Social Media Club Louisville

Social media’s sudden rise to top of mind thinking for companies, organizations and marketers everywhere, accompanied with the well-documented success of companies like Dell, Comcast and Southwest Airlines has given some people unreasonable expectations for participating in social media. The October gathering of the Social Media Club Louisville, set for Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2009, will put those expectations into proper perspective. “Setting (Reasonable) Expectations For Social Media,” will be presented by SMC Louisville Board of Directors member and social media consultant Jay Garmon.

UPDATE: The event will be live streamed here on the SMC Louisville website by Periscope Web Video. We’ll post a live streaming screen on the site that night for those who can’t attend.

The event will be hosted and sponsored by MaximumASP, a Louisville-based website hosting provider and frequent SMC Louisville attendee, at their brand new, “Green” data center at 2441 Nelson Miller Parkway in Louisville. (Click the address for a Google Map of the location.) MaximumASP, a Microsoft Hosting Provider of the Year award winner, will provide light refreshments and tours of the new facility during the networking times surrounding the presentation. This will give interested attendees a look at the physical infrastructure that supports websites and applications where social media happens.

The event will begin at 6:30 p.m. and will feature networking time until 7 p.m., Garmon’s presentation and discussion from 7-8 and more networking time from 8-8:30 p..m. Door prizes will be given away as well. The event is free and open to the public. Please RSVP your attendance (for food and beverage planning) below.

PLEASE NOTE: The Eventbrite RSVPs are for head count for food and beverage only. You DO NOT NEED TO PRINT A TICKET and bring it to the event. The email you will receive to confirm will ask you to print a ticket. There’s no need to do so. Thank you!

Two heads are better than one. That was the takeaway for me tonight at Social Media Club Louisville. When SMC Louisville partners with another great organization, like our event tonight with the Young Professional Association of Louisville (YPAL), great things happen. We had just under 90 folks in attendance to talk about personal branding in the social media era. Thanks to all who attended.

The slideshow I presented is below, complete with the additional slide showing my computer wallpaper as the last slide as requested by Teresa Good from Louisville’s Choice Realty. The main takeaways will vary from person to person, but my thoughts on what’s important to remember are below the presentation.

The book and blog I reference in the presentation is that of Dan Schawbel. His blog is The Personal Branding Blog. The book can be found at Amazon (disclosure: my affiliate link) and is called Me 2.0: Build a Powerful Brand to Achieve Career Success.

My thoughts on what you should remember include:

• Treat your personal brand/professional path/job search like it’s a product or service and market it as such.
• The more active you are in social media with blogs, social networking profiles, etc., the more you control search engine results for your name.
• Clean up your online profiles. Your employers, enrollment officers and potential employers are Googling you. Make sure you like what they’ll find.
• Be consistent with your name, identity and avatar across social networks. It makes you easier to find.
• Understand that unless you’re independently wealthy, you need your employer as much if not more than they need you. You work for them. Abide by their rules and work with them to help them understand their benefit in your personal brand.

If you have more to add, please do so in the comments.

Thanks to The Catering Company, Cumberland Brews, Louisville Visual Art Association and YPAL for a great evening.