Categories: Articles

New Media For Communications Conference – Day Two

Terry Fallis – co-host of the Inside PR Podcast and partner at Thornley Fallis just finished his invigorating presentation, Look Who’s Talking, Too: Podcasting As A Medium For The Message And How To Know If It’s Right For You. Beyond the fact that he’s sitting to my left (and probably looking over my shoulder), I can, with all confidence, let you know that if you need a communications expert to break down what Podcasting is and how powerful of a new communications tool it can be, reach out to him. However, if you need a quick fix, you can always Ask A Ninja.
Prior to Fallis, the always eloquent Michael O’Connor Clarke (who Blogs over at Uninstalled and just took up shop at Thornley Fallis – yeah, it does feel a little like a Thornley Fallis love-in here, but that’s what happens when you take a leadership role in the social media space in Canada and walk the talk) presented a tongue fu look at the space, Social Media – Buzzword or Future Wave? Maybe it’s his British accent, maybe it’s how he can connect Shakira to public relations professionals and social media or maybe it’s because he was Blogging before most people knew what a Blog is, but Clarke makes a pragmatic case for conversational marketing.
Leona Hobbs (who has moved from Yahoo! over to Tucows and is a Blogger at flackadelic) is now presenting, Creating Community: Harnessing The Social Network To Further Your Message. Hobbs illustrates how communities are built through some very insightful examples of how companies like Starbucks to Yahoo! responded – both in a community-centric way and in a traditional way (where the message is still trying to be controlled) for best results.
We’re almost halfway through day two at the New Media For Communications conference and everything is as clear as day. Conversations are happening and companies are still trying to interrupt, instead of joining the community. The main reason, as far as I can see, is that companies do not yet value or get the importance of this tectonic change in their business communications.
Believe in social media or not… conferences like New Media For Communications continue to be corporate wake-up calls.
Don’t hit the snooze button.

Mitch Joel

Mitch Joel lives at the intersection of technology, business transformation and consumer culture. He is the Executive Director of Next Era Institute, a strategic intelligence platform helping leaders understand the forces reshaping business, technology, culture and society. The Institute identifies which shifts matter, explores their wider significance and translates them into strategic direction and momentum. Mitch is also a globally recognized keynote speaker. He has delivered thousands of presentations across both B2B and B2C industries to organizations including Google, Walmart, LEGO, Shopify, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble and Unilever. Strategy Magazine has called him “one of North America’s leading visionaries.” Mitch built his career by working directly inside the waves of change that reshaped modern business. He founded and built a digital marketing agency that worked with some of the world’s largest brands and was later acquired by WPP, where he served as President of a firm operating in 25 countries with almost 3,000 employees. Mitch is the bestselling author of Six Pixels of Separation and CTRL ALT Delete, and the host of Thinking With Mitch Joel, one of the longest-running business podcasts in the world. His writing and commentary appear in outlets including Harvard Business Review, Fast Company and Inc. Magazine. He is a member of Dr. Marshall Goldsmith’s 100 Coaches and was named to the Thinkers50 Radar. Mitch also hosts Groove – The No Treble Podcast, documenting the oral history of electric bass players. Mitch is also Co-Founder of ThinkersOne, a platform that enables companies to bring personalized thought leadership from world-class experts into meetings, events and off-sites in focused 15-minute bursts.