Social Media Week – it was a whirlwind.
Aside from the fact that I was closely following the Egypt situation that week, in nine cities spanning the globe, social media hobbyist, enthusiasts, professionals, wanna-bes, tyros, ninjas and the like (no ‘gurus’ allowed) gathered to discuss trending topics (haha) IRL, instead of just online. It was a place that I could tell people that I’m using QR codes for my wedding, and the women there thought it was cool.
Some events were hits, some were misses, but most provided the audience with some level of valuable insights into current industry directions. There were six hundred events, both scholarly and cocktail-lubricated, and most were livestreamed. That increased the attendance from 30K+ IRL to around 180K(!). I hope to recap some of the things I learned/experienced…. Soonish.
Since I need to update my food blog too, I’m going to try to crush two pigs with one angry bird and cross-post this. The final (and most fresh in my mind) session I attended was a discussion about how al the digital tools that I love to play and work with enable marketers to build communities around what appears to be America’s Favorite (real) Pastime: Eating. It’s certainly in
New York City, and it certainly is mine (hence the sister blog). More than ever, social media has allowed us to see, discuss, make and share some of our favorite foods. This meeting was entitled, “Almost Good Enough to Eat: Food Communities and Social Media”, and the (great) panel was made up of:
- · Moderator: Sarah De Heer, Community Manager, AOL's KitchenDaily and Slashfood
- · Rebecca P. Bauer, Executive Digital Editor, Food & Wine Magazine
- · Colin Sterling, HuffingtonPost Food
- · Hillary Mickell, CMO/ Co-Founder, Foodily
- · Sarah Simmons, In-House Chef, Foursquare
This panel discussion was supposed to explore the social nature of food and how food communities online grow and prosper. Didn’t quite work out that way, but valuable and enjoyable nonetheless. Considering that it was Friday morning at 9a, the event was packed with food and social media geeks – my kind of people. The sunny penthouse of the Hearst Tower played host, and the discussion ranged from how to integrate social networking technology (sites, apps, GPS, imagery, blogging), tools and techniques to check out for personal enjoyment. There appeared to be quite a few amateur foodies (no disrespect) with visions of Food Network stardom dancing in their heads (or at least easy sponsorship) eagerly looking for information how to connect with the pros. It happens.
As a foodie and wanna-be chef myself, I was raised to believe that food is brings people together and is the center of family and friends. I’ve always said that I’d like to live on a cooking show set; a big kitchen, places for people to sit. That’s it – I can sleep in a loft.
Some negative Nancies say that social media isn’t a great fit for food, as it de-personalizes the experience. To a certain extent, I agree. However, I believe it enhances the long-tail connections and experiences amongst a network; social media enables people to share in that when they can’t be together IRL, with the hopes that it will spur and IRL meeting, or at least an exchange of ideas. Much like Facebook, it’s a way to keep up with all of your friends and contacts to the extent that you want to, and perhaps find some more commonalities along the way. It’s also a way of sharing opinions and advice, on places to eat, items to look for,
or recipes to cook. And isn’t that what Social Media is all about?
Also, I met a fellow food-geek/flack there, who tipped me off to a pop-up store that Dorie Greenspan (@doriegreenspan) was selling her hand-made cookies at, which we braved the bitter February winds to check out. Cool!
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