Digital Mindshare = Friendformation

Idea Girl Media is always looking for the freshest in social media news, enthusiastic collaborators, and intelligent perspective. So it was great to spend some time with New Media Dayton yesterday for their Surging Ahead in 2011 – Digital Mindshare! When I first heard of the event, I was excited about seeing some new friends again and learning more about this nifty group. But I walked away with more than that… According to Chris Celek of Celek Media Consulting, “With 65 attendees, New Media Dayton’s first event of 2011 was smash hit with panelists Erin Fagan of Teradata, Bill McDougall of McDougall Marketing Communications, April Mescher of ZipSetGo.com, Davide Bowman of Penny Ohlmann Neiman, Tina Marker of Woodward Design Group and Jeff Long of Exit Row Productions.” It was exciting for me to finally meet, face-to-face, fellow Social Media Success Summit 2010 alum, Michelle Beckham-Corbin of Creating Connections Consulting! An active participant with New Media Cincinnati, she was up to moderate the panel discussion. What did we learn? Key Value Points:

Business owners need to be considering how social media fits into their overall business plan. We can’t just fill out some social network profiles and expect folks will flock. Ya gotta work it, baby!
A question every organizational leader should consider, “Who is passionate about your brand?” And then, how can you get them talking about you?
We can’t forget about social media metrics – Do you know about imprints and unique impressions?
Location-based services and geotagging will become more a part of marketing efforts. Which led to…
“FRIENDFORMATION” – There is value in creating trust through engagement and listening.

Bonuses:

Teradata shared their 2011 Social Media Guidebook.
Panelists shared their monitoring tool preferences.
April Mescher of ZipSetGo.com shared the success of her “Traveler’s Night In” weekly tweet-up (#TNI). (Gave me a few groovy ideas)!

Over all, a wonderful group of people and some terrific information to take Southwestern Ohio’s social media minds into 2011. And a reminder that as much as social media is online…it’s very important to make the real, human connection!! So, I’m curious… What social media groups do you frequent? Where do you find your best networking opportunities? How will you be keeping up with social media trends in 2011?