Play.

Everything I needed to know about social media I learned from being @the_swine_flu.

Baratunde puts an unexpected twist on social media while teaching us what can be achieved by experimenting with social media tools. His experiment with @the_swine_flu stresses the importance of playing with how different platforms can work, complement, and interact with one another. It also shows what can happen when we push the boundaries of expected use. For example, we learn that Twitter alone isn’t always enough, but adding in Facebook (or another platform) can help to enhance participation and the experience. Experiment with what’s possible.

To learn more about @the_swine_flu watch Baratunde’s Ignite NYC presentation

Content.
Content form can help to enable the successful execution of specific social tools and encourage participant action. The Onion’s content and headline techniques lend well to digital execution. Their content consistently takes the form of one-liners and short info bits that are easy to share through Twitter RT’s, Facebook, and other digital means. Prior to Twitter, their readers were already familiar with sharing content through email. The result of new technologies, consistent content, and behavioral norms for The Onion has been frequent viral success and referral traffic.

Platforms.
The Onion uses a mix of platforms to meet their objectives including basic content distribution, real-time coverage, and participation. Remember to always define your objectives and then align your platforms to support them. With the rapid pace of technology we need to stake our claim to new tools and set up a foundation, but wait before making a full commitment.  We need to assess platform value, audience adoption and use, and strategic alignment. We also need to think critically about where we want to be online and what message the use of those platforms sends.

People.
Relationships are even more important than content. Relationship building is a practice that helps to remind people that you exist. The Internet means that we are now competing for information and the attention of those who are interested in it. Real respect for the value of relationships and making a commitment to cultivating those relationships is powerful. This means taking the time to provide value and opportunities for your audience to engage with you both online and in person. Take advantage of, or create, face-to-face event opportunities to further develop the relationship.

Learn more about Baratunde Thurston and follow him on Twitter @baratunde
Learn more about The Year of Social Media and follow updates on Twitter @UIUCsocialmedia

• Ben Edwards, VP, Digital Strategy & Development, IBM
• Noah Elkin, Senior Analyst, eMarketer
• James Gross, Vice President, Federated Media
• Marc-Henri Magdelenat, Director, Microsoft Mobile Media

All of the panelists had really interesting perspectives and insight on mobile marketing. Some of the key takeaways:

• The mobile web will be more pervasive than desktop computing by 2015.
• The panelists all agreed that while we have been hearing that this year is the year of mobile marketing for the past ten years, this year is really the year—and here’s why—the audience is there now. We have reached the tipping point due to critical mass of active users. Marketers are always looking to reach audiences where they are; and their mobile now.
• How people interact with their mobile devices is different than any other platform. It’s a more personal experience; their interactions are based on personal preference. This creates a more fragmented audience and as a result, mobile campaigns must be more targeted.
• In the next year there will be a significant increase in mobile commerce, along with a much richer browser experience due to innovations included in HTML5.

The net-net of this discussion is that if you’re not integrating mobile into your marketing campaigns by now, you’re missing the boat. What do you think? Do you see the value in creating mobile marketing campaigns? Are you integrating mobile components into overall communications plans?

I took tons of notes, but here are a few of the most interesting takeaways:

• 97% of US kids play video games. More than 80 million people visited casual gaming websites in December 2008 alone. And there are more than 100 million Nintendo DS devices currently in use. (Wish I could source these, let me know if you have any ideas.)
• Ben Feder, CEO of Take-Two, explained that there is a “sine wave” associated with the introduction of a new console and innovation around it, typically in the 3-5 years after the console has come to market. He also suggested we may be in the last console cycle. Food for thought.
• Ben also mentioned that while his brands have global appeal, sports titles always do better in North America, while Japan has its own unique market and tastes. He and Lewis Kofsky of Curious Pictures disagreed as to whether it’s better to globalize your development workforce (Ben) or pay top dollar for local talent (Lewis). No matter where the development happens, Peter Marshall of DeWitt Stern noted that more and more big studios (like EA and Activision) are looking to pick up content from boutique shops.
• Wade Tinney from Large Animal Games pointed out that while the old game production model was akin to consumer packaged goods, he sees a game’s launch date as just the first step in its lifecycle. He argued that it’s important to pay attention to how the community responds to the game and to continually add features and tweak as needed. He also mentioned that Large Animal is getting away from microtransactions and moving toward the “$100 diamond bowling ball” type of payment, where “1-2% of the players fund everyone else’s experience,” as opposed to forcing everyone to fork over a buck.
• The jury is still out on the iPhone app store. A lot of the games were seen as “straight shovel-ware” imports from pre-existing flash games. That said, everyone in the industry is paying close attention to ngmoco. Even though the barrier to entry is low, it’s very difficult to get your iPhone game noticed in the “oversaturated” marketplace. One panelist alluded to a new P2P gaming platform that will be available on the iPhone sometime this summer.
• All panelists agreed that it’s less about producing a great game than about creating great intellectual property (Wade) or launching a great brand (Ben). They carefully consider a game’s multi-platform, multi-channel possibilities when setting out to produce any new piece of work.

I bumped into Ben Hargreaves from PickTeams/GoCrossCampus in the elevator on my way up. You may have seen him present at Web2NewYork in March. We agreed it would have been interesting to get someone from the ITP posse (like Area/Code, or one of the guys from Foursquare) on the panel. Next time.

Gotham Media Ventures is holding its next breakfast, Covering an Economy in Crisis: Does the Media Matter?, on May 6. If it’s anything like the one I attended yesterday, go.

After making a brief splash around last year’s Web 2.0 Expo here in New York, Girls in Tech is re-launching with a new leadership team in place. The mission, however, is the same: to empower, educate, and elevate the status of women working in technology fields.

Ok, on to the fun stuff. Girls in Tech NYC is having a “Relaunch” Launch Party next week to jumpstart community connections. Details:

Girls in Tech NYC Relaunch Launch Party
Date: Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Time: 6:30pm – 9:30pm
Location: M1-5 Lounge, 52 Walker Street (Between Church & Broadway)
Cost: $10 advance sale, $15 at the door

Juliette Powell, social media author and entrepreneur, and Joanne Colan, the current host of Rocketboom, will be speaking. Come for the networking, stay for the goodie bags and raffle. And tell the guys in your office they are welcome, too.

Hope to see you there!

One of the major topics of the discussion was how marketers can get their companies involved in discussions taking place in online forums and communities. As most marketing professionals know, it can be tricky to tow the line between your average run-of-the-mill commenter and company spokesperson when you are trying to get a client involved in an online discussion.

Here are my top 5 takeaways from Rob and Jeff on how companies can successfully participate in online communities and discussions:

Be honest, be transparent: Always reveal your intentions and be authentic. If you are from a company, be upfront about it and let the community know who you are, and why you are there.

Stay on topic: Know your audience and how you fit into the community. Remember that you should only share content that is relevant to other members.

Be targeted: Don’t think that you have to be everywhere for everything that is happening online. Take the time to understand the different populations in different communities, and find where your audience is. Don’t be fooled into thinking that you should only target communities with a large number of members — you will be more successful if you find the right

Be a good citizen: Do your research and understand the social order of the communities that you are participating in. Learn their language and recognize how you can fit.

Develop marketing and advertising that will draw in your audience: If you are paying for advertising on a community website or forum, be sure to create advertising that will be exciting and compelling for members. This may mean customizing your advertising for different forums and communities.

Yasmin and I also walked away with some very cool notebooks and some Slashdot “Smart Mass Putty” that I haven’t been able to put down. It really reiterated what we at Affect so firmly believe in when it comes to social networking, so it was great to hear these two people confirm this for us.

-Katie Safrey

Reasons you should attend:

1. O’Reilly coined the phrase “Web 2.0.” They get it.
2. If you use the code webny08emp157 , you’ll get $100 off your registration. You can also use that code to score a free exhibit hall pass!
3. I’ll be there, and I’d love to meet you.

Leave a comment if you’re planning to attend. I opted for the $350 Expo Hall Plus package ($250 with the discount code), which means I’ll get to hit up the keynotes, expo hall events, and sponsored conference tracks. I’ll also get the all-important conference tote bag.