Comments on: Ad:Tech Chicago: Can We Please Stop Preaching to the Choir?

By: The 5 Critical Responsibilities of Social Media Experts | Social Media Explorer

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 10:01:51 +0000

[...] I attended ad:tech Chicago this summer, I took exception to Clay Shirky’s statement that it’s no longer a matter of [...]

By: Six Social Media Keys for Businesses | Open Source Blogging

Six Social Media Keys for Businesses | Open Source Blogging — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 04:01:43 +0000

[...] I came across Jason Falls’ blog, the Social Media Explorer, during our review of the Junta42 Top 42 Content Marketing blogs. Really enjoyed his takeaways from last week’s ad:tech Chicago. Jason’s top six points are below. Make sure to check out the full post here. [...]

By: KatFrench

KatFrench — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 10:57:01 +0000

Matthew –

Thanks for the feedback, and sorry to hear that you had a bad experience at ad:tech Miami.

I think #3 is a particularly hard pill for a lot of agency folks to swallow. Getting a corporate website from conception to go-live is SUCH an exhausting process; I think it's disheartening to hear that now, building a great website just isn't enough. Disheartening, maybe, but true.

By: Matthew Chamberlin

Matthew Chamberlin — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 18:57:47 +0000

Holy crap, what a great post!

I went to ad:tech Miami recently which was billed, predictably, as focused on the Latin market. Same story, different ad:tech.

Luckily, I had won tickets to go. Had I paid full freight, I would have been screaming bloody murder. I'm not sure if they were even preaching to the choir. Half the people didn't even know what church they were in.

Your takeaway #3 is spot on. I JUST got through trying to explain this point to a client.

I could go on for 10 pages echoing everything you just said, but you already said it beautifully.

By: JasonFalls

JasonFalls — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 00:45:46 +0000

Seesmic video reply from Disqus.

By: KatFrench

KatFrench — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 23:11:18 +0000

Kipp - I'm going to give up on the video reply for a bit just to be sure I respond to you today. Yes, you have a point that conferences can provide opportunities to evangelize and educate people on social media--but at a conference that is billed as primarily a training for those in the industry, it's a little disappointing when YOU don't get the opportunity to learn anything new.

Regarding your comment that "Social media is a way of life," reminded me of a post I read on www.social-media-optimization.com about the differences between your generation, Gen Y, and mine, Gen X. For Generation Y, social media is fully integrated in your way of life--you can't separate it out. For Generation X, it's a set of tools. But either way, tools or lifestyle, you learn through application and personal experience.

MartinEdic - That's the consensus I keep getting -- enjoyable, but not that informative.

By: Socializing The ReCycle Studio » Blog Archive » Social Media - A Way of Life

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 20:00:52 +0000

[...] to take over my life, for better or worse. And that brings me to a video comment posted on Social Media Explorer (I feel like I’m stalking Jason Falls) that kind of sums things up. The post was by [...]

By: MartinEdic

MartinEdic — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 18:50:13 +0000

Enjoyed SF though!

By: MartinEdic

MartinEdic — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 18:49:40 +0000

You know I went to Ad:Tech SF a few years ago and had the same experience. I was doing SEM and had a meeting scheduled with a Google 'expert' who was clearly thrown off to be dealing with someone who actually knew how to manage an Adwords account. He'd been talking to people for two days who barely understood what it was.
My personal take is that the advertising agency business is in serious trouble. Social media where its all moving to but they can't figure out how to bill for it!

By: Kipp Bodnar

Kipp Bodnar — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 14:47:43 +0000

Seesmic video reply from Disqus.