Wonderful post.

However, like anything, intent, positioning, and marketing is everything in the absence of a pre-existing relationship. It’s more than a fair assessment and reaction based on how the conference was sold…and after all, perception is 9/10ths of the law.

Social Media Marketing is a sensitive subject and the right people have no need to be on the defensive.

I can see how the tone of the sales letter for the conference could be off-putting, but I find it unfortunate when people pass quick judgments. Even more “dangerous” than the supposed actions of the conference are the short-sighted generalizations being passed on the people involved and information shared in the event.

All you would need to do is listen to the opening panel of this conference to realize how many times the words “relationship”, “community” and “value” came up.

I don’t understand why making a living all of sudden became black hat.

The faculty that I know from the conference are people who work hard to develop a community and offer them value. They have rich experience in using social media to connect with their target market.

@Joshua Porter, exactly. See you at SXSWi!

@Geoff Livingston, Yep, you’re exactly right. I think the education and focus needs to be on helping businesses pick the right partner b/c otherwise, depending on Google search results, the Web doesn’t filter BS of genuine practitioners.

@Erica O’Grady, LOL!

@Jim Tobin, Thank you Jim. I believe our focus has to be on helping people understand how to find those that can truly help them. We can establish tiers that separate those who can help vs. those seeking to cash in by reinforcing and pointing to work and expertise instead of lip service.

@Paul Chaney, I hope so! You’re right. I still wrestle with that quite a bit…but it will be that way eventually if people have anything to say about it.

@lewis8, indeed I did…I folded them into one post b/c they’re one in the same at the end of the day. To the untrained eye, the conference seems like a genuine solution to help businesses “engage.” The point is that they’re positioning it for business/corporate as well…and it was a compelling excuse to branch the discussion into how companies can truly embrace social media marketing into the mix. Good points!

Good post. I agree that this conference is one that should be disparaged. But it seems as if you folded two posts into one: 1) The conference is sleazy as is the underlying premise. I agree; and 2) Not all marketers can consult on social media. True. That can be said of most marketing strategies and tactics. As in any field, we marketers know more about some things than others, and they are the ones we most often execute upon.

But I am confounded as to what that has to do with the conference, and what examples of bad social media consulting can you point to in the corporate world? Don’t have the research to back this up, but in my reading of 100s of blogs and viewing way too many videos, social media seems to bear the same resemblance to the tools that came before it, including PR. Some do it really well, others not so much.

Back in the day, blogging was a purist medium replete with genuineness, authenticity and transparency. Marketers got hold of the technology and all hell broke loose.

Can marketing be made a truly human exercise? That’s my hope. But, as long as we focus on “targeting audiences” instead of “participating in communities” I don’t know that it ever will be.

Excellent post. We spend most of our time upfront trying to figure out how the tools can be applied to each particular situation. Some companies are boring. Others, as you say, make crap. Others have really great stories that the other channels don’t allow them to communicate.

It does feel some days like it’s 1990 and having a website was going to help you get rich quick.

The hucksters will hopefully be revealed as such, and the people who use these tools properly will be rewarded.

Well done…

~Jim

Good post, Brian.

Think of how it would have sounded if the title of the conference were: Use Your Friends To Find Clients, Make Money & Create the Lifestyle of Your Dreams. How many people would be offended?

Probably as many as should be offended by the actual title.