Aptly titled “Fad or Future?”, it’s a podcast series and whitepaper, all rolled into one. Here’s the official wordage:

Can Web 2.0 technologies – largely applied only in a social sphere – be used to make business more efficient and effective? Evidence among the growing number of businesses converting to “Enterprise 2.0” seems encouraging. Find out more in KPMG’s unfolding series – Enterprise 2.0: Fad or Future?

We’re incredibly pleased to announce that Collin Douma has joined Social Media Group as a strategist. For those of you who don’t know him, Collin is one of the best and the brightest working in web 2.0 today and he runs a very well-respected blog at www.radicaltrust.ca. Here’s his official bio:

For Collin, social media is more than an emerging media, it’s become an arrived-upon obsession. Collin will provide SMG’s clients with strategy, training and advice on the applied business use of social media, as well as “hands on” assistance in tactical execution of related projects and programs. In his 12+ years of creating and developing internet platforms, digital marketing and advertising campaigns, he’s learned that the formula to success is strategic relevance, targeted messages, insightful creative with consumer focus, and measurable results.

Over the course of his career, Collin has worked with many clients including GM Canada, Coca-Cola, Fido, Sears, Singer, and Roche International, amongst others. He has published social media insights and business theory for Marketing Magazine, MediainCanada.com, and is a regular contributor to the Canadian Marketing Association Blog.

You can follow Collin’s social media exploits at radicaltrust.ca, where he engages in a conversation concerning social media, brand democratization and consumer empowerment.

It’s amazing to be in a position to snatch up one of the most highly regarded social media minds in Canada, and we’d like to do more of it. We’re actively hiring people interested in working in this space and who deeply and completely understand it. At the moment there are no set roles – we’re going to throw the invitation to get in touch out there and see what you throw back. To find out more, please email me at maggie at socialmedia group ca or give me a ring at 905-975-5568.

And welcome aboard, Collin!

(REPEAT) Back to basics! Welcome to the 15th edition of Social Media Today with Maggie Fox, the official podcast of the Social Media Collective;. In this episode we talk to Rohit Bhargava, Vice President, Interactive Marketing, Ogilvy Public Relations, and originator of the concept of social media optimization.

Click to listen:

Do subscribe to our feed – we’ll be interviewing a new member of the Social Media Collective each week, the podcast is published fresh every Wednesday. You can even leave us audio comments right here using the handy tool below.

Show Notes:
Rohit, author of the widely read Influential Interactive Marketing Blog, tells us a bit about what he does at Ogilvy, the kinds of services he is asked for by his clients and provides some insight into Ogilvy’s social media methodology. He explains the notion of social media optimization and we discuss whether blogging is dead, what the future of social media may hold for the enterprise, marketing, media and public relations and the importance of social media measurement.

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According to this article in today’s AdWeek, it’s BarbieGirls (an August 13th BG press release states they’ve accumulated 4-million users in the first 90 days and are now adding 45,000 new users a day. It took SL three years to top the 1-million mark, and it’s now closing in on 9-million residents).

Visit the site and you’ll see a video of how membership works – you need to buy a Barbie Girl figure (which looks like it might just be a fancy USB key) that you attach via a dock to your PC in order to get access.

Naturally, concern #1 for most parents would be the pedophile factor, and of course purchase of Barbie Girls is not limited to, well, girls. According to the “Message to Parents” page, there are filters in place that limit words and phrases that can be used and all kinds of features that enable the kids using the site to block weirdos.

Girls being girls, however, I think the biggest thing we’re going to be hearing about once school starts is “virtual bullying” on Barbie Girls. You know, throwing a party online and inviting everyone in the class but Cyenna, etc.

I’d probably have to buy a Barbie Girl to find out, but I wonder – do the community managers offer advice like that painted on the cars driven by the Dearborn Police (“Be nice to people”)? They should – it’s a pretty important lesson.

Welcome EPS23 of Social Media Today, the official podcast of the Social Media Collective. In today’s episode, we speak with Steve Douty, President of BSG Applications and Scott Brittain, Chief Engineer for the BSG Customer Collaboration Engine, about their work in bringing Web 2.0 collaborative tools into the enterprise.

Click to listen:

Do subscribe to our feed – we’ll be interviewing a new member of the Social Media Collective each week, the podcast is published fresh every Wednesday. You can even leave us audio comments right here using the handy tool below.

Show Notes:

Today we speak with Steve and Scott from BSG Alliance (employer of fellow Collective member Susan Scrupski), a company that bills itself as helping firms become “next generation enterprises”. They tell us a bit about BSG Applications, and we talk about evaluating the benefits of collaborative tools, some of the value that their customers have experienced, how they tie these tools back to cost-saving strategies, their consultancy model, the biggest barriers/drivers and centres of opposition to adoption, how BSG practices what it preaches, and whether this web 2.0 stuff is all really just a bubble about to burst.

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On Thursday, September 13th from 2-3 p.m. EST, I’ll be hosting a Webinar presented by Communitelligence titled, “How to Get Buy-In for your Web 2.0 Project”. Here’s the synopsis:

You understand the incredible transformative power of social media in the hands of millions of users. You know that a properly executed strategy can propel your firm well past the competition in the hearts and minds of your consumers. But how do explain all of this to your boss? In this engaging and informative seminar, [I will share my] numerous experiences in getting corporate buy-in at the highest levels, giving you the understanding and ammunition you need to get the Web 2.0 ball rolling within your firm.

Takeaways:
1. The numbers – bosses may not know social media, but they know numbers. We’ll talk about how many people use web 2.0 tools and platforms and provide you with the ammunition you need to provide context and justification for your social media plans.
2. Who’s doing what? Using practical facts and case studies we’ll examine emerging best practices and give you examples of how companies have successfully leveraged social media.
3. How can you measure the success of a social media program? There are no metrics “formulas”, but we’ll talk about setting benchmarks, measuring engagement and touch on the idea of calculating ROI
4. The risks – what are they, and what do you need to be careful of? How can you neutralize them? Do’s and don’ts.
5. Resources – using real-world examples, we’ll talk about basic resource requirements and how planning ensures success.
6. Open Q&A – bring your questions. There will be an open Q&A session following the formal presentation.

Who should attend?
1. Executives and managers who “get” social media but need buy-in from key decision-makers to move forward.
2. Executives who have heard about “Web 2.0” and are trying to assess whether it’s important or not.

Interested in signing up? You can do so here, cost is $195 USD.

See it for yourself. Happy Friday!

This from our fine friends at eMarketer. Here’s the requisite chart:

Passing the 50% mark is being touted as a major tipping point in the way that people consume content, but I think it’s just a big number that looks impressive. We passed the tipping point a long time ago – the number that indicates that is the nearly 75% of Internet users who have watched video online.

The incredible thing you must remember, before this becomes old news, is that most of that behaviour was spread virally by email and IM – first dozens, and then hundreds and eventually millions of people sharing links to cool videos with one another.

Welcome EPS22 of Social Media Today, the official podcast of the Social Media Collective. In today’s episode, we have a brief chat with Mike Stopforth about the incredible success he and his firm Cerebra, a dedicated social media consultancy, have been experiencing in South Africa. We also learn about his side project, Afrigator, which was recently featured on CNNMoney and in Business 2.0 magazine.

Click to listen:

Do subscribe to our feed – we’ll be interviewing a new member of the Social Media Collective each week, the podcast is published fresh every Wednesday. You can even leave us audio comments right here using the handy tool below.

Show Notes:

We’re catching up with Mike Stopforth, who was the subject of one of our most popular podcasts ever earlier this year. Mike explains how he’s gotten Cerebra to where it is today, tells an interesting story about using hackers for the power of good, and discusses his side project, Afrigator, which has received some major media attention in North America.

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