Recap of Yesterday's Social Media for Business Event (#SMAZ)

Yesterday, my colleague Chris Sietsema (@sietsema) and I (@mikecorak) were fortunate enough to speak at the first ever Social Media for Business gathering held at MadCap theaters here in Tempe, Arizona.  Our topic was The Anatomy of a Social Media Plan, and for reference, we have posted the materials including the presentation and a generic social media plan template on www.offmadisonave.com/smaz.  The following is a recap of the much heralded event:

#SMAZ (search in twitter to read the comments), organized by the group's founder Fred von Graf (@fvongraf), proceeds going to charity, was extremely well attended (congratulation Fred and gang, very nice work) by both social media ninjas and novices alike, which made for fantastic networking I might add.  In fact, a venue switch soon after the event's announcement was necessary to handle the growing interest born from pure word of mouth, quite appropriate. 

SMAZ featured a number of Arizona's local social media aficionados.

- Jason Baer (@jaybaer) of Convince and Convert and Off Madison Ave killed it as usual.
- Pamela Slim (@pamslim), coach and author of Escape from Cubicle Nation, an amazing speaker and person, blew the half of the crowd away that was not attending our presentation.
- Jeff Moriarty (@jmoriarty) of Ignite Phoenix fame and Sitewire, speaking on internal organization social media, was rumored to be fantastic, no surprise.
- Elizabeth Hannan (@elizabethhannan) of www.jivefromthehive.com, was extra smart, check her out.
- Evo Terra (@evo_terra), a recent addition to the Sitewire team and local social media celeb, knocked the crowd dead, what's new?
- Chris Johnson (@chris_johnson), founder of Terralever and Facebook insider, gave informative insights as always, he's the man.

Individual presentations were delivered in the a.m., followed by breakout sessions and panels in the afternoon.

The Lumension panel, Cutting Through Social Media Noise, was lead by the always on it Kathy Sacks (@kathysacks) of Sacks PR featuring Lumension's Cindy Kim Van Horne (@cindykimpr), IBM's Tiffany Winman (@rhetorica2), @chris_johnson and @jaybaer.  Very interactive, and informative for all in attendance.

As is the case with all events, I unfortunately missed other panels and presentations featuring local experts including Arizona's own Amanda Vega (@amandavega), and my good friend Sheila Kloefkorn (@keomarketing) of KEO Marketing.

The keynote was delivered by Al Maag (@almaagAvnet) of Avnet, "How we got the C Suite to Understand."  A personal surprise as this was my first exposure to Mr. Brice, C. Edward Brice (@cedwardbrice) of Lumension gave a fantastic presentation titled "The Greatest Question Since the Meaning of Life - What is the ROI of Social Media?" detailing his personal trials and tribulations with the topic, and his unique viewpoint, very well done and probably my favorite.

Event sponsors included IBM, Lumension, the Business Marketing Association of Phoenix, ensynch, the City of Tempe, edu research group, the Phoenix Innovation Foundation, Social Media Club, and our very own Off Madison Ave.

Miss the event?  Not to fear, most presenters have posted their presentations on Slideshare under their personal accounts, and moreover, video from the event should be made available soon on www.socialmediaaz.org.  I've also obviously included everyone's twitter handles so you can follow their updates and contact them directly.

I'm excited to see where Fred and the team takes the momentum they've built-up, and hope to be involved in the future, what a blast.  Bottom line, the Arizona business community will be better for it.  Community building community, can you beat that?

About the Author: Mike Corak

Mike brings more than a decade of experience to Off Madison Ave's interactive division, Mighty Interactive. Working with companies ranging from start-up groups to Fortune 100 corporations, Mike specializes in developing and executing strategic, results-focused online initiatives - from research-driven website planning through long-term online marketing efforts. Mike earned a bachelor's degree in Accounting and Finance from the University of Arizona. He is a PMI Accredited Project Management Professional (PMP) and holds a Professional Certificate in Project Management from the University of Phoenix.

View more blog posts from Mike Corak >

Contact Mike

<< back to blog