From New York and Washington, D.C. to Cologne, Germany and Sao Paolo, Brazil, our team around the globe is swimming in Social Media Week 2012. Here’s a recap of what we’ve been up to so far, and what’s ahead for the next two days.
In New York, our EVP, Social Business Innovation Matt Dickman spoke Monday on two panels. One was with Howard Lindzon, founder of the hugely popular Stocktwits, on how social media has changed investor relations. The other panel was “Social Business Gets Real,” hosted by the Social Media Club, where Matt spoke alongside an exec from IBM and a Forbes writer about how social media is being used inside some of the world’s largest enterprises.
Also in New York, yesterday I spoke at the “Agencyware: Agency as Maker” panel hosted by Blogads. Our conversation explored how agencies can emulate start-ups or independent creative shops in building their own apps and other products. I cited Weber Shandwick’s social media crisis simulator FireBell as an example of a powerhouse product that both clients and internal users find indispensable – all developed in-house by our firm, and winner of the PRWeek PR Innovation of the Year Award.
In Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, Weber Shandwick hosted and livestreamed two stellar panels on politics and technology today. In the first, reps from Huffington Post, Politico, ABC News and Gannett discussed how social media has changed the way media covers politics. In the afternoon, execs from Twitter, Facebook, and Google talked about how technology has changed political campaigns.
Meanwhile, in Cologne, Germany, our team hosted Social Media Happy Hour to discuss our clients’ digital activities and how emerging trends are playing out across on both a local (Germany/Europe) and global scale. FireBell, the aforementioned social media crisis simulator, was also introduced to attendees. To top it all off, traditional German pretzels and Cologne-brewed beer were served to enhance the offline extension of the German team’s online activations.
What’s next?
Today in New York, our EVP, Managing Director of Social Media Stephanie Agresta will be speaking alongside reps from Klout and Mashable about the most innovative applications of social media in the industry today. Meanwhile, in Sao Paolo, Everton Schultz (Director of Social Media for Weber Shandwick) will present the “Socializing Your Brand” research we did with Forbes Insights into social brands, comparing the results with what companies are doing in Brazil.
We’ll also be having an exclusive Social Media Week event for the Weber Shandwick team only, with a global lunch hosted out of New York and featuring best-selling author and media personality Melanie Notkin, AKA Savvy Auntie. Melanie will talk about her meteoric rise in the social media world, as well as the best ways brands are working with influencers like her in 2012. We’re excited to introduce Melanie to our team as part of Social Media Week, which rolls on across the globe through tomorrow.