Social media gets sociable in Auckland
A collection of Kiwi “social media practitioners” has banded together to kick off the New Zealand chapter of the Social Media Club, an organisation that started in 2006 in San Francisco and is active around the world.
Australia already has five chapters, with Sydney the world’s most popular, so, the founding committee, which is made up of Bullet PR’s managing director Nicholas O’Flaherty and senior PR consultants Paul Matthews and Alex Erasmus, Duncan Blair, brand manager for Orcon, Tom Bates, social media marketing specialist for Air New Zealand, Jacob Pearson, digital guy from 42Below, Nigel Hammersley, head of digital for ad agency Sugar, and Simon Young, director at social media consultancy #sy, had a few beers and decided the time was right to form the Auckland group.
Bullet PR’s O’Flaherty says social media is “all about getting as many people as possible to join the conversation”, so a Facebook page, a wiki page and a posterous page (“an ongoing educational resource”) have been created to ensure that happens.
“Social media is undoubtedly one of the hottest topics in the New Zealand business world right now, but there is very little in terms of education,” O’Flaherty says. “So, Social Media Club will be holding monthly speaking events based around a particular social media topic. The speaker will educate the audience about their own social media story, typically case study driven, in order to stimulate informal networking and discussion.”
Erasmus says each chapter does things slightly differently and, while the Auckland group’s approach will stick to the international guidelines of improving media literacy, sharing lessons learned, encouraging adoption of industry standards and promoting ethical behaviour (and, at the same time “ensuring the world of social media does not become an echo chamber of self-reinforcing thoughts and is instead fuelled by diversity of opinion and perspective”), it will have “a Kiwi bent to it”.
“There are a lot of question marks about how to make the intangible tangible, so people might want to come check it out,” he says.
The first knees up will be at 6pm on 9 February, with a free, first-come, first-served event for around 100 people (Erasmus says there is likely to be a registration process for future events) at the 42 Below bar on Commerce St which will feature a 15-20 minute speech about video blogging by Jayson Bryant of the Wine Vault.
Suzi
January 13, 2010
A great initiative – look forward to coming along and getting some great insights.
Jonathan Dodd
January 13, 2010
A good initiative – but wow, deja vu! We've seen all this before haven't we? Remember the awesome grok parties at the Civic around 1999-2000? Hang on then – shouldn't these social media discussions be run by the e-Marketing Network set up around then and now part of the Marketing Association?
Samantha D
January 13, 2010
Jonathan, if you think SM is wholly marketing, then you're in trouble. It's new media first. PR second.
Jonathan Dodd
January 13, 2010
Of course it's not wholly marketing – but when you see whose involved with the Social Media Group, and it's promotion within Stop Press, I think it's safe to say that the primary focus of the group is the role of social media within the broader realm of marketing activity (which includes all the other aspects such as PR, DM etc etc).
David MacGregor
January 15, 2010
Arguing about which silo gets to be in charge of social media is just daft.
It's about connecting with people – in business there is a tendency to consider people as customers (wallets).
In the social realm they are contributors and collaborators as much as they/we are consumers.
For those of us in marketing and marcoms it will require a significant change in thinking and practice – especially about notions of who's in 'control'.
Jonathan Dodd
January 15, 2010
I agree – check out
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10619399
Duncan Stuart
January 15, 2010
I'm with Jonathan on this one. This all sounds very three years ago. Still: a good venue.
Duncan Stuart
January 15, 2010
By the way – don't confuse this with the S&M party being held the following evening.
Jenny Wilmshurst
January 19, 2010
Bingo! I was thinking about these very things! I really like the idea of sharing case studies to build industry calibre.
There are more stories out there than the ones the MA NZ, PR & ad agencies have promoted together.
We have our own stories of Social Media & lead generation, conversation with authority organisations globally; hints of augmented reality, and innovative hardware and software. Plus some unique uses too.
Samantha, imagine beyond new media, tools, and marketing. The implications of Social Media for organsations go far beyond these into realms of change management.
Kerry Martin
January 21, 2010
ha! The grok parties! Jonathon, I was the one that started those parties when I worked for IDG… those were the days… social media has come a long way since then. Long may it continue!
Amar Trivedi
October 21, 2011
For a rundown on what Social Media Club Auckland has been upto since inception, have a squizz at http://www.MrSocial1.blogspot.com For sure, it's been a fun ride!
Jo
November 23, 2011
Hi Im in tauranga, just wondering if there is anyway to connect either with you or a BOP group, or if you could recommend anything online or in BOP area?
You can find my fbook personal profile http://www.fb/joanne2307 or my fan page http://www.fb/socialmediawithjo
Thanks Jo Martin