Truly Social Media: Crepes and Conversation with Converseon

My Social Media Week NY adventure continued this morning with an interesting, informative and quite delicious stop at the offices of social media consultancy/agency Converseon. Why was it delicious? Because they served crepes! And not just any crepes, my friends, crepes from Creperie on Ludlow, best crepes in town. Why was it interesting and informative? Because we listened to four veterans of this evolving industry talk about listening, conversation mining through social media and how brands can use that information to create a successful social media campaign and activation strategy.

Here’s who talked about listening (that sounded a little weird, but you know what I mean):

• Moderator: Rob Key, CEO, Converseon
• Jon Burg (@jonburg), Emerging Channels Specialist, Digitas
• Craig Daitch (@cdny), SVP of Activation, Converseon
• Andy Von Kennel (@avkthinks), SVP, Growth Director, Rapp

Why did Converseon host this conversation (other than because it was a great marketing opportunity)? Because listening and conversation mining is what they do. And why did Converseon invite Burg, Daitch and Von Kennel to talk about these topics? Because it’s what they do for their respective clients.

Beyond the crepes (which were amazing, btw), the conversation was interesting and engaging. My complete recap via a Tale of the Tweets can be found below, but here are my three topline takeaways:

1. Listen: listening is critical to any successful campaign because your business is ultimately about people and relationships.
2. Technology is not the answer on its own: your results as a marketer are about the value and insights you get from the technology, not the technology itself. Those are just tools to help you get the information, which then needs to be applied strategically, with human element involved.
3. Wild West 2.0: this area is so new we’re still figuring out how to utilize all the data and information. But this social intelligence will help brands navigate through a constantly changing marketplace.

For pictures from the event, check out Converseon’s Flickr feed. If you want more tweets of quotes from the event, check out @Converseon on Twitter.

Tale of the Tweets: The Road from Listening to Activation

Presentation? Who cares? They served crepes from Creperie on Ludlow! Win. #smwnyc (@ Converseon HQ w/ 13 others) http://4sq.com/4ZHH9J

Converseon: social media is not about the next Twitter account or viral video. #smwnyc

Converseon: Listen! Conversation Mining is the foundation of all social media activity. #smwnyc

Activation panel @converseon: Rapp’s @avkthinks Converseon’s @cdny Digitas’ @jonburg. #smwnyc

Need to move from “social can do everything” to “here’s what social is doing for you and your business.” @jonburg #smwnyc

“We are working hard to take the ‘media’ out of ’social media.’” @jonburg @converseon #smwnyc

Hey dude next to me @converseon, turn off your ringer. And dear god do not answer your phone! #badform #smwnyc

Your success as a marketer will be built on the technology, but it’s not about the technology itself. @jonburg #smwnyc

RT @bevisible takeaway from converseon panel: the human element in analyzing the data is the key #smwnyc

Sentiment is important, but need to drill down on topic level sentiment. @jonburg #smwnyc

Social intelligence helps inform the way brands navigate the changing market and how they speak to people. @jonburg #smwnyc

Interesting observation: lots of agency peeps here and there are a lot more blackberries than iPhones. #smwnyc

RT @catelinp That’s true of any field (even mine). Technology isn’t a solution, it’s just a tool. #smwnyc

RT @converseon “A prospective customer doesn’t care what part of the company you’re in – they care about whether you can solve your problem” @cdny #smwnyc

Re: crowdsourcing. Henry Ford once said, “If I listen to my customers, they’ll want a faster horse.” @converseon #smwnyc

Listening is great, but it has to work with your existing research. @jonburg #smwnyc

Better to have negative chatter than no chatter at all. Negative chatter means people care. @cdny #smwnyc

Ok, seriously dude next to me @converseon answered his phone AGAIN. *smh* #mannersfail

Really enjoyed the conversation @converseon with @jonburg @cdny @avkthinks @bevisible. #smwnyc

P.S. Great meeting @fasciano at @converseon. Hopefully I can get over his poor choice in baseball teams. #nopinkhats