Buzz2009 Social Media For Associations--Why I Wish I Was Going

Right now I should be battling traffic on my way to BlogPotomac but, because I don't want to go down in the bad mom hall of fame as being the mom who chose a blogger conference over her son's grade-school graduation, I'm not going. I did slog through traffic hell to go to the happy hour last night, but since I didn't know anyone there, I totally forgot the names and faces of the people I'd vowed to go say hi to and beat a pretty hasty retreat. Such is life. I did meet a few nice people, though, so all wasn't lost.

The heartbreak of my summer, though, will be if I don't get to attend Buzz2009 Social Media for Associations. I've already blogged about the reasons I'm so obsessed with going: a) it's being put on, in part, by my friends Maddie Grant and Lindy Dreyer and b) Guy Kawasaki--who recently shared a Navy ship with my ultimate blog crush The Bloggess--will be there. Unfortunately, though, like every other association out there, my association's professional development budget is on hold so unless I start scouring my house for stuff to sell on eBay, I won't be able to go.

But aside from socializing, the reason the conference will be so awesome is that the focus will be on association social media. How many other conferences can you say that about? I believe that would be none. What's the difference, you say, between regular social media and association social media? Either way you slice it it's just a bunch of nerds talking about Facebook and Twitter, right? Hey--wrong!

Even though there's always tons of talk about social media in an association context--ASAE conferences, blogs, listservs, etc--the bulk of those conversations revolve around the theme of convincing fellow association people that they should be using social media. Case studies about what associations are doing, lots of slides and stats and reports--all of it essentially a sales pitch for why your association should be using social media. Here's the thing: I'm in. I don't need convincing or 101 sessions on what is Twitter and how should you be using it, etc. I need help.

That's right--help. Because the fact of the matter is, association social media is tricky. It's like the classic wedding/marriage analogy. You make the big announcement 'We're getting married!" or, in this case "My association has agreed that we need to start using social media!" The wedding day comes and goes, as do the drafting of social media guidelines and strategies, of unveling your association's page on Facebook or Twitter account. And there you are. Now what? How do you keep the momentum going? How do you navigate the silos? How do you measure success? Or failure, for that matter?

These are the kinds of things I want to hear about and talk about, in the company of people who are dealing with the same challenges.

What's New In Nerd World

There's lots of excitement in the air if you're me--cool new tools, ongoing blogger drama and an awesome conference coming up:

Google Wave--basically "a new tool for communication and collaboration on the web" that apparently originated from the question "“What might e-mail look like if it were invented today?” I'm having trouble wrapping my head around it so I'm not even going to try; all I know is I hate Gmail so I'm not having much faith in Google to re-invent email.

Microsoft Bing--Microsoft is throwing $80 million on the table to try to unseat Google in the search engine category. I personally hate it, sight-unseen, since a) it's Microsoft and b) it's being billed as a "decision engine." Thanks Big Brother Microsoft but I like to make my own decisions. If you're curious, enjoy this preview from when it was still being called by its code name, Kumo.

Bloggers beware--new FTC guidelines affecting sponsored posts are coming later this summer.

Buzz 2009--social media for associations--was just announced today. I'm psyched that there's finally going to be a conference that goes beyond association social media 101. Not to mention that my friends Lindy Dreyer and Maddie Grant are at the helm. I'm also psyched because the king of blog ethics, Andy Sernovitz, will be there (the guy quoted in the FTC article above), as will Guy Kawasaki, who is lucky enough to be rubbing shoulders with my new goddess, The Bloggess, as I write this post.

Guy and the Bloggess (aka "Jenny" ) are right this moment embarked on the USS Nimitz, a Navy ship. I don't really get the whole thing--it's apparently an effort on the part of the Navy to embrace social media and blogging. Read/listen to this for more information about the trip; all I know is it's awesome because, while Robert Scoble and Charlene Li are super-serious social media dieties, The Bloggess is busy tweeting about sex toys and vlogging about how much xanax she'll be bringing on the trip.

The USS Nimitz trip basically illustrates, in a nutshell, why I'm obsessed with social media: because in social media world it's not only acceptable but totally desirable to be as kick-ass as you want to be. In what other context would the Navy be inviting the girl who pitched the idea "Captain Hookers"--on a very serious, super top-secret mission with very serious, super-smart business people? In social media world, though--you watch. I guarantee you that girl will emerge from that ship with a big huge book deal as good as done and will eventually have a show on HBO and be rich and famous. I'm. Telling. You.