Live Podcast: LeWeb 2010 Conference Preview With Loic and Geraldine Le Meur

LeWeb’10 takes place in Paris December 8th and 9th 2010 at Les Docks.

With more than 2,400 Participants from 54 countries, it’s the number one European event about the Internet.

As you probably know, I covered the conference for BlogTalkRadio using Cinch last year and the information and interviews I gathered changed my world view in a positive way the whole year through!

I am excited to hear what’s in store for when I speak with the conference’s Founders and organizer, Loic and Geraldine Le Meur! Remember that The A-List gives you access to the world’s top influencers.

We discuss global entrepreneurship, what the conference organizers hope to do – and that nagging question about the representation of women at LeWeb. Don’t miss the archive:

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The A-List gives you access to the world’s top influencers. Please submit your questions for any quest via Twitter, Facebook, blog and email.

Email For The Generations Presentation At #SMMSF

Nielsen and comScore tell us from their stats that advertisers look at all of us through a generational lens.

Coming from more than a decade in the television industry – both on-air and digital – I have long been taught to use information we know about what appeals to members of each of the four living generation in the US.

I have brought those learnings to my work as a consultant, despite a lack of dialogue about this approach in social media and general marketing circles.

That changed when I presented Email For The Generations: Social tactics to trigger responses from the Greatest Generation, Baby Boomers, Generation X and Millennials effectively.

Take a look at my presentation, available for download on Slideshare, and let me know what you think!

Live Podcast: Featured Guest Justin Kan, Justin.tv

Justin Kan

I talk to Justin. Yes, that Justin, from the eponymous Justin.tv who, according to his bio, “comes up with product ideas, keeps the tech team in line, writes specs, does technical hiring, installs servers, buys hardware, writes user features, and tries hard to get out of the office on his motorcycle once in a while.”

I find out what it all means in real terms (does he have time to sleep? Eat?) and where his platform is headed.

Enjoy the archive:

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Everybody’s Doing It*, So Why Don’t We? (*it = social media)

I’m exciting to be moderating a great panel on Social Media and business Tuesday, February 16th from 6-9 PM. And I’m calling for your questions now (tweet in to @jennifered)!

The question?: To “go social” or not? And should we still be asking that question?

With San Francisco and Silicon Valley leading the world in web innovation and many considering our area the epicenter of all things social media, why are Bay Area companies still so reluctant – as much as those in the Midwest – to engage in the social web? And what about the original internet success story: the porn industry? It’s not thriving as much as you may think. So are companies that are reluctant to ‘go social’ making the right decision?

We’ve assembled a clever and varied panel for a provocative discussion from several different perspectives: big business, non-profits, small to medium size business, and a very specific ‘alternative’ industry.

[Please get your tickets now - there is limited seating and this event will sell out!]

Live Podcast: Featured Guest Zoë Keating, Cellist and Composer

Zoë Keating, Photo By: Jeffrey Rusch

This week we have a special treat on The A-List, a wonderful, one-woman powerhouse of a musician, Zoë Keating.

Recently named one of the Hot 20 people of 2009 by 7×7 magazine, they dubbed her, “Avant-Cellist.” It’s a fitting description, but for my part, I am interested in the way Zoë has used the Web and social media to engage with and stay in touch with her fans.

With more than 1.3 million followers on Twitter (@zoecello), she describes herself there as, “Cello, computers and pancakes. The daily twitterings of a professional avant cellist and amateur nerd.” A wonderfully humble description for an immense and innovative talent.

I am thrilled Zoë was able to join the program. Listen to the archive here:

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Connecting with Customers, Bringing Business and Brands Alive

Richard Binhammer, Photo By: Brian Solis

This is a guest blog post from Richard Binhammer is the Senior Manager, Corporate Affairs at Dell. Richard might be best-known simply by his Twitter handle, @RICHARDatDELL. Some of my A-List podcast guests described Dell’s early efforts to deal with the advent of social media discourse as ‘ignoring it,’ while still others said they had their ‘head in buried in the sand’ – but all point to them as an example of a company who has course corrected and is now reaping the benefits of doing social media ‘right.’ Richard is at the heart of shifting perception of Dell from ‘hate’ to ‘great’ (case in point: Richard’s T-shirt in the photo, left). Join the conversation at Dell here.

It used to be that brands were based on presumed or understood values. Our interactions with a brand were not much more than an affinity based on transactions we made. Today, brand affinity and values run much deeper. Social media is bringing those formerly “static” brand values and promises to life.

Social media opens the doors for companies and their brands to have more lively and active relationships with customers, ones that allow us to interact in real time and breathe life into the brand. By connecting people in business with the people who consume our products and services, customers are closer than ever to what were thought of as far-off distant corporations. More than bringing a customer-focus to our businesses, connecting online is like having customers as colleagues and walking the halls of the corporation every day.

Whether it is a customer blog post, comments on a company blog, interactions with Twitter followers or Facebook fans, social media not only empowers the customer, it brings the focus for any business right where it should be… the connections between it and its customers.

Live Podcast: Featured Guest Dave Morgan, CEO Simulmedia

Dave Morgan

The A-List is back and better than ever!

After a rather long winter’s nap – following our coverage of LeWeb conference – we return with Dave Morgan, CEO of Simulmedia (dontcha just love the name?).

The company, which launched in March last year, aimed to improve the impact of TV program promotions by lifting the effectiveness of their tune-in programming spots. But how, especially  in an increasingly on-demand world?

We’ll ask Dave, whose imense success includes developing and selling TACODA and Real Media. Listen to the archive here:

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Events: Catalyzing Social Media Campaigns

Cassandra Phillipps

This is a guest post by Cassandra Phillipps, an event producer for the Bay Area startup community. She produces FailCon, co-produces Girls in Tech Catalyst Conference, and production manages SF Beta, SF MusicTech Summit and Finance4Founders. She also keeps a blog on upcoming startup events and event advice at webwallflower.com You can follow her on Twitter @webwallflower. She has been a featured guest on The A-List podcast.

As the economy improves, more companies have been approaching me asking about the costs associated with producing a conference or a series of evening panels, and what the benefits would be for them. It’s as if something in their entrepreneurial brains tells them this is a good step for their businesses, but they just aren’t sure why.

Events Increase the Power of Social Media

As social media grows and connects businesses, communities, and individuals on a global scale, the time given for in-person interactions dwindles. While I 100% endorse companies using twitter to connect with customers, or LinkedIn to talk with clients, there will never be a stronger way to develop a loyal bond with your users and community than through events. SnarkMarket puts it well: “The great virtue of events today … is that their value seems durable in a way that the value of super-abundant copies of digital media does not. They pro vide ‘embod i ment,’ to use Kevin Kelly’s taxonomy – and that’s some thing you can still charge for.” Done right, events can work with social media to empower and engage users on a smaller but more effective scale.

Live Podcast: Featured Guest Ann Glenn, Senior Web Producer Social Media at Sony Pictures Imageworks Interactive

How cool would it be to be the social media expert for a major entertainment powerhouse?

Welcome to the world of Ann Glenn, who – in her role at Sony Pictures Imageworks Interactive – she is both pioneer and cutting-edge communicator.

Find out more about what makes Ann tick on today’s edition of the The A-List podcast, archived here:

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PAH Nation’s PAH-FEST Hollywood ’09: Democracy In Action

I had the honor of being asked by the gracious and giving Christopher Coppola – who just lost his father, August, this week - to be one of the judges for PAH-FEST Hollywood 2009. If you don’t know what PAH (Project Accessible Hollywood) is, take a moment to find out, because it’s a very important part of lending a hand to let all voices be heard.

It was amazing to judge… in the Circus Vision category I saw children being challenged to talk about more than whether or not they’d been to a circus, but to use that premise to get them thinking about how to represent rings, animals, flying, balance, colors, funny and opposites on the same school playground… brilliant!