Social Media World Forum 2010: Our Review

It all looked like a proper conference. Walking into the Kensington Olympia Conference Centre on Monday this week, I was greeted by rows of booths; filled to the brim with marketing gimmicks, compulsory LinkedIn lanyards, iPhone twiddling yuppies and an atmosphere so thick with buzzwords you could slice it with a butterknife.

The Social Media World Forum seemed like an interesting proposition: ”Shaping the future of Social Media’. I was expecting a challenging, dynamic event filled with top SocMed minds, that would provide a sandbox for new ideas.

I was wrong, and it didn’t take long to realise why.

The first person I spoke to on my arrival at the event explained that they used Twitter only to automatically tweet their latest blog posts, and had never actually interacted with anyone through the service. There was a massive gap between our thoughts, ideas and uses of Social Media, and yet, we were both expecting to get something out of the same event.

They went off to take a flurry of notes, picking up brochures left and right, while I was left feeling a little cold. Sure, I met some great people, but the sessions fell flat, especially with the painfully obvious fact that the speakers paid for their slots.  The hard sell was no stranger; in reality, it overshadowed any value present in the sessions. But of course, I could be a little cynical.

While I felt this conference was probably most relevant to SocMed newbies, it most valuable to the ‘Social Media Experts’ that were selling to them, and I also get the feeling that the biggest take away was inspiration, and that’s not necessarily a good thing.

Smoke and mirrors had the place feeling like a funhouse, and the poor guys that left with a little inspiration will probably have a lot of trouble implementing any strategies when they get back into the office. The content of the conference was in a weird space. Not ground-breaking enough for people who already utilise Social Media, but too high level for newbies.

I’m not trying to pretend I’m an ‘expert’ – there’s already enough of those around, but here are my top resources if you want real action points to help you get started in Social Media.

How to crack into the Tweet-elite if you’re a late-starter

This post from Daily Bloggr, written by Mani Karthik is basic stuff, but the basic is not always the obvious in SocMed. Really, frank, and really helpful.

Don’t have a Facebook account for your brand? Do it right first time

From blogging wunderkind Neil Patel, these tips on QuickSprout will get motivated to kickstart your Facebook profile.

Thinking of using Social Media to further your business? Harness the power of LinkedIn

Here’s 33 ways that you can enhance your LinkedIn profile to grow your business by Meryl K Evans on WebWorkerDaily. This piece from Sharlyn Luby on Mashable is also a good resource.

How to maximise your blog traffic with Social Media

Check out this guest post by Mark Hayward on ProBlogger for small business blogs using Twitter, and this piece on using LinkedIn.

Promoting your brand across Social Media

This is a really smart and simple take on how your should use Social Media to build your brand; either your personal brand, or your company’s; the tips apply to both. It’s from Grace Smith, on Liz Hover’s blog.

Hannah is Skimlinks’ Communications Manager and you can reach her on Twitter: @hannahrohi or email hannahATskimlinksDOTcom