This September we are cancelling our normal second Thursday of the month meeting and hoping you will join the Social Media Club Phoenix at the Social Media AZ conference in Tempe that same day.

The event, codenamed SMAZ, brings together communication professionals from around the Valley for a full day of social media presentations, panels and networking. It’s a great opportunity for if you are just starting to learn how to integrate social media into your organization or been using it for several years.

There will also be the first annual Social Media AZ awards (SMAZZIES), recognizing some great local work in social media.

If you would like to attend, just visit the SMAZ Eventbrite page and use the code “SMC” to get a discount on your ticket.

We’ll have an announcement soon about a great event we’re doing with the national Social Media Club here in Arizona, and we’ll be back to our normal panel in October.

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Every year Arizona represents strongly at South By Southwest Interactive (SXSWi), and usually several of us have panels or core conversations going on as part of the event.  SXSW factors in user votes to determine which ideas make it into the final schedule, so we wanted to share some of the great local ideas currently in the Panelpicker just waiting for some love.

If any of these look interesting to you, log in and show your fellow Arizonans some support!

• Frosting the Law: Building a Safe Prank Group – Jeff Moriarty, Improv Media
• Clean Up The Splatter: Social Content Management – Katie Van Domelen, Off Madison Ave
• 500 Million Reasons to Launch a Facebook App – Jay Feitlinger, ShopTab
• Communicating with Everyone: Improving Accessibility of Information Products – Brenda Huettner, P-N Designs, Inc.
• Beyond MySpace: Building Buzz Across Multiple Social Media – Brenda Huettner, P-N Designs, Inc.
• Viva the Amateur Virtual Band! – Lee-Sean Huang, Hepnova
• Using Social Media to Control Health Care Costs – Francine Hardaway, Stealthmode Partners
• Collaboration: How We Will Work in the Future – Derek Neighbors, Gangplank
• 5 Steps to Bulletproof UX Strategy – Robert Hoekman, Jr, Miskeeto, LLC
• Collaboration Over Competition: Competitors as Business – Sally Strebel, Page.ly
• Data Visualization: Sci-Fi Interfaces in the Real World – Brian Shaler, datarealization

Please share and post this list with others locally.  If you know any local panels we missed, leave a comment and we’ll get it added in.

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The August 12th topic for Social Media Club Phoenix will be a break from our topic focused sessions from our Uservoice forum and explore some of the tools and trends that SM professionals around Phoenix are looking into.

SAFE & SECURE: Balancing an online presence with privacy and security

Hundreds of millions of people around the world rush to online services and give little thought to the privacy and security implications of their actions. On the personal level, it is increasingly difficult to participate online without sharing personal information that could impact your life or job. On a business level, topics range from securing your commerce and customer data, to protecting your intellectual property from casual theft and reuse.  Even your location can be available through services like FourSquare, Twitter, and Facebook.

This is an incredibly important but very under-discussed topic in the social media space, but if you want to live or work online, it is something you have to consider. We will explore many aspects of privacy, security, rights, and expectations in what is sure to be a very intense and informative panel.

Moderator:

Panelists:

• Ruth Carter, Law Student – ASU, @rbcarter
• Dan Oseran, Technical Compliance – Paypal
• Laura Rogal, Attorney, Jaburg & Wilk, PC, @lawyer_girl
• Josh Woodward, Partner – Snell & Wilmer L.L.P.

The panel starts at 6:30pm.  Please help spread the word, and if you have specific questions you would like us to cover, leave a comment here.

Social Media 101

Prior to the panel, Evo Terra will be hosting Social Media 101 at 5:30 — sharp! This month Evo will talk about Separating your Personal and Private Identities. You’re online, but do you want your employers to see the same things about you as your friends?  What decisions should you make, and what do you give up, if you’re active in Social Media?

Because he only has about 45 minutes for the class plus a Q & A session, please be on time. The class will end at 6:15, giving everyone plenty of time to set up for the main SMCPHX meeting that starts promptly at 6:30.

Feel free to come to either or both talks, at the Jobing.com offices!

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We have quite a few topics to kick of this steamy July in Phoenix, including our topic of Monitoring, Social Media AZ Conference, and the recent Social Media Day!

Social Media Monitoring: If you’re not listening, how can you talk?

The topic for our July 8th Social Media Club Phoenix is a look at Social Media Monitoring, taken from our Uservoice forum.  If you really want to be part of the conversation about your company or brand, you need to listen to what others are saying about you. Different tools can help with either casual or serious monitoring, allowing even small businesses without a dedicated social media group to participate. It may take time to learn to filter out the noise from the information, but once it is done monitoring is a critical piece of any social media implementation..

Moderator:

• Michael Barber, Director of Emerging Media – Lucid Agency – @michaeljbarber

Panelists:

• Katie Van Domelen, Social Media Manager – Off Madison Ave, @ktvan
• Kathy Jacobs – Jacobs Training and Consulting, kathy@vitaminch.com, @callkathy
• Joseph Manna, Community Manager – Infusionsoft, @joemanna
• Brian Clemens – Cartel Coffee Lab, @cartelcoffeelab

Social Media 101 (ad hoc)

Our usual Social Media 101 instructor is off on a vacation this week, so we will be having the SM 101, just not an agenda.  Jeff Moriarty will be covering the session, and taking any questions and topics for consideration. The sessions are always engaging and enjoyable, so stop on by.

SM101 starts at 5:30pm. Because we only have about 45 minutes for the class plus a Q & A session, please be on time. The class will end at 6:15, giving everyone plenty of time to make it to the main SMCPHX meeting that starts promptly at 6:30.

Feel free to come to either or both talks, at the Jobing.com offices!

Social Media AZ Speakers & Tickets

The Social Media AZ (SMAZ) conference is coming September 9th in Tempe, and is now taking submissions for talks on Facebook.  Submit your Social Media AZ talk and share your ideas!

As a sponsor of Social Media AZ we have a discount code to allow SMC Phoenix members to save 20% off the ticket price. If you’re looking to attend, just enter the code “SMC” when you get your tickets.

We will also be giving away some sponsor tickets at the July and August SMC Phoenix meetups.

Tell the SMAZZIES what’s hot in AZ social media

The AZ Social Media Awards (SMAZZIES) are still accepting nominations in seven categories, hoping to help highlight some of the great efforts going on in social media across the state.  Nominate anyone you think is deserving, especially if they are doing great work and haven’t quite hit the spotlight yet!

• Must Follow – The blog, twitter, or online presence you can’t get enough of
• Business That Gets It – Non-industry company (not a social media/marketing entity) who demonstrates creative and proficient use of social media
• Most Social Use Of Social Media – Best/most innovative use of technology to connect to people in person
• Trailblazer – Out there doing cutting edge things, changing the way people work or think in the social media space
• Up and Coming – Most notable freelance individual or agency that is notably improving its offering
• Most Entertaining – Most all around amusing, insightful, or crazy
• Homegrown Can Of Awesome – Most interesting / promising start up business, technology or tool from right here in AZ

Submissions are open until July 18th, so get your nominations in today!

Mashable’s Social Media Day recap

Last month Mashable declared June 30th to be Social Media Day, encouraging people around the world to meet and connect around social media. While there are already a lot of great social media related events in Phoenix, an enterprising group of people and sponsors came together at the MADCAP theaters in Tempe.

We had over 100 people show up, and shared swapped ideas with the Tucson meetup via Skype.  We gave away some prizes donated by local businesses, shared some of the best local social happenings in Phoenix, and networked to some local music for several hours. For coming together on just a few days notice, it was a lot of fun! We are looking at doing these more network-oriented “Social Media Days” in the future, incorporating a lot of feedback and really making it a fun venue to connect with other SM practitioners across the Valley.

That’s it?

At the moment, anyway!  Lot’s of great stuff going on over the summer, so

If you have specific topics you would like to cover, you can leave a comment here or head over to our UserVoice forum.

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 Our June meeting covered a requested topic from our Uservoice forum: Comparative SM Models. We were asked to take different types of companies and delve a little deeper into how social media could be used to address their specific needs and challenges. To that end, we created four very different business profiles, which you can review here, defined their goals and explained their challenges for our panelists.

Our first business was a start up looking to not only expand their business but also expand their customer base into a different demographic. Pat Harter gave us some tips and tricks to get a fledgling business off in the right direction; how to manage your web presence and maintain your identity and how you could use YouTube and internet based radio program to implement a focused communication campaign.

Next up Heather Herr took us through how you’d approach a new brand being test marketed locally. Heather’s solutions focused on not only building brand awareness and achieving the test marketing goals but also positioning the brand for its next stages of release; how to use Facebook as a primary portal, creating outreach programs to build brand ambassadors and how a video platform such as 12seconds could be used to capture consumer thoughts, opinions and testimonials.

Our third business on the agenda had a different problem – how do you use Social Media to create a community based program for a larger corporation to effectively change public opinion. Jenn Maggiore discussed how best to tap into LinkedIn to build partnerships with local municipalities and how traditional public relations strategies can be combined with tools like Twitter and Facebook to reach your audience, assuage fears and educate the population about your business.

We closed out the evening with a non-profit organization looking to build awareness of services, increase their volunteer base and donations. Chad Swaney gave us some strategies to meet all the needs of this non-profit; using Facebook as a content tool to reach potential clients as well as volunteers, focusing your event based organizing around Twitter and build additional event buzz in the community by leveraging geolocation applications like Foursquare to generate interest through event check-in’s and badge rewards.

We covered a ton of ground on how to take your marketing strategies and apply them through the use of social media tools. While no single tool is the panacea for all businesses, matching the right tools with your goals will make all the difference on how successful your strategy is. Many thanks to our panelists for providing us with a wealth of ideas and taking the time to explain the thought process behind their solutions.

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Image by Mashable.com via Flickr

Mashable, the leading information outlet for social media, has declared June 30 to be Social Media Day. More than 525 places around the world are hosting events in honor of the decreed day.

Locally, Social Media Arizona (SMAZ) is hosting a Social Media Day party at MADCAP Theater in Tempe from 5-7 p.m.  SMAZ is inviting people to get on the MADCAP stage and give a verbal, in-person Tweet about why they love their favorite social media tool and talk about something great that happened because they used it. You can RSVP and check out the Meetup details here.

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The June 10th topic for Social Media Club Phoenix is a look at Comparative Social Media Models, another great idea from our Uservoice forum.

One Size Fits Nobody: Different approaches to Social Media

One of the common responses you hear to any proposed solution for a business treading into social media is “…but what if you’re working with a <insert any business category here>?”  Whether you’re talking about a large brand, a small business, a non-profit, or an individual, there are important differences in need, ability and resources. Those differences need to be carefully considered when drawing up any social media strategy if it is going to be effective.

To explore these differences we’re going to change things up a little. Instead of asking our panelist a series of questions, we’ve created four very different fictional businesses facing a challenge. Our panelists are going to discuss how they would solve that challenge and give you some insight on how and why they made their choices. You can read the fictional business info we’re using and help provide your own input.

So please join us for what promises to be a lively discussion and share your own ideas.

Moderator:

• Oden Hughes, Sr Manager, Analytical Development – The Arizona Republic/Wing-Chair – Social Media Club Phoenix, @coathalia

Panelists:

• Heather Lynne Herr, Social Media Strategist - Terralever, @MsHerr
• Pat Harter, Marketing and Operations Consultant – Provision Team Inc.,  @tryharter
• Chad Swaney, Instructional Designer - Leslie’s Swimming Pool Supplies, @chadarizona
• Jenn Maggiore, President & CEO, Maggiore Consulting and Marketing, @jenn_ex

Social Media 101

Evo Terra will be hosting Social Media 101 at 5:30 — sharp!  This month Evo will once again unravel the mysteries of social media for anyone just entering the field. The sessions are always engaging and enjoyable, so stop on by.

Because he only has about 45 minutes for the class plus a Q & A session, please be on time. The class will end at 6:15, giving everyone plenty of time to make it to the main SMCPHX meeting that starts promptly at 6:30.

Feel free to come to either or both talks, at the Jobing.com offices!

If you have specific topics you would like to cover, you can leave a comment here or head over to our UserVoice forum.

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Some people say that everything should evolve naturally, that whole ‘if it ain’t broke don’t fix it’ mentality. Those people wouldn’t be us. While we do base each monthly topic on suggestions from you via our Uservoice forum, giving us a level of confidence that the content is somewhat of value, we decided to test our perception and devote some time to collective rumination. To that end we decided to host an open house at SMC Phoenix in May to gather feedback, have an open discussion, and hopefully discover a few new ideas to improve the group even more.

Topic Panels

Pretty strongly everyone liked the panel format and wanted it to continue. We heard that the exchange of ideas hits just the right balance between panelists and audience alike sharing their experiences and knowledge and learning something new. Our less than formal format gives people the feeling that they can ask questions and not be embarrassed whether they are beginners or just not as skilled in a specific area. Creating an environment conducive to open discussion and collaboration is what we aim for and we’re happy to hear that we’re hitting that mark. We will be shifting the structure a bit to ensure we’re not limiting a great presenter by making him moderate, but other than that we won’t be changing much structurally.

We will be looking for attendees to be part of the panels, so will start announcing the upcoming panels at each event and ask for volunteers.  We’ll then talk with everyone after the event and put together a good, balanced panel. Not everyone can be on every panel, but we want to rotate as much as possible.  Here’s what’s upcoming:

• June Panel: Comparative Social Media Models – How does SM work differently for a non-profit, a business, a brand, etc.
• July Panel: Social Media Monitoring – How do you tell if your efforts are effective?
• August Panel: Security, Privacy, and Legal Issues – How to protect yourself and your business online.

Member Involvement

Our level of member involvement could use some adjustment. We can and should make things more interactive but the Google group just isn’t going to cut it. We’re going to start building out our site by using the blog more frequently, having guest bloggers talk about their experiences and up and coming tools and provide more content on what is going on locally. We’re also looking at creating an opt in member directory where people can go to find the resources they need.

Announcements, Events & Meetups

From here out, we are going to limit announcements to social media related events, like Social Media AZ conference, WordPress Camp AZ, etc.  If you have something you want to mention, let us know before each meeting.

The recent tweetups with Jason Falls and Jay Baer were a lot of fun, and we’ll try to either coordinate more or just pass on the word when one is going on locally. People indicated they would like to connect more than just at the regular meetings.

Guest Blogging

We’d like to start having local social media people write about relevant topics on our blog. These don’t have to be massive, weighty topics, and we would love for them to have a local tie in some fashion.  If you’re interested in participating, let us know.

Odds & Ends

We had a lot of good ideas come up throughout the night. Mentoring pairing was suggested, as was trying a debate format some nights. Having a annual or bi-annual “Social Media Bootcamp” came up as a way to cover a lot of introductory topics for new people at regular intervals. Teachers for the Bootcamp could come from the group.  We also had a request for a “This Month in Social Media” recap at the start of the sessions. We’ll be giving some of these a try as we work out the kinks.

Thank you!

A big thanks to all that attended and provided their valuable opinions and ideas. Growth can’t sustain in a vacuum and any club is only as great as its members. If you’d like to watch the entire session online, Stephen Murphey has posted the video it in its entirety.

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Image by National Library NZ on The Commons via Flickr

We’re going to do something a bit different at the May 13th Social Media Club Phoenix, and have a bit of an Open House.  I get a lot of questions offline about the intent behind the group, where it is going, how people can get involved, etc., and it’s just not practical to cover them all individually.  Plus, then I don’t get the benefit of discussion between different members of the group. and their perspectives.  So it seemed like a good time to have a chat.

Open House: SMC Phoenix for the next year

I am really looking for this to be an open discussion with people who attend either frequently or even just once before. What will make SMC Phoenix more valuable to you over the next year?  Below is my rough agenda, but I’d love to hear feedback on other topics you would like to discuss:

• Social Media Club Phoenix – What are the club’s objectives?
• Topic Panels – We’ve been pondering some small changes to the format – how can we make them more valuable?
• Member Involvement & Sharing – How do we get more people participating and sharing in the club? What should the expectation be?
• Member Resources - The Google Group isn’t used much, but the Uservoice forum has worked well. We’re also looking at a member directory. What else should we explore, add, or change?
• Events & Meetups – Is there interest in more?  On what topics?
• SM101 & Classes – We have a lot of demand for offering training material, but many people want it for free. What can we reasonably offer?  Should we be looking at this at all?
• Guest Blogs – Is there interest in blogging on the SMC Phoenix blog to make it more valuable for content in its own right?
• What else…? – What else would you like to see from SMC Phoenix?
• Q & A – If we have time, we’ll have an open Q&A on social media topics.  Anything goes. Though we have a lot to cover so I wouldn’t bank on this too heavily.

I’d appreciate help in spreading the word to get people to come down and get involved in the discussion.  This will help shape the club for the next year, and your input is very much appreciated!

Social Media 101

Evo Terra will be hosting Social Media 101 at 5:30 — sharp! This month Evo will also do some open Social Media Q&A to fit in with our Open House theme, but reserves the right to narrow it down a bit depending on who shows up.

Because he only has about 45 minutes for the class plus a Q & A session, please be on time. The class will end at 6:15, giving everyone plenty of time to make it to the main SMCPHX meeting that starts promptly at 6:30.

Feel free to come to either or both talks, at the Jobing.com offices!

~ Jeff Moriarty & Oden Hughes

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As promised, here is the second part of our Tools and Trends Meeting Wrap Up

Blogging

WordPress 3 is out in beta now. The release date is scheduled for May 2010 but you can find plenty of feature overviews on the new features. WP Beginner

Posterous: Is an incredibly simple and flexible blogging platform. Post can made via email, mobile devices and through integration with a few dozen other tools.

Tumblr: Very easy way to blog, especially for audio, videos, or photo, just about anything from just about anywhere.  It does not rank, though.

TweetMeme: Very simple add on to any of the popular blogging platforms, making every blog post you create sharable. Must-have! 

Content

Formspring: Open yourself up to questions from the masses, literally – once you have an account people can ask you questions anonymously. You can choose which to answer, of course and which applications it integrates with.

BizGreet: A platform for hosting personalized web video that is customizable to the person viewing it based upon their browser, hosting environment or customer data.  

Twitter

Interfaces:

Tweetdeck Seesmic Tweetie2 (iPhone) Tweetie

Management:

 Hootsuite Cotweet: Multiple users can manage accounts, schedule updates run RSS feeds automatically through it and you can “assign” tasks and mentions to other people.

 SocialOomph: Very powerful tool for managing multiple accounts across multiple platforms.

 Friend or Follow: Manage your followers, and the people who aren’t following you back. Good optimization tool for your social graph. 

 ManageTwitter Easy way to manage your followers and those you follow with great statistics on their usage. Also has a great unfollow tool that is in danger of being shut down.

Measurement

Twitter

Statistics on users

Twitalyzer Klout Twitter Grader Twittercounter: Good for competitive research or finding “influencers.” Twitalyzer can also be integrated with google analytics for reporting purposes.

Statistics on Tweets

Tweetreach: How far a particular tweet “reached” via retweet and the subsequent networks. Good for measuring results.

General

Sysomos MutualMind Ubervu: Excellent suites of business intelligence tools for measuring effectiveness across multiple platforms. Ubervu also includes sentiment rankings.

 Research and Monitoring

Knowem Howsociable: Figure out where your business or competitors already have social profiles at a glance. Howsociable will try to “score” that presence while Knowem just lets you know if the username is available.

Radian6:  An enterprise level tool that you can use to collaborate with team members and collectively monitor for mentions of your brand to respond to.

Meltwater: A cheaper version of R6 that can be good for reporting but not as robust for real-time response.

Socialmention: A search engine where you can get quick stats on a brand name. You can also use RSS feeds from Twitter search, google search, blog search, Yelp review page, etc and route them through Yahoo! Pipes to watch that way, for free.

Did I miss something? If you have another tool, site or category that you’d like to add to this list, simply put them in the comments section below.

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