Social Honeycomb

Podcamp Boston 2 = Gathering of Rock Stars

To everyone who had the pleasure of being a part of Podcamp Boston 2, you know how much fun it was. To those of you who couldn’t make it, please do live vicariously through the many posts, casts and photos that have been popping up around the Web. Podcamp, for me, really was a gathering of social media rock stars. (See Eric Skiff for any and all Podcamp-related rock songs and/or jingles.) Podcamp was brimming with people I look up to, people who inspire me, people who shake things up… Just stellar human beings.

One thing I really enjoy about social media events here in Boston is the feeling that no one is a stranger. I’m young and I’m pretty new to this game, but I always feel completely welcomed by the many people I meet. The atmosphere at Podcamp was electric.

I took away a lot of interesting bulbs of knowledge:

• Twitter is more addictive than crack cocaine.
• Hugs are free and wonderful.
• Listening is one of the most important things we can do as PR people. Whether it’s a podcast, a blog or a face-to-face conversation, listening is one of the keys to kingdom
• There are little things we can do to be more productive, happy and healthy. Since Saturday I’ve been making an effort to drink more water and breathe like a yogi. (Ask Brogan to demonstrate the chest-string-pull if you too would like to enjoy the benefits of better breathing.)
• I guess I really do look like my profile pictures, because people recognized me.
• There’s no time or reason to be afraid of putting yourself out there.
• “With advertising you buy your way in; with PR you beg your way in; with new media you publish your way in” -David Meerman Scott.
• Sometimes you should dance anywhere you want.
• Chris Brogan makes ridiculous faces in photos.
• Podcasting is a really involved process. I greatly respect the people who take the time to plan, produce and edit their content to share with the world. Echoing my third point, I have a lot of listening to catch up on.
• LOLsaurs are pretty sweet.
• Chris Penn has the funniest business cards. Nobody picked one up without smiling.
• You don’t say no to a Pulver Party.
• There is someone in the world who hasn’t heard of Google according to Mitch Joel and CC Chapman.
• Jeff Glasson knows how to make people feel special.
• Facebook is getting so huge that it completely defies logic. It’s like trying to visualize the galaxy. Your brain pretty much can’t handle it.
• Podsafe music is pretty awesome.
• RSS (specifically Google Reader) is uh-may-zing.
• It’s important for us to spend time “finding, following, joining and creating” conversations online. Bryan Person and Doug Haslam gave an interesting presentation/led an interesting discussion about this engagement process.
• Being a student about to graduate at this particular time in history is ridiculously exciting.
• There are some really savvy, talented young PR pros out there who are helping to shape what social media becomes in the future.
• Steve Garfield has one of the friendliest smiles I’ve ever seen.
• Even bars like Tequila Rain can be geeky.
• Scott Monty laughs at pretty much everything I do and/or say.
• My New Media for Public Relations class rocks. You should follow @MaThurrell @danilady and @KeraC.
• I’m lucky to be a Boston girl.
• I’m a big fan of where my life is going.

Like I said before, Podcamp was electric. It was a weekend of connections, hugs, laughter, ideas, conversations, and lightbulb moments. Thank you to Chris Brogan, Chris Penn and all the organizers and volunteers who made Podcamp Boston 2 possible for all of us.

More link love to come. And photos of my Twitter costume. Yes.

Thank You

Compliments are funny. Over the past couple weeks, I’ve gotten some really good ones.  Like the kind that make you sit back and make an unusual face at your computer screen or your cell phone.

As a student, it’s really special and unbelievably appreciated to have positive feedback from professionals you admire. I’m not going to get all mushy or build myself up, but to everyone who has had kind, encouraging, inspiring words to say in the past few weeks, thank you.

I know a lot of really amazing people.

Social Media Breakfast 2

I had a great time this morning at the Social Media Breakfast, held at Digital Influence Group in Waltham, Mass. Loved Larry Weber’s presentation about his new book Marketing to the Social Web and the great people I got to meet (in person!).

The event was a great mix of conversation, laughter and sharing. If you weren’t there, here’s Julia Roy‘s UStream clip from the breakout discussion group we joined after the presentation. David Cutler led the conversation about social media business models and how we can hope to make money in this area of the communications industry.

Thanks to Yianni Garcia and DIG for making this great event possible. I hope to see everyone at PodCamp!

Eddie Bernays, You Sly Fox

I’ve been reading Larry Tye’s book Father of Spin about Edward Bernays, and thought I’d share this video I found from ToddAnd‘s blog.

Very interesting clip of history.