Four lessons from a social media conference, one even has something to do with social media

2 September, 2009 | Written by edward boches 0 Comments
The Harvard Faculty Club

The Harvard Faculty Club

Beverly Macy and Rodney Rumford put on a pretty good show at Harvard this week.  There were some strong good presenters (though a few too many Powerpoint decks), no shortage of case studies, and some terrific opportunities to network.  Here’s what I learned.

1.    If you’re going to put on a conference, rent a facility at Harvard

It sounds really good to say “The Gravity Summit at Harvard,” even if Harvard has nothing to do with it.  Helps get big names like MC Hammer and Gary Vaynerchuk to show up, and easier to get your boss to approve the cost of attending.  Kudos on that one.

2.    As soon as your company embraces social media, all of its fears and concerns go away

This was the key point of the EMC case study presented by Polly Pearson. We all encounter employers and clients who are still resistant.  The EMC case, documenting the use of social media internally, showed how a multi-billion dollar was able to create community, encourage dialog, inspire new products, and learn by allowing criticism.

3.    The very best presentations have no slides, no decks, and no video

Just great story telling.  Of course Gary Vaynerchuk has one hell of a story to tell and he tells it better than anyone.  And yes he was preceded by a bunch of folks with charts and graphs and lists and bullet points so he didn’t have to cover any of that, but he’s a reminder that you need to turn everything into an engaging story.

4.     Not all famous people are full of themselves

MC Hammer is a case in point.  Not only does the guy fly in, do his keynote and receive his applause, he actually gives two or three hours more of his time than he needs to give.  He poses for pictures with anyone who wants one, walks a quarter mile to the other end of Harvard Square to a post-session tweetup, and hangs around just shooting the breeze.  Pretty regular guy.  My guess is the impression he left on a couple of hundred people will get magnified significantly when they all tell their followers.

Were you there?  What did you get out of the recent Gravity Summit?

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Kat Jaibur's Avatar
Kat Jaibur moderator
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Edward, I'm just catching up on this. You're right on all 4 points. I attended via the livestream thanks to CNN.com, and it was great. Your point #3 is only half right. The best presenters (MC Hammer, Gary V. and Ramon DeLeon) had Enthusiasm, Experience and a "Can Do" spirit -- which is why they electrified the summit. I truly believe that we go to these events 40% to learn what others know, and 60% to feel inspired that we can do it, too. BTW, MC Hammer stayed for meet and greet until after 8:30 that night... a truly generous gentleman if there ever was one. .-= Kat Jaibur´s last blog ..Best of Katnip Awards =-.

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Jim Mitchem's Avatar
Jim Mitchem moderator
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Note: There are a lot of people who are not famous are full of themselves too. Like what Adam said about MIR, I can't remember the last time I brought a book/portfolio into a prospect meeting. The way I see it, the meeting isn't so much about me and my company's creative ability in past client scenarios as it is the future of the people we're meeting with. Plus, it's not like we're going to copy anything from a past client to a new one. We had a little conference here in Charlotte recently, Social Fresh, which had a few heavy-hitters too. They ALL used decks. I think it's a matter of expectations. Until we figure out a better way to visually communicate our ideas en masse, the deck is here to stay. Unless, like you mentioned, you've just got a great story to tell and are a great storyteller. .-= Jim Mitchem´s last blog ..Nude in Public. =-.

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Paul Marobella's Avatar
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While you were at the Gravity Summit, I was at ad:tech Chicago, and I wish I had as many nice things to say. I am about to write a blog post on "We Should Be Ashamed." Complete with clients in attendance, each agency and 'pundit' kept pontificating on where the agency and marketing world 'should' go. I was should-ed to death. What if our clients' lawyers, accountants or IT firms held a conference and they attended and all they saw was a group of people that couldn't agree on anything. No wonder why they keep asking us for spec work. .-= Paul Marobella´s last blog ..Live Blogging: Ad:Tech Chicago - Client Bashing =-.

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edward boches's Avatar
edward boches moderator
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Paul: I left out a lot of content. There as, as always, some great and some mediocre. However, in social media, no one really knows anything, other than Twitter this Twitter that. But in advertising, people should, by now, know what still works and what doesn't. We are in an industry that's in turmoil and one that's broken in a bunch of places. A few things, however, are a given: consumer behaviors have changed; brands need to engage differently; powerful creative ideas still work; utility is as or more important than message; and you need to be a master choreographer to put it all together. Any case study that doesn't address all of that shouldn't be up on stage.

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Paul Marobella's Avatar
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Love your perspective. .-= Paul Marobella´s last blog ..Is It Any Wonder? =-.

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Anthony Butler's Avatar
Anthony Butler moderator
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Hey Edward, Glad to hear you got some "Hammer Time". The Harvard Faculty club, beyond the prestige of the institution it serves, is a lovely, gracious building-did it make you miss the old Mullen HQ in Wenham? arb:

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Stuart Foster's Avatar
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Just be interesting and be able to capture the room with your story. Do that? And no one will pay attention to your case study anyway. .-= Stuart Foster´s last blog ..Awesome is Not a Business Model =-.

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@JoselinMane's Avatar
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Edward, Great recap - short, sweet and to the point. I agree with you about presentations, I love the whole new movement of the Zen of Presenation. http://www.presentationzen.com/ I recently just won the book at a Community Roundtable event (http://community-roundtable.com/) When are you speaking next?

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edward boches's Avatar
edward boches moderator
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Do private events for clients quit frequently. Publicly have possible webinar in October and bigger event in Nov. Details to come. Will let you know.

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Adam Wohl's Avatar
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Love number 3. When MIR meets with agencies, some are taken aback or think it's weird that we're hesitant to show a deck, make a formal presentation or show off all our work. Sure, we'll do it, but so many fail to understand that no two social media plans are alike, and more importantly that we are in a business of starting conversations and movements. What better way to get the ball rolling, to identify and understand the challenges that lay ahead for client, agency and us, than to have a conversation? And truth be told, the best meetings we've had -- the ones that have led to successful work and great on-going relationships are the ones where we just sat around a table and talked for a while. Nothing formal, nothing official. Just communicating.

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edward boches's Avatar
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Adam: Hate to admit, after 33 years of never using a deck, I've been using one. Works for people who need to see examples. But, I never put more than one picture and one headline on a slide. And I still tell great stories. If I say so myself.

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