If you want to know what’s going on in social and digital media, you should definitely come to our Saturday Happy Hour for discussion and open bar. Yes, you read that right. If you join us this Saturday at Sholtz’s from 3 to 5 pm, you drink for free courtesy of Waggoner Edstrom and the Social Media Club of Austin.

Following are the details. Please let us know if you’ll be there by commenting below, twittering about it, and then by showing up. Please help us spread the word. We want to give David a nice welcome to Austin.

~ Mike

Join David Almacy, VP Digital Strategies for Waggener Edstrom Worldwide, and the Social Media Club of Austin for discussion and drinks.

• When: Saturday, July 19 from 2-5 pm
• Where: Scholz Beer Garten
• Why: Dave has over 15 years of experience at the intersection of government, public relations, marketing, politics and digital communications. His background includes stints with the Republican National Committee, Washington Business Journal, C-SPAN, GovTech Solutions, U.S. Department of Education and most recently, the White House as the Internet and E-Communciations director. Plus, WE is picking up the tab!

Join us for an evening of discussion and getting to know your fellow social media users/creators in Austin. Pizza and drinks at 6:00; program starts at 6:30. NOTE: The meeting is free, but we ask you to register because space is limited.

Our special guest for this month’s regular meeting is Andy Meadows, CEO of Live Oak 360, a veteran of the online world and founder of the Austin based Web technology services company. Andy and Live Oak 360 specialize in customized application development, Web development, interactive consulting, conversion acceleration and social networking applications to assist companies in managing their digital landscapes.

Live Oak 360 was formed in 2002 and in the six years it’s been in business, Andy has taken the company to annual sales in the seven figures and with hundreds of customers spanning the globe. Following Meadow’s lead, Live Oak 360 has developed web solutions with complex capabilities for such companies as AMD, Motorola, Buffalo Technology, Time Warner Cable Media Sales, Green Mountain Energy and World Vision.

Prior to the birth of Live Oak 360, Meadows led the development efforts of the growth and expansion of Metadot Corporation’s portal server application. In this role, Meadows worked with open architectures to provide a seamless application interface to manage end-user content management systems and to deploy self-service applications.

Before making the move to Metadot, Meadows was responsible for a worldwide eBusiness portfolio for Nortel Networks. During his Nortel tenure, Meadows was instrumental in bringing eBusiness solutions to account teams and customers across the globe and establishing the foundation for the global deployment of Nortel Networks’ portal platform. The Wireless eBusiness Portfolio unit expanded from a staff of 5 to over 250 during Meadows involvement.

Aside from his time focused on creating custom software applications, Meadows has played numerous roles in the formation and evolution of companies across a variety of industries and roles. Andy’s expertise lies in the areas of enterprise technology strategy and solutions, e-commerce, social networking and open source technologies.

Our Social Media Club meetings are a great opportunity to get to know other people involved in this growing trend in communications. Whether you’re brand new to social media or have some experience, you’re welcome to attend and to participate. This is a great opportunity to join the conversation with someone who is in a leadership role in the industry.

Be Sure to Register to Attend
http://www.eventbrite.com/event/139328736

Join us for an evening of discussion and getting to know your fellow social media users/creators in Austin. Pizza and drinks at 6:00; program starts at 6:30. NOTE: The meeting is free, but we ask you to register because space is limited.

Thursday, July 17th Austin Social Media Presents:

Andy Meadows, President and CEO of Live Oak 360, to Speak on Digital Landscape Management and Social Networking

We’ll also be doing a few 5 minute lightning pitches where you will get a chance to pitch your social media product or service and then get feedback from the group. If you’re interested in pitching, please email socialmediaclub@joshuabaer.com

The meeting, which is being held this Thursday, June 19th, is being hosted at Datran Media, which is on the 8th floor of the business tower of the Omni Hotel downtown at 7th and Brazos. You should try to find free parking on the street or otherwise you will need to pay to park in a garage. Pizza and soft drinks served at 6:00 p.m. Program begins at 6:30.

Special thanks to Josh Baer and Datran Media for sponsoring this month’s meeting.

The Boston-Austin Axis Their loss is our gain this month

Austin and Boston have been two of the most active chapters of the Social Media Club. Austin is fortunate to have “stolen” two great people from the Boston area: Kyle Flaherty and Bryan Person.A few months ago Kyle accepted the position of Director of Marketing at Breaking Point Systems. His travels back and forth along the Boston-Austin axis are finally over. Kyle and family have closed on their house and are moving this weekend. We look forward to welcoming him at next months’ meeting. Bryan has has taken a position as social media evangelist with Live World, Inc., a San Jose, California-based company that builds and manages online communities and social networks. He and family will be moving to Austin next month; Bryan will be able to work from his home office. In February, Bryan hoted a social media breakfast at Rudy’s. He’ll be getting those going here as well, so look for an announcement about that soon.

According to Chris Heuer, founder of Social Media Club and Partner at The Conversation Group, “The Social Media Club is honored to have so many accomplished and well-regarded industry evangelists come forward to lead the organization. While the interim board will focus on charting the organization’s future direction, our core mission will remain the same: promotion of media literacy; support of industry standards efforts such as Creative Commons licensing, Microformats, Data Portability and OpenID; discussion and promotion of ethical behavior; and sharing our knowledge among our members and the industry community at large.”

Co-Founder and Social Media Club President Kristie Wells added, “We are grateful to have received so much support from around the world over the past two years. With nearly 200 paying members and over 500 open members - we are deeply appreciative of the volunteer efforts to make the Social Media Club a success. With leading corporate members, such as Business Wire and SHIFT Communications, as well as dedicated individual professionals, the Social Media Club will continue to gain momentum and serve the greater needs of the industry while sharing our lessons learned along the way.”

If you think you would like to get more involved with the local chapter or the international organization, please contact us. Social media, digital media, online communications, social networking, and all forms of social media will eventually affect every aspect of communications and society. The Austin Social Media Club is a great organization for bringing together people at all stages, from novices to experts, to learn and shape the future of this important form of human interaction.

Please follow the link to SMC home page announcing the new board: http://www.socialmediaclub.org/2008/07/09/social-media-club-forms-interim-board-to-chart-strategic-direction-and-advance-its-goals/

If you haven’t yet, please subscribe to this blog to stay updated on all of the latest Social Media Club developments.

~ @ConnieReece and @MikeChapman

Staff at the The Blood Center of Central Texas confirmed that we more than doubled their usual donations at the North Austin location. I’ve never seen so many people happy to donate blood and, even more so, disappointed if they couldn’t. The feeling of community was palpable. From a personal perspective, it’s been quite some time since I’ve felt so moved by a group of people that were coming together for the good of others. Of course getting a FailWhale cake in my honor did make me pretty emotional.

You can go to the Austin Blood Drive Tweetup Flickr page to get a very nice feel for the day. There were so many great people involved that I couldn’t possibly name them all here. If you missed it, don’t worry, we’ll be doing it again soon.

Check out these other blog posts on the event: The Fail Whale Fan Club,  Every Dot Connects (@sheilas), Michelle’s Blog (@MichelleGreer), FI Space (@daveiam), and the Twitter Queen herself, @ConnieReece.

To those who aren’t using Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, blogs, and other social networking tools yet, social media may not look like a very serious business. Outside observers might even see it as kind of silly or a waste of time. Decision makers in government, business, non-profits, and across the spectrum, are waking up to the realization, however, that this new style of communications is here to stay. The Blood Drive Tweetup is a tangible example of how Twitter, as just one example, can actually be very productive.

On a modest scale, the Blood Drive Tweetup is an example of what can be positively accomplished, in a very short amount of time, using the new communications tools that we all now have at our disposal.

~ @MikeChapman

P.S. Recently, Sam Eder of Small World Labs spoke to the Austin Social Media Club. With no prompting from Sam, I would like to share a video, featuring him and Michael Wilson, that explains what they do in the Enterprise 2.0 space. Thank you again, Michael and Sam, for the presentation last month.

New Instructions:

1.) If you have a blog or site, please go to David J. Neff’s blog and follow the instructions on embedding the livestream of the Austin Blood Drive Tweetup.
2.) Publish and tell the friends who can’t make it to check out your cool new post.
3.) Sign up for a spot to donate at the Austin Blood and Tissue Center’s website or swing by there 4300 North Lamar from 10 am to 4 pm.
4.) Give a shoutout to your friends on camera, and tell them to join you.Please mark all Tweets regarding the Blood Drive Tweetup with the hashtag #abdt.  To track this tag, just go to http://www.hashtags.org/tag/abdt

In case you’re not familiar with the term Tweetup, (as far as I know Stephen T. Colbert has not officially recognized it as a word) it is where people who spend a lot of time online using Twitter, the most popular of the micro-blogging applications right now, actually get together in person. So, as David Neff of the American Cancer Society so appropriately put it, this is a tweetup with a purpose. It’s certainly good when people get together and form relationships because they’ve met online. It’s really good when it leads to something that benefits our fellow humans.

Michelle Greer, David Neff, Connie Reece, Omar Gallago, Kim Haynes, Snax and Kristine have all blogged about this event. And all of them are on Twitter. Yes I’m donating blood, even though I’m getting really, really old, so you can too. Actually, I’m Barack Obama’s age, so if he can run for President, I think the least I can do is donate some blood at the tweetup.

If you’re not able to donate blood or just don’t choose to, there are a bunch of ways to assist. Whole Foods, Alamo Draft House, and others are making donations to help increase participation. Check Snax’s blog again for details. If you’d like to help in another way, please contact @MichelleGreer, @ConnieReece, @Daveiam or @snax on Twitter or comment below. I’m going to be busy blowing everyone off for the rest of the day today.

If you do want to donate blood, here’s what you need to do:

1.) register or log into the Blood Center of Central Texas’s website.
2.) Choose the location at 4300 North Lamar.
3.) Be sure to pick a time slot from 10 am-4 pm on Thursday, July 3rd.
4.) Show up at the appropriate time.
5.) Give blood. Eat a piece of the sammichometer (ask Michele.) Give thanks that you are healthy and can offer health to someone else who needs it.
6.) RE-TWEET IT AND POST PHOTOS!

Thanks, we’ll see you there!

~ @MikeChapman

Other Twitter names from this post: @ConnieReece, @MichelleGreer, @Daveiam, @omarg, @KimHaynes, @snax

Organizations involved: The Frozen Pea Fund, The 501 Tech Club of Austin, Whole Foods, Alamo Draft House and the Austin Social Media Club.

Thanks to David Neff, we have a “video of Sam’s presentation” on Viddler.com. If you have some time and want to hear and see Sam give his presentation tune in by clicking on “video of Sam’s presentation”.

Sitting next to Sam is the famous Giovanni Gallucci of Dallas. Local social media wizards John Erik Metcalf and Chris Bailey are sitting behind Gio.

Also, thanks to Byron Van Arsdale we were able to give away a copy of Groundswell by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff. If you haven’t read it yet, I highly recommend it.

Andy Meadows of Live Oak 360 is speaking at our next meeting on July 17th. Thanks to the generosity of Joshua Baer and Datran Media, we’ll again be meeting at their conference room. It’s a nice one. We’ll get invites out this week.

~ Mike

If you haven’t registered for the Austin Social Media Club meeting yet, please do so by going to our Eventbrite page. This will help our very gracious host, Josh Baer of Datran Media, to plan for us. This event is free for attendees, and includes pizza, so please let us know you’re coming and be sure to say thanks to Josh when you get a chance.

In addition to the scheduled presentation, SMC co-founder Chris Leonard has asked to share some ideas he and staff for Texas Governor Rick Perry are studying that will use social media tools in efforts to restore the Governor’s Mansion. Chris is an expert on the intersection of social media, politics and governing and is hoping to collaborate with other SMC club members on this project.

What else is happening this week?

On Friday, don’t forget the workshop “Learn Five Web 2.0 Tools in One Day” being conducted by Connie Reece and Sheila Scarbrough which has previously been written about on this website.

On Thursday, before the SMC meeting, Interactive Austin 2008 will be held at the J.J. “Jake” Pickle campus. This event is targeted to the C-suite and many members of Austin SMC will be speaking and on panels throughout the day.

If you, or anyone else from your organization, are interested in attending, you can do so at a discounted rate if you register before the event at www.InteractiveAustin2009.com and enter the code: BD7632

Social Media Brown Bag - Also on Thursday there will be a Social Media Brown Bag Lunch at the Round Rock Higher Education Center. This one is free and the details provided by the good people at Texas State University are as follows:

Topic: Interacting with Social Media to Strengthen Communication Strategies - A PRWeek/Visible Technologies webcast

Hosted by the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, Texas State University – Round Rock Higher Education Center (RRHEC)

Bring your lunch and join us for a free live webcast, with discussion after.

Thursday, June 19, 12:00-1:15 p.m.

Texas State University – RRHEC, 1555 University Blvd., Room 256, Round Rock, TX 78665-8017

Please email Dara Quackenbush, dq10@txstate.edu, to RSVP for the event.

For directions or questions about the RRHEC, please email Judy Oskam at oskam@txstate.edu or call 512.716.4554.

Event description:Aberdeen Group research firm is one of the premier analyst firms covering the social media landscape, and Dell is highly regarded as a world-class leader in social media strategy. Don’t miss this rare opportunity to hear from both organizations in a live PRWeek/Visible Technologies webcast Interacting with Social Media to Strengthen Communication Strategies, featuring Jeff Zabin, Aberdeen Group research analyst and an industry case study from Bob Pearson, VP of communities and conversations, Dell.

During this presentation you will learn:

• The latest industry and vertical trends in brand monitoring and social media participation
• How to use social media to bolster marketing and communication strategies
• What communications benefits can be gained from engaging with online communities and customers directly
• How you can achieve ROI from social media participation
• How Dell is driving results by monitoring, tracking, and engaging in social media

There’s a little something for everyone this week. Future meetings of the Austin Social Media Club are already coming together and we’ll do everything we can to get notice to you early enough so you plan around your summer vacations.

We have a Facebook group. Come join us.

We’ll also be doing a few 5 minute lightning pitches where you will get a chance to pitch your social media product or service and then get feedback from the group. If you’re interested in pitching, please email socialmediaclub@joshuabaer.com

The meeting, which is being held this Thursday, June 19th, is being hosted at Datran Media, which is on the 8th floor of the business tower of the Omni Hotel downtown at 7th and Brazos. You should try to find free parking on the street or otherwise you will need to pay to park in a garage. Pizza and soft drinks served at 6:00 p.m. Program begins at 6:30.

Click here to register.

Special thanks to Josh Baer and Datran Media for sponsoring this month’s meeting.

If, however, there is someone in your network who would find a basic, entry-level course helpful, or if you would like a refresher, then the workshop below might be perfect.

(The Early Bird rate ends day after tomorrow — Friday, June 13th.)

Bring your WiFi-enabled laptop, and be ready for a hands-on, no fear, practical one-day workshop, in Austin on Friday June 20, 2008, 10 am to 3 pm, with Connie Reece and Sheila Scarborough.

We’ll teach you the basics of five Web 2.0/social media tools that can improve your personal and professional life:

1. How to participate in the blogosphere, and how to find the good blogs.
2. How to keep track of all that good information with RSS (Really Simple Syndication)
3. How to find all of those interesting people on Twitter
4. How to find the good job connections on LinkedIn
5. Number five will be picked by the class members: how to do something useful on YouTube (besides look for old Van Halen videos - not that Sheila does that much!) OR how to use Creative Commons Flickr photos OR how to upload audio to Utterz from your cell phone.

Use your major credit card to register online; the cost is a super-reasonable $149.00, but if you register by 13 June, we’re offering a $119.00 Early Bird price.

When you register, we will ask for your input on topic number five plus a few questions on your own Web 2.0 background, so that the workshop is focused at the right level. We are limiting class size to 25 people, for the most personalized interaction. Lunch is included.

To register and get more details, the workshop page on Eventbrite is here: http://www.eventbrite.com/event/118371051

Thanks!