We’re very pleased to announce the leadership team for the Social Media Club’s Boston group. Todd Van Hoosear will continue to manage publicity and promotion for the group, but will be backed up by Greg Peverill-Conti of Weber Shandwick who will head up programs, Sriya Kodial of Text 100 who will head up partnerships, and Liz Koch of Business Wire who will head up production. For more information on all of our roles, visit the BostonVolunteers wiki page.

Thanks to Liz, Sriya and Greg for helping me out. Thanks to Amanda, Bryan and Brian for helping provide some structure to our group. Thanks to Chris, Kristie and Howard from the Social Media Club for giving us the resources and platform to make this all happen. And thanks to all our past and future sponsors, partners and speakers for helping make this group such a great success!

With this change, we’re well positioned to be able to continue to meet our mission of promoting social media literacy, best practices and ethics and standards in Boston.

Join us on April 12th for the next Social Media Club Boston event: “Ethics and the Social Media Generation Gap,” sponsored by Market Wire. For more information and to register, visit the event wiki page.

Was February’s bomb scare in Boston the result of a marketing campaign gone wrong, or that of a community that is out of touch with pop culture, modern marketing campaigns and the social media revolution? Your answer to this question is very strongly influenced by your age. This month’s Social Media Club Boston event will focus on Ethics and the Social Media Generation Gap: what are the underlying ethical and sociological reasons for these kinds of marketing mistakes and our incredibly divergent response to them?

Thursday, April 12, 2007
Vinnie T’s Dedham – 233 Elm Street, Dedham, MA
6:00pm – 8:30pm

We’ll be joined by John Blossom of Shore Communications, Judith Perrolle of Northeastern University and Douglas Quintal of Emerson College, who will address the following questions (and any others you might bring):

• Did Boston overreact and why?
• Is guerrilla marketing anything more than “solid-state spam”?
• Is there a real generation gap, and if so, what exactly are the differences when it comes to tolerance of both risk and “creative” marketing campaigns?
• Is guerilla marketing a sign of desperation or just creativity?
• Who bears the cost of guerilla marketing?
• Codes of ethics exist already, but are often virtual or unwritten – how should they be codified?
• Legislation is inevitable, but is it right?
• Can it work if it’s done appropriately?
• What happened to “permission marketing?”
• Social media is all about taking control over content, and guerilla marketing is about attention, but there are similarities between the two. Are they compatible or mutually exclusive?

See you there!

I’m shutting down the Boston Social Media Club forum because of too much administrative hassle required to combat spam that lead to more difficulties in signing up and getting people to use the PHPbb-based forum. These forums are huge spam magnets, even more than blogs–it took only two days before somebody found it and started trying to fill it with garbage. Sad, because they provide more structure than email, and I hate email, but alas…

Please make sure you’re signed up to the main email list for announcements and discussions for the time being (and of course keep watching this blog).

Thanks!

YourStorys has been gracious to host the video from last month’s video session. Here they are in order of appearance (be patient as they load):

1. Steve Garfield – Noted video blogger, speaker and evangelist for social media speaks to the group about the ease of creating loading and delivering video over the web. Watch Steve create a video blog in this sequence.
2. Larry Lawfer – Larry discusses how he achieved success using video testimonials from clients like CVS, ManageSoft, Computerworld and several philanthropies. (Larry’s breakout session was also recorded.)
3. Jason Alcorn – Jason explains how Mindshare has been able to help its non-profit clients succeed in the video and social media spaces.
4. Wrap-Up. After the breakout sessions the Social Media group re-gathers to hear members of the audience give a synopsis of the sessions. It is interesting to hear what each group focused on and how each of these presenters provide new insight into the phenomenon of video to the web and beyond.

The only things missing video-wise are Todd and Rich’s opening comments and the first few moments of Steve’s presentation. You can find the audio for these two sessions (and the others) on the Tech PR Gems blog.

Another good upcoming social media-focused event:

Wednesday
March 14, 2006
5:30 p.m. Networking mixer
& Sandwiches
6:15-8:30 p.m.: Program

Come listen to a panel of experts and their plans to address the challenges of adapting to and pioneering in this new environment. Jeff Morris from CBS/Showtime will speak about how a network-based media company addresses this challenge. Jeremy Allaire, CEO and founder of BrightCove, will explain how companies can take advantage of Internet TV and other new media. Eric Alterman, founder of KickApps, will talk about how a user-generated content company works with brands and marketers to extend their reach to new users via the net. Finally, Baba Shetty, Director of Interactive at Hill Holliday, will address the race by brands and agencies to take advantage of this changing marketplace.

For more information and to sign up, visit the MIT Enterprise Forum of Cambridge’s website.

If you’re still looking for a good social media program to go to on Thursday, look no further than the MassTLC’s new Social Media Cluster, which is hosting its first event on Thursday, March 15th:

Citizen Marketers: When People are the Message

Thursday, March 15, 2007
7:30 – 10:30 AM
Emerging Enterprise Center at Foley Hoag
1000 Winter St, North Entrance, Ste 4000, Waltham, MA
Directions Available Online

For more information on the event and to sign up, visit The Event Page. We’ll see you there!

Our next program is going to be a great one! BUT, you’ll have to wait until April 12th to get it. We’ve decided to push our schedule back a month and insert a planning meeting for Thursday, March 15th–this gives us the opportunity to give you a killer panel and plan a little better for the other great events on the calendar. So stay tuned for more information on Monday. And, if you’d like to help set the agenda for upcoming Social Media Club Boston events, please keep Thursday 6pm on your calendar.

Thanks!