As we celebrated the 7-Year anniversary of Social Media Club organization in May, it is interesting to look back and see how much has changed over the years.

From the good old days of Myspace, to the launch of Facebook and Twitter, social media has gone from just sharing what you had for lunch to a full-blown marketing medium for businesses.

On June 27th, join SMCSLC as we take a brief look back at what has happened in social media, discuss what you should be doing today, and we’ll dust off our crystal balls and talk about what the future may bring.

This is an event you will not want to miss!

We have 3 spectacular presenters that you will learn from, and undoubtedly walk away with some actionable tips. They are:

Andrew Melchior, Vice President of Avalaunch Media
Content Marketing, SEO and PPC Specialists

For more than ten years, Andrew has been working around the clock in the industry as the co-founder of Avalaunch Media in 2012, co-founder of Dream Systems Media in 2005 and e-commerce business owner since 2000. Andrew has worked with hundreds of business owners as a consultant and mentor, and his clientele includes companies such as Mvelopes, iTOK, ESRB, Build Direct, and BlackFriday.com. He enjoys sharing his passion for the online industry and has been a featured speaker at business conferences including SMX, Utah Profit Symposium, and Local First Arizona.

David Oldham, CEO and Co-Founder of Nuvi
The World’s Most Stunning Social Analytics Platform

Dave is the co-founder of NUVI (www.nuviapp.com), a social analytics and visual intelligence platform created in 2011. Dave has 20 years of experience in product development, marketing, and strategy. Dave has created over 30 different software products – many of which are number 1 in their market segment. Dave loves social media, technology, strategy, competition, advertising, marketing, and brilliant design. He believes in building things that have lasting value, in serving customers and innovating to make their lives better. Dave also loves skiing, snowboarding, racing snowmobiles, wakeboarding, motorcycles, golfing, and most team sports. Dave has an M.B.A. with emphasis in Economics from Columbia University, NYC, and an M.B.A. with emphasis in Entrepreneurship from the University of California, Berkeley.

Clark T. Bell, President of ClutchFuse
Local SEO and Social Media Marketing Professionals

Clark is a serial entrepreneur, husband, daddio, snowboarder and collector of vinyl records. Clark loves all things local, social and mobile. Clark is the President and Founder of ClutchFuse, which helps small businesses with maximizing all applications of inbound marketing. Clark is also the General Manager/Partner of BioGrass, which is a family owned and operated 800-acre turf grass production facility.

Does that sound like a great panel or what? Here are the details.

When:

• Thursday June 27th, 2013
• 5:30 – 7:15 Dinner and Networking
• 7:30 – 9:00 Presentations, Q&A Panel, Prizes and Wrap Up

Where: 
This event will take place at one of our favorite SLC joints.

• Virdene’s Burger Bar at The Peery Hotel, located in downtown Salt Lake City
• Enjoy a burger and fries and networking at Virdene’s, then we’ll move to one of the Peery Hotels meeting rooms for the presentations.

Price:

• $15 Per Person, in advance (purchased online) $25 at the door (limited seating)
• Includes Dinner: Burger and Fries from Virdene’s (gratuity not included)
• Cash bar and other menu items available for purchase

Prizes:

SMCSLC events feature the bonus of excellent prizes! We will be having a drawing for some awesome swag including:

• A nights stay at the Peery Hotel
• Area restaurant / bar gift certificates
• Thanksgiving Point Family Pass Membership ($175 Value)
• Zagg iPad Keyboard. iPhone case, iPhone bumper
• and more

Reserve your space now. Seating is VERY limited… and we expect it to sell out.

We gathered with 50 or so of our friends at the Microsoft Store in downtown SLC’s City Creek mall. The reason was a celebration of seven years of the national Social Media Club organization, as well as the new direction and leadership of the Salt Lake Chapter.

Each attendee received a swag bag from Microsoft, who really went above and beyond to accommodate our event. Seriously, come down to City Creek and check them out (and say hello to SMCSLC OG Michael Reagan while you’re there.) Ryann from the Microsoft Store stressed that their space is free to be used by non-profit groups, which is amazingly generous and a great community-building move on their behalf.

After a brief presentation by Jaron of SMCLSC sponsor PoleVault Media, our new president Darin “Doc” Berntson took the stage to introduce the new direction of SMCSLC. First off, we’re now officially aligned with the national organization, which means new membership options and ways to get involved.

Second, Doc outlined our focus: great events that are a mix of education, promotion, networking, and outright fun. We promise that our attendees will walk away with something valuable, whether that’s new tactics, contacts, potential partners, or the energy of an evening spent having fun with peers. There will be no wasted time here!

As to getting involved, Doc outlined a few ways you (yes, YOU!) can get involved today:

• Join our leadership board – we have openings!
• Volunteer on a Committee – If you want to make an impact in the local social media scene but not commit to being a board member, we can absolutely use your help.
• Contribute to our blog – write your own post, or we’ll write one about you. Free exposure!
• Speak at our events – we’re always looking for people willing to share their expertise and wisdom, as well as their experiences in social media.
• Sponsor us – gain valuable exposure within the influential SLC social community.

He introduced the new board (check us out here) and most importantly, announced our next event: June 27 at the Peery Hotel in downtown SLC. Come learn about the “Past, Present and Future of Social Media.” Look for more details in this space soon.

After the meeting, everyone had CAKE. Yes, CAKE has to be typed in all caps. Especially when served after PIZZA. The CAKE was courtesy of ClutchFuse (and new board member Clark Bell) and the PIZZA was generously provided by PoleVault Media.

SMCSLC is fortunate to be associated with some amazing sponsors, who provided our meeting space, food (notably the PIZZA and CAKE), and an incredible amount of giveaway prizes. We want to thank them for their interest in the social media community here, and hope that you’ll check them out, give them a follow/like, and some of your business:

• The Microsoft Store - FB – Twitter
• PoleVault Media - FB – Twitter
• ClutchFuse - FB – Twitter
• The Peery Hotel - FB - Twitter
• Virdene’s (the site of June’s meeting. A burger haven) FB – Twitter
• Zagg - FB – Twitter
• SkullCandy - FB – Twitter
• Ski Utah - FB - Twitter

Check out a whole bunch of photos from the event over on our Facebook page

Here is the slide deck from the event.

Let me ask you something… do you ever get auto DM’s on Twitter from people who “found a disturbing photo of you”, then click on it to find that your Twitter account has been hijacked? Or maybe, you don’t notice until after all your friends unfollow you and send you hate tweets. (it happens)

You may find yourself freaking out, maybe even having a panic attack, wondering what you did to offend people. Well, here is what happened my friends:

Since you clicked that link, your account is now property of someone, or some bot, in chumbawumba. These pirates will now use your account to go prey on more innocent victims and take over even more accounts. They will use your account to send out more DM’s to your friends in hopes they fall for the same phishing scheme you did.

Worse than sending phishing DM’s however… they start posting horrible information on your public feed. This is especially bad news if you run a business or a brand (big or small). But it is the big brands that we notice, and feel bad for when it happens. (I will assume you feel bad and not giggle)

But tons of us non-brand folk get scammed too, so Twitter finally said… Stop the insanity!

One more DM of someone finding me on a compromising position, I am gonna….

Well guess what friends… you can now put another quiver in your bow, an added line of defense to your Twitter account if you will, and hopefully stop these scamming hackers in their tweet-tracks!

On May 22, 2013, Twitter announced that they released a new feature called “login verification”.

This enables a 2-step login process when you sign in to Twitter.com. After you have set up this feature, you login to Twitter.com as you normally would, but you are then sent a verification via SMS text to your mobile device that you must enter to proceed.

Check out this video from Twitter to see how it works:

Easy cheesy right?

Now go… protect your account. Stop being hacked, hijacked and impersonated. Stop sending me DM’s about some compromising photo I am in! (I know it’s really not you sending it. But you clicked it the dumb link in the first place. OK, maybe not YOU… you know who you are!)

Besides, this particular scam is quite annoying. I am in a lot of photos. So sometimes I wonder… who caught me? (haha… kidding. Maybe)

Hold up, here is a WTF Disclaimer:

The one thing I find horribly stupid about this is “feature”: If you already have your mobile number associated with another Twitter account, you are out of luck Bucco! Only one account can be used per mobile device at a time. This is beyond ridiculous since so many people use multiple accounts… whether on a personal level or a brand management level. So I say poor form Twitter!  Fix that ASAP!

Now it’s your turn. What do you think of this new 2-step login process?

Until next time…

Doc

I ran across this infographic yesterday, and thought this would be helpful for many local restaurants here in Salt Lake City.

If your restaurant is not currently on these platforms, I highly suggest you get started. Of course, do not just sign up for all of them and go to town leaving yourself spread too thin. Go into this with a proper strategy, choose your outlets wisely, and reap the benefits of what an awesome social media plan can do.

I have to confess however, and I may be wrong here, but I do not see a lot of local restaurants,  let alone local business taking advantage of many of these social tools, and it really is a damn shame.

It is one thing to sign up and “use” them, but you need to let people know you are on these platforms. POP displays are a great way to do that. Anyway, we can save some of those tips for another post.

So with that being said, I think this particular infographic should have been called “10 Ways Restaurants should use Social Media.” 

If you are a restaurant owner, what social sites are you currently on? What ones are working best for you? What platforms would you like more help with understanding?

That is why we are here! So, please leave me your opinion and/or questions in the comments section below.

Until next time…

Doc

Can you believe that global Social Media Club organization has been around for 7 years?

Time flies while we’re tweeting!

Your local SMCSLC chapter thinks that deserves a party. So come and help us celebrate at a fun, casual gathering at the new Microsoft Store at City Creek Center. The Microsoft Store has a great theatre area in the back where we will hold our event.

What’s a party without some fun and prizes? The Microsoft Store has a bunch of swag they will be giving away, as well as 3 XBOX video games. There will be other prizes as well, and light refreshments will be served.

Also, do you feel like you have what it takes to Kinect? There are many live stations where you can take on a Microsoft staff member, or take on a fellow SMCSLC member. Either way, bust a move and have fun!

Come and meet the new SMCSLC leadership team. Learn about our upcoming plans for the organization, and find out about our next educational event in June 2013.

The Details:

When:

• May 30th, 2013
• 6:30 – 9:00 Networking and light refreshments PIZZA! and CAKE!
• 7:30 Announcements and Prize giveaway begins.

Where: 

• Microsoft Store City Creek Center 

Cost:

• FREE

Prizes:

We love you whether you came to say hi or just score some sweet swag.

We will be having a drawing for some pretty awesome gifts including:

• $10 Microsoft Store Gift Card (to the first 80 RSVP’d guests that arrive)
• Bluetooth Keyboard from Microsoft (raffle)
• Bluetooth Mouse from Microsoft (raffle)
• 3 XBOX Video Games from Microsoft (raffle)
• Various Microsoft swag from Microsoft (raffle)
• 2 Zagg Sparq 60000 chargers from Zagg (raffle)
• Megaplex Movie Theatre Gift Certificate form ClutchFuse (raffle)
• BestBuy Gift Certificate from Clutchfuse (raffle)
• and more…

(note you must be registered for the event to be in the drawing for the raffle prizes, and be present to win. Bring a business card for an extra ticket for the raffle)

• Come celebrate with us! Get your tickets now.

But before I introduce the board, I want to thank you for supporting the club over the last few years. It has been awesome getting to know all of you. Some I know more than others, but let’s make sure we change that… OK?

I am very lucky to have a great board of talented and devoted folks to make this club a success. Each of us are taking on specific roles and responsibilities to make sure that SMCSLC runs smoothly, has incredible events, and when the time comes allow us to pass on the torch to the next leaders of SMCSLC with limited to no interruption.

One last thing before I announce the board. We need your help. We have 1 board position still open, as well as many committee positions. If you are interested, there will be more on that below.

Introducing the 2013-2014 Board of Directors:

Darin “Doc” Berntson – President

Cat Killfoil – Vice President

Nicole Bullock, Treasurer

Shawn Butler, Programming Director

Brandon Carter, Digital Scribe

Jessica Peterson, Production Director

Nina Tekwani, Membership Director

Clark T. Bell, Sponsorship Director

This Could Be You, Community/Promotions Director

You can read the bios of each member on our leadership page.

And that is it. As you see we have 1 spot left for the SMCSLC board of directors, and we have many open committee spots available as well. Could one of them be you? If you are interested, fill out the following form and myself or Cat will be in touch ASAP.

Stay tuned for more awesome announcements coming soon.

Also… Save the date! May 30th we will be having our next event. We will be Celebrating 7 Years of Social Media Club. You will not want to miss it! Details to come.

Until next time,

Doc

Krista Parry

A little over a year ago, Scott Cowley, Doc (Darin Berntson) and I met to discuss the re-launch of Social Media Club of Salt Lake City (SMCSLC). Since that time, we’ve recruited an incredible leadership team whose dedication and tireless efforts have helped turned SMCSLC into the incredible organization that it is. It is because of the devoted Board, that each and every event was a big success! I am honored to have led such an amazing group for the last year.

Recently I took a new job that has me traveling around the globe making it difficult for me to give SMCSLC the attention that it deserves from its president. With that being said, I am passing the torch to Doc. He has been an invaluable asset to me over the last year and a part of the SMCSLC team since it’s launch in 2008. He is the perfect person to help take SMCSLC to the next level. There is no doubt that Doc, with the support of the SMCSLC board, will continue to make SMCSLC your place for anything Social. I am happy to say however that I am not leaving SMCSLC entirely as I look forward to continuing to serve on the leadership team.

Evin Catlett

I want to thank Doc and my amazing board for helping to drive SMCSLC back from the dead. I especially want to give a shout-out to Evin Catlett, an integral member of the leadership team, who recently took a new job that has her traveling the globe. She is stepping down from the SMCSLC leadership team but she played a key role in helping us get SMCSLC relaunched. Thanks Evin, for your dedication to making our events a success!

Darin “Doc” Berntson

A leader is only as good as the team that surrounds them and I have had an amazing team. I know that SMCSLC is in awesome hands with Doc as president.

Thank you again to everyone who has served on the leadership team and everyone who has supported SMCSLC over the past year!

Krista

And just to prove he is not a one hit wonder, here is something else he did that required talent.

Here is the original:

And then here are a few of the more than 50,000 video versions of this “dance”:

Next, we present the Ethiopian tribal dance that The Harlem Shake is reportedly derived from:

And finally, here is a video of The Macarena, just to remind everyone that, yes fad dance video memes appear from time to time, but we also know that they quickly disappear again and “normal” life continues.

Oh, this is newsworthy because unlike previous YouTube dance crazes like “Gangnam Style” and “Teach Me How to Dougie,” the internet-enabled world of would-be copycats was completely ready for a new web-based DIY dance craze… sources report that in the 12 days following the video’s debut on Febuary 2nd, the internet collectively has managed to upload more than 4,000 variations of “The Harlem Shake” every day. That is astounding.  How soon until the next uploadable YouTube fan dance craze hits us? Hopefully soon, because our local biker store is sold out of sweet motorcycle helmets.

****Also: don’t forget our event with Peter Shankman, Feb 28 at the State Room.

1. Because It’s Changed Everything

Remember about ten years ago, when people were getting canned for being on social media? Sites like MySpace and Blogspot were blocked in nearly every workplace, and the topic du jour among HR types was how those sites were making millennials even more unproductive.

Now there are workplaces that MAKE employees sign up for profiles on Twitter and LinkedIn. Combined with the sudden onslaught of smartphones, social media is a legitimate force that changes lives and incites revolutions. I love that anyone can start a movement. Or just spread around a bunch of cat photos.

2. It makes me smarter

Cat photos aside, I’m more knowledgeable because of social. The first thing I check when I wake up is Twitter, and usually within about five minutes I know every story that interests my network, which in turn is what interests me. It may be sacrilege considering I write for a newspaper, but I love being able to catch news – and reactions – in real-time. Granted, there’s a need for the content creators to be better about the quality of content they create, but there’s no shortage of opportunity for someone to jump out and make it happen on their own.

3.Everybody’s somebody

What is a social media guru? Honestly, most of them are just like the rest of us – bullsh***ers. I mean, have you really broken down what some of them are saying?

“Businesses must think through how products and services evoke the original inspiration for starting or joining a company and the ongoing aspirations necessary to exceed expectations in the future.”

Yeah, what he said! It doesn’t mean anything, at least nothing that someone can hear and have a clear vision of what they need to write when logging into Facebook and staring at that empty status update box.

But these people have built an audience and a platform. It isn’t just gurus. It’s people who sing, people who can’t sing, waiters, whistleblowers, wasps and warbling goats. If you think you have something to share (important) and the guts to put yourself out there for scrutiny (even more important), then you can be a star.

Why do you love social media? Or do you? I bet there are a few who’ll stumble across this and see social media as a necessary evil, like just about any other form of marketing or advertising. Sound off in the comments, or if you’re anti-social media, send me something in the mail.  

****Also: don’t forget our event with Peter Shankman, Feb 28 at the State Room. Contact me or any other board member for $10 off your registration. You can even do it in the comments here! But only through Valentine’s Day.****