360DigitalInfluence

Tickets are now available for Mashable’s upcoming MashMeet DC Remix, to be held here at Ogilvy PR on March 5th from 7 – 10 pm. Those tickets are $20 each, but you can get in FREE if

• You’re one of the first 5 people to email me at qui [dot] diaz [at] ogilvypr.com

• You’re a blogger

Otherwise, you can still register here: http://mashmeetdcremix.eventbrite.com/.

Interested in sponsoring? Mashable has the details.

Special thanks to our client Virgin America for contributing two roundtrip flights that will be raffled off at the event. As Nick O’Neill puts it, “that gives you pretty good odds in a group of 170 people!”

Confession: I’m a quasi in-person networking fanatic. Due to endless hours spent online, the few face-to-face gatherings I can get to each month both thrill and delight me. One of the more pleasant encounters I’ve had of late was with Adam Hirsch, Mashable’s VP of Business Development (at last fall’s Mash Meet DC). These reasons, among others, are why I’m pumped that 360 ° Digital Influence is hosting next month’s MashMeet DC Remix.

Details:

• The event will be held on March 5th from 7 – 10 pm here at Ogilvy PR. It’s being held in partnership with The Social Times, too.

• 150+ people will be admitted; tickets will be available early next week for $20 each

• Mashable is still looking for two sponsors (presentations will be livestreamed during the event). If you’re interested, drop Adam an email.

Who will you meet this time? Countless cewebrities, that’s who. Most of these social media gurus and geeks are based in the DC area, which – compared to the vast Valley community – seems to be this very hip and underground group of people. . .Okay, maybe I’m biased. I’ll refrain from name dropping for now.

You’ll meet more freaks, more geeks, more beauties . . . and better size up friends, frolleagues, fakes and foes.

If you still need convincing, remember what Virginia says: “Offline connections make online activity stronger. There is something that is both magic and gasoline about meeting people that you know from online in the flesh.” And, as an aside, many of us at DI who knew the “Online Virginia” (before she joined us) are glad that she’s as magical as they come.

This big little video started to circulate on YouTube over the weekend, and has been viewed more than 23,000 times.

The point is that there are too many meaningless applications on Facebook.

The meaninglessness won’t go away anytime soon, although the guy behind the new “This has got to stop” group on Facebook (Evan Poteet, a highschooler in Indiana) hopes differently:

“I DON’T WANT TO BE A VAMPIRE
I DON’T WANT TO BE A PIRATE
LEAVE ME ALONE

POINTLESS FACEBOOK APPLICATIONS ARE RUINING FACEBOOK”

Evan’s ‘anti-dumb app’ group already has 400,000+ members.

Seems like an excellent opportunity for nonprofits/advocacy groups to step up their game and give people useful tools that can have an impact.

Can CSR initiatives do a better job of promoting social causes with a Facebook app? Most definitely.

I’d personally benefit from a Facebook app with the latest Microfinance news, the GlobalGiving index, or volunteer opportunities in my community. And you? What would you recommend to stop (or further) the protest?

Myth: Government is as 1.0 as the day is long.

Fact: A community of civil servants are putting the 2.0 in dotgov.

The dearth of social media engagement from our fine government body is noticeable, especially when held against some of the spectacular spectaculars in motion by the sector’s corporate brethren. However, I stand as a witness to the fact that dozens (hundreds?) of people are putting an end to this madness.

I spent a day at this week’s Social Media for Government conference here in D.C., hosted by the Advanced Learning Institute. I was there as a speaker - my presentation, given with Stephanie Marshall, Director of Pandemic Communications at the Department of Health and Human Services, was about the Pandemic Flu Leadership Blog on which our teams collaborated this past summer. I snobbishly thought that the few PR/ad agency folks at the event would be those that were “in the know,” while government agency reps would be “in the dark.” Mr. T pities fools like me.

About 120 people from most government sectors, and consulting firms, were in attendance. Most of them were more than familiar with social and digital media tools, tricks, and troubles, and were simply trying to break the mold and get their management team on board.

Pictured at left: Paul Vogelzang of Porter Novelli and the event’s chairperson stands with Lawrence Swiader, CIO of the Holocaust Museum.

 
 
 
State of the Government Blogosphere

• David Wyld “dropped some knowledge” from his recently released report “The blogging Revolution: Government in the Age of Web 2.0:”

1. 34 members of Congress are blogging (more from the House than the Senate)
2. Over 100 state legislators are blogging
3. There are 5 blogging Governors and Lieutenant Governors (all Democrats)
4. Mayors and other public officials are stepping up, too.

• A few groups are setting the bar high for government in the social media space

1. The Holocaust Museum’s Google Earth mashup transports people on a guided, vivid haunting tour of the Crisis in Darfur
2. The CIA’s Intellipedia connects the intelligence community in secure and smart ways. Sean Dennehy and Don Burke, the brains behind Intellipedia, are pictured to the right.
3. CDC, renowned for it’s foray into Second Life, also offers practical and interactive resources for engagement (e.g. a blog and online videos) through its E-Health Marketing initiative
   
   
4. HHS’ Pandemic Flu Leadership Blog is an example of a short-term blog created to address a singular issue. The blog ran for 5 weeks this summer and remains online as an archive of the conversation. Secretary business leaders, etc.).Michael Leavitt is now maintaining his own blog.
   Pictured at right: Michele France, NIH; Stephanie Marshall, Director of Pandemic Communications at HHS; me

• Rounding it out: A couple weeks ago I attended a presentation of the new study by National Journal’s Policy Council: “Washington in the Information Age.” The report looks looks at media consumption habits of politicos, and among other interesting findings, reveals that active blog readers include 53% of Capitol Hill Staffers, 20% of Federal Executives, and 30% of Private-Sector Insiders (consultants, lobbyists,

Call me an optimist. But you know, when Shel Israel (event keynote) pontificates on the difference between Web 1.0 (connecting computers with other computers) and Web 2.0 (connecting people with other people), I can’t help but expect that a government of by and for the people will be catching up. And not as slowly as you’d expect.

Perhaps they’re not resplendent in social media culture, but we do know that government leaders are, at least, online (e.g., 915,000 of Washingtonpost.com’s 8 million monthly readers are using .gov/.mil email addresses). Plus, the Social Media for Government event is now moving onto a wiki to continue the discussion, and anyone can connect to this mini-movement on Facebook. It’s just a matter of time until two-way dialog is ushered into day-to-day government communications.

UPDATE: Federal Times’ Tim Kauffman covered the event. The article gives a good overview of government-driven social networking efforts, specifically CDC’s Whyville community and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s partnership with Care2, a leading advocacy network. (Thanks to Care2’s Eric Rardin, who also spoke at the event, for the heads up.)

I hate squid. So Wednesday’s news of the 550lb “whopper” that washed up in Australia did not bring me much joy.

(This thing is the size of a school bus).

Nor does the thought of calamari, which most of my coworkers enjoy greatly. (Can we please order another appetizer?!)

Still, squid/octopi/jellyfish offer such terrific potential for allegory. Case in point, this quote by Dodie Smith:

“The family, that dear octopus from whose tentacles we never quite escape, nor in our innermost hearts never quite wish to.”

Read that quote again but substitute the word “family” with “social media” or “blogging,” and we’ve got ourselves an interesting metaphor.

Here goes.

Your relationship with social media was (or will be) a love/hate relationship from the beginning. Today, as I met many people who want to “get in the game,” my love for social media was reinvigorated . . .again.

It happened at Success in the City’s “New Media Nouveaux” event this morning. About 50 eager-to-embrace business leaders got together to learn about the importance of social media and how to do it. Sitting on a panel with Alice Marshall (Presto Vivace) and Jennifer Cortner (EFX Media) – two very smart minds – I reveled in the opportunity to share our enthusiasm for this crazy thing we do.

That is, help our respective clients navigate the waters of social media.

There are big squid and octopus-type creatures in the deep blue of Web 2.0. Sometimes it feels like you’re in the trenches, fighting off beasts, gasping for air.

Our moderator, Andrea Morris of Write Ideas Marketing, closed our panel with an important question about engaging in social media: “Once you get started, how do you prevent burn out?”

I had one minute to give my answer. I said: “Find the joy.”

I explained that we (panelists) weren’t up there because it was our day job. We were there because we love social media. And, because most of the leaders in the room have hopefully decided to purse careers at companies they respect (or better yet, like), engaging in social media is a great excuse to geek out with people who they have a lot in common with. At the very least, they’ll get tangled up with people who have similar goals or concerns. That can’t be bad, in the end.

The point: keep the pleasurable aspects of your online engagement top of mind, and you’ll make it.

So, that’s an insider look at where I am (at present) with my social media love affair. And if you’re reading this and still struggling with the idea of tentacles as appealing, a better image might be from the LOST episode when Jack and Kate got stuck together in the net.

you + social media = passionate entanglement. Rowr!

Update: Geoff Livingston, Ken Yarmosh and Andrea Morris blogged great follow ups   on the event.

This morning a few of us from the DC-area digital media army marched out to the Nature Conservancy in Arlington to attend this month’s Web Manager’s Roundtable. That little army, by the by, includes about 100 of DC’s most prominent social media purveyors from groups such as the Holocaust Museum, Fannie May Foundation, Marriott and the Department of Homeland Security. We’re gathered here today to discuss the topic: “How do you measure the success of social media?”

Our fearless leader, John Bell, who is co-moderating today, has been preaching loudly about the need for legit metrics for the work that all of us in the social media sphere have our hands in. A few of his recent thoughtful and warranted diatribes can be read here, here and here.

I knew John was serious about measurement when he had us create a tool to help others measure their Social Media Score for free. (Attendees at today’s session were asked to take the quiz prior to arriving, and of the 176 respondents, about 36 percent are “excited to engage,” as in “been there, bought the poster, ready for the next smart thing.” Encouraging!)

Today’s presentation is intended to provide practical ideas for benchmarking, monitoring and reporting the performance of Web 2.0 applications, including word of mouth.

The bag of well known tricks for attaining traditional performance metrics (KPIs, site traffic, impressions, and so forth) is a nice start. But it’s the measurement of WOM that, in addition to those traditional metrics and ad equivalencies, contributes to a world seemingly “built on sand.”

Add to the mix the two WOM metrics most commonly used: the Net Promoter Score (percent of promoters minus percent of detractors) and engagement (or “the measurement of consumer interaction with a brand, issue or organization”).

Ten minutes into the presentation, John has already reminded us that word of mouth is, indeed, tricky. But that said, there are some standards that can aid with a fiscal argument and help demonstrate solid ROI. Some of these “measurement ingredients” are laid out here. Ogilvy will be launching a new client site next week which manifests this recipe in its entirety, so stay tuned.

Co-moderator Pierre Wielezynski at the World Bank Group has also just announced today’s launch of their brand-spankin’ new, custom and comprehensive aggregator – BuzzMonitor – a tool that anyone can add to their site. I look forward to a future update on the metrics garnered from this shiny platform.

Another idea you can easily lift, and my favorite idea so far from today’s panelists, is shared by Carie Lewis, interactive marketing manager for the Humane Society of the United States. HSUS has found a few innovative ways measure their triumphant exposure on MySpace, and it stems well beyond their number of friends. As Carrie stated, the number of friends only indicates how viral your profile has gone in a certain period of time. HSUS has 21,000 friends (including yours truly), but they measure success by looking at source codes in their CMS platform, referring web site stats, the overall trend of friend requests per day, and they also track RSS feeds to measure buzz.

We’ll be discussing social networks later tonight at this month’s Social Media Club, and HSUS is setting the bar in many ways for this upcoming discussion. Do please check out their MySpace profile(s).

Kristin Foster will be posting later about some of the tools that today’s panelists are discussing, such as MediaWiki and Digg, and how you can cull quantitative and qualitative metrics from them.

My take: it’s really about finding the right mix of measurables for you and yours. Strive to be thorough and find interesting connections in all those numbers - it’s gotta mean something.

Katie Delahaye Paine (not here today, but I admire her work) has a DIY Dashboard which should help you select and compile metrics which resonate and reveal.

And hopefully it goes without saying that the 360 Digital Influence team is on the case to lay down a foundation of solid rock, not sand, to uphold your measurement efforts.