A few takeaways from my 2013 Social Media Camp experience

Last week I spent a couple of days at the 4th annual (Victoria) Social Media Camp, “the largest event of its’ kind in Canada”.  It was my second time attending this event.   The focus of the event was social media, obviously.  Yet, attendees, speakers, topics… were diverse.

graphic journalist Deborah LeFrank at work at Social Media Camp

Here’s a baker’s dozen of insights, from some of the sessions that I attended.   (The speaker for the relevant session in which the content was presented is bracketed).  This stuff got my attention, for various reasons…

1. 90% of data in the world today has been created in the last two years (Mari Smith @marismith)
2. The ROI of social business is that your business exists in 5 years  (Mari Smith)
3. LinkedIn is especially effective for b2b marketing… Less so for b2c marketing, where one needs to be more creative  (Melanie Dodaro @meloniedodaro)
4. Bullying is with kids.  In the workplace, there is harassment.  There is a law against harassment.  There isn’t a law against bullying. (Sean Smith @rantingincr)
5. Do you know where your children are?  Maybe on Omegie.com, Ask.fm, Snapchat.com … (Sean Smith)
6. 54+ age group is fastest growing group adopting social media… So in 4 or 5 years, social media marketing to seniors is not a problem (Sam Fiorella @samfiorella)
7. If cant get infographic on one 8 x 11 page, then too much info. (Mark Smiciklas @intersection1)
8. What is confusing your customer about your business = opportunity for infographics (Mark Smiciklas)
9. Just press “record”…  just as 45 conversations‘ (Jane Boyd @boydjane) so exemplifies social learning
10. The word “crisis” in china means danger + opportunity (Denise Lloyd @engagedHR, Christine Mcleod @impactresults) … Yin yang
11. It’s nice to have a graphic journalist in the house (Deborah LeFrank @deborahlefrank)
12. Get out of the house.  (CC Chapman @cc_chapman)

Social media camp is a well organized event.  There is a strong focus on participant experience.   It is the full package.   Kudos to the organizers and volunteers.

Half (or more?) of the attendees were first timers at the Camp.   To me, that highlights that most people have yet to really get into and/or accept social media, at least as something that matters in their work.  Does that resonate with your experience, too?