The following video is making the rounds online. It's a guy named Matt who has traveled around the world and danced. Danced in 39 countries and filmed it all. According to his web site , "In 2006, Matt took a 6 month trip through 39 countries on all 7 continents. In that time, he danced a great deal."
The interesting thing is that the trip was sponsored by Stride Gum. Not to promote their brand, not to pimp their gum around the world but to demonstrate the power of an individual connecting with others in the same way around the world.
This video simply makes me feel good. It makes me feel hopeful and optimistic about why people connect and that at the heart of it all, we're all in this together.
When was the last time you danced.
During a recent integrated advertising conference, Joseph Jaffe has provided an interesting perspective on Social Media mistakes made by some of the top marketers: Sprint, Sony, T-mobile, Target and Starbucks. Jaffe has been challenging corporations and individuals to harness the power of social media and new opportunities for one to one communication. I think it's a challenge to all of us, to bring our brands to the conversation. This age of conversation is an open door for brands to change the game and truly interact with consumers. Are you up for the challenge?
Head over to AdAge for the Video.
I've come across several very interesting posts that have begun to track the emergence of Social Media as a legitimate position in the communications departments of many organizations. These organizations are taking up the challenge that is being presented by consumers and the use of new media tools and committing themselves to the conversation.
Several of the brands that I work with are beginning to embrace social media and the opportunity to engage with consumers and build relationships. It's an exciting time to be a part of digital communications.
Here's a few links for review if your organizations is considering developing a full time position for a Social Media Director/Strategist.
Social Media Headhunter with Jim Durbin.
Social Media Strategist is a Real Job by Des Walsh
Social Media Today article by Romain Pechard
Groundswell Thoughts from Josh Bernoff
Shiv Singh of Avenue A/Razorfish hosted a client summit this past week and posted seven key takeaways related to social media. They are great highlights that can be considered within all the conversations digital agencies have with their clients who are exploring the social media space. I've outlined the seven below. The details are over at the GOING SOCIAL NOW and I encourage you to read his synopsis of each.
1. Social Media has gone mainstream and there's no doubt about it.
2. User Generated Content enhances a company's reputation.
3. We're still just beginning to understand user behavior.
4. Social Media is not just in the browser.
5. Internal Social Media can be taken outside.
6. Its all about integrated marketing across platforms and devices.
7. Social Media can be used to target brand new audiences.
David Armano was live twittering the ID Strategy Conference yesterday and sent out an interesting quote that has been rolling around in my head for a few days. I think the quote can be attributed to John Seeley Brown
"We're moving from authority based teaching to peer based learning. This is THE shift in education. Classroom > social networking "
I have children in grade school so education is a big deal for me and my family. I also work in the digital environment and see how we have unprecedented access to information that can provide tremendous value as a learning tool. The opportunity to learn new things by having access to the knowledge of others is growing every day.
The education system can reinvent itself around a model of shared knowledge and learning from one another within the classroom as well as through connections made through social networks. The challenge will be for today's leaders to realize and seize the opportunity.
David provides his thought as well over at Logic and Emotion.
What do you think? Can we change the way education works to harness the power of social networks and reinvent the classroom?