• by Kelly Samardak , May 19, 2009

IAB Marketplace: Social Media, The Roosevelt Hotel, New York
May 18, 2009

Why is that when people die of the swine flu (oh that's right, I'll not fall prey to disease marketing spin -- it's easier to say AND I still eat bacon, hot dogs, and pork rinds because I know you can't get it from eating pork), they don't tell you how it actually takes them. Being kept in the dark fuels hysteria. I actually went to the Centers For Disease Control Web site today, and I'm pretty smart and non-alarmist -- this shows that I might be taking this more seriously. Not seriously enough to buy a face mask, but still. You know what else is serious? Social media and marketing. Yesterday I put on my buzzword face mask and made it to the IAB Marketplace: Social Media for the final two panels of the day -- and then I covered the cocktail party, of course... which was devoid of pork products.

Every chair in the place was occupied, not bad for the second-to-last panel of the day. Checking up on the hashtag #iabnet, I knew Jeff Ragovin of BuddyMedia, David Berkowitz and Amanda Bird of 360i, and at one point Brian Morrissey of AdWeek were there. And now, I'd like to paraphrase the Myth Busters! Panel where Jory Des Jardins, Co-Founder of BlogHer, Inc, Riccardo Zane, President of Agency.com New York and Chicago, and Patrick Keane, Chief Executive Officer at Associated Content, "debunked" major myths prevalent in "the space."

Zane: Skittles Skittles Skittles, who doesn't love Skittles.

Des Jardins: Don't make the social network about the brand, take a pulse of the blogsphere, see what is resonating out there, and create a message that includes that topic and the community forms around that. Example? Tropicana's "The Juice" community. 

But hold up now - isn't that the brand? Was orange juice really trending in the blogosphere?

Zane: A recent study showed that connecting through social media is up over connecting through email -- as is SMS & texting conversation versus using the phone as, well, a phone.

I'm not really proud of that. In fact, I sort of see that as people getting lazy in relationships. If you asked my dad if he feels he gets a grasp on my life and career and deep thoughts (with Jack Handey) by lightly observing my tweets vs. actually getting on the horn and talking fluidly, I'm positive he would prefer voice.

I've been cynically and gently defensively snarking at this press release I got last week about "social media expert" and author David Seaman, who says that Twitter is causing serious brain damage. The more I think about it, the more I agree with the emotional maturity side of the argument. Have you watched the stream you follow? I've seen overused exclamation marks, obtuse bromance flirting, retweeting of compliments (for example if someone said "@socialmedium I love your nasal cavity today!" I would say "RT @usernameofpersonwhocomplimentedme @socialmedium I love your nasal cavity today!), LOLspeak not because of space issues, mini brawls, and clique-making from GROWN ADULTS. I've even found myself doing the good old misinterpretation of tone and reaction roundabout that used to plague the early days of AIM and, gasp in a basket, LiveJournal. You cannot deny that alongside the power, the fun, the leveling of the playing field is a big pile of weird. I also firmly believe that if people are being genuine, then they're translating honestly online, and Twitter isn't making them emotionally brain-damaged, it's just a great showcase for whatever glitches they've already got cultivating. Holy manga, I'm digressing.

One question from the audience made me smile. That was from Josh (last name not stated) from Wieden+Kennedy, who asked "are there any strategies for getting those big brands to let go" of going 100% traditional marketing campaigns and embrace the digi, viral, social, "new" media. Zane was nice and blunt, saying "You need a brave client." It's true. Doing something that you're not 100% experienced with and sure of has to be frightening. To this, the moderator, Paul Beck, Partner and Executive Director of Interactive Marketing & Advertising for Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide, said, "Education is the key, you need to educate your clients."

Ting ting ting! That's me, bristling. We're in an age where time is opportunity cost, staffs are operating at over-throttle missing an engine. Why are clients so delicate? I'm not an agency type, I get that, but wouldn't it be more efficient for everyone if a client rep or someone from the marketing side of the client took the initiative and, I don't know, taught themselves? Maybe educated their company as well, so that the learning curve is shortened when the agency starts to work with them? Because, guess what, if your client is starting at step 1 with regards to "learning" social media, by the time they "get it" or at least get it enough to trust you with the campaign, someone else will have beat them to it. Doesn't that sound like a cop-out to you? Are you on the client side? And if so, don't you arm yourself with as much knowledge as possible when you talk to agencies, so you can be part of making the best campaign decisions for your brand -- or do you rely on the agency to do the work? And then if it fails, who takes the fall? I'm genuinely curious.

The last panel tackled Data Overload. I zoned out as Jonathan Carson, President, International, Nielsen Online and Keith Kilpatrick, Director Product Development for BuzzLogic, did their best filibuster impressions. It's hard being the last panel of the day, especially if your subject is data, and even more especially if the audience can hear the clinking of cocktail hour being set up just out of reach.

Any scandals at the margarita-lined reception? Not really. While being introduced to Ryan Walker, Industry Services, IAB, Patrick Dolan, EVP, Chief Administrative Officer, IAB, the smiley David Doty, SVP, Thought Leadership, Marketing and Events, IAB, and Julie Thompson, Julie Thompson, Inc., another guest grabbed my nametag and yawped to Doty "MEDIAPOST?! YOU let these guys in here?" My jaw dropped in "why are you attacking me" surprise. "What are you talking about?" I asked. "You're the one who harassed me during the Digital Out-of-Home Forum last year," said the guest. "Me? Like, me personally?" I was genuinely perplexed as I'm not big on harassing. "Yeah, you wanted me to join groups, upload pictures, etc., etc." he went on. This poor guy has been harboring this accusation for a full year, so I'm glad he got it out of his system and can now heal.

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