• by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer @lauriesullivan, January 26, 2009

All media is going social, according to Rob Key, founder and CEO at Converseon. The perks give you the ability to manage large groups of relationship, from human resources to legal industries, in interesting ways. The goal, he said, will become ingraining social media in the DNA of clients.

The panel moderated by Catharine Taylor, MediaPost columnist, looked at how social media agencies and ad agencies partner to the benefit of all. As mass media fragments into millions of interactive channels, ad agencies and social media agencies need one another to help advertisers connect with users.

While panelists agreed it will take education, most had their own ideas on what educating clients required.

Transforming raw information into education on social media means collaborating to help all learn, according to Cam Balzer, SVP Social at VivaKi Americas. "The key task is to keep dialog going," he said.

Nick Sinclair, audience development supervisor, Universal McCann, said educating clients will help elevate the concern that social media is different and "needs to be fostered over time." One problem in fostering the community over time is budgets run out. It's important to maintain the presence, and staff the campaign appropriately, he said

Having both sides in a brainstorming session makes the meeting more powerful, said David Berkowitz, director of emerging media and client strategy, 360i. Media planning and social media teams must work together.

While it's important to educate clients, agencies also need to do regular point of view pieces and get involved. "The information isn't necessary transferred," he said, also suggesting an increase in communication between all parties involved.