With the fast pace of sports – an industry with ever-changing leaders, teams, athletes, seasons, sponsors, opportunities – it’s no wonder that keeping up with the rapid pace of social media can be a challenge. This week, the Atlanta chapter of Women in Sports and Events, invited me to present a social media primer for sports and event professionals.  Having worked in the several areas of sports, I jumped at the chance.

Using examples of successful and innovative social media initiatives in the sports industry, I presented Social Media: A Primer for Sports and Event Professionals.  The goals of this presentation were to give these professionals the definitions, the keys to success, the demographics and details of the most popular social media platforms (LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Flickr,and  YouTube) in use today.

And just for a note of inspiration, I stated the presentation with this new video channel on YouTube. In our opinion, it’s a near perfect blend of brand/sponsor, global event and the fan experience.

What social media examples might you want to share?

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For a follow up from our ealier presentation, Social Media 101, I presented a second session at today’s PRSA/GA Annual Conference in Atlanta, Ga. More conceptual, this session was focused on discussing the forthcoming trends, some of which like Real Time and geolocation are already happening.  While the audience was PR professionals, these trends are certain to impact brands and bottom lines in the near future. After all, it was only 3 years ago when people were saying, “What’s this Twitter thing about?”  Like my earlier session, I used the new Prezi format, which won rave reviews from the audience.

Oh, and if you’re really geeked now, check out Akoha, a company that blends geolocation with good deeds, and augmented reality app Layar which let’s you see, what you don’t see,  and keep your eyes on other companies pushing the envelope of what’s possible. Or drop a note here and let us know who those companies are.

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Today, I presented at the PRSA/GA Annual Conference in Atlanta, Ga.  This presentation to PR professionals focused on providing the basics of social media – definitions, demographics, and details – they would need to enhance/advance a company’s brand.  It was also the first time I debuted the new Prezi format, which won rave reviews from the audience.

What else would you add?

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On the heels of the recent research released by UberCEO that CEOs are social media slackers, I was making a social media presentation to a large group of CEOs last week… a bunch of folks with the same questions that my clients ask, “Is social media a fad?” and “Why should this matter?”  Even though UberCEO’s report provided great insights into the current adoption of social media by Fortune 100 CEOs, I kept coming back to a more basic need to build understanding of how consumers have shifted, from passive to active, to get their attention.

How did I start the social media conversation with this group of CEOs? Well, I started by asking a series of questions:

·          how many had smart phones – about 80%

·          how many have been on Google in the last 48 hours – nearly 100%

·          how many had seen one video on YouTube in the last 3 months – 100%

·          how many have read news or a news article online in the last 24 hours – 100%

·          how many had used the internet to snoop on a competitor? or make a purchase? or find the latest links schedule? – nearly 100%

·          how many had used a ratings review service, like for a car, movie, or restaurant – about 30%

I didn’t ask how many were on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook or other social media spheres – my main point to this group was that how they use the internet on a personal basis is similar to how their customers are using it.  And while some of these questions are related to search and not social media, it’s the behavior and the channels that I wanted this group of CEOs to focus on. 

And with those initial questions and a few comments on my end about the rise of the active consumer as the intro, you could see a few a-ha moments happening. I went on to share an interactive presentation on just what is social media and why its influence is important and growing (including the latest numbers from Neilsen).  When I wrapped up, I got a lot of thanks and plenty more questions which reaffirms that these business leaders want to understand this without the pressure of being early adopters or prolific users.  But for the first time, for many of these executives, they “got” why social media matters because I started the conversation with them as consumers and not CEOs. And that understanding may be the start of something more.

What do you think?

There's no need for the social media conversation to lead to chaos.

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