So blogging Shel’s keynote worked nicely, so here’s my take on Tara Hunt’s presentation.

• Tara Hunt, Founder and CEO, Citizen Agency.

Something unique that I noticed right off the bat is that Tara’s presentation had a lot of slides, but they weren’t information – they were just words on the screen that she was reading, which I wasn’t too keen on actually.  But it was definitely a different take on a presentation that might really connect with some people just because it’s outside the box.  Towards the end it slowed down and there were a ton of lists, which I find helpful, and I hope you do too!

Bullet Point Review!

• Whuffie is a social media currency idea coined by boingboing.
• #1 component to raising whuffie – turn that bullhorn around.
• Focus on individuals while understanding the needs of the community.
• Developed 10 Commandments of Feedback
  • Thou shalt listen to the “experts”, but design for novices.
  • Thou shalt remember that what people want and what they say they want is very different.
  • Thou shalt respond to all feedback, even when thou need to say, “No thanks.”
  • Thou shalt not take negative feedback personally.
  • Thou shalt give credit to those whose ideas you implement.
  • Thou shalt flag even small changes thou makes.
  • Thou shalt be agile: make small, incremental, iterative changes, rather than hold off for big ones.
  • Thou shalt realize that sometimes the smallest, simplest improvements make the biggest impact.
  • Thou shalt remove thou’s ego from the picture (it’s not about thou).
  • Thou shalt avoid consensus at all costs.
• #2 component to raising whuffie – become part of the community.
• Figure out what problem you are solving and for whom.
• Join them, but not as a voyeur or for market research. Authenticity matters.
• You need to be remarkable – why should they choose you over a competitor?
• Word of mouth is really going to amplify sales.
• #3 component to raising whuffie – create amazing customer experiences.
• 10 Things to Create Amazing Customer Experiences
  • Pay close attention to details.  (The lining of a handbag, Easter eggs on a website.)
  • Go above and beyond.  (Find a great example within the industry, and knock it out of the park making it better.)
  • Appeal to emotion and nostalgia. (Creates relationships between consumers & your brand.)
  • Be a social catalyst.  (Connect your customers with one another on whatever level they’re going to naturally connect at, not necessarily around your brand.  Ex: white headphones on iPods)
  • Inject fun into your product.  (Flickr coloring contest from a few years ago is an example of not taking yourself too seriously, as is Virgin America’s silly airline safety video).
  • Experiment and be agile. (Try little things all the time, Threadless is a good example.)
  • Turn banality into something fashionable.  (Method cleaning products are trendy.)
  • Design for flow.  (Think like a game designers, increasingly more difficult challenges, game like flow to engage with each other.)
  • Let people personalize.
  • Make happiness your business model.  (Make it core – competence, connected, autonomous will all boost happy.)
• #4 component to raising whuffie – embrace the chaos.
• You can’t control the message, especially in social media.  The more you try to control it, the more it fights back.
• Lay the foundation, set a template & get ready to discover the everyday magic.
• 7 Ways to Embrace the Chaos
  • Stop moving and look around until you see everything clearly.
  • Transfer the knowledge.
  • Every tome you feel anxiety, acknowledge it.
  • Define your own measures of success.
  • Get outside of your personal circle.
  • Realize that everything is out of your control anyway (the zen point).
  • Have patience.
• Whuffie only works if it’s circulated.
• #5 component to raising whuffie -find your higher purpose.
• Find a way to give back to the community.
• A lot of companies do good AND make money so you can pay your rent.
• Think: what can you give away something that won’t leave you broke?
  • Democratize something – give something to everyone that they didn’t use to have access to.  Blogger gave this to journalism, YouTube gave it to production.  What did you used to have to hire an exper for?
  • Open it up – open source is good and allows people to get involved.  WordPress is a great example of a late comer who just did it better by using open source and innovating faster.  They only have a team of like 5-6 people still due to open sources adding value.
  • Build bridges – connect things, embrace data portability like OpenID.
  • Spread love – give people incentives to be better people.
  • Value something bigger than yourself.
• Being whuffie rich will lead to better word of mouth, increased sales, and a big fat increase to your bottom line.

Points brought up during the Q&A

• There is a power shift going on now, and as people understand it they will embrace it and demand it.
• The inevitability of social media is clear.
• Are there certain segments of industries that ‘get it’ more than others?  Perhaps eco-friendly stuff?  Tara didn’t have any stats but it would certainly be interesting.  She does see a lot more eco-friendly companies with Facebook & social media interaction, as well as fashion and politics.  There’s still a lot of consumer products that need a lot of help.

I wish there had been more time for some for questions, despite not having any questions to ask myself.  I have found that I’m learning more, actually, from hearing other people who are a bit more confused than I about social media asking questions.  Good stuff thus far!  I hope all you readers are enjoying my blog-o-thon of the day’s sessions, brought to you by the fact that the company I work for now has provided a much better laptop than my own!

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That’s right all you conference junkies, there’s a new kid at school.  From the people who bring you Revenue Magazine, Social Media: The Marketing Summit will be taking place locally here in October.  Some of the brightest folks in social media will be there:

1. Lisa Picarille, Publisher & Editor-in-Chief, Revenue Magazine
2. Brian Solis, Principal, FutureWorks and PR2.0
3. Charlene Li, Independent Analyst (formerly of Forrester Research)
4. Tara Hunt, Co-Founder, Citizen Agency
5. Chris Trayhorn, Founder & CEO, PERFORM and Montgomery Research

I’m excited that there’s a new conference on the block, especially one that’s close enough to just commute to!  Unfortunately I won’t be able to afford this on my own and, given my recent changes at work, don’t think the company will send me.

Early bird pricing ends August 30th.  The early bird price is $895, a whopping $400 savings!  As well, I’m officially taking sponsors if someone wants to send me on their behalf.  No travel expenses, just the registration of the conference itself.  If you’re interested in being my BFF, contact me.

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