How to Say No to Social Media: Tips from @ESPN_ProdGirl at #BrandsConf

“We need to get a profile for Foursquare.”
“How about Yelp? Do we have an account set up for Yelp?”
“Are we measuring our Twitter usage correctly?”
“What are our fellow leaders in our industry doing with mobile?”
“Have we created our Google Plus business page yet?”

Perhaps you can relate to the high tides of demands as you try to stand your ground and navigate through the ferocious pace of all the moving parts in today’s digital, social and mobile worlds. With all of the demands circling towards you for solutions and answers, how can you answer intelligently with poise and purpose? @ESPN_ProdGirl has some insight on how to be that go-to-social pro within a large company and her secret to success just may surprise you. 

Meet Katie Richman, also known as @ESPN_ProdGirl. Social and sweet on the outside, fearless and wise from within. Her twitter profile says: Social for ESPN. Best. Job. Ever.

During her presentation at the Brands Conference in New York City last week she shared sage advice to those who share the role as social media professionals within large companies like ESPN. With the rapid changes happening in the new world of social media, there are many demands, directions and devices that can derail productivity and our overall success as social media experts. Just how does this ESPN Girl ride the tides with ease? She smiles and says, “It sounds counterintuitive, but the biggest lesson learned in the past few years of social at a big company… is learning to say NO to something social.”

The tips she shares on how to cope with the new social media noise can apply to any professional who finds today’s technology, media and marketing worlds somewhat overwhelming and anxiety-inducing. Her tips are enlightingly simple yet worthy of mentioning:

1. Take a reset day.

Retreat and remove yourself from the overwhelming requests. Schedule a day to re-boot and reset your mind. Go off-site if need be. Be intent to not respond to any requests or in pursuit to check off your to-do lists.  

2. Visualize your full plate.

What is the capacity of each day? There are only so many hours in one day. See where the demands are outweighing the realities. Notice where the gaping holes of resources are. Then, go to management with specific requests based on your findings. Be factual, respond with metrics.

3. Create a parking lot.

Put all of the to-do items in park. This isn’t to be considered a morgue per se, just a resting place to reassess all of the great ideas and demands against the goals. Time will tell when a to-do item is ready to shift into drive.

This is Katie Richman’s Parking Lot tool. She claims that it is usually full of parked projects.

Katie closed her presentation with a lasting truth, “You may think that you are giving 110%, but there is no such thing. There is only 100%.” True words of wisdom shared by a professional who has learned the art and reaped the benefits of How to Just Say No and be successful at social. 

If you would found these tips helpful, send her a tweet to tell her thanks >>

To catch Katie’s presentation in its entirety, visit the video recordings of the #BrandsConf 2011 here > http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/18407514

Contributed by Andrea Cook, #140Conf Live Event Correspondent. Andrea Cook has brands and buzz on the brain. Since 1999, her Chicago-born consultancy, The Midas Center has provided award-winning marketing and media solutions to law firms, education facilities, non-profits, artists and hyper-local communities. She strives to support the noble game changers and life savers through social media marketing. She is a pioneer, coach, editor, cowork-owner and consultant for hire. Services vary, Live Event Correspondent services preferred. 

Next Era of Brands Examined: Social Brandology PART: TWO #Brandsconf

Brands and the people who are managing them online through social media get real at #BrandsConf 2011 in NYC.

The advent of the web is allowing people to connect. It is redefining our communities and the marketplace and giving us abilities to connect through dimensions of time and space that proves that humanity as we know it is indeed evolving. 

Another element evolving? Brands. Once limited to printed logos, advertising campaigns and publicity appearances, the image of a company known as its “brand” has sprouted into a living entity, living among us, interacting as one of us. Brands are emerging in this new tech world and are becoming one with humanity.

The new life form of the brand is redefining an era. An era that Jeff Pulver finds fascinating and has invited us in a journey of exploration for this year’s second annual Brands Conference. Founder of Vonage and the #140Conf movement, Pulver has titled this year’s #BrandsConf, “The Humanization of Brands.”

As with all of the #140 events that have taken place all over the world for the past two years, presenters and panelists represent a wide variety of backgrounds. The one-day event is chocked full of 10-minute segments rich with passionate testimonies that inform and inspire viewers while engaging them IRL (in real life) and online via social channels like UStream and Twitter.

#140 Conference volunteers register hundreds of guests to watch over 50 presenters at the #Brands Conference 2011 in NYC. The conference, held at the 92nd Street Y venue opened its doors at 8:00 a.m. on Wednesday, November 9th while the participants from all walks of life opened their hearts and minds to share and learn, and evolve along with over 50 brands that were represented.

Lessons learned stretched beyond the basic 100-level principles of “brandology” and social media as the storytellers took center stage to share about the development of leading brands, individual blogger brands and start-ups.

Some brands represented like Sears, Estee Lauder, IBM, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, and Sesame Street have penetrated the market successfully through traditional media. These Goliath brands now search for solutions using new, experimental techniques along with everyone one else as they venture out in the new world of social and mobile technology and test the market and create the undiscovered best practices. Exciting for some, terrifying for others.

As we collectively explore the genesis of the socially engaging brands that are being developing before our eyes and social networks, we see how they embed themselves in our communities, networks, tribes and culture, at times defining and leading the way. It asks the question: Who is in charge of the brand: the creator, the company or the community?

A behind-the-scenes perspective from the making and managing of social brands to the influence and impact brands are making on the human race, this #140Conf examined the new life form of social brandology.

Social brandology is both an art and science, measured by love and metrics respectively.  The complexity of this concept is multifaceted and can be better understood by hearing from the brand creators themselves.

The brands responsible to giving life and voice to companies, startups, nonprofits and celebrity-level bloggers are represented in the spectrum of speakers. You may watch the videos from the #Brands Conference Humanization of Brands here >>

More on some of the trending takeaways from the event will follow like:

- The Evolution of the Community Manager

- Movements VS Marketing 

- Doubletree Goes Offline with More Cookies

- Human Side of Customer Support

- Big Bird. Big Voice. Big Heart.

- Do We Really Want Rock Stars to Be Real?

and more… 

If you have an interest on one of the trending topics, please feel free to request your preference by adding a comment below or by sending us an @message via Twitter and we will prioritize accordingly.

This content was originally contributed and published on the #140Conf site as part two of a two part series, preview and review of the Brands Conference 2011. 

Contributed by Andrea Cook, #140conf Live Event Correspondent. Andrea Cook has brands and buzz on the brain. Since 1999, her Chicago-born consultancy, The Midas Center has provided award-winning marketing and media solutions to law firms, education facilities, non-profits, artists and hyper-local communities and she strives to support the noble game changers and life savers through social media marketing. She is a pioneer, coach, editor, cowork owner and consultant for hire. Services vary, Live Event Correspondent services preferred. more >> 

Authentic Brands Get Real at Today's #BrandsConf PART ONE

Could the message behind 140 characters really make a difference? There are men and women who are treading and trending on the new media channels, creating businesses, inventing new products, bringing vitality into dying communities, sharing awareness and spreading kindness to the masses through brands. Unique game changers gather together for a one day conference and share the testimonies of their journey of impact through the use of Twitter. Similar to the condensed micro blogging platform where the message is to be brief, parsed down to 140 characters, the #140Conf presentations are no exception. Each speaker is given a mere 10 minutes with out using Powerpoint slides. Also, each presenter is introduced to the stage and embraced with a happy hug given by founder and host, Jeff Pulver. Today's event will maintain the typical #140 flare, albeit, a far from typical type of conference. 

A full day of over 50 presenters sharing the humanity that drives the social application of some of today's leading brands. Host and founder of the event, Jeff Pulver is driven by his own curiosities of the human condition and its evolution in the new tech era. Seeking to elevate our understanding of this phenomena he opens the doors to men and women each from diverse walks of life to share heartfelt testimonies of numerous brands represented at today's #Brands Conference.  

The 2nd Annual #BrandsConf, called the Humanization of Brands will explore the heart and soul of the brands represented through social media.  As brands develop and engage in our social world, who is making the rules? 

Where are the boundaries that define the relationships between a company and the brand it represents? What becomes of an identity when the creator who has given birth, grown and connected with the fan base and been the voice of a brand leaves the company? Just how much can a corporate entity be personified, authentically engaged. How provocative can the brand be as it interacts and connects with its tribe? 

The hands and feet behind some of today's leading brands share stories of struggle and victory. The creators, the masters of noteworthy brands online will speak openly and share their experiences. Some stories: jolting, others inspiring. All stories broadcasted LIVE (and recorded for future viewing) by video: http://t.co/Yac44bxM from 09:00 AM - 5:30 PM EST

And many witll be sharing takeaways that can be seen by Twitter streams with #BrandsConf. 

More to follow on this exploration on today's brand voice as live updates are gathered and shared in the next post. Please share any questions you are interested in learning more about on this topic by adding a comment below.

Upcoming Event Coverage

We are pleased to announce our upcoming schedule of events we will be covering in the next two weeks!

Not only will the content be insightful, but the individual professionals and the topics each will represent will be a crowd pleaser and brain grower. 

The next event we plan to cover will be for Jason Falls and the virtual book tour he will be showcasing. If you have not yet picked up a copy of No Bullshit Social Media, the all-business, no-hype guide to social media marketing, you will not want to miss some of the key takeaways he will be sharing during this one hour "bookinar." We will be using #nobssocial at 1:00 EST on November 1 if you would like to follow along! We will also be capturing the content on the Event Correspondent Facebook page. Feel free to follow it on Facebook > 

On November 9th, we will be live in NYC at the #Brandsconf where over 35 leading brands will be represented. Jeff Pulver hosts this annual event and this year will be exploring the "Humanization of Brands" as represented by brands including Oprah.com, Ogilvy, IBM, 360i, jetBLUE, EventBrite, DressBarn, Sesame Street and many many more. In Pulver's #140conf fashion, each presenter will speak for 10 minutes and the conference will have a mashup of topics, viewpoints and experiences all surrounding the human side of brands and their evolution in today's internet age. Pulver shares, "no longer can we just be a logo and stand behind a PR firm." His mission is to discuss the online media impact on brands and how it is changing business as usual. We are honored to be part of this effort as an onsite event correspondent. 

Registration is available for you to attend >

We will be sharing live updates from the @140conf and #140conf hashtag. We hope to gather some of the highlights from each of the presenters and provide a recap of some of the main themes threaded throughout the day. Stay tuned to learn more!

More on Event Correspondent Services

The Midas Center owner, Andrea Cook is the leading service provider of professional live blogging services or Event Correspondent services. Through social media channels, Event Correspondent services build the brand and buzz for clients invested in events like speaking engagements, sponsorships, presentations and more. From the four walls of the conference rooms, Event Correspondent services can increase exposure to over 5000%, enlarging the industry mindshare and capturing the experience online for future search optimization and content generated marketing collateral. Want to learn more about this industry leading service? Check this out >

Journalism and Cura-what?

by Andrea Cook   Tweet

With millions of new media channels and blogs in our midst, it is no wonder that a thriving city like San Francisco has gone from a dozen of newspapers down to one. The competition to reach readers has never been as fierce as today's media market. The conditions of economy and new technologies have stirred a swarm of questions surrounding the new world of media, its best practices and outlook.

Freedom of today's social media allows each of us to broadcast, influence, report and share content in as many ways as our social media presence will allow. Truth is skewed and freedom is sacrificed when we allow journalism and curation to be controlled, manipulated and financed by deep pockets of special interest groups. Just how are credible news outlets able to sustain themselves with the rapidly changing landscape of online media?

Social Media Group's Maggie Fox moderated a panel discussion by Social Media Today. As part of the Best Thinkers Series, the live webinar titled "Is Curation the New Journalism?" sparked critical issues facing the media market. Panelists Steven Rosenbaum, author of Curation Nation and Tom Foremski, former FT journalist turned journalist blogger and publisher of Silicon Valley Watcher started a discussion on the differences between "traditional journalism" versus "online curation" that very quickly honed in on the dilemma that today's journalists are currently facing.

Journalism was once led by the investigation of a subject and speed of distribution. Today, anyone can fulfill that role as an online curator. In fact, Steven Rosenbaum encourages that consumers take on this curation exercise, "Find something interesting and put it on Twitter." However, Tom Foremski has a more refined approach towards curation and replies, "Curation is more than a tweet. It is choosing a proper subject, sources and readers." Steven sees endless opportunities in today's media as a curator and says that standard rules no longer applies regarding fair use or the best practice of reproducing content. Simply put, asking permission to share content by linking, copying, and rewriting what others have already written is passé. Tom disagrees with this approach to curation and he shares, "Rewriting what someone else has already written is not called curation. It is called re-writing." Both media movers agree that the establishment of trust is critical to curation and that ReTweeting can be considered an act of curation. "Editors by nature are curators," adds Maggie Fox as she lead the discussion to emphasize the emerging roles of business. She asks, "Are brands behaving like media companies?"

When credibility is key, journalism must be driven by truth and passion, and not by businesses and brands. In theory, journalism and business are supposed to be separate and Tom agrees, "Media is a long term commitment. It is not a three month marketing campaign." Steven elaborated on this phenomenon by sharing how the line can be blurred and believes, "Passion leads to a voice. This has a social impact for brands." How then can media outlets continue to produce content, develop relationships with readers and not go in the red? Tom advises mediapreneurs to take a Heinz 57 model approach and seek multiple revenue streams for sustainability in today's ever changing new world of media and content generation.

The more things change, the more they stay the same. A 14th century clergyman who led a parish and invested in the care and cure of souls was once called a curate. During this period, society was restricted and relied solely on the curate. The new world of media was launched with the Gutenberg printing press producing and distributing the Bible in a variety of languages allowing larger segments of society to access the content. This started the information revolution where new ideas and information can spread quickly and have a great impact to society. Prior to the printing presses, the curates held the power of the truth. Much like today's society, once restricted and reliant solely on the newspaper industry for information that impacted our lives, we are in the midst of a new age of information with the use of blogs, Facebook, Twitter and Google. How then will you use the wealth of information and content as you lead the tribes in your online communities? A curate is the leader who invests in the care and cure of souls. With this powerful role comes great responsibility.

As the media industry reinvents itself , more and more content will be generated. Regardless if you call yourself a journalist or a blogger, do not lose sight of your purpose and impact while checking your Klout score. The longstanding virtues of a powerful writer have always been based on truth, passion and freedom.