Thanks to our sponsor Netezza, members of the Boston Social Media Club were fortunate to be able to enjoy an intimate evening with author and former BusinessWeek Senior Editor Stephen Baker. Steve’s most recent book, The Numerati, looks “at how a global math elite is predicting and altering our behavior — at work, at the mall, and in bed.” He was invited to present a keynote at the company’s Enzee Universe 2010 User Conference, and was gracious enough to take time out of his schedule to meet with the group and share his thoughts on life, journalism, numbers and the new book.

Here is the complete audio from last night’s session.

Special thanks again to Steve for taking the time to speak with our group, our sponsor Glen Zimmerman of Netezza, Wendy Larkin of Topaz Partners who manned registration and Tim Allik who played cameraman.

Update 23 June 2010: Tim Allik captured some video of Steve talking specifically about his BusinessWeek experience. You can read Tim’s thoughts on the Tech PR Gems blog, and have a look at the video below:

Please join special guest Stephen Baker, author of "The Numerati" and former BusinessWeek reporter, for the next Social Media Club Boston event on the evening of Monday, June 21st, 2010, hosted by Netezza. Sign up for the event at http://intelligenteconomy.eventbrite.com/

Stephen will be speaking at Enzee Universe 2010, and has graciously offered to stop by for a few remarks on how can we keep from drowning in — or just completely ignoring — all of the data that is being generated around us. How do we turn it to our advantage?

Stephen’s next book will address these questions, and you’ll get a preview of what he’s thinking by stopping by.

The reception begins at 6:30pm, and will feature light food and drink courtesy of our hosts. Netezza has also graciously agreed to open up a few slots to Stephen’s keynote address at the user conference, which begins shortly after 5pm that same day — if you’re interested in this, you can sign up for both the 6:30pm reception and the 5pm keynote address on the same page, while seats last.

Limited tickets are available to his keynote, so please only sign up for the keynote if you can make it, and please make sure to arrive promptly at 5:00pm to minimize disruption to the user conference.

The registration page for both great events is at http://intelligenteconomy.eventbrite.com/ — hope to see you there!

The video from last week’s great panel is up, thanks to Brilliant Video (see below)!

Christopher S. Penn’s slides, and more video content, is available at the Blue Sky Factory website.

There’s a great write-up of the event on Janet Gershen-Siegel’s blog.

SMC Boston 4/29/2010 Measuring Social Success (Big & Small) from Brilliant Video Productions on Vimeo.

The week after our Framingham get-together, the Social Media Club Boston is sponsoring the B2B Forum in Boston, and I’d like to extend this special offer from Ann Handley of MarketingProfs:
 

Save $300 on the B2B Forum in Boston

Travel cutbacks? Not to worry.

Here’s a special offer for friends of the Social Media Club of Boston: Attend the B2B Forum May 3-5 and save $300!

drive sales in 2010. Plus, I must admit that I’m pretty happy to host so many smart B2B
marketers in my hometown!

The B2B Forum is a one-stop shop for education that draws B2B marketers from across the nation to brainstorm, network, and problem-solve at lightning speed. You’ll never experience anything like it!

MAY
3—All New Training Day

Receive one full day
of intensive training in our Lead
Generation or Social
Media Integration workshops. Network all day!

and

MAY
4 & 5—Full Conference Program

Choose from dozens
of concurrent sessions. Grab one-on-one FREE expert advice. Attend a Hot Seat
Lab. Network all day! See all
the details here.

Head into Boston, change your
marketing life forever, and head back home! Now, what’s not to love about that?

"Extraordinary
content and great networking."
—Michael Grover, InformationWeek (2009
Attendee)

Register today with code SMC to get your $300 Social
Media Club discount, and I’ll see you at the Seaport
World Trade
Center in Boston.

All the best,

Ann Handley
Chief Content Officer
MarketingProfs
(866) 557-9625

P.S. Hurry, the B2B Forum
is just weeks away! If you need more help convincing the boss—check out this Investment
Letter and then register!

The next Social Media Club Boston event will be Thursday, April 29th at 6:00pm at the IDG offices in Framingham — a perfect opportunity for Metro West social media practitioners, communicators and business leaders to connect, learn and share.

Sign up now: http://smcb10apr.eventbrite.com/. There are less that 10 seats left!

How does your enterprise or small business measure success in the social world? What tools and techniques are being used to measure real business impact? What qualitative and quantitative metrics provide the best insight, and what processes do you need to put in place to respond to what you learn?

What can small- and mid-sized companies learn from large corporations, and vice-versa? The great folks at IDG are hosting another Social Media Club Boston event to answer these questions.

From the enterprise perspective, we’ll have EMC and IDG share their insights on what they’re measuring and what they’re not measuring. They’ll be joined by another one or two small- and mid-sized businesses. It promises to be a great
panel and networking opportunity.

Sign up now for this free event: http://smcb10apr.eventbrite.com/

LaunchCamp 2010 Boston is happening now. If you’re reading this, you’re probably not there (unless you’re a tech-savvy well-connected mobile-Maistro stalker). Well, this is the next best thing: We’re going to be livestreaming the event as much as possible. You can see live video, chat and Twitter feeds at http://itsfreshground.com/launchcamp/livestream/. Things kick off at 8am ET.

Better quality recorded video will be available at a later time from that same page. Join the conversation on that page, or by tweeting with the #LaunchCamp hashtag. Fresh Ground is not responsible for the comments that appear on our site — please chat and tweet responsibly, folks!

[JOIN THE LIVESTREAM]

Here is the near-final lineup for Thursday’s LaunchCamp event:

Social Media Breakfast Bootcamp

Thursday, February 4, 2010
8:00AM – 11:30AM
Microsoft NERD Center

The Social Media Bootcamp is designed to help entrepreneurs understand the basics of how “social” has evolved from a communications tool to a full-fledged marketing and business management philosophy. It sets the tone for the afternoon sessions, providing a common vocabulary for everyone attending the more in-depth afternoon LaunchCamp sessions.

The Social Media Bootcamp is for both skeptics and those who need to convince the skeptics. It’s also perfect for “intrapraneurs”: innovators within larger organizations who are trying to create change. While many of today’s entrepreneurs understand social well, this is also an excellent chance to make sure you have all your bases covered before your launch.

8:00AM: Registration Opens, Breakfast

8:30AM: Opening Keynote: John Wall on the Three Factors of Startup Success
John Wall, co-host of Marketing Over Coffee, will discuss the three key factors for startup success. If you don’t have a million dollar budget to launch, do not despair. There’s never been a better time for a new brand to cut through the clutter. Learn how to fight the fear, lead the rebellion, and win customers.

9:00AM: Social Media 101
In many ways, social media is simply the logical evolution of communication tools that were originally developed in decades past. In other ways, it’s very different. This session goes over the history and evolution of social media from the Web 1.0 days and before.

9:15AM: The Implications of Social
Social is changing how companies are doing business, not just how they’re marketing themselves. Understand the full spectrum of applications and ramifications of social media on your organization, and what this might mean for your communications policies.

9:45AM: Morning Break

10:00AM: The 3 Cs of Social, Part 1: Content
It’s all about the content, but how do you create it and distribute it efficiently? Jeff Cutler will take the audience through the fundamentals of creating and distributing content.

10:30AM: The 3 Cs of Social, Part 2: Community
Jim Storer and Rachel Happe of the Community Roundtable will share their insights on how to build, grow and manage your communities.

11:00AM: The 3 Cs of Social, Part 3: Conversation
Doug Haslam, newly of Voce Communications, shares his tips and tricks for engaging your audience on various platforms, focusing specifically on where and how the conversation should take place.

Organized By: Social Media Breakfast
Hosted By: Microsoft
In Association With: LaunchCamp 2010

LaunchCamp 2010

Thursday, February 4, 2010
Microsoft NERD Center
11:30AM – 5:30PM

How can you, as a entrepreneur, most effectively use the limited intellectual, financial, social and temporal capital you have at your disposal to launch your company? What’s the role of PR, marketing, social media and business in launching your new brand, product or service? When should you build, and when should you buy?

11:30: Registration Opens, Lunch

Noon: Lunch Keynote: Mike Troiano on Scalable Intimacy

Growing your customer base is one of the most important goals of any launch. How do you scale your operations while not losing the personal touch? Mike Troiano, principal of interactive agency Holland-Mark and founder of several successful startups, shares his insights.

12:30PM: Success in Social: Local Launch Success Stories Moderator: David Beisel (Venrock)
Panel: Jules Pieri (Daily Grommet), Ja-nae Duane, Jason Jacobs of Fitness Keeper and Raj Aggarwal of Localytics

Hear from a panel of local entrepreneurs about their recent PR, marketing, social media and business successes.

1:30PM: Sales & Marketing Keynote: Dharmesh Shah on the Sales Funnel 2.0
How can small- to mid-sized businesses automate their sales and marketing process? How do marketing managers in bigger organizations learn how to speak CEO? Dharmesh Shah, chief technology officer & founder of Hubspot, answers these and other burning questions for business owners and marketers.

2:15PM: Afternoon Break

2:30PM: PR & Marketing Panel
Moderator: Paul Gillin
Panelists: Julie Hall, Carol McGarry, Bobbie Carlton
What’s the role of PR and marketing in the launch of a startup in today’s environment? PR isn’t dead, it’s just wounded. The whiplash educing changes in the media environment has left the PR industry reeling. It’s not dead, as many have declared, but it’s certainly dizzy and looking for some direction. Entrepreneurs have a more immediate problem: how do they get the word out in this shifting environment, where a site that didn’t exist a two years ago is suddenly a major player in communications?

3:15PM: Break-Out Sessions, Part 1 (Pick One)

What’s Your Exit Strategy?
Leaders: Rick Marciniak and Terry Phinney of BrandAlign
It’s never to soon to begin thinking about your exit strategy. In owner operated companies, the greatest obstacle to a successful exit can often be the owner. Are you thinking long-term? Rick and Terry share the personal, financial and structural elements to a successful exit strategy.

Branding & Web Design
Leader: Margery Stegman
What should you skimp on and what should you pay for when it comes to site design and branding?

Product Development
Leader: Bryan Maleszyk of Molecular
Social channels are a great place to collect product development feedback, but how do you organize, prioritize and act on the feedback you collect online?

4:15PM: Break-Out Sessions, Part 2 (Pick One)

PR Improv
Leader: Adam Zand
Editors: Wade Roush of Xconomy Boston and Scott Kirsner of the Boston Globe’s Innovation Economy
Think you’re ready for the big pitch? Adam Zand and our guest reporters will put you to the test (but probably won’t sign that NDA you want them to).

Agile Techniques for Startups: The Faster Path to Success
Leader: Joel Foner
Learn why Agile methodologies can enable you to ship faster, ensure that your product works better, has fewer bugs, and has “the right stuff that customers will care about” built in at the start. Find out how Agile approaches can work at small scale, even with a micro-startup of only one or two founders, while helping to create a culture of innovation and success.

Searching Your Brand
Leader: Jim Spencer, JBS Partners
One of the most important aspects of your brand is how visible you are in search. What are the tips and tricks you need to know when it comes to chosing a domain name, content management platform and content in order to optimize your brand for search? Jim Spencer takes you through the tricks and techniques you need to know to really own your brand online — with a special emphasis on WordPress sites.

5:00 Closing Remarks

Thanks to our Sponsors!

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EVENT ORGANIZER & FOUNDING SPONSOR

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