We are asking for your feedback again today as we are diving right into planning for TWTRCON SF 10.  (We are also planning some changes to the TWTRCON site to make it a more extensive content resource for you, but will cover that in a separate blog post.)  Below we will outline some of the key take-aways we got from the attendee survey that attendees filled out after the TWTRCON NY 10 event, along with some feedback we have heard in conversations we’ve had with participants .

Whether you attended TWTRCON NY 10 in person, participated online, or just found out about the event, we would love to hear any comments, ideas and suggestions that would help us in the planning process. Program ideas? Speaker suggestions? Networking events? Let us know if you agree or disagree with the comments below, and add in anything we missed!

We are numbering the list so you can reference a specific point in your comments:

1. Reasons for attending:  the top reason for attending TWTRCON NY was “developing business strategies,” followed by “learning social media best practices.”   What makes a conference like TWTRCON valuable to you?

2. Overall reviews:  Overall, people felt TWTRCON was a great experience.  People said  they “loved it,” that it was a “very constructive use of a single day,” a “must-attend for any organization involved in the world of social media.”

3. Stand-out sessions:  Most of the sessions received very high marks, too. The highest rankings went to the closing keynote by JetBlue’s Marty St. George (“lively” and “very specific steps described how a brand went viral”) and to the Martha Stewart interview (“she’s very authentic and David Pogue is excellent” and “she’s interesting and really embraces what Twitter is all about”).  But many other sessions received very high ratings and comments, including:

• Steve Rubel’s Bottom Line on Real Time panel – “Asked pointed questions. Got direct answers” and “provided the most actionable information, KPIs.”
• Laura Fitton’s morning keynote – “Funny, informative, and she knows her stuff.”
• Phil Terry’s Customer Service panel – “because that is a main driver for our social engagement”
• The Dell and TurboTax presentations – because they provided  tangible insights into what brands are doing
• BPTerry got a lot of attention — but it was not all good.  While some people felt he “kept it real,” other thought it was “in poor taste, not funny and generally uncomfortable.”

4. It’s a lot for one day – maybe too much? For the most part, people liked that they were able to get a ton of information in one day.  Several people did say the day was very long, and suggested more breaks or shortening the event.  This is one reason we’re working hard to get all of the videos for every session up online, so you can review content you may have missed.

5. Time to go even deeper. “More actionable takeaways, tips, specific strategies.”   A lot of people commented that it’s time to go beyond the  strategy stuff, and focus even more on specific how-to’s, instructions and real-world examples.  Several people suggested we add tracks or breakout sessions. We are definitely building this take-away into our planning for the SF event, where we plan to add some workshop-style sessions throughout the day.  We would love more input here:

• what specific topics would you like to see covered in more depth in a workshop-style session?
• do you have suggestions on how to structure the workshops so that you would get a lot out of them?
• what types of instructors should run the workshops?  Tech vendors?  Social media experts/consultants?  Brand social media managers?
• can you suggest specific speakers we should consider?

6. Love the big brands, but don’t forget small businesses.  A number of people commented that they’d like to see more case studies of how small companies are using the real-time web and social media – and don’t forget about those who are “ghost-tweeting for small business clients.”  Do you know any small companies doing a great job with Twitter?  Let us know!

7. Missing topics? Integrating Twitter into the overall social media marketing strategy, more on what’s  coming next, more real-world examples.  What else?

8. The attendee experience. We got kudos for the power strips (thanks, AT&T!), the onsite check-in (thanks, Colleen, Carolyn, Alex & all of our great volunteers!) and the on-screen Twitter feed.  People also loved the TweetUp at RubyFoo’s and the wireless access.  Not so good?  The food  (yes, we know, we are working on how to stage a take-over of the Hilton’s kitchen next year!) and some problems with the sound system.  What else?

As you may already have heard, the next TWTRCON will be returning to the Hotel Nikko in San Francisco on November 18.  Because we’re going back to where we started, we think it’s a great opportunity to re-imagine certain aspects of the event and kick it up a notch.  Your feedback and ideas at this stage are super important and helpful — thanks for taking the time to share them, either via the comments below, or by email to me at tonia <at> modernmediapartners <dot> com.  Thanks!!

We Need You! There’s a reason that the TWTRCON agenda is very light on “social media gurus.”
There is no such thing as a social media expert.  We love Twitter and the real-time web because there is no right and wrong way to do it–just a lot of questions, cool ideas and people willing toshare their thoughts.  We want to hear what your ideas and questions are, which is why we are
building in tons of time for q&a discussions, and even have an Open Mike session where everyone will have a chance to go on stage.  It’ll be more fun if you’re part of the conversation!

See you on Monday!

We had put the entire event together in 8 weeks, an absolutely amazing experience that worked only because the community grabbed a hold of the idea and helped to made it happen.  We had incredible support, from our earliest speakers–Steve Rubel, Laura Fitton, Guy Kawasaki, MC Hammer, Intuit’s Seth Greenberg, Comcast’s Frank Eliason, Boingo’s Jeremy Pepper, Kogi BBQ’s Mike Prasad, Adventure Girl Stefanie Michels and more; from marketing partners such as Operation Smile, PR Newswire and others; and from our first sponsors, companies such as CoTweet and TweetFunnel (now MediaFunnel).

It felt like we were doing something really important.  Still, a number of industry experts told us:  ”Enjoy it while it lasts–because it won’t last long.”  It was the height of Twitter-mania, and many people felt that it was just another fad, a fad that would go as quickly as it had come.

One year later, I know that they were wrong.  Twitter has irrevocably changed the way that we do business.  Many organizations are only just beginning to create a plan to follow the trail blazed by TWTRCON SF 09 speakers from brands like Virgin America, Dell, Kogi BBQ and Intuit.  Those early Twitter for Business pioneers in turn have opened the door for companies to explore new real-time platforms such as Foursquare, to integrate micro-blogging into traditional marketing campaigns, or to create sophisticated analytics based on listening to real-time customer feedback.  TWTRCON NY 10, the third TWTRCON event, will  be looking at all of these issues and more.

But the real reason I know that our first birthday will be the first of many, is this tweet, sent by a young “social media enthusiast” a couple of weeks ago:

For us, TWTRCON is a conference and a community.  For Dina, TWTRCON represents a future career.

So we dedicate our birthday wish to Dina, and to all of the smart, fearless, ambitious social media enthusiasts like her who will transform the way we do business in the years to come. May HER wish come true – we can’t wait to hear what she’ll have to say.

TWTRCON NY 2010 to Feature Panels on Location-Based Marketing, Real-Time Customer Service and Case Studies from Leading Brands

June 14 Conference Speakers Include Twitter Pioneers Martha Stewart, JetBlue, Starbucks, Whole Foods and Comcast, plus Tech Innovators Foursquare, Gowalla and Google

NEW YORK, May 26 /PRNewswire/ — Modern Media today announced that TWTRCON NY 2010 (http://twtrcon.com/), a one-day conference on the business use of Twitter taking place June 14, 2010 at the Hilton New York, will focus on how companies using the real-time web and location-based platforms are transforming businesses and driving revenue. Industry experts including Martha Stewart, Dennis Crowley (Foursquare), Marty St. George (JetBlue), Frank Eliason (Comcast) and Brad Nelson (Starbucks), among numerous others, will share best practices for implementing the real-time web to drive bottom line results.

“With Twitter, the real-time web and location-based services all driving business opportunities, we created TWTRCON to help companies figure out how to best use these technologies,” said Tonia Ries, founder and CEO of Modern Media, and host of the event. “At TWTRCON NY, we will showcase leading organizations who are utilizing Twitter and the real-time web to transform their business, and will also hear from technology experts about new trends that will affect how brands use these tools in the future.”

TWTRCON NY 2010 will feature keynotes from Martha Stewart, who will be interviewed by New York Times columnist David Pogue; from JetBlue CMO Marty St. George; and from oneforty.com founder Laura Fitton. The conference will include panel discussions and case study sessions covering:

• Location-based marketing strategies, with Foursquare co-founder Dennis Crowley, Gowalla CEO Josh Williams and Starbucks’ Brad Nelson
• The bottom-line value of the real-time web, moderated by Steve Rubel, with panelists from Domino’s Pizza, Newell Rubbermaid, Whole Foods Market and LiveStrong.org
• Customer service and real-time response, with Comcast’s Frank Eliason, PepsiCo’s Joshua Karpf, AT&T’s Shawn McPike and NASA’s Stephanie Schierholz
• Social media’s impact on the media industry, with panelists from The Huffington Post, the Associated Press, The New York Times, Syfy Digital and moderated by paidContent.org founder Rafat Ali
• Real-time search, with Google Search product manager Dylan Casey
• Twitter business case studies from Dell and TurboTax

For the complete agenda, go to http://twtrcon.com/agenda/.

TWTRCON NY, the Twitter business conference, is taking place during Internet Week New York 2010 and will be co-locating with the DMA’s Digital Marketing Days Conference.

AT&T has signed on as the anchor sponsor for TWTRCON NY. Confirmed platinum sponsors include CoTweet, Dell, myYearbook, StrongMail, Tap11 and TurboTax. Other sponsors include TweetMixx, Attensity, Crimson Hexagon, Gremln, Lyris, LiveIntent and MediaFunnel, and many more exhibitors will be part of the TWTRCON NY demo area.

TWTRCON NY 2010 is the third TWTRCON event. Registration information is available at http://twtrcon.com/register. For sponsorship information, contact Anne Weiskopf at anne@modernmediapartners.com. TWTRCON NY is produced by Modern Media, which also publishes social media case studies and statistics at Social Media at Work (http://socialmediaatwork.com/).

About Modern Media

Modern Media (http://www.modernmediapartners.com/) is an agency at the intersection of live, digital and social media. Publishers, media entrepreneurs and marketers rely on Modern Media to clarify and re-focus brands, create and produce events and brand extensions, build websites and social media campaigns, and motivate sales team with tools that drive revenue. Modern Media launched TWTRCON, the Twitter for Business Conference, in May of 2009.

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Modern Media Contact:

Stacy O’Connell

VP Marketing

415.480.4114

stacy@modernmediapartners.com

Susan McPherson of PR Newswire will be hosting the OpenMike panel at TWTRCON NY 2010 — a chance for anyone in the TWTRCON NY audience to speak on stage — about their organization, a product, or a big idea.

In order to have a chance, you must sum up what you want to talk about in a tweet.  On the day of the event, the TWTRCON NY audience will select three tweeters to get a chance at the mike.  Details here.

Don’t want to miss the next postcard?  Add yourself to our mailing list.

The front:

The back:

The mission of the Direct Marketing Educational Foundation (DMEF) is “to attract, educate, and place top college students in the business of direct/interactive marketing and, thereby, expanding and enriching the talent pool of trained, market-ready marketers.  You can learn more about the DMEF, it’s many educational programs and fund raising activities, here: http://www.directworks.org/.

The DMEF has asked us to pass along an invitation to join them at their Rising Stars Awards Dinner, which will take place the day after TWTRCON NY, on Tuesday, June 15, at Bridgewaters, South Street Seaport in New York City. It’s a great opportunity to support the foundation and to network with other leaders in the direct marketing industry.

Our congratulations to this year’s Rising Stars Award Winners:

• Sebastien Bilodeau, Synapse Group
• Bryan Eisenberg, Eisenberg & Associates
• Mitch Joel, Twist Image
• Alison Shaffer, Cisco WebEx
• Corporate Commitment Award winner Publishers Clearing House

One of our sponsors, Lyris, has decided to underwrite a 10-question research project, “Tweeting for Business,” for the TWTRCON community.

The survey is now live at http://bit.ly/dfSbG6; please take a moment to add your response!

The survey is focused on marketing organizations, and how they are changing and evolving (or not!) to adapt to the era of real-time business.  Lyris plans to release the results at TWTRCON NY on 6/14.  We can’t wait to see them!

Dell is helping to make sure your evening doesn’t end after the cocktails and networking reception by co-hosting the post-TWTRCON NY tweet-up.  It will be held at the super-fun Ruby Foo’s Times Square, starting at 7:00p on June 14, 2010.  The Dell education social media team is also inviting local educators to join us, so it’ll be a chance to meet some new people who are making a difference.

And, to show you how much they love to “unite passionate Tweeps,” Dell is providing a drink ticket and food!

This event is open to all registered TWTRCON attendees, please bring your badge with you. If you are an educator with a VIP invite, please DM @kerryatdell or @edu4u for details about TWTRCON discounts in addition to the Tweet Up.

If you’re a confirmed TWTRCON attendee (what are you waiting for?), use Eventbrite to grab a free Tweet-Up  ticket: http://twtrcondell.eventbrite.com/.

And, for those with real staying power, stay tuned for details on our post Tweet-Up TWTRCON NY Rap-Up!