by David Alston
Social media guru Chris Brogan and I had been busy shooting video interviews over the course of three days for a webinar series featuring some of the most recognized names in social media and online WOM. Looking at our production timeline, we expected it would take a few months to edit the video -- so we were looking at a launch of three webinars smack in the middle of the summer vacation season. Heck, there’s never much on TV during the summer, but would people want to sign up for yet another series of webinars?
We had shot the video interviews during two conferences, SNCR’s NewComm Forum in Sonoma County and Web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco. While the timing didn’t afford us the time to attend sessions at the latter, we did get to join in on the fun at SNCR’s event. While sitting in on the sessions, we had both noticed that there seemed to be a digital divide between those using Twitter and those who were not. For those familiar with Twitter, it’s rather commonplace for some significant backchannel conversations to happen via Twitter during any social media event.
So, why the disconnect? Twitter is a free service and quite easy to use, so why weren’t more people jumping in with both feet and joining the conversations that were furiously happening in parallel to the “offline” conference? In fact, why weren’t those new to social media -- attending the conference to learn about how to join in on the action -- actually taking the opportunity to connect with the numerous experts sitting next to them physically and virtually online? To further illustrate my point, I saw a complete room of social media newcomers clear out faster than you could say “Fire” at the end of one session I attended. And this was after an amazing presentation by both Kami Watson Huyse and Geoff Livingston -- where, coincidentally, none other than social media news release inventor, Todd Defren, helped out by advancing the slides. Three top experts who were more than willing to network, but no connections seemingly made. Perplexing for sure.
This was certainly not the first time I had seen this phenomenon. In fact, at every single conference I had attended over the previous six months -- seminars dealing with social media and generally packed with standing room only crowds -- newcomers frantically took notes on the websites they should visit, the tools they should consider, and the authors they should read. But sadly, after each talk, real uptake -- the kind that requires you to actually join that social media conversation already in session -- did not seem to occur in any significant way. Lots of preparation taking place, but with implementation saved for a later date. A bit disheartening.
So would we launch another webinar series, an online simulation of a one-way presentation of information, or could we create something more dynamic, more interactive?
Enter the "twebinar." A mashup between the real-time, multi-directional messaging and networking power of Twitter with the convenience and rich media experience of a video webinar. It’s an experiment to see if the format, requiring a Twitter account to get the full value of each one-hour experience, catches on with those attendees hoping to learn more about social media.
The idea of the first twebinar was first introduced to the Twitter crowd earlier this week, and the uptake has been tremendous. We are now running online campaigns -- both e-letter and targeted Facebook ads -- to reach those wishing to dip their toe into the pool of social media in relation to business, public relations, and marketing.
Each twebinar will attempt to link participants both with speakers and with each other. The connections will begin in advance of each event in order to help to spread the word. The tweets will occur during each webinar video broadcast to promote Q&A and feedback, as well as after each event to promote continual learning through participation within the supportive social media community that already exists.
Will the experiment work? We hope so. By listening in real-time, from a promotional nature, from a topic discussion, and from an event-feedback perspective, course corrections can be made along the path to success. And for those who do decide to participate wholeheartedly they will definitely come away with useful examples, valuable connections with leaders in social media, and the knowledge that they’ve finally put all the preparation to bed and jumped into the world of social media with both feet.
For more information on the Radian6 Twebinars -- a social media summer series with host Chris Brogan featuring interviews with over 30 leaders in social media -- go to http://www.twebinar.com.
David Alston is vice president of marketing at Radian6, a WOMMA member and leading provider of a social media monitoring platform for PR and marketing professionals. He arrived at his current role with previous experience at several tech startups in the interactive advertising and the video over IP space. Most recently, he was partner and vice president of marketing strategy at PR firm, Revolution Strategy. He blogs at TweetPR.
