For two days later this month, the New Yorker Hotel will be swamped with media and marketing types, all looking for the golden answer – how to make money from the phenomenon that is Social Media. I dabbled with social media management with the BBC before I left London (see post about an interactive event I produced), but it was never with the intention of making money, such is the BBC way. So I’ll be heading along, with the intention of filling that gap in my knowledge & maybe meeting a few like-minded peeps in my new hometown!

The event is Socialize and it has been put on by those knowing folks at mediabistro.com and runs 31 March – 1 April in NYC. I’ll be reporting on the event as it happens so check back later this month!

It’s been a long while between posts on this blog… but all for a good reason! I’ve been busy producing a big event at work, so my days were reduced to wake / eat / work lots / eat / work lots more / eat / sleep – repeat. Not that I mind at all, it was the most exciting project I’ve worked on since I started at the BBC.

So, the context is – my team at the Beeb have a quarterly ‘knees up’ to share ideas, projects & new developments. The last one was a bit ‘death-by-powerpoint’, so this time, I suggested we shake things up a bit. The new rules? no powerpoint, a theme (this time = innovation), lots of opportunities for staff to interact &  feedback via social media and a working group of staff to pull together the content for the day. And it all worked out beautifully.

The meeting was a lot more open than usual, with staff encouraged to tweet or text their feedback while the event was taking place. We put a big plasma screen on the left of stage, and via the genius of Richard Morland and Steve Bowbrick, a hashtag for the day #amint and visible tweets, the virtual conversation kicked off and didn’t let up until well after the event. There were about 400 comments over the course of the day, and many more after the event had ended. Lots of people shared their thoughts, observations and links about innovation through our (very innovative) virtual live conversation.

Guest speakers included Vicky Williamson talking about having an #earworm (check out http://earwormery.com), Tom Taylor talking Newspaper Club, Alastair Dant on how The Guardian visualised tweets for the World Cup (waaay more entertaining to follow than the onscreen commentary methinks), and Michelle You talking all things Songkick. We also sent staff off to see how they innovate at Absolute Radio Labs, the Media Trust, and the Telegraph; and to talk about innovation with our friends from PhD, Poke and Somethin’ Else.

Thanks to all who volunteered their time & effort, especially Nigel Smith who came up with most of the suggestions and organised the guest speakers – I’m so pleased with the way things turned out. Read more about the event on the BBC Internet Blog.

Red Button masterclass with Jac P

It’s a good time for producer-types in Australia. The ABC are looking for multimedia producers to work on an exciting new project that aims to engage audiences across regional Australia over all platforms: tv, radio, online and mobile. Read more about it and apply here. Deadline is the 5th March.

ABC Open Intro Reel from ABC Open on Vimeo.