By Lance Concannon, UK social media lead at Text 100

Speak to any senior corporate comms exec about the barriers that prevent them from using social media more in their organisation, and I guarantee that the issue of ‘risk’ will usually come close to the top of the list. This raises a couple of questions; what exactly are the risks posed by social media, and how can we negate, or at least mitigate, them?

What if people say bad things about our brand?

People often think that creating social media channels for the brand will add fuel to the fire of criticism, but that really doesn’t make any sense. Almost all brands have detractors, and social media makes it easier than ever for those detractors to share their opinions online and there’s not a lot you can do to stop that. (more…)

The SMWF team are excited to announce that the fourth annual SMWF Europe event will be taking place on 27^th and 28^th March at Olympia in London. This year’s show is your chance to experience a packed agenda of interactive workshops, combined with unique networking opportunities, a bustling exhibition space and much more…

New for 2012 we have introduced an updated show format, delivering 6 individual conference tracks, each examining the latest strategies and cutting edge technologies across specifically focussed areas of social media marketing. (more…)

We are pleased to have partnered with both the K West & The Hilton London Olympia to offer all SMWF visitors a discounted room rate for the 26th, 27th & 28th March 2012.

Only a limited number of rooms are available at each hotel, and the rate is only available until 24th February so book today to make sure you have somewhere to stay! (more…)

By Christer Holloman author of ‘The Social Media MBA’ 

For how much longer will we call ‘smartphones’ just that and not simply ‘phones’? ‘Smart phones’ will be the de facto standard in a not too distance future (it’s already the case in certain clusters), the long name will eventually be made redundant. The same will now happen to the words ‘Social Media’. (more…)

Following a landmark year for location based services, mobile marketers are looking towards 2012 as the year when location based technology will pervade many of the services available on users’ handsets.

Last year Foursquare reported that over 15 million users and 600,000 businesses had joined the platform, resulting in over a billion check-ins. Location technology is firmly on the radar for many leading brands, and makes up a key part of the agenda at SMWF Europe in London in March. (more…)

A big thank you to those that attended the Social Media World Forum in New York.

Also a special thank you to all the speakers, sponsors, exhibitors & media partners we enjoyed working with you and look forward to meeting you all again next year!

Greg Cargill kicks off the Social Media Hub with the Fundamentals of Social Media.

Panel Discussion: Examining strategies for using social media for business to business marketing

Chairman/Moderator: Joshua March, Co-Founder,  Conversocial 

 Linette Gomez, Senior Director, Internet Marketing – Social Media,CA Technologies
Jeannine D’Allegro, Marketing Director, Social & Digital Engagement Strategy, Dun & Bradstreet
Price B. Floyd, Vice President of External Engagement and Digital Strategy, BAE Systems

Keynote Panel Discussion: What is Social Reputation and why this should matter for your business

Chairman/Moderator: Joshua March, Co-Founder,  Conversocial 

 Garth Holsinger, VP of Sales and Business Development,Klout 
Ted Rubin, Social Marketing Strategist & Brand Evangelist & Chief Social Marketing Officer,Collective Bias
Paul Papadimitriou, VP + Principal Analyst, Constellation Research
Jason Wellcome,  Head of Digital Group, Weber Shandwick

Networking bar

Social Media Hub chair Greg Cargill introduces Adam Singer from Lewis PR

Exhibition

Good morning & welcome to day two of Social Media World Forum N. America 2011!  We’ve got another action packed day ahead. Big thank you to everyone who came to the SMWF party last night at Studio 21 and helped make it a night to remember.

In the SMWF workshop this morning kicks off with social media and brand management with Coca-Cola’s Director of Worldwide Interactive Marketing, Michael Donnelly. Michael will be giving the keynote Q&A covering building brand loyalty and engagement through social media. Here are a couple of articles you may find interesting. (more…)

Some great discussion this morning at SMWF in New York, Ted Rubin, social marketing specialist and social media entrepreneur Pete Shankman hosted an engaging discussion about how the meaning of the word ‘friend’ is being warped by peoples’ use of social media.

Clicking on a box does not make us friends, was the gist, and the way the immediacy and ease of connection is ameliorating the term friend had the panellists concerned. “I want 2012 to be the year of taking back the word friend,” said Ted Rubin. (more…)

Companies in the social media space are constantly looking for advice and new ways that they can make sure their efforts in the space are working. While there are no definitive answers, as every company’s goals will require different methods of showing success, there are a few tips that can be followed for guidelines along the way

The following is 10 tips that I’ve learned from the fantastic community that participates in #SMmeasure. #SMmeasure started off as a weekly Twitter chat that I’m fortunate to host. It has since turned into a community that shares interesting articles and ideas throughout the week, but still gather to chat for an hour every Thursday at noon(EST)/9am(PST). This list is the second part in this series. If you missed part one, be sure to check out our first 10 tips learned through #SMmeausre here. (more…)

Day one of Social Media World Forum North America 2011 is finally here. Over the next two days we’re presenting some of the leading figures in social media for sessions, discussions panels and workshops around harnessing the power of social media.

In the SMWF workshops, we’ll be exploring the broader impact social media is having on consumer behaviour examining the use for this new channel in marketing and PR, as well as monitoring ROI and building online communities. We’ve got some great speakers, with Joshua March, CEO of Conversocial chairing the action. (more…)