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Walking the Talk: Atlanta's SoCon '08

After the overwhelming success of the first social media un-conference held last year, SoCon '08 picked up where we left off a year ago and kept running.

We've come a long way in a year. Social media has left the old vs. new media conversation behind. The big guns wowed us, but now we're translating what we learned from them into lessons useful to our own situations. And writing our own books. It's all about learning by doing.

The best news is that we are truly living social media; using the tools. And SoCon '08 provides a great example of just this point.

It all began before the event. We had our own gathering place set up ahead of time to meet and get to know one another. We had used Crowdvine last year as well, and it proved to be most effective once again in giving us a running start in networking and thus getting the most out of our 1.5 day unconference.

Once SoCon 'o8 began, the social media tools were put into use in earnest.

Robert Rhyne Armstrong live blogged the event from the opening presentation and open mic through the break out sessions. He used Cover It Live to do so. Check out his blog Tread Heavily and notice that it's all there--even comments from others as he blogged live.

Amani Channel posted video of the event on his My Urban Channel blog. Nice job, complete with interviews. (And not just because I'm on it!)

Several hundred photos were uploaded to the SoCon '08 Flickr group.

Josh Hallett made a very insightful observation of just what an unconference is on his blog Hyku.

While SoCon '08 is over, we're continuing the conversation with a new SoCon group on yet another social media networking tool, Ning, setup by Leonard Witt. Come on over and join in. Who knows what we'll cook up and be reporting next year at SoCon '09!

Web 2.0: The New Industry Trade Association

I had an interesting e-mail conversation last week with the person who runs the business of one of quilting's public tv stars. We've been airing their series since QNNtv launched over two years ago. Since then they have taken advantage of the reach of the Internet by putting their shows on their site. Smart! Now visitors can watch a video and buy the products shown right there on their site.

In response to my inquiry as to whether she'd be interested in QNNtv airing her new series she declined. Huh? I was flummoxed. Why wouldn't she want to get her shows in front of as many quilters as possible? Sure the show has been on PBS for years so she has a following, but I've seen the carriage rates for quilting shows, and theirs doesn't knock one’s socks off.

I wrote back expressing my puzzlement as to why she wouldn't want greater--free--distribution to a passionate quilting crowd. She said they're very happy with the business they have generated by keeping their videos on their site.

Okay, I get it—she’s eliminating the competition by putting the show in a venue where only her shows are watched.

So she has a captive audience. But how large can that audience be, and how is she going to grow it? How are more viewers/customers going to find such a small target?

And moreover, why would being on a large quilting network not increase exposure and therefore sales? What does she have to lose?

The key to growing quilting is to create a big magnet on the Internet, a common ground, where we as an industry all have a presence. By using the accessibility of the Internet and its video distribution abilities, we educate an unprecedented number of quilters and take the mystery out of quilting for wanna-be quilters, (I can do that!) and thereby create a rising tide for all of us. It’s beginning to sound like a Web 2.0 form of a trade association. Our common goal is to educate quilters and grow our industry. By being a big magnet we promote all as we promote one: a quilting web within the Web.

Back to our loner friend. She’s out there by herself, advertising herself. She thinks she’s gaining because only her show is aired on her site, so she has no competition. But doesn’t the same course of events happen, no matter where her show is aired? The viewer watches the show and has to make that quilt from the book of have that tool. She clicks through to order. It doesn’t matter where the viewer sees the show, she’s either going to respond or not. Seems to me the trick is to get as much exposure as possible thereby increasing the potential for eyeballs to turn into click throughs. Free exposure with a much larger magnet—a no brainer!

SoCon07 Atlanta's Web 2.0 Unconference

Immersing myself in all things Web 2.0 over the past few months, I have been blogging and reading blogs, preparing to launch a wiki, working on a platform for viewer-submitted video for QNNtv, and considering an interactive directory for the industry. My brain has been grappling with how our audience will use--or whether they'll use-these tools, what benefits they bring and where and how to implement and promote and educate our audience about them. In all this time I have never met anyone traveling this same road. It's all been blogs and articles and books and websites. Until SoCon07.

Naturally, I found out about SoCon07 from a blog post. The description read:

SoCon07 - At this invigorating, thought-provoking unconference, you will meet bloggers, new media pros, academics, and people from across the spectrum of marketing, public relations, human resources and the executive ranks. Together we'll discuss how the very affordable, easy-to-use online tools of Web 2.0 are creating unlimited opportunity and change - around the globe and here in our own backyard.

No matter what your personal or professional take is on technology, you won't want to miss this chance to rub shoulders with the Weberati of our times! Local pioneers will discuss their successes and failures, some of the astonishing ways in which they see the world evolving, and what the new tools of Web 2.0 promise for all of us. Don't miss SoCon07, the first social media mashup of the south! 

The conference was everything it promised to be and more. With the "unconference" theme put into practice, at SoCon07 the premise was that the audience is collectively smarter than the panelists. Therefore a mic was passed around so the discussion at SoCon07 was truly collaborative, a la Web 2.0. We covered some important territory, with the participants self-correcting, just as we expect and see online. For example, one of the questions being asked is how Web 2.0 and disruptive technologies will affect us all.

As one would expect, at SoCon07 laptops were open and digital cameras snapping, with reports appearing on blogs as the conference unfolded. And Amber Rhea and Rusty Tanton of The Georgia PodCast Network recorded the conversation to be made available to everyone. The observation was made that with all this real time coverage we won't need to meet physically in the future; it will all be virtual via these fabulous tools.

In true social media form Tony Stubblevine set up a SoCon07 group on his new social networking site Crowdvine prior to the conference. With our profiles, blogs, and some pertinent door-opening questions for all of the participants, Crowdvine became an introduction, opening the door for individual networking at the conference. Having already "met", for instance, Jeff Haynie and Ken Grisnak in Crowdvine, we already had a conversation going when we met in person. It accelerated and increased the benefit of our time together. And after wards the social networking platform is even more powerful, providing each of us an easy way to find and communicate with those we met. Moreover, Crowdvine is the central axis for all of our web sites, individual blogging and video-casting. By linking us all together Crowdvine contains and tells the entire story of SoCon07 and becomes a base for continuing the conversation. It's a perfect example of the power of what brought us all together.

In the end the discussion regarding the need or no-need for physically meeting, we came to the conclusion that there will always be the need for direct interaction. That next year this conference may be even more widely dustributed online, but nothing will ever replace face-to-face. Sharing a passion for beer and food with Ken is rather difficult to do via e-mail. Not exactly the same! And a few conference-goers have kindly offered me their help in thinking through strategy at QNNtv. Are we going to do this online? Nope, lunch!

Many, many thanks to Sherry Heyl for acting on her idea of this unconference. You just never know until you try! And to Jeff Haynie who obviously put a ton of time and effort into making SoCon07 a success. And to everyone at Kennesaw Sate University who made us feel so welcome in their brand spanking new building. The conference was extremely organized. If Kennesaw State U is looking for a way to promote itself look no further than Leonard Witt, Fowler Distinguished Chair in Communications. Shoot, he makes me want to go back to school!