We thought about doing one of those standard evaluations - you know, the survey that clutters up your inbox. But then we thought…what’s the simplest thing that could possibly work? A blog post! We know you’ll tell us all the stuff that’s worth telling us–it’s the word-of-mouth way.
So go ahead. We can take it. Use the comments section to tell us the good, the bad, the ugly about your Buzz2009 experience. Here are a list of things we’re curious about.
- Andy’s keynote
- Case studies with Rob, Brian, Marguerite, Tara, and Jill
- Webcast with Guy, Andy, Stephanie, Stacey, and Brendan
- Scenarios with Lindy and Maddie
- Takeaway exercise with Jeremy
- The food
- The space
- WOM Slam the night before
- Happy hour
You can also let us know your thoughts by email–lindy[at]socialfish[dot]org. Can’t wait to hear from you!
Did you miss one of the breakfasts? Good thing we did video recordings of all three sessions.
{ 12 comments }
Buzz2009 was absolutely amazing! The meeting was jam-packed with helpful information and I probably got more out of that one day, than in three days of other conferences!
I was happy I had the chance to participate in the WOM Slam, which is something is plan to try out again…I honestly had a great time using my brain to find a solution that I could then apply to my own organization.
Buzz2009 was like a really fun and geeky day camp for adults. I enjoyed meeting many people whom I’d only know via Twitter previously. I just had a multi-departmental meeting on Friday during which I made a few suggestions that were inspired by my Buzz2009 experience. They were accepted and everyone left with a smile and the idea that we were working together to make things better…that’s a pretty good success story, if you ask me!
Since I was the fortunate recipient of a scholarship to attend Buzz2009, I am especially grateful to the organizers and sponsors for the meeting. This is definitely something I want to attend in 2010 and there is no debate about whether or not Buzz2009 provided value - this was an “A-Plus” quality meeting!!!!
Well I can’t speak to the face-to-face event because I wasn’t able to be there. However, I can share my thoughts about the webcast and associated Twitter-stream. Webcasts, especially simulcasts are definitely crap-shoots. Sometimes they work and sometimes they don’t I think it depends on how much emphasis and awareness is placed on them during a live meeting. In the case of Buzz2009 I thought that the webcast did a great service for those of us who were connecting at a distance and in combination with the Twitter-stream made everyone who was online feel like they were “really” connected to the event.
It’s a great case study for connecting virtual and physical attendees together and making them feel like they were all part of the same conversation. I’m sure my experience wasn’t nearly as good as being there in person, but I did get a lot from the webcast nonetheless. Great facilitation, great panelist and great topics. You definitely get two-thumbs up from me. Awesome job across the board.
And for the record if there is a Buzz2010 or Buzz2009.5 you can definitely count me in.
Maddie & Lindy:
What can I say except thank you. As a virtual attendee, I felt connected to the audience on site and the speakers during the webinar. Wow, what a great reach your webinar content had and will continue to have in the future. It was quality content and it left me wanting more.
Thank you for allowing free access to it.
BTW, I did a Twitter reach comparison of your free live streaming webinar to MPI’s paid Virtual Access Pass opening general session. You had 379% more people than your face to face attendance tweeting about your event. That’s amazing. Kudos to you, your sponsors and the event’s organizers!
http://jeffhurtblog.com/2009/07/13/free-versus-paid-event-live-streaming-a-twitter-comparison/
Here’s what I thought rocked:
- Andy’s Keynote, I walked away with some awesome notes (they’re on my blog)
- The “Yes, Maybe Whoa” sheet (sorry I don’t remember the punctuation right now), super helpful since I always forget to take non-digital notes
- The demo of how Guy K tweets. I think if I can get to be a beta tester for Objective Marketer my productivity will improve greatly!
- The SocialFish scenarios
- That this wasn’t a 101 type of day, I felt like I actually walked away with actionable ideas inspired by the creativity of those around me.
The things to make awesomesauce next time:
- Though I was totally honored to be 15ft. from Guy K. & Andy, the focus shifted to what felt like a more corporate view. To me it seemed like the millions of other webinars & live-streams that I can attend & then ask myself afterwards “How can I apply this to my non-profit?”, but then I ask myself do we have any Association Social Media rockstars? (I mean besides the SocialFish)
- I think panels that are discussions between the panelists & the audience are way more interesting & engaging than the super moderated versions and I felt like the association panel kinda fell into that a bit. I was looking for more of a conversation than moderated Q&A.
What I’m looking for in the future:
- To hear stories about people who have failed at social media & why they think they failed.
- Strategies to teach people how to “let go of control”
- For the association panel, be briefed on what all they’ve done in the social media world before the panel starts. It will give attendees time to poke around before or during to get a little more context to what they are speaking about.
Great job ladies! Will definitely be there next year.
Loved the WOM Slam.
Loved Andy’s keynote.
Loved the panel Guy moderated (Stacey Kane is the bomb-diggity, BTW).
Loved the venue(s) - I’m including the WOM Slam and happy hour locations there.
I thought that Maddie & Lindy’s exercise needed way MORE time.
I thought Jeremy’s exercise needed less time. My little group ended up drifting/goofing off.
Although I appreciated the thought of trying to keep us all awake at the end of the day, I thought having two table exercises back to back might not have been the best choice. Ending with a really energetic, short presentation might have worked better.
I thought it was a great day. Thanks to both SmartBrief and Social Fish for all you did to ensure a pleasant and productive experience. Lot’s of smart people in the room and a small enough venue to keep it personal.
I strongly recommend keeping it small. While the temptation will be to grow the event (and there is lots of potential to do that), I believe a larger conference was risk losing the intimacy that made it special. Having said that, the happy hour that followed was a bit too intimate and difficult to connect with even the small subset of attendees who were able to participate.
Great Day! While I ususally lean towards making sure that education I plan or attend is “associationized”, the perspectives brought by folks who have been at this longer than most associations was crucial to the learning that day. Also, I felt like I learned something from everyone in the room that day. Felt a lot more like a facilitated conversation than a talking heads show (even though their was some of that).
Would have liked a little more time for the exercise. In fact, it might have been way cool to have the results of the exercise commented on by some of the presenters in the room.
Best education event I’ve attended this year!
Thank YOU so much–and all the generous sponsors who made it possible for me to attend. I had a great time and loved it for many reasons:
1) The venue was awesome–makes me wish I was a lawyer so I could work in a building like that.
2) The participants–everyone was psyched to be there and everyone was helpful and friendly and interested in sharing.
3) The speakers–all were engaging and interesting and relevant.
4) The giveaways–loved getting Andy’s book–now I just need to find time to read it.
I liked that there honestly wasn’t much focus on tools at all; it was about WOM and why the tools aren’t the important part.
Bravo and can’t wait till the next one!
(I left this same comment on the Socialfish blog)
To this comment I would add that I second everything Lynn and Elizabeth suggested as far as timing and more emphasis on associations.
I would also suggest a panel or exercise dealing with challenges people are facing as they implement their assn’s social media strategies–turf battles, silos, slow adoption, resistance to change…the not so fun stuff. Maybe something about coping strategies for keeping your motivation up in the face of constant obstacles.
I forgot something!
So I’ve never seen a sponsored tweet work & I think you guys actually made it work. I was shocked. I think it worked partly because there were vendors that were there participating in the learning with us, they provided scholarships so some of my most favorite colleagues could join me & (for the most part, one exception) they did not push their products in our faces. I loved that there were no vendor tables with sales reps braying for my attention. Don’t get me wrong, I love consultants & vendors
- but it was nice to be there learning with them instead of them selling me their services & products.
Also, disclosing that there were sponsored tweets at the beginning (before they started showing up) was key so that we would know what to expect and why they were sponsored.
Again… Good work ladies!
Great event! I really enjoyed the WOM Slam and Andy’s presentation on Word of Mouth. Guy’s perspective on Twitter was enlightening. Overall, it was great to be in a room where most, if not all, the people recognize the power of social media for associations and nonprofits. Although it shouldn’t be unusual, it’s a rare occurrence.
I would like to see more small association SM solutions and a SM for associations tech tools presentation. I’d like to know more about what tools associations are using and how.
Also, as one of the few travelers to the event, a second day of workshops would have been great, but understand I was the exception.
Thanks. Good work. I hope Buzz2010 fits into my schedule/budget.
Yes, it certainly was. For starters, I met a lot of my Twitter and blogger pals for the first time. It’s so rewarding to know a bunch of folks who are smart, generous, caring and passionate about their work and lives.
The content was really good, particularly since it wasn’t just all theory but we heard from folks who are using social media and dealing with successes and challenges. Plus hearing from those outside the association industry is really valuable too. It’s an understatement that they have a lot to teach us. I enjoyed all the sessions, although my energy was lagging toward the end (all that multitasking!).
The food and space (wow!) were great. I’m glad there were plenty of outlets and wifi available. I really don’t think you can have a conference or seminar these days without that. You gave us each plenty of space, so I could take notes on my laptop — I’m using those for Buzz2009 reports on my blog (first one published today on Andy’s five T’s). I love that you made it easy for us to bring the conference to others who weren’t there via our tweets and, of course, the webcast brought it to an even larger audience.
I didn’t attend the WOM slam the night before but enjoyed the happy hour after the conference. Rick has a good point about the intimacy. Since the space was so small, it was tough to move around. But I appreciated the free beer!
Above all, I really appreciate receiving the scholarship to attend. Thank you to all the sponsors for their generosity.
It was an amazing day! I have never had such a personalized geeky experience. I have since decided that SM’ers are, for the most part left-handed extroverts. That’s probably debatable, but nonetheless, being in an environment with so many creative-thinking do-gooder geeks was refreshing and energizing.
I wish Jeremy had presented earlier in the day and that there was more time to hear him speak. I think the panel was incredible, but a little bit long. It was a thrill to see Guy and Andy, not only because they are so inspiring, but because they embody some remarkable (thanks, Jeremy) contrasts that helped define the use of social media for associations vs. the use of social media as a pure marketing activity. While both presented important “take-away” tools for associations, they also illustrated the point-counterpoint between sheer strategy and personal connection.
Next year, I’d like to hear more about SM advocacy strategies and integration of various platforms and media for comprehensive SM campaigns.
I want to thank you all (participants, hosts, and sponsors) for the openness and willingness to share. I was a scholarship recipient who is taking what I learned to pay it forward to my field…like…right now! I’m presenting on SM at my organization’s conference tomorrow! While it’s not my first time around the block presenting about SM, the inspiration from Buzz2009 has people at the conference suggesting that I cut back on the caffeine. Thanks for the buzz!