Network Solutions – Small business conversations and working together for small business success

A Tale of Two Conferences

Over the past couple of months, I have been to several conferences, but never have I’ve been to two at the same time. But while you might think it would involve a bunch of running around and conflicting agendas, you might be surprised to know that these two conferences were very similar in nature and topics covered, but for a slightly different audience. Just what events am I talking about? This past week I attended the Society for New Communications Research (SNCR) New Communications Forum (NewComm) and also the Inbound Marketing Summit (IMS) in San Francisco. Both of these events were co-located to help make it easier for people to meet with each other and to take in the different agendas.

Why have two different conferences and what makes them so different? I liked how while the topics were similar, the entire agenda was focused on different audiences. SNCR’s NewComm Forum was geared more towards those in public relations and those in communications while the Inbound Marketing Summit seemed to be energized towards those in marketing. Of course each event had their own all-star cast, including Chris Brogan, Shel Israel, Charlene Li, Louis Gray, Loic Le Meur, Tim O’Reilly, Geoff Livingston, Charles Best, Brian Solis, and Network Solutions’ own Shashi Bellamkonda.

Another key difference that I’ve seen between the two conferences that interestingly enough seemed to be complimentary was that while attending the sessions at the NewComm Forum you were engaged to learn about topics and analyze its potential use in daily business life, but at IMS, you were thrusted into more case studies and discussions. From hearing about the effect of Twitter on daily life to how social media has played a crucial role in helping fund educational projects to understanding how we can bust through the noise and still be a player in the marketing game, both the NewComm & IMS have provided ample resources, tips, ideas and research on how to help evolve our strategies and tactics.

So what are the takeaways here? Let’s look at DonorsChoose.org for a second. Created by Charles Best, this initially started out as a website where teachers could put up their project needs and donors could submit their donations, but has since evolved to multiple schools and is basically an “online charity that connecting you to classrooms in need“. The fundamental platform that houses DonorsChoose.org is a great one but Best has indicated that it is scalable to handle other types of charity causes. The success of this program has also been tied to incredible partnerships by other organizations and looks to be growing.

Other presentations that stood out from these two conferences include hearing about Tim Street of Ape Digital who helped show us how online videos can become viral and what are some key elements needed to help make them a success (e.g. Star Wars kid, Susan Boyle, “Leave Britney Alone“, etc.). Louis Gray’s presentation on how to break through the noise gave an intellectual discussion on how companies can effectively monitor what’s being said about them online and how you can respond. But while you might think that these conferences only focus on the for-profit scene, think again because Raquel Krouse of IPG Emerging Labs spoke about how social media can be used for conventional cause marketing. And of course, we can’t forget about Shashi Bellamkonda’s presentation along with Geoff Livingston on how Network Solutions has evolved its online presence and the future of social media within the company and how it’s changed the customer service relationship.

For three days, these two conferences offered a slam-packed agenda that kept you on the edge of your seat and offered an enormous amount of information. Thanks to the organizers at the Inbound Marketing Summit and also at the Society of New Communications Research for a great event. Photos of both events have been posted to my Flickr page and hopefully the slides/presentations will be made available soon for sharing. Looking forward to the next time.

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