Register now if you haven’t already. There’s less than two dozen seats left, and they’re going fast. (But honestly, who could argue with cat photos?)

Come network and learn with experts and other professionals from across the Southeast and beyond. Paul Eulette (resident fabulous – @SocialDivo) and Lindsay Reene (unabashed geek – @GeekLindsay) will kick off a great day with a fantastic keynote panel of resident experts from each of four cornerstone industries (journalism, non-profit, small business, and corporate), including:

• Mathilde Piard, Social Media Manager, Cox Media Group (@MathildePiard)
• Russell Sauve, Social Media Manager, The Fox Theatre (@RussellSauve)
• Ema Carr, Marketing and Communications Manager, YEAH! Burger (@EmmyCupcake)
• Jeff Mirman, VP of Marketing, Turner Sports

Georgia’s second most widely distributed newspaper, Creative Loafing Atlanta has a circulation of 90,000, and the alt-weekly reaches thousands more at CLATL.com. Known for its coverage of news, culture, music, and the arts, the paper isn’t afraid of trying new things. That’s probably why the Creative Loafing Atlanta Facebook page has garnered over 24,000 likes. Sure, you could read other Atlanta papers to find out what Pope High School is serving for lunch, while Creative Loafing gives you a peak behind the doors of Atlanta’s swinger clubs.

In true SoCon tradition, each year we bring together the people and organizations that make Atlanta the vibrant, and well-connected city that is, and that is why we are delighted to have Creative Loafing join the SoCon community as a sponsor of the event. Be sure to swing (get it, swing? You know you clicked the link.) by its table on the day of the conference.

If you haven’t yet registered for SoCon13, don’t wait. Seriously. We only have a few more tickets (and actually we might even be sold out by the time you’re reading this), so go! Now! Register! Why are you still reading? Go!

In some ways we’re just beginning to understand the impact these new technologies are having on various aspects of our lives, including how citizens interact with their own government and relate to a university trying to wrangling 24,000 students. But aren’t we just being social? That’s kind of what people do, right?

Join Nikhil Deshpande, Digital Strategy Director at the Georgia Technology Authority, for a look at the role social media plays in our civic lives, how active online communities can speak to the government, and how to foster the emergence of a collaborative culture in the state, country, and beyond. Through his role at GTA, Nikhil deals with the changing landscape on a daily basis, managing content and the social media presence for the State of Georgia web portal, Georgia.gov.

But launching a social or digital campaign of that size is no easy task. That’s a fact Guy Bailey knows all too well. In his session “365 Days of Social Media: Trials, Tribulations, and Successes of Wrangling a University’s Online Voice” Guy will walk through the ups, downs, and tough-learned lessons of year-one as Social Media Supervisor at Kennesaw State University, the third largest public university in the state. In that time, Guy has managed to unify the university’s voice, double it’s numbers on social media platforms, and expand the KSU footprint to include channels like YouTube and Google+.

That’s the macro level of things. Yet we’re a society and culture stubbornly made up of individuals. We each use technologies differently, and things like social media have a profoundly personal and individual impact – even if you might not realize it. Emory doctoral candidate Cory Inman does, however. Through his psychology work, Cory has come to understand just how personal and how profound some of our social shifts online could really be:

“Humans are social beings. Our need to be connected is related to how our brain evolved and is organized, how we process social information, and how we create our autobiographic selves with memories of our defining experiences. Social networking in everyday life and now online might be at the core of what it is to be human. Our social networks might have structurally shaped our brains across evolution.”

Sit in on Cory’s talk “Your Brain on Social Media, Weird Science” along with Guy and Nikhil’s presentations throughout the day at SoCon13 this Saturday, Feb. 9 at Kennesaw State University and track your own social (media) evolution from the personal to the exponential.

Session 1 (10:45am-11:45am)

Dialogue with the Government: A Collaborative Society

Nikhil Deshpande

Session 2 (1:30pm-2:30pm)

365 Days of Social Media: Wrangling a University’s Online Voice

Guy Bailey

Session 3 (2:35pm-3:45pm)

Your Brain on Social Media, Weird Science

Cory Inman

This is just one example of a track of breakout sessions at SoCon13. Mix, match, and make the most of your day by picking your interests from more than two-dozen breakout sessions. Submit your questions for the interaction keynote panel, and be sure to register now! Only a handful of seats remain.

Register now.

Since the socially and locally focused company got its start in 2004 folks using their service to rate and review businesses, or Yelpers as they call them, have written more than 33 million local reviews. The site convenes more than 80 million unique visitors each month, and for good reason. 

In many ways Yelp was an early player in the social media sphere who actually understood what the social revolution was all about. While some other social sites have fallen by the wayside over the years, Yelp has continued to prove its value in the everyday lives of consumers and businesses around the country. Business owners and managers can create free accounts to boost their business profile, respond to Yelpers, and help manage events. 

This year, we’re happy to welcome Yelp as a sponsor to the SoCon family and tradition. The SoCon series, getting its start way back in 2007, is one of the longest running social media conference series in the Southeast – but Yelp was around first. After nearly a decade in the space, we’re excited to have another social pioneer partnering with SoCon13.

Stop by their table at SoCon13 on Saturday, Feb. 9 2012 at Kennesaw State University to get the full rundown on how Yelp can benefit your business and your life. Consider signing up for the Weekly Yelp newsletter to stay up to date on the latest and greatest business happenings, openings, and other news in your area.

Use promotional code “yelp10” and register now for SoCon13 to save 10 percent of the already low ticket price of just $69.

Featured image: geralt/pixabay/creative commons

We’ve been busy on our end tying up all the loose ends. The print materials are ordered; the sessions are organized; the speakers are prepped; the food is ordered. All that is left is getting you ready.

When you arrive on February 9, here’s what you can expect:

You’ll be greeted by smiling faces eager to get you checked in. You’ll pick up a name badge and conference guide, and then head over to sign up for the breakout sessions you want to attend. Once you’ve done that, it’s on to breakfast and networking until the auditorium opens.

At 8:45am we’ll open the auditorium doors for you to find a seat. (Become a Friend of SoCon and reserve your seat now).

We’ll kick things off with a quick welcome and introduction. Then, our moderators will lead an interactive discussion with you and our keynote panel dissecting the role of mobile, big data, and innovation in the fast moving field of digital and social media. Submit a question for the keynote panel.

From the keynote, you’ll head to your first hour-long breakout session. Then you’ll be heading to lunch at the fabulous Commons Culinary Center. Seriously, this isn’t your average college cafeteria. You’ll be pleasantly surprised.

After lunch, you’ve got two more awesome breakout sessions to catch, and plenty of opportunities to mingle and network.

Your day will wrap up at 4:00pm, but it doesn’t have to. Each year, a couple dozen attendees head over to Mellow Mushroom for more networking, a slice of pizza, and a beer. This isn’t an official conference event, but it has become a tradition.

So, there you go. That’s what February 9 will look like. But there are a couple things you need to do today to prepare:

• RSVP on the Facebook event. This is a great place to start networking before the conference.
• Head over to VYou to record your question in advance for the keynote panel
• Locate the Social Science building and the West Parking Deck on the KSU Map. The building is labeled 22 at the top center and the parking deck is just to the left of it. Parking is free in the West Parking Deck – if you park in visitor parking you’ll have to pay. We’ll have some yellow road signs point the way from Chastain Road, so look for those as you drive in.

Businesses are even worse. They leave a frothy wake of numbers waiting to be crunched behind. Someone’s definitely going to have to organize that. But whom? And how? Have you looked at the wake? There’s really quite a lot of froth. Just think what we could learn about our customers … if only there were some experts to tell us how to make sense of things.

Luckily enough, Mike Lorey, Maria Stephens, and Shannon Rentner from the Emcien Corporation will be tackling exactly that at SoCon13. Not only are they unafraid to wrangle the big data beast, they also know how to use something called “mathematics” to analyze the digits, look for patterns, and figure out how all of that scientific wizardry can boost the social strategy you and your company already have in place.  Join the trio Saturday afternoon at SoCon13 for “Even Big Data Needs Big Data: Solving the Challenges of Marketing an Unknown Product“ to learn from their real-life experiences and start leveraging that sea of information out there into streams that make sense for your business.

This “data” stuff sounds pretty amazing, doesn’t it? I’m guessing journalism-based businesses are using it to make decisions about where to direct their content. Know how I knew to guess that? Because Grayson Daughters‘ session description told me so! The rise of data journalism has really just begun to reshape the journalism industry in ways that aren’t fully understood, from the way content is produced to how some organizations approach the newsgathering and decision making processes. Join Grayson, Digital Editor at The Daily Report, as she answers the question “Is the Data Tail Wagging the Journalism Dog?“ and what, exactly, the rise of data means for the journalism industry, content producers around the web, and beyond.  

There’s no reason to be scared of data with all these experts on hand at SoCon13 to guide us. I can’t wait!

SoCon13 returns to Kennesaw State University on Saturday, Feb. 9, 2013. If you haven’t registered, what are you waiting for? Seating is limited. Use promotional code “hodgson10″ and register now to save 10 percent of the already low price of just $69.

Hubspot has an interesting approach. To borrow a line from Corey Eridon’s post about the circles of marketing hell:

We’ve all committed marketing offenses. Hopefully nothing bad enough to get yer arse canned, but you know, people mess up. But sometimes there are offenses so egregious, so blasphemous, so INCREDIBLY REPREHENSIBLE that we just can’t help but … make a content visualization about it.

Sure, why not? While it may be a little crude, if we can’t laugh at our own mistakes we probably should laugh at others. Check out Hubspot’s 9 circles of marketing hell below and see where you fit. If you’re up for it, leave your most heinous (or chuckle worthy) offense in the comments below.

While some screw ups are bound to happen, you really don’t have to toil in ‘marketing hell’ for all eternity. Consider registering for SoCon13, one of the Southeast’s premiere and longest running social media conference series returning to Kennesaw State University on Saturday, Feb. 9, 2013.

With more than two-dozen breakout sessions covering virtually every aspect of digital and social media across media industries, in true SoCon spirit the conference offers the chance to learn across industry lines and connect with influentials professionals from around the Southeast. As a special offer just for reading our blog, use the promotional code ‘friend10′ to save 10 percent off the already low registration price of just $69.

Don’t procrastinate. Register now. Seating is limited, and SoCon13 is less than two weeks away.

These connections are what social media and SoCon is all about, and has proven their value time and time again over the years. It’s also an approach the 352 Media Group knows all too well. 

As a custom web development and digital market company with offices around the Southeast, 352 Media Group has had the experience of taking a plethora of ideas from concept to reality, and laying the foundation for businesses in a variety of industries to take the market efforts to the next level.

Erin Everhart

Join Erin Everhart, Director of Web Marketing at 352 Media Group, for a session that looks at why it’s worth investing the time and energy to build meaningful relationships online. In “Social Media is About Relationships, it’s About Time You Learn to Build Them,” Erin offers real-world examples and simple tactics for delivering your brand’s message, expanding your online footprint with meaningful contacts, and avoiding the dreaded ‘spammer’ title based on her professional experience for a company that excels in the space.

352 Media Group has earned its stellar reputation as a full-service digital design and marketing agency. The group’s work for leading brands such as Porsche, American Express, Ben & Jerry’s, and others has been featured in media outlets and publications around the country. Since its inception in 1997, the team has developed more than 1,000 websites, applications, and interactive marketing campaigns for brands around the globe. 

Their crew of more than 70 professionals specializes in seamlessly combining exceptional graphic design, dynamic web programming, and powerful online marketing to meet the needs of their diverse client base, from mom and pop businesses to international brands. 

Learn some of the tactics that have worked for the 352 Media Group and stop by their exhibitor’s table at SoCon13 to find out why their approach to digital marketing would be a great fit for your marketing and digital efforts.  

Haven’t registered yet? Register now! Use promotional code “friend10” to save 10 percent off the already low price of $69. Don’t procrastinate. SoCon13 returns to Kennesaw State University Saturday, Feb. 9, and seating is limited.

Featured photo credit: Tobias Wolter/Wikimedia Commons

According to the latest research by Pew Internet, 55 percent of adults used the Internet on their phones as of April 2012, nearly double the number just three years ago. 31 percent of those say their primary means of going online is their phone, and experts expect that trend to grow.

Broken down demographically, youngsters are even more mobile, with 95 percent of 18-to-29-year-olds owning a cell phone, and 66 percent carrying smart phones, as of September 2012. And guess what? Those youngsters are growing up.

But sinking big bucks into a mobile app that may or may not pay off in the long run doesn’t make sense for a lot of companies. But how do you know? And how do you balance your investment with expected returns? After you ‘go mobile,’ then what? How do you connect with and get the millions of mobile-centric users interacting with your product and brand? 

If you’re stumped, don’t worry. This year’s line up at SoCon13 has got you covered:

• Social media manager Josh Martin learned his lessons the hard way, but you don’t have to. Josh oversaw the launch of Arby’s mobile offerings and strategies. In his session at SoCon13, “Customer Engagement in the Palm of Your Hands, Going Mobile,” he offers an inside scoop on the inevitable hurdles, benefits, and evaluative process behind a successful mobile campaign.
  
• Capitalizing on the need for what he calls “loca-social,” a combination of local businesses and events used to drive customer interaction and boost brick-and-mortar business, Soket founder Marcel Crudele offers a unique look at the advantages of taking small business out of the office and offline in search of greater engagement and consumer advocacy. While not just about mobile, his strategy combines many tried and true marketing practices with the mobile digital lifestyle people are leaning toward. Don’t miss “Going Loca-Social: Local Business + Events = Social Fuel for Customer Passion.”
  
• Videogame developers Nick Ralabate and Carlos Quinones, founders of boutique development and design company Secret Library, know all too well that simply releasing an app or game isn’t enough. In their session “Flooded Channels and Frigid Tears: Discoverability in the App Store 2012” the duo looks at the challenges and rewards of excelling in a market saturated by high dollar players and 11-year-old bedroom programers. Authors of three games in the past year, the team hopes you can learn from a few of their mistakes, and find your own path to mobile success.

If you haven’t yet, take a second to register for SoCon13. Use promotional code ‘friend10’ to save 10 percent off the already low price of just $69, but don’t procrastinate. Seating is limited, and they’re filling up fast.

Join Marcel, Nick, Carlos, Josh, and a huge list of other award-winning speakers and industry professionals for one of the Southeast’s longest running and premiere social media unconferences, and see what you’ve been missing.

SoCon13 is Saturday, February 9, 2013 at Kennesaw State University.

Photo credit: Jeremy Keith/Wikimedia Commons

This year, we’re excited to welcome one of the Southeast’s largest professional networking organization as a sponsor to our annual social media strategy and networking unconference. Over the past seven years there’s been a lot of overlap between the work of TAG, its members, and the SoCon conference series, but 2013 marks the first year of our official partnership.

Dedicated to promoting Georgia’s technology industry while providing the leadership to help drive initiatives in the areas of policy, capital, education, and giving, TAG has brought the tech community together through an ongoing series of events, programming, and networking opportunities for more than a decade. 

If you’re looking to expand your professional connections and stay up on the latest trends and practices, start at SoCon13, and consider a TAG membership in your future. TAG’s 31 societies encompass more than a dozen disciplines, from international business and raising capital to technology entertainment and project management. Joining is very much an investment in both your company’s success and your personal career.

Likewise, we tend to feel the same way about SoCon13. This year’s event offers a hefty assortment of breakout sessions and networking opportunities from an award-winning lineup of speakers and a diverse attendee list of professionals from around the Southeast. From learning the nuts and bolts of navigating Tumblr to putting your products in front of some of the most influential voices in the social sphere (and much MUCH more), SoCon13 has something for everyone. The diversity of its audience has proven to be one of it’s greatest strengths, offering unlimited perspective across industry lines, and real-world take homes regardless of your professional ambitions.

Check out the full lineup of breakout sessions, and reserve your spot at one of the Southeast’s premiere and longest running social media conference series. Use the promotional code ‘TAG10’ to save 10 percent off the already low price of $69. Register now! 

Featured photo credit: Gani01/Wikimedia Commons