Milwaukee – The Social Media Coast? Social Media University sets the bar high.
Wow. What a day it has been. I had the honor of presenting a session called Find and Fuel Fans with Facebook at Milwaukee’s first Social Media University-Milwaukee event. The attendance for the day topped out at around 400 and engagement was very high in all the presentations Al and I attended.
What strike me as the most interesting aspects about the experience are 1) the quality of information shared in one concentrated day, 2) the incredibly high level of knowledge and competence in this topic from within the city of Milwaukee and 3) the quality and level of attention to detail seen through the event’s execution. Trivera Interactive, our hosts for the day, set the bar VERY high and blew us all away with the event.
Check out the interview that Al Krueger did with Tom Snyder of Trivera Interactive.
Don’t get me wrong; I’m not the slightest bit surprised, but I think maybe others might be. People outside of Milwaukee. And some people in Milwaukee. It’s not necessarily what we are known for. Yet. We have agencies and individuals doing some great work in the social media space, working with companies at the local, national and global level to educate and optimize their efforts in the Web 2.0 space. Did I mention this is Milwaukee?
I have high hopes for the downstream impact of this event. The attendees represent a veritable Who’s Who of the major companies in the Milwaukee metro area, Chicago and beyond. I hope that this helps showcase the depth of skill that can be found from within the Milwaukee area, rather than seeking this knowledge elsewhere. I hope that attendees and speakers from the event today continue this dialogue and find meaningful ways to leverage the learning.
And I really hope this isn’t the only Social Media University event that we see in Milwaukee. The value is apparent.
July 29, 2009 at 8:09 pm #
I couldn’t agree more. I really was impressed with the quality of the presentations, the speakers — all facets of Social Media University. It’s really encouraging to see something like this take place in Milwaukee, and achieve such success.
I was sorry I couldn’t attend more of the breakout sessions, especially the Facebook one you presented, which I heard more rave reviews about than any other session.
I’d be shocked if there isn’t another Social Media U.
July 30, 2009 at 7:21 am #
Thanks for the kind words, Steve. I’m glad you found the day to be valuable. I have a sneaking suspicion we’ll be seeing more of these events in the future, too. The interest is definitely out there.
July 30, 2009 at 11:30 am #
I, too, regret that I didn’t attend your Facebook session. But I found your Powerpoint slides on slideshare the most useful, comprehensive I’ve seen. Not only stats but also FB strategies, which are more important to me.
Thanks so much for sharing your work.
July 31, 2009 at 11:53 am #
I attended Sara’s presentation, in terms of how much good info she had to give us, well…it was the verbal equivalent of the number of notes Jimi Hendrix could play! Most appreciated was to see all the tools for quantifying who and how many are clicking. To me, the real revolution is the amount of market research that can be generated in a few clicks.
Thank you Sara !
July 31, 2009 at 1:42 pm #
Wow. A verbal comparison to Jimi Hendrix, eh? I’m flattered, to say the least. The entire event was quite an accomplishment and I know I speak for other presenters when I say that it was an honor to be a part of it. Thanks for your kind words and thanks for reading.
August 5, 2009 at 9:35 am #
Thank you for a great presentation on Facebook. The entire day was a huge learning experience for me, as I am very interested in social media and its various purposes. I have been learning about Facebook through mostly trial and error, and I really appreciate you sharing your background with the Facebook apps with your audience.