Speaking at IMS09 - Photo courtesy Steve Garfield

Earlier this month I had the opportunity to speak at the Inbound Marketing Summit in Foxborough, Massachusetts.  (video of the presentation at the end of this post)   It was back in August, in a cramped, dimly lit Jimmy Seas restaurant on Martha’s Vineyard where Justin Levy and Nick Saber first approached me about presenting at #IMS09.  Over generous pans of of pasta, we shared stories and ideas about social media, traditional media, marketing and where all of those things intersect.

This isn’t the first time I’ve been asked to speak publicly about my perch at the intersection of old and new media, but each time forces me out of my comfort zone.  As a network news cameraman, I’m far more accustomed to leaving the public speaking to the folks in my viewfinder.  Telling cocktail party stories about my life as a news camerman – flying in Chinooks over Afghanistan,  rocket attacks in Baghdad, or traveling on Air Force One – is great among friends.  But  my challenge was to create value for the few hundred marketing professionals who would be listening to the story of a news cameraman cum early adopter of social media.  It’s flattering to be asked to speak, but unless you deliver valuable, useful information to business professionals, you’re wasting their time.   So here’s the condensed version.

OVERVIEW

Organizations often cringe at the notion of employees speaking openly about the company on social networks. Many regulate, or downright ban the practice. The risks have been well established, and there are plenty of horror stories about workers going off-reservation online. But the rewards are abundant if companies provide guidelines and encourage those passionate about social media. Who are your best brand ambassadors? Believe it or not, empowering rank and file staff to engage the social web can often result in more promise than peril.  Conversely there are scant rewards for ham-fisted, clumsy, corporate social media efforts.  As Comcast’s Frank Eliason aptly put it at the Blog World Expo this past week

“Don’t force people into this social space if it’s not a natural fit for them.”

@comcastcares

I’m reminded of a story told to me by a PR person I had worked with on a shoot.  A reporter from a major national daily newspaper was told to produce a pre-determined number of Tweets per day and those Twitter posts would be “graded”.  Really???  Wow, talk about sucking the oxygen out of the experience.  We’ve got to do better than that.

DATA

A  Russell Herder and Ethos Business Law study, entitled “Social Media: Embracing the Opportunities, Averting the Risks”, surveyed over 400 marketing, HR, and management executives on their attitudes toward social media.  Some key data points:

• 73% increase in US use of social media (Neilsen)
• just over half of those surveyed believe social media is bad for productivity
• nearly half believe social media use can damage brand reputation
• 8 out of 10 believe social media, as corporate communications, can build relationships with customers and build brand reputation

OBJECTIVE

By sharing my story with the marketing professionals in attendance,  I hoped to demonstrate that empowering rank and file employees of an organization can be a useful, organic extension of a firm’s marketing and PR efforts. I wanted to show that it isn’t necessarily or SOLELY – the communications or marketing director, or the CEO who might be your best brand ambassador. 

Interestingly,  two presentations that preceded me helped frame and define my journey into social media.  Paul Gillin outlined some dismal trends in traditional media consumption in his talk entitled “World Without Media: What Will Fill the Void?”.  

He was followed by new media video visionary Steve Garfield who held a APEC sized photo-op, empowering the audience  with thier video cameras to become legions of content creators.    

It’s clear that the world of mainstream media will never be the same.  Also clear, is that I’m still figuring out how my skills mesh with that emerging landscape.  Legacy media needs to meet people where they are and engage them in the way they consume and produce media.

Below is the video of my presentation in it’s entirety. So assembled readers, did I deliver what I set out to achieve? And if you were at IMS09, did I meet your expectations? (Audio is thin, so you’ll have to strain a bit to hear it)

Speaking at the Direct Marketing Association of Washington’s “Era of Conversation” conferencePhoto by CC Chapman

Last Thursday, I had the unique pleasure of speaking before a group of marketing executives at the Direct Marketing Association of Washington’s confab in DC. I spoke to one of the many break-out sessions on “new media basics” – fitting for me as there there is SO much I’ve yet to absorb about the social web. In fact, I began by telling my breakout session: “I have no business speaking before a bunch of marketing executives, but..”

From that jumping off point, I discussed my nascent (only been blogging since March of this year), but reasonably engaging blogging efforts, and my use of Twitter as primary tools of social media. Essentially I riffed that if I can do it, you can do it, and basic tools are a good place to start, especially when shifting from less conversational communication. Fortunately for me, and for the rest of the attendees, there was an abundance of thought leadership on wide-ranging strategies for launching social media efforts. Overall I think it’s key to find the tools that are right for you or your organization.

For me, blogging is most rewarding when I leave my posts open-ended, and people WAY smarter than me complete my thoughts in the comments section.  Sure, you can be confrontational, and link-bait to generate traffic, but I like the notion of what Stephen Marino, of Ogilvy’s 360 Digital Influence practice calls “Return on Involvement”. The day was filled with terrific speakers, and I had the chance to meet some of the brightest minds in this space like keynote speaker Valeria Maltoni (she’s not yet convinced of Twitter so get over to her blog and give her a nudge!), and keynote speaker CC Chapman, who I’ve been eager to meet for some time. CC connected me with Geoff Livingston, another keynote at the conference who really did a great job of blogging the event with the help of Larissa Fair. Geoff pointed out, in support of Marino’s premise, that participation IS marketing.

In my presentation, I demonstrated how Twitter can be used and misused an engagement tool. At one point i called out to all of YOU on Twitter and asked if you’d say hello to the DMAW session. While waiting for some responses to generate, CC Chapman, in what can almost be described as a movie moment, stopped me and said almost chillingly: “Jim.. refresh the page”. You guys had come through!! Imagine if that hadn’t worked . There were no less than 80 immediate responses. (thank you!) I think that aptly demonstrated Twitter’s immediate, conversational, attention directing value. I also pointed out that Team Twitter had  helped shape my presentation in the comments on my blog. (again thank you!)

So despite this being my first ever presentation before a professional group, I think I was able to get people thinking about social media and what tools are right for them. Social media allows us to connect on a deep human level across social, cultural, and corporate barriers in a way we never could before. Conversations no longer happen from the top down. More importantly they are no longer controlled by corporations. Media that aren’t conversational or social are becoming less and less relevant. Funny that I felt like odd man out speaking at this event. At the end of the day I’m a network news cameraman, not a social media consultant. Ogilvy’s John Bell advises on his blog:

Spark ideas by mixing up odd-fellows and odd exepriences. Oh, and let go of the reins a bit.
John Bell

I think that’s fitting here. Social media enables the exchange of good ideas and allows the the best ones to take root and propagate, creating value, involvement, and engagement. So maybe that’s why I was invited. I want to thank Donna Tschiffely, Executive Director of DMAW, for bringing this all together. I hope i get a chance to do this again soon.

How about just calling it MEDIA? Sure, labels are useful, but at the end of the day there will be media that people connect with, and the unwatched, unread remains. There seems to be a renewed slugfest between the “revolutionaries” storming the gates of traditional media, and the keepers of corporate status quo. As both sides trade barbs, it’s curious to this blogger why the loudest amongst both sides of this “debate” promote such zero-sum theocracy.

From bloggersblog today, a link to this rant against blogs from South Africa’s Sunday Times, calling blogs “the air guitars of journalism” And from my favorite contrarian Strumpette, some snarky satire on the introduction of MLB’s “Citizen Player Program”

Chris Brogan lends his typically keen insight and measured criticisms to discussions that took place at AlwaysOn, Hollywood. His concerns that “we” (people who create media independent of large corporate infrastructure) are living in a fishbowl. Brogan then takes the informations he’s gathered and builds a very smart roadmap for moving beyond amateur media. Chris “gets it”…big time.

In almost no time, “talking about nothing” shows are going to dry up. You have to deliver value. In video, audio, and even a blog, if you want to bring your message into a larger circle of people, you’re going to have to give value back for what you’re doing.

Most of this discussion seems to be framed in an either/or construct, which I believe to be a false pretext. Those who believe that Web 2.0, social media, and citizen content will completely evaporate are wrong, just as wrong as those who believe that the democratization of media spells the demise of large corporate media. What I see happening is that the “amateurs” are building relationships with their audience, and with corporate media. There, you’ll find the winners. Don’t believe me? Then why are guys like Jeff Jarvis having dinner with Rupert Murdoch and making deals with Washingtonpost.com?

For those of you who believe that bloggers don’t have juice, how do you reconcile CNN’s decision to release Presidential debate footage under a Creative Commons license? Clearly they were bowing to the outcrys of the “air guitar” players of the blogoshpere.

Much of what is taking place in social media space is all about buzz, and in-the-moment, viral types of content. This is the type of media that I believe will be the shortest-lived. They are also easy targets for critics as the sum-total of ALL new/social media. The below-the-radar people in this space are sometimes the most successful. At VON07 in San Jose, I met Nicholas Butterworth of Diversion Media. His firm has built two successful social media sites, Travelistic and Snowvision. Butterworth says that the key to social media success is community and relationship.

Coverage of VON07

Butterworth, and other micro media moguls like Zadi Diaz and Steve Woolf of Jetset are defining a new class of crossover talent. Media makers who understand the community nature of social media/Web 2.0 and have the business savvy to grasp the value of that community. The fact that they’ve partnered with Next New Networks demonstrates that savvy and sets them apart from the “air guitar” set. Amani Channel of My Urban Report is another example of new media being courted by old. The Atlanta Journal Constitution has expressed interest publishing content from his blog. Again, the gates aren’t being stormed so much as being opened by smarter old media firms.

The bottom line is that the marketplace will decide the winners and losers of traditional vs. social media. I’d keep an eye on the ones creating value for their communites and the ones who build tools for participation.

Can’t we all just get along? As two of my favorite foils, Michael Rosenblum and Jeff Jarvis were storming the gates of traditional TV at the NAB conference in Vegas, many of the journalists who actually do the “boots on the ground” work of TV news were in Blacksburg, VA, covering the worst single shooting rampage in American history.

There is no doubt that citizen journalism and social media played absolutely vital roles in bringing context, community and diverse viewpoints to this tragic event. I pointed out that the first person photojournalism of Jamal Albarghouti itself was historic and provided a chilling account of the shooting. I spoke to Jamal today by phone and, interestingly, he disagrees with Michael Rosenblum’s assertions about the future of TV news. Firstly, he doesn’t consider himself a journalist. More importantly, he considers the role of professional media crucial.

As for the role of citizen journalism and if it will replace traditional media,
I personally think that citizen journalism will indeed change traditional
media in sense that it will improve it. I think we will be seeing more and more
people taking videos about future news incidents. I think we might even come to
a point where we get more than one video for only one story. However, I do not
think that citizen journalism will by any mean replace traditional media (it
will just improve it). I think that people covering the news now (traditional
media) are professionals who know what they are doing. they tend to give a
wider prospective than a citizen journalist. For example, when the media came
here to VT, they talked to VT officials, police, families of the victims,
students and last, they were able to somehow show what the shooter was
thinking. I do not think that a citizen journalist alone would be able to give
such a picture but he or she would definitely help in doing so.
-Jamal Albarghouti

Traditional media was the ones getting all the facts and representing it to everyone all over the world. The tradtional media had the big picture of covering all the stories. Citizen journalists will have a bigger role but it won’t replace traditional media. We wil see more people getting video.
-Jamal Albarghouti

Jamal, a Palestinian, says it was his exposure to professional journalism while living in the West Bank, that gave him the courage to record the terrifying events of April 16th 2007. It’s interesting that he has such pragmatic view of his role while others hold him up as the future model of TV News.

i’m not a journalist, i just did this. i was there and i took the video. Traditional media was important, seeing how professionals worked allowed me to do what i did. i would’ve never thought of doing that at Virginia Tech.
-Jamal Albarghouti

The scorched earth screeds of both Jarvis and Rosenblum begin to ring hollow a bit. In fact, in Jarvis’ post he inadvertantly (I suspect) points out the dogmatic nature of Rosnblum’s rants.

At an RTNDA panel, my pal, panel star Michael Rosenblum, lectured executives and stars of local TV news about this implosion.
-Jeff Jarvis

From what I heard, “lecturing” is precisely what Rosenblum was engaged in. Lecturing is what someone with ALL the answers does. Rosenblum and Jarvis are both men of big ideas, who often speak in absolute terms. I’m always suspicious of people who speak in absolutes and don’t leave room for dissenting points of view. Winning the argument becomes more important than exchange of ideas an I don’t think that’s terribly productive.

Unlike strumpette, who has a very clever take on the citizen/social media movement, I believe that there is a place for the amateur. Unlike Jeff and Michael, I still believe there is a place for infrastructure. Having said that, both of them have a great many ideas to share, and many are right on the money. Traditional TV is certainly bending under the weight of its infrastructure, but you can print this: It ain’t going anywere. Will it change, even dramatically? Absolutely. Will it be replaced entirely by VJ’s and citizen journos? Highly unlikely.

Ultimately smart media companies will create a complementary blend of professinal and citizen. Rosenblum raises an issue that has remained hidden in the back of my mind for some time. How long can anchors contine to be paid 50 to 100 times more than the average network worker bee in a time where audiences are shifting to non linear content on the web, and revenue streams continue to fragment. I’m hesitant to even publicly loft such a notion, particularly since I’ll be working with Brian Willams, who I respect and admire a great deal, this coming Monday. But as the pie continues to shrink, big media will not be well served to continue coming after the earning capacity of its best and brightets workers.

Once again it’s people placing far too much faith in technology. Jeremiah Owyang of Podtech posted a video produced for Podtech client Topix discussing the problems wiht local news. Many of the interviews spoke of aggregators and feedback loops, but it was Craigslist’s Craig Newmark, that hit the nail on the head. What’s missing is more investigative journalism. And that folks, translates to people and time, which equals infrastructure. Rosenblum’s mantra is small cameras, which as Stewart Pittman points out in his dispatch from Blacksburg, can prove an astonishly poor storytelling tool, in some circumstances.

I couldn’t help but realize this as I watched a muttonchopped dude with a tricked-out consumer-cam, working the pack of mourning kids like he was shooting a concert. Too cool for sticks, he cradled his lens awkwardly in his upturned palms, jamming the damn thing repeatedly in the faces of sobbing freshmen.

Jack-ass…
-Lenslinger

Journalism is ultimately about hard working, dedicated people (read infrastructure). It is often a thankless undertaking whose particpants are often looked upon with disdain. Journalists sacrifice time with their families and risk their lives to practice their craft. I frankly don’t care if they’re professional or amateur. I do care if they have to the courage to seek out and tell the truth, despite how unpopular that truth may be.

UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE

DC Media Maker Andy Carvin, pointed me in the direction of a very interesting discussion about Jamal’s video and citizen journalism that took place at the DC Web Women’s web 2.0 panel. Andy provides some useful insights along with fellow DC Media Maker Jonny Goldstein. The video was shot and cut by Jill Foster (also DCMM)

Twittering in the shadow of my boss

I’m SOOOOOO going to get in trouble for this. I was guest camera on the set of NBC’s Meet The Press with Tim Russert today, and as always, there was lively discussion and debate. This show featured former CENTCOM commander Gen. Tony Zinni (ret.) and a reporter’s round table which spent the entire time discussing the Imus situation. So I thought, “let’s Twitter this!” Here’s a sampling of my Tweets:

So my Twitter friend, Annie Boccio tweets back with this:

So that translates into one “confirmed” person who was influenced by my real-time behind the scenes reporting. And as DC Media Maker, videoblogger and media consultant Jonny Goldstein points out:

The kind of people who use Twitter are highly connected people who use technology to spread ideas; many of us are bloggers, like me for example. We may well blog about what Jim reports. This multiplies the effects of Jim’s messages.

Jonny goes on to suggest the Tim should give me a hug for my enterprise. I don’t know if that will be forthcoming, but I’ll surely Twitter it if he does. To many of us, using Twitter as a promotional tool is second nature. In the corporate/old-media world, I’m finding that it’s not being adopted as easily as I would’ve thought. How are people in your worlds responding to it?

NBC’s Meet the Press is inducted into the NAB Hall of Fame on Monday, April 16th. Russert will be out in Las Vegas to accept the honors, so if any of my assembled readers or Twitter friends will be out there, stop by, shake his hand and say hi. I’m not able to attend this year, but Twitter friend Frank DuVal will be doing some guest reports from NAB here on this blog!

photo credit: US Navy Photo

No those AREN’T Pentagon correspondents being booted out the back for publishing DOD leaks.

Today I’m off to Quantico Marine Base to shoot this wacky chopper..plane..whirly-bird thingy. If nothing else, it’ll be good pictures.

Can I just point out tha today is Friday the 13th? Given the lethal history of the aircraft, I’m glad my assignment sheet clearly states:

“The crew will REMAIN on the ground and will not go up in the Osprey.”

Here’s an interesting article on the V22.

~~~~~~UPDATE~~~~~~~UPDATE~~~~~~~

The Marine Corps announced today that 10 Osprey aircraft will be heading to Iraq for their first combat missions. Read more about it here.