Social Media Club Louisville

If you ever needed a Social Media Club event that really produced payoff on the “social” part, tonight’s February gathering — and first working meeting — of the Social Media Club Louisville was it. Our room at Ramsi’s Cafe featured a bar where patrons waiting for tables ate, drank and were merry and the normal front door where folks would step in off the street right onto what amounted to our stage.

We were social, alright.

In all seriousness, Ramsi’s was a fabulous location with great food, helpful staff and the kind of atmosphere you want for a loosely-formal gathering. We learned, however, we need a quieter room with more privacy. But we also learned something else: We need more space!

No fewer than 42 folks showed up for our gathering, solidifying our belief that the market is thirsty for a conversation about social media. Several folks had to stand during the presentations and our presenters — Brian Wallace, Aaron Marshall (pictured from @bdthomas on Flickr) and Nick Huhn — had to battle the distractions of a busy restaurant and not-quite-semi-private space to share our “Selling Social Media” topic.

Still, everyone seemed to come away with valuable information, new contacts and an enthusiasm for what we are doing. Brian presented a nice overview of social media and how to sell it to clients. Aaron lead a nice discussion of selling social media to C-level folks and bosses. Nick offered some well-thought analogies for selling and explaining social media to friends, family and folks. Kudos to our trio for their insights, their leadership and, yes, their perseverance.

What can we do to top our first real meeting? (Okay, besides get rid of the Barflies and the pedestrian traffic?) March awaits and (thank you Clay) we need to know what is next on the agenda. Tell us in the comments A) Shall we do a breakfast meeting, luncheon or post-dinner gathering; B) Where you might suggest we have it and C) What is next on the topic front?

The conversation is yours.

Some Links (send me yours and we’ll add them):

Michelle Jones’s Flickr Set
Scott Clark’s Flickr Set
Ben Thomas’s Flickr Set
Kat French’s Review
Shawn Morton’s Excellent, Link-Filled Recap
Brian Wallace’s Wisdom & PowerPoint (Lots of folks asking for this after his presentation!)
Jason Brown’s Reaction & Discussion Of Black Hat Principles (Very Interesting Perspective)
Nick Huhn’s Thinking Man’s Lemonade Stand Analogy

Another SMC Louisville member interviewed at our inaugural meeting in January is featured this week on WebProNews. Brian Wallace of NowSourcing.com chats with Mike McDonald about social media. Kudos Brian!

Today’s Business First cover story about social media was, without a doubt, more than we could have ever imagined. Terry Boyd couldn’t make our first meeting last month. He called me the following Friday to follow up and see if anyone showed. Obviously, he was impressed with the turnout and fascinated with the subject matter that unites us all: social media.

Having worked in public relations and journalism for over 15 years now, I’ve learned that your first reaction to stories is always on the negative side, even if it shouldn’t be. You wish they had interviewed more of the people involved, that they’d offered more links to many of our companies’ websites or blogs, or that they gave WebProNews the appropriate credit for that goofy picture of me. But after your initial reaction settles a bit you realize what it means: This was a fantastic door-opener for the conversation about social media in Louisville and the region.

Talking to Todd Earwood tonight, he said it best:

“This is the perfect publication and the perfect audience to read this. The people who read Business First are the people we want interested in social media. Granted, they’ve got a long way to go before the ‘get it,’ but this puts it in front of them.”

I would add that it probably puts social media in front of many of them for the first time.

Terry Boyd is a friend in the media for us. If you get a chance to meet him at some point, or you know him, be sure to thank him for turning the legacy media eye on us new media folk for a little bit. He truly is fascinated by the world we’re playing in and may even wind up coming to many of our meetings.

Congratulations are in order for Todd and Joe Fowler for representing us well. Anyone who read the article knows now that Joe is skeptical and leery of folks like me (who work at advertising agencies) but having that counterpoint is what captivated Terry so much and led to a larger piece than we expected. I’m always for balance in the discussion and even agree with Joe that marketers must learn to play by the rules in social media or they won’t be welcome.

While I’m excited to hear what our three February discussion leaders have to say about selling social media in a couple weeks, I think we’ve gone a long way to the possibility of doing so in this market with this article.

[tags]smclouisville, social media club louisville, social media, Business First, Terry Boyd[/tags]

Just a quick post to give everyone the link to our COVER STORY in today’s Business First. They want you to subscribe online to read the whole thing. The issues hit news stands today. Todd and I will try to summarize it and our thoughts as soon as we can get hold of the full copy!

Click here for the teaser on Business First’s website.

(LOOK! Our blog is on the front flippin’ page! How cool is that?)

The article was written by Terry Boyd. I can’t wait to read it! In fact, I’m going to go buy a copy right now.

And sometimes, you just have to write a little extra to ensure the graphic hanging off the bottom of the post doesn’t mess with your layout. Okay, now I’m going to buy my copy.

Selling Social Media will be the topic of discussion at the February gathering of the Social Media Club Louisville. The group will meet from 7 p.m. until 9 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2008 at Ramsi’s Cafe On The World at 1293 Bardstown Road (http://www.ramsiscafe.com or Google Map It!).

Three members of the group have graciously volunteered to lead our discussion, which will focus on selling social media to clients, bosses and CEOs and the public, media and more. Brian Wallace of NowSourcing.com, a full-service social media and reputation management consulting firm, will share his thoughts and expertise on pitching social media to clients. Clay Marshall, a social media specialist with Digital Business Solutions (DBS), will tackle the topic of convincing bosses and CEOs to buy in and Rick Redding of The Ville Voice (and LEO columnist) will offer his insights on selling social media through to the media, advertisers, media buyers, friends, co-workers and more.

We anticipate the three will provide great information but strongly encourage everyone to come ready to share their own experiences as well. Each will present, but then lead a discussion through the topics involving the group. There will be informal networking time prior to and following the formal discussion.

WHO: Social Media Club Louisville (Champions of Social Media and Those Wishing To Learn)

WHAT: February Gathering

WHEN: 7 p.m. until 9 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2008

WHERE: Ramsi’s Cafe on the World, 1293 Bardstown Road, Louisville

WHY: To share, learn and grow as social media experts both individually and together

To RSVP (for a Ramsi’s head count), please email us at smclouisville — at — gmail.com. You can also join the discussions and activity on our GroupHub or Facebook group.

[tags]smclouisville, gathering, social media, selling social media[/tags]