Pete Cashmore and Steve Rubel Teach NYC About Social Media

Caption: Pete Cashmore (l) and Steve Rubel (r)

Last night I had the pleasure of attending probably one of the BEST events about social media ever. Working in marketing and doing social media I’m often in need of inspiration. And when I need social media inspiration I turn to Mashable.com. Pete Cashmore started the site in 2005 and it has grown to be the #1 source for information about social media. I myself personally read Mashable.com 10-20 times a day. Pete is one my social media heroes and I thank him for creating such a wonderful resource.

And last nights presentation from Mashable was a mega resource of inspiration and information. I couldn’t stop writing things down because there was so much good information being presented. The night was directed by Mashable’s Community Manager Adam Hirsch who introduced Chris Cunningham from App Savvy. App Savvy is a wonderful company which helps brands create engaging experiences on social media. Chris let the audience know that banner ads are pretty much dead and if brands want to enter into the social media space they need to “pull up a chair, introduce themselves, and join the conversation.” When I heard this I wanted to get up and do the running man cause this is the honest truth and Chris really hit a good point across. Brands need to start creating 2-way conversations with the consumers if they really want to create engaging experiences for them on social networks. “It has to be about the consumer first and the brand second.”

Then another one of my social media heroes came to the stage and totally shut the event down. If your in marketing and not reading Steve Rubel daily then you are missing out on a wealth of excellent information. Steve is the SVP, Director of Insights for Edelman Digital, and his website Micropersuasion.com is the hub of all things innovative on the web. I have been reading Steve’s site for years and it was an honor to meet him last night. Steve presented on the 5 Social Media Trends that marketers need to watch in 2009.

1. Satisfaction Guranteed - Social media as customer service.
2. Media Reforestisation - Be a curator of content in niches.
3. Less is the New More - Keep it short, sweet, and to the point.
4. Create Corporate Allstars - Find people in your company who can be brand advocates.
5. Write For Search - Google is King. So make sure you are writing for search engines.

Overall it was a great event and if your in marketing or just starting out with social media then Pete Cashmore’s Mashable.com and Steve Rubel’s Micropersuasion.com should be your daily reading.

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