Well, I regretted not being able to go to Podcamp Boston this past weekend but because of the capabilities of social media, I got a feel for what went on.  Greg Verdino of Crayon and an Advisor to the Business Smart Tools conference can be watched here as he and the panel speak about smart social media marketing. 

And a note from Christopher Penn, one of the organizers, about the goals for Podcamp Boston:  With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility!  See more here…I agree that community is the foundation of great power.

One of my clients, my contact from Pitney Bowes, came back and was exhilerated by the passion of the speakers and attendees.  Social media does this. 

A few points to consider:  Greg’s panels says you have to give up some control with social media to be effective, but as I say to many present and potential clients, you actually control more by putting out your message in a clear and consise way on a platform where all people can reference forever what you have said (blog, video….).  Each client controls more through social media than they ever would through a press release where a few media types take what you have said and put their own spin on it!!  Social media also allows you to hear from clients immediately which allows you to repsond publicly which shows your consumer base that you care and can react quickly!

I also fully believe that by building community you are building up a foundation for your company which could last for generations.  Bigelow Tea is doing this with their blog, their myspace page, their facebook page and with all of their videos!  My team is about to head into a presentation with a potential client who understands that community is needed, they just don’t know how to make it happen and so we hopefully will have the chance to build something substantial for them.

This is what Creative Concepts does…we quite simply build communities for our clients.  We don’t do viral one time campaigns (because we don’t believe one time efforts will have a profound long standing effect) and we don’t create banner ads and throw them across millions of websites that have nothing to do with the client (banner ads must have very targeted placement to work at all!).  We enter the communities and we listen and share information.  We build online channels where the customer can get top notch expert content in addition to being entertained and we help the client address each comment no matter what the tone or subject matter….this is what social media is about for the corporate sector and for eveyone really, listening, responding, and contributing!