Center, was not provocative as in controversial, but provocative as in engendering reaction. This post got Mike’s humble blog featured on the WordPress.com home page of “Newly Pressed” and compelled (provoked) more than 500 people to comment, many with tragic and heartbreaking stories of their own experience or remembrance of that day.
Where Were You On 9/11?

Black Comedy
2010 was not only the 5th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, but also the year of the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill. The ineptness of British Petroleum’s response and public relations spawned the parody account @BPGlobalPR, with tweets such as “The ocean looks just a bit slimmer today. Dressing it in black really did the trick! #bpcares.” Significantly, the account charted a new course for using Twitter to make a statement. I wrote about “The One Thing BP Is Doing Right In Social Media”

Social Media Club South Florida
An awesome group of volunteers, leading the social media charge in South Florida. They swing from cozy, home-grown meetings to panels of corporate strategists from organizations such as the Miami Dolphins and SeaWorld, and held everywhere from local pubs to swank digs like the BankAtlantic Center and the Mandarin Oriental Hotel.
http://smcsf.org

An Awesome Online and Offline Integrated Strategy
Who would think that a a pest control company could master social media? With the “MouseCar Parade,” Truly Nolen Pest Control showed one way to do it, by integrating a visually-compelling offline event with Twitter. One of the unexpected results was how much of a company morale-booster the event was! I interviewed their VP of Marketing and their PR agency on a webinar to learn more.


On a personal level, I got to meet and shake hands with one of my all-time heroes, Congressman John Lewis.

What were some of your highlights of 2010?

Will Smith, Motivational Speaker?

Will Smith, motivational speaker? You might think so, too, after you spend 10 minutes watching this video. Now, my posts are usually instructional pieces or Twitter tutorials or opinions about Facebook, but this video and Will Smith’s words struck me right now for some reason – maybe because I feel like I’m trying to lay that first perfect brick (you’ll see what I mean when you watch the video) and trying to make a difference (again, you have to watch).

Anyway, take 10 minutes to watch. I’m sure you’ll enjoy it. And then I’ll get back to my regular programming…

Thought Leadership

I’ve been reading about “thought leadership” lately – and not only because the awesome Deana Goldasich has a great resource for thought leaders in her site, www.WellPlannedWeb.com. What is the difference between an expert and a thought leader? IS there a difference? Frankly, I’ve been surprised that there’s even a question as to whether or not there is a difference, because it seems obvious to me that there IS. But what do YOU think? What constitutes an expert? A thought leader? What’s the difference between the two?

Poll: Preferred Webinar Time?

(Poll and updated results just below)

Listening back to a recorded webinar is good, but being on a live webinar is even better. You usually have an opportunity to ask questions and interact with me or the webinar guests or presenters. Sometimes I schedule the same webinar live for multiple times, so people in different time-zones or with different schedules can attend and still get the benefit of the live event.

But I’m curious: what is your preferred time for a live webinar?

Free Webinar: Awaken The Blogger Within!

You ask, and I try to respond!…

And the response is…YES! Feedback from her last appearance was so good that I couldn’t wait to have her back for another webinar: I’m talking about award-winning blogger, Maria De Los Angeles, who has been gracious enough to come online again and dispense her blogging wisdom!

Maria is the creator of blogs such as Sex And The Beach and MiamiBeach411, and you can find out more about her before the webinar at wilywordsmith.blogspot.com.

So on Tue, August 17, 2010, attend my free webinar, “Awaken The Blogger Within” (while seats are still available), to hear Maria’s creative and practical tips and guidance for getting your blog on!

Whether you’re a beginner or advanced blogger, you’ll appreciate Maria’s perspective! So sign up…It’s free!

NOTE: This will be an online presentation with audio heard by calling in to a conference bridge.
CALL-IN: 712-432-6208
PASSCODE: 100279#

Help Benny Help Haiti

I’d like to ask you to chip in a dollar or two to help Benny Salas on his trip to Haiti. Benny is someone who has given back to his own community in many ways – you can learn more about him at bennysalas.com.

Here’s a picture of Benny with me at CrisisCamp Miami, an event I helped organize back in January after the earthquake struck Haiti. Benny came down and spent an entire Saturday giving his time, energy and brain-power with about 100 other techies and supporters. That’s just one example.

Benny also chipped in to help Shaun King get tents donated, transported across the U.S., and shipped to Haiti in advance of the rainy season there.

From what I gather, he’s going to Haiti on a Mission of sorts, religious in nature, I’m not exactly sure. I don’t exactly know what his religious beliefs are, and I don’t have to in order to support him – and I hope you don’t, either. All I know is that he’s going to Haiti with a group to try and do some good. Help him try do it in his way, just as he’s helped and is helping the world and the community unconditionally and without question.


So chip in!…He doesn’t even need much! : )

I Should Be Less Snarky

Update: I did make the cut. My comments are there.

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I guess I didn’t make the cut. The Comments cut. Either that, or comment “moderation” on Jeremiah Owyang’s blog takes more than 10 hours – isn’t that like, what, a decade in internet-years?

It’s too bad, too, because Jeremiah’s post, Greenpeace Vs. Brands: Social Media Attacks To Continue is a good one. And my comment won’t make much sense without the context of the post.

But I kind of wanted my Comment published there at the post. Maybe it still will be. I’m just worried I was too snarky and my comment went into Jeremiah’s round file.

So, as a reading assignment, go read the post first.

Then, here’s what would have been my Comment.

“Responsible” versus “irresponsible” bullying…of a corporation/brand. Hmm… I’d much prefer to see a Greenpeace-inspired civil-courage type action – online OR offline – than suffer the whining of nouveau-cool social media darlings throwing tantrums – in a social networking space OR in front of me at the service desk – because they got a latte that was too cold or some airline damaged their luggage (horrors!) LOL….

And how reasonable Greenpeace’s strategies and behaviors become when someone like Jeremiah takes the time to peel back the onion, as opposed to others who considered parts of the palm-oil campaign to be “noise” and likened Greenpeace and the citizens who joined in criticizing Nestle to “barbarians” at the gate.

Social media…for social good. : )

Was I too snarky?

The Power of Social Media Intention

(with a hat-tip to Dr. Wayne Dyer and Alex de Carvalho)

I was giving a talk recently to a group of social media beginners. Amazingly, it was called “Social Media for Beginners.”

And because social media is a train that can’t be stopped, and is not a trend but a seismic shift in the way we’re communicating with each other, or AT THE VERY LEAST a gargantuan change in the reach we have and the ability we have to communicate with each other, and because most of the world runs on “show me the money,” much interest in social media is coming from sales and marketing departments – and if not from sales and marketing departments per se, then from a sales and marketing mindset: How can I leverage social media to sell more widgets, cupcakes, flight tickets, shoes, raise more funds for my cause, lower my marketing budget to increase my margins, and get my message out there more?

The same was asked of the web in it’s infancy. A small mom-and-pop shop could put up a website and reach and take orders from anywhere in the world. That was revolutionary – in a good way, a great way.

And it’s exactly the wrong way to approach social media.

The social internet is not just an iteration of the internet – Web 1.0 to 2.0 to 3.0, etc, or some such crap. That’s the wrong model. The social internet may use many of the same technologies – fiber cable, keyboards, monitors, laptops, websites, servers, etc. – as the internet always has, but it’s more than just a new trick for an old dog. It’s a different animal.

And as I got ready to talk to some social media “beginners,” I worried that their entry into social media would be from the all-too-heralded point of view of sales and marketing. I worried I would steer them wrong, and cause them to fail in their social networking efforts, or – worse – cause them to contibute to the ruin of this new animal.

So I went back to basics. Here’s what I told them. It’s on video somewhere, I think – if I can find it, I’ll post it.

1. If you’re getting into social media and social networking to “get your message out,” you’re starting off on the wrong foot.

Oh, you may have a modicum of success getting your message out. You may attract some additional people to come to your restaurant to get the discount you tweeted about. There’s ROI for you, because, hey, social media is FREE! I was talking to a different group, real estate executives, last month and one in the audience said, Oh your Twitter thing, that doesn’t work. Tried it, didn’t work. Now, I’m open to the fact that it might not have worked for him, it might not work for every business, so I asked him to explain a little. He said nobody was responding. He signed up for Twitter and nobody was responding. I probed further, what did he mean? Well, he was sending out tweets of who his company was and what they did and he just wasn’t getting any responses, any bites. Need I say more about this? His sole intention in getting onto Twitter (read: social media), and then his sole behavior, was to get his message out. Who WOULD respond, and why? He’d be lucky to get Followers, and then lucky if they happen to be online at the time he was getting his message out, and even luckier if any even responded. That’s not social media. That’s an ad in the yellow pages, a coupon in a Val-Pak.

2. It’s about conversation.

Well, this is a Catch-22 to some: How do you get a conversation going, especially if nobody will “respond” to your messages? I struggle when I hear this. Struggle to appear sympathetic. Are you kidding me? There are millions of conversations going on online right now. I’m fond of quoting a very sharp, smart social media strategist from over on the West coast of Florida, Marc Meyer: “I can teach you how to use a social media platform, but I can’t teach you how to be social.” You have to find it in yourself to step outside your intention of getting your message out, and instead participate in conversations that are already ongoing. It’s not that difficult. Sometimes it’s awkward, just like at any function, where you find yourself sliding up next to two people already engaged in a deep and passionate (or not) conversation. When and how do you jump in, if at all? Do you have something relevant and valuable to contribute? Maybe it’s enough just to introduce yourself. Online social networking is in many ways no different.

3. It’s not about you.

The conversation may or may not even be related to your product, service, widget, cause or personal brand. It’s about you only to the extent that most conversations entail a give-and-take. “Oh, I see you said (tweeted) that you like The Kinks… Me, too! Which song is your favorite? All The Day and All Of The Night, no kidding! I like Lola. You like the Van Halen cover of You Really Got Me?..I HATE that version.” etc. (That was a real conversation I had with a few other people on Twitter, though I don’t think I said I HATE that version. Hey, I didn’t want him to unfollow me!) If you’re trying to force conversation about you and your product and your stuff, or only things that relate to you and your product or your stuff, well…good luck with that. Boring! And again, there’s no “rule” about it. Different social networks operate differently. You may have joined a quilter’s club and quilting is all you need to talk about, other conversations are treated with disdain. But even then, you’ll do better making a conversation about other people’s quilts, rather than trying to jam your quilt history down their throats especially if they haven’t asked about them. Enough said.

4. It’s about relationships.

It’s not about passing out business cards and having short conversations that are not about you. Just being engaging and not about you is not enough. That’s not a relationship. A series of conversations or engagements over time creates a relationship. I’m a former salesperson. Sold millions of dollars worth of stuff. And from either side, the Sellers AND the Buyers, it behooves both to spend time getting to know each other. From the Seller’s side, getting to know the Buyer’s organization and goals, challenges and problems. From the Buyer’s side, getting to know the Seller’s product and solution and just as importantly getting to a level of TRUST with the Seller. All that doesn’t usually happen in one short sales pitch meeting, one short conversation. It takes a relationship.

5. Be yourself, but be your extraordinary self.

There’s incredible power in social networking. Power to change the world. It’s been doing that while you’ve been off on the sidelines watching – from helping raise money and develop internet technologies for relief efforts (like after the Haiti earthquake) to raising consciousness about environmental issues (like the Gulf oil spill or Nestle’s part in deforestation) to providing a channel and a voice for rebellion against governments that control the other channels (think Myanmar and Iran). You could approach social media with the intention of being ordinary or extraordinary. Why wouldn’t you? You could be ordinary and have ordinary conversations and be careful and only do what others do, the Top 10 ways to do this, the 5 Ways To Have The Right Intention, 3 “Secrets” Of Social Media – or you could be extraordinary, experiment, or shine a light on a problem that needs attention, let your employees actually be themselves online and encourage them to give you ideas on how to use social media, any number of things that will free you up from the ordinary sales and marketing restrictions of how you’ve always done things in other media.

Because what’s all this got to do with marketing?

Everything.

Because as the world is changing, consumers – people – are changing, HAVE changed. Buyers are changing, HAVE changed! Haven’t YOU?

Why would you want to sell to somebody in a way that you don’t like to be sold to, in an environment – a social space – in which you wouldn’t want to be sold?

Your intention – and this is a hard sell in a business environment, in a corporate organization, from almost any business standpoint – should be…to be social.

OK, so what’s the worst can happen if you approach social media with the wrong intention?

Desertion. Your “prospects” – we – will desert you. We’ll flee from your marketing messages, leaving our social spaces for newer ones, that have not yet been invaded by the marketeers.

Maybe there will be a fence up, as there used to be with Facebook, when it was primarily social.

You won’t be kept out because you’re a marketer, because you have something to sell.

You’ll be kept out because you don’t have relationships. Who’d want you IN?

Because you didn’t take the time to understand the difference between advertising media and social media. Because you didn’t make the effort to converse – about your followers, prospects, customers, whatever you want to call them. Because you didn’t “engage” and didn’t engage about THEM and who they are – only about YOU and what you have to offer and your solution and your discount and your hipness because you’re on Twitter and your new method of getting your message out.

Because you started with the wrong intention.

That’s what I told the class of social media beginners. What would YOU have told them?

Everybody Knows. Nobody Knows.

So last night the South Florida chapter of Social Media Club (http://socialmediaclubsf.org/) hosted a panel discussion featuring social media coordinators from the area’s major sports teams. Made me think of Leonard Cohen, the singer/songwriter.

Represented on the panel were the teams of the Miami Heat (NBA basketball), Miami Dolphins (NFL football), Florida Marlins (MLB baseball), Florida Panthers (NHL hockey), and North American Soccer League (NASL soccer).

It was an interesting though rather dry panel for a topic as exciting, adrenaline-inducing, head-and-chest-bashing thrill-of-victory-agony-of-defeat-recalling as the world of MAJOR LEAGUE SPORTS! But then again the topic wasn’t really sports, but social media – and in trying to find common threads or disparate elements in the social media strategies and tactics of major sports franchises.

What stood out to me, the biggest take-away for me, is how nobody really knows what they’re doing yet. I mean, everybody knows – it’s about engagement, and giving fans a voice and providing fans more access.

But nobody really knows what the best path is, nor necessarily what the rewards are. Does using social media help sell more tickets? Maybe, maybe not. Sell more tickets faster? Maybe, maybe not.

One very recent example of the “power” of social media came during the Lebron James decision to sign and play with the Miami Heat in the upcoming season:

Although the Decision was announced on live television, a hastily-organized fan party thrown by the Heat at their arena was promoted only on social media, and resulted in some 14,000 (?) tickets being sold out in about an hour.

(Someone will have to fact-check me there. Details of panelist’s discussions were continually lost on me as I was constantly distracted by the live tweet-stream projected directly next to the panel. And as if a live, projected, event tweet-stream is not bad enough, this one featured some sort of dizzying display of swooping and rotating tweets that would be awesome if it was set to some nice Pink Floyd or something.)

Should players be “allowed” to be social, to tweet, to post updates? Hockey players want to, I think I heard. NFL players can’t. And so it goes.

There were stories of “successful” scavenger-hunt type activities in a shopping mall (using tweeted clues, find the Miami Heat player and get an autograph) and various levels – low levels, really – of team/fan interaction and conversation ON social media.

It was a fascinating panel, demonstrating the various organization’s awareness and approach to social media. Each organization is doing a good job in their own way of at least getting into social media and working with it, forging ahead and experimenting. Agreeing to host a Social Media Club meeting (thanks to the Florida Panthers for hosting the meeting at their venue, the BankAtlantic Center!) and participating in a panel discussion with a healthy part of the South Florida social media community shows great intentions and outreach.

So, Leonard Cohen?

Leonard Cohen opens his great song, Everybody Knows, with the lyric, “Everybody knows that the dice are loaded / Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed.”

Yes, even though we may know the dice are loaded, even though we know the game is fixed, the outcome determined before the first pitch, before the tip-off and the kick-off…even though we know that it’s about engagement and conversation and not pushing the hard sell…we suit up and show up, we get in the game, we roll those dice, we tweet those tweets…and keep our fingers crossed that it’ll work out for us. We buy that lottery ticket with those same numbers. Because we know, we just KNOW, those numbers are going to come up. One time is all takes. Just once. Everybody knows it’ll happen.

What DO we know?

We know we can’t ignore social media. We just don’t know precisely what “works” consistently and across the board yet. I still always refer back to the great definition of ROI. What’s the ROI of social media? Not Return On Investment. It’s Risk Of Ignoring.

We know we’re pioneers. We just don’t know if we’re pioneering a new freedom or if we’re participating in a new limitation. We may award “mayorships” right now, but those can only go to people who have access, who have the smart phones and the apps downloaded that will enable them to check in. Not everybody’s there yet, for reasons that range from economic to sociological. But they will be.

So in the meantime, if you’re sitting in Upper Level Section 401 of the Colossal Stadium Arena and you check in with BallFourSquare, you’re in luck. Go pick up your free Budweiser at the concession stand! Don’t have access yet? We’ll figure that out as we go along.

Everybody knows. Nobody knows.