While my sister, a kindergarten teacher who routinely is trying out the latest social tools, can take partial credit for encouraging me to first sign up for MySpace, and later Facebook – the real reason I did it (don’t tell her) is because I viewed it as a necessity for my job as a communicator.

Last month I attended the #140cuse conference at Syracuse University. In advance of the event, I looked forward to learning about new tools, metrics and how gurus from a variety of industries are using social to succeed on the job. While I certainly did learn that, what I also saw – a look at the emotional benefits of social – surprised me, but was definitely a memorable takeaway.

One of the day’s first sessions was from George Couros (@Gcouros) a principal at the Parkland School Division in Alberta, Canada. Now admittedly, George’s track was not one I had highlighted in advance of the conference – though I did like the name of his session “140 Characters of Kindness” – sounded refreshing. During his presentation George talked about how his brother first introduced him to Twitter – but it wasn’t until he joined conversations using the hashtag #edchat that he started to discover what a great platform it was to share ideas and thoughts with other like-minded educators. However, what really brought emotion to George’s story (and definitely led to some teary eyes in the audience) was the story of how via one tweet “Taking Kobe (his dog) to the vet” led to an outpouring of care and concern from his followers at the later news that he had to put his long-time pal down.

Shortly after, #140conf producer Jeff Pulver (@jeffpulver) took the stage to discuss “The State of Now” – which included having the entire audience hug the people next to them at the start of his talk. One of the more powerful thoughts Jeff shared was how via social platforms – our lives are being archived via the pictures we post and the thoughts we share at different moments of time. These “digital breadcrumbs” we leave for our children and grandchildren will give them a perspective into what we were thinking on any given day when we posted a Facebook update or commented on a photo.

Other stories of emotional connections via social were shared from presenters including three-time cancer survivor Alicia Staley (@stales) who discussed “Building Virtual Cancer Support Communities with Twitter Chats” and Amanda Hite (@sexythinker) on “Using Your Social Influence to #BeTheChange” – covering the impact groups of people can have by sharing their networks and influence in support of a joint cause via tweetathons and other shared initiatives.

Looking back at the goal of the #140cuse conference to “expose you to the power the real-time web has to disrupt businesses, change lives and create serendipity” – I shouldn’t have been surprised to hear the above stories. And while hearing stories like these will likely prompt me to add a few more captions to photos and engage with communities I’m interested in on a personal level, it will also help professionally. As we continually look for new and creative ways for the brands we work for or represent to engage in unique ways with influencers – it’s an important reminder to consider the power of emotion as a commonality that unites people. Discovering a way to make an emotional connection between a brand and its audiences – via large initiatives or simple Tweets – can be the differentiator for what makes your brand memorable.

• PR/Communications has a seat at the table – In nearly 60% of responding companies, the PR/Communications lead reports directly to the “C-Suite” (Chairman, CEO, COO, etc.), reflecting today’s increasingly transparent, communication-intensive environment

• Marketing/product PR is in a state of decline – There has been a substantial decrease in the emphasis on traditional marketing/product PR. This could be attributable to an increasing reliance on social media to promote products.

• The PR/Communications field is expanding to include new functions – PR is experiencing growth in internal communication and customer relationships.

• Budgets are mostly up but agency-of-record relationships are in decline – Public corporations on average reported higher PR budgets than two years ago. However, the AOR model is changing rapidly. In 2002, more than 50% of corporations reported an AOR relationship. This number decreased continuously and has now shrunk to just over 15%. At the same time, the number of agencies used by corporations on an ongoing or project basis continues to increase. This is likely the result of a need for specialized and/or regionally focused agency services.

However, for the purposes of the roundtable the discussion focused on two primary areas of insight – the increasing importance of social media in the overall communications mix and the continued need for more meaningful measurement.

The increasing importance of social media in the overall communications mix

The study revealed that more than 70 percent of PR/Communications departments report budgetary responsibility for social media monitoring and 66% for social media participation. This reflects a 17% and 13% growth over two years ago. Further reflecting a shift to Web 2.0 communication is a rise in responsibility for search engine optimization (SEO). In addition to social media monitoring and participation and SEO, other PR disciplines seeing budgetary increase are corporate communications, executive communications, internal communications and, somewhat surprisingly, corporate external websites. The big loser in the mix product PR, which has experienced a significant decline in spend.

Highlights from the discussion included:

Aedhmar Hynes, CEO of Text100, on the increasing importance of internal communications as a function of PR:

Ken Shuman, Head of Communications at Trulia, added:

Tim Dyson, CEO of Next Fifteen Communications, on social media monitoring and participation:

Ken Shuman, Head of Communications at Trulia, on the changing role of corporate blogs:

Aedhmar Hynes, CEO of Text100, added:

John Earnhardt, Director, Corporate Communications at Cisco on the role of video content versus written content:

Aedhmar Hynes, CEO of Text100, on the ‘ownership’ of social media within a corporation:

Lee Flanagin, Senior Director, Corporate Communications at SanDisk, on the challenges of using social for engaging with a B2B audience versus B2C:

The need for more meaningful measurement

The study revealed that corporations report an increase from 4% to 9% of total PR budgets. Companies utilizing “outcome” measures such as influence on stakeholder attitudes and opinions, the bottom line, etc. are much more likely to say they have a good external reputation and are successful than are companies that rely on traditional “PR output” measures — such as clips, impressions, and advertising equivalency.

Highlights from the discussion included:

David McCulloch, Director, Corporate Communications at Cisco on the increasing PR spend on measurement and analytics:

Tim Dyson, CEO of Next Fifteen Communications, on the importance of human analysis to reveal more meaningful insights:

Jeremy Woolf, Senior Vice President at Text100 added:

Lee Flanagin, Senior Director, Corporate Communications at SanDisk, on the importance of up-leveling the measurement conversation with the C-Suite:

Tim Dyson, CEO of Next Fifteen Communications, added:

Burghardt Tenderich summarized the discussion by drawing three general conclusions:

1. The field overall is expanding. The skill-sets that organizations need are getting broader
2. PR is being up-leveled within organizations with more communications executive having a seat at the corporate management table
3. The future of traditional communications, specifically media relations, is in decline so companies and agencies need to adapt and evolve by taking a more integrated approach.

Stay tuned for the next #HyperTextLive event, which is planned for early August.

Social media has experienced its own coming-of-age over the last couple of years. It has moved from playing a cameo in daily business life, to being a central character receiving both commercial and critical plaudits.

To finish the movie analogy (not before time), even just 12 months ago it was easy to find those that viewed social media as the folly of the few which would soon be ‘found-out’ to be the magician’s latest trick.  However, this has all changed.

Today, it is practically impossible to find any brand, irrespective of size and sector, which isn’t embracing social media and grappling with how digital thinking can make the biggest impact. When your local Indian take-away is building a substantial Facebook and Twitter following, you know the mainstream is on-board.

The conversation has largely moved on too, however we’re definitely not there yet.  With maturity comes a different set of challenges. Challenges that can be harder to overcome and that need passionate, inspirational people to come together and share experiences, perspectives and vision.

Whereas debate has raged long and hard about measurement, infrastructure and ownership, the quality of both technology and thinking means these obstacles no longer feel insurmountable. The emphasis now needs to lie in helping brands identify how to gain greater impact for their business, moving communications into areas such as customer relationship management, new product development, responsive marketing and ultimately sales. It’s about behaviour change.

Social needs to move from being solely looked after by the communications team, and is now changing the face of industries such as retail, broadcasting, marketing and b2b business. Industries which are all going to be represented by expert from companies like Ford, Facebook, LinkedIn, IBM and Nokia that are all leading this change.

This is why we are proud to be attending Social Media World Forum and sponsoring the TweetWall next week in London.

For all of the value in bringing people together, attending debates, networking and learning from peers, we are in no doubt that it will be the social discussion online that will both help inform and drive the debate, as well as connect with other similar-minded folk. And is much more inclusive than limiting the discussion to that which takes place in the four very big walls in Kensington Olympia.

The quality of speakers is inspiring, and we’re looking forward to both participating in workshops and panels and sharing research in how social media is impacting how journalists work which we are really excited about.

The Tweetwall is just by the bar in the main exhibition space.  We’ll be there, so swing by and have a chat.  And if you can’t be there, then don’t forget to tweet (#smwf).

Editor’s note: This post originally appeared on the Text 100 UK blog .

“Our panel at SXSW will focus primarily on how social media platforms can be used together as a tool to provide resources and outreach to underserved communities – in our case to LGBTQ youth, specifically. As is always the case with Dannielle and I, we will aim to keep our audience laughing while at the same time sharing our personal story of organizational growth and our philosophy on using social media as a tool for social action!”

So now for the topic at hand, “Social TV: 2011 vs. 2012 How Far Have We Come?” As an avid TV watcher and Account Director on a number of our media clients at Text 100, I’ve been following the Social TV landscape quite closely for a few years now. I walked away from the 2011 SXSW Interactive conference reporting that having a social component is critical for the success of any entertainment program. I also heard from various media execs at the event that there’s a direct correlation between social media and ratings. Digital VP of NBC Universal/USA Network Jesse Redniss, reported that when fans engage on mobile while episodes air there are higher live ratings in key demos, and that engaging viewers in two-screen viewing led Oxygen to increase its brand metrics for advertisers.

So does that still ring true this year? I’d say yes and yes, but how has it evolved even further?

For one, I’d say Social TV apps have really grown over the last year in both awareness and sophistication. Major players like Shazam – who just recently disclosed acquiring over 180 million users – have brought Social TV to the limelight announcing the first-ever Shazamable Super Bowl, with more than 1/3 of its advertisers, the game itself and halftime show driving record-breaking tags for the company. The networks themselves have also forged ahead in the space, including both MTV and VH1 releasing their own co-viewing apps, with WatchWith and Co-Star respectively.

Twitter has also further embraced its social role in TV, recently experimenting with live social voting teaming up with the creators of X Factor to launch direct message-enabled voting via the platform during the program.

So what’s in store for 2012’s SXSW? I’m looking forward to hearing from industry leaders sitting on the panel Integrating Brands into Social Television, which will discuss how networks are bringing advertisers even further into the social fold. And of course I’ll be sitting front and center for my colleague Tara O’Donnell’s panel, @TVEngagement: Does Social Media Drive TV Ratings?. If I wasn’t too busy gawking over Joss Whedon I’d surely be at this Bravo panel, Top Chef: How Transmedia is Changing TV, but alas the Buffy fan in me just won out here. I’ll just have to steal notes from Tara who will be attending that one.

If you’re heading out to Austin, hit me up on Twitter @Jcasano if you want to catch up, meet up or geek out together. For those staying back, keep tuned in to our SXSW Hub for more of my ramblings.

We had a good time socializing and catching up with old friends, making new ones, and attending some great panels. And we even learned something too! There were a couple of really good takeaways which we’d like to share – see below for some interesting nuggets of information and our thoughts.

One of the key takeaways I got out of the sessions was that campaigns which give users a platform to create their own shareable content have a much greater chance of going viral. PR and marketing people love to talk about creating content so catchy that people who view it would automatically want to share it. However, how often does such content succeed? In the case of something as clever and catchy as Old Spice‘s campaign, it’s a no brainer. But take a moment to consider the fact that some content created to garner a viral effect has had an opposite effect, like this insurance agency campaign in Singapore which erroneously tried to tap in to the goodwill of consumers and backfired spectacularly when it was later found out to be a shady attempt at viral marketing. Going back to the original point, what inspired this insight was Isobar Shanghai’s Coke with Food campaign that allowed users to create personalized videos of themselves enjoying a meal with popular band Farenheit and show it off to their friends. The campaign eventually reached 22 million consumers, with the creation of more than 700,000 videos that spread across the internet in China. The success of this campaign encapsulates the basics of social media – people are now, more than ever, content creators and they love to share! Give them a platform (and also as importantly, a reason) to do so, and that’s one step closer to success.

Slightly closer to the PR sphere, Account Director Mabel Chiang also picked up on an interesting nugget about news and how online stories are now more ‘alive’ than ever, with the ability to evolve as the story develops in real life. The Internet changes the way news is being delivered, while social media have made news a collaborative and community effort. What this means is that while news outlets are able to deliver one perspective about news, social media have empowered the community to provide commentaries and hence perspectives from different angles, giving readers a better and more well-rounded perspective of different viewpoints. A good case in point is the Singapore General Elections last year, where supporters of both the opposition and ruling parties used social media to voice their  positions on issues raised in the lead-up to voting day, with the neutrals taking the middle ground. For us in PR, this presents a resource we can tap in to for crowdsourcing fresh ideas for our pitch angles, especially if a hot discussion topic is relevant to the brands we work for.

And finally, our newest joiner and Account Coordinator, Irene Teoh, also shared this interesting tidbit about how consumers are increasingly engaging with different touch points of a brand, such as customer service, marketing, public relations, to functions such as research and HR, as a result of organizations becoming increasingly social. However, this also means that a consumer’s perspective of a brand is shaped by interactions with all these touch points. Hence, a brand’s digital approach should be able to effectively engage consumers through these different touch points. This creates an opportunity for proactive PR practitioners to attain a more prominent role in their organization and create more value for their roles as they can help these other functions engage effectively with consumers. Without a doubt, PR is the best department to engage customers – we’re story tellers and communicators, after all – and this trend gives PR a chance to show their greater worth to the business.

If you attended Social Media Week in your city, what are some of the learnings which you gained? We’d love to hear from you in the comments! Be sure to check out our takeaways from a panel during SMW San Francisco here.

Prepare to hear a lot about social media starting next Monday (I mean, more than usual!). Social Media Week, a full week of conferences and events taking place in several cities all over the world, is next week (Feb. 13-17). Text 100 is supporting the San Francisco edition in partnership with our good friend and sister agency, Beyond. It’s more than 80 panels, roundtables and events over five days. Oh, and did we mention that this opportunity to meet and connect with amazing people is all free?

So here are our top five selections for panels not to be missed, and some tips for how to get the most out of your week.

Our (subjective) top 5 conferences

1. Measuring the value of a fan: Who can deny that measurement is both the most exciting, and probably to date, one of the most complex topics in the world of social media? The people of Facebook and Adobe will tackle this challenge and answer some of our looming questions.
2. Social Big Data Analytics: Current Challenges, Future Opportunities: When talking about big data, the people of IBM know what they’re talking about – apply this to social media, and you’ve got amazing opportunities going on.
3. The Truth about Viral: Presented by BuzzFeed and Funny or Die: Everyone wants their content to go viral. But only a few know how to make it happen. Buzzfeed and Funny or Die share their approaches to viral content, sure to be an interesting event.
4. The Future of Sharing: Our friends at Beyond have built strong expertise in the concept of social sharing, and in this panel they will share their secrets with the rest of the world.
5. Topical Influencers: Who Are They and How Do We Reach Them?: Text 100′s Melissa Chanslor joins some of the top experts in the world of influence to discuss  the question of the identifying topical influencers. If you’re interested in communication, this is a must-attend panel.

Now, how to get the most of the week:

• We’re looking most forward to the panels mentioned above, but be sure to also have a look at the full program and attend to as many other panels as you can (and register! Don’t forget, it’s free :)).
• Can’t attend? We’ll certainly miss you… but in the meantime, no tears: a live stream is also available, and you’ll be able to catch up with everything (just look at the schedule).
• Download the app – the best way to keep in touch with the organization and have everything in your pocket.
• Attend the party. It’s not only about attending these great panels and presentations; it’s also about discussion with fellow attendees and making new connections.
• Share it with the rest of the world and connect online – share your thoughts and insights from the Social Media Week online (Twitter, blog, video, pics). Participating in conversations is the best way to nurture your network and create opportunities. And don’t forget to tag your content #smw12 and @smwsf.

For the rest or our recommendations, have a look at the Social Media Week blog, full of additional wise advice and interesting content.

Full Disclaimer: IBM and Adobe are clients of Text 100. Beyond is a sister agency of the Next15 Group.

There’s been a lot of debate over the future of PR.  From PRSA’s #PRDefined initiative focused on revitalizing the definition of PR, to the evolving role of communications professionals and agencies. Historically, “traditional PR” has been heavily defined by media relations. And while media relations remains important, the industry is increasingly seeing our function becoming something much bigger. PR’s success focuses on building companies’ brands and growing their businesses – using storytelling and compelling messages to communicate to the people your company wants to influence, and ultimately influencing their behavior.

Digital and social are certainly major components of this discussion. A front page feature in the Wall Street Journal is valuable but if a blog post from the leading cloud computing expert generates more hits to your website and coverts to more sales, which has more value? The way people are consuming media and are influenced has evolved, and communications is no longer solely defined by the ability to generate media attention for a brand. Rather, we can take these conversations direct to influencers and to customers via social channels, knowing the benefit of them then sharing the content with their network(s).

We’ll continue this discussion around the evolving function of PR, influencers and content creation in this session at Social Media Week San Francisco, taking place on Monday, February 13 at 10am at Trulia SF. I encourage you to register, join the discussion and hear from a former reporter turned corporate blogger; the corporate communications director at Cisco who operates “The Network: Cisco’s Technology News Site”; ad:tech’s content director; and, myself (communications and digital at Text 100).

And, please let me know what topics you’d like to hear discussed in the panel in the comments section or on Twitter (@chanslor).

Picture credit: The phone is ringing by Kerolic on Flickr (cc)

Editor’s note: This post originally appeared on the Social Media Week San Francisco blog and is re-published in support of Text 100′s involvement in the event.

Our sister digital agency Beyond is the City Partner for Social Media Week San Francisco, and has worked with Advisory Board and sponsors to extend Social Media Week to the broader Bay Area.  Jason Clarke and I are serving on the Social Media Week San Francisco Advisory Board, and Text 100 Global Digital Lead Jeremy Woolf is also on the Advisory Board of Social Media Week Hong Kong. Text 100 is also collaborating with sister agency Bite Communications to handle communications and media relations surrounding the SF event. Today we formally announced the hubs that Social Media Week SF’s sponsors will host throughout the week. Three of the hubs are Text 100 clients – Adobe, Cisco and IBM (specifically IBM Emerging Technologies). The current schedule of events for Social Media Week San Francisco can be found here. Aside from the panels, Social Media Week is also hosting a closing party on Friday, January 17 at 111 Minna — we’ll all deserve some cocktails and fun after the productive week!

To register for any of the Social Media Week events, please visit socialmediaweek.org and click on “login/register” to create an account and register for events.

Our own Jeremy will be chairing a panel debating The Future of Television, and I’ll be moderating a session about Topic Influencers and the Future of PR.

Join the conversation using #SMW and specific to Social Media Week SF using #SMWSF.

An outfit that might get you hired (whether Hillary Clinton would wear this is debatable).

I recently had the privilege of attending a great industry event with several dozen PR professionals, (including some fellow Texties). I anticipated a day filled with learning best practices and industry trends—and it was!—but what I did not anticipate was the scantily-clad college students.

I was shocked to see multiple young ladies wearing skirts or dresses that barely covered their derrieres. I understand that 8:00 a.m. is not a time that many college students see; I was a college student myself not too long ago. But isn’t it common sense to wear professional attire to these types of events? I can recall numerous minutes spent in my closet, fretting over what to wear the night before an interview. Not to mention, as part of my Business Writing class at Fairfield University, I participated in a mock interview with my professor, who graded my interviewing skills—and my attire.

The conference provided a rare opportunity to mix and mingle with the industry’s best-of-the-best, especially in a time when jobs are scarce. This was an opportunity for students to make an impression with local companies—and possibly secure an internship position.

Text 100 is always on the lookout for stellar interns. And you know what? Our internship coordinator, who joined me at the event, zeroed in on the girl wearing dress pants and a blazer, not the girl wearing five-inch stilettos and a skin tight dress.

So, here are a few “rules of thumb” (reconfirmed by the aforementioned students) to follow when dressing for any professional event:

• If your fingertips surpass your hemline by a mile, then it is not appropriate. No
  

  Ummmm, no. Just, no. Sorry Miley!

  one wants to see your undergarments when you drop your complimentary conference padfolio.

• If you would wear the outfit to the bars on a Saturday night, then it is not appropriate. Think to yourself “WWHCD,” or rather What Would Hillary Clinton Do?
• If your pants look like you slept in them, then it is not appropriate. I know the “I-just-rolled-out-of-bed” look is popular on the runways, but this is not New York Fashion Week.
• If someone confuses you with a flight attendant, then it is not appropriate….or fashionable. (And yes, that happened.)
• If your backpack would be of interest to a kindergartner, then it is not appropriate. Please leave your wildly floral bags in your dorm room and opt for a more modest briefcase or purse.

Can you think of any other professional faux pas or fashion mishaps at work? Let’s talk tacky clothing!

Editor’s Note: Polyvore boards borrowed from here (business attire) and here (no-no attire).