Toronto: PodCamps and Tuesdays

One of the reasons that I like living in Toronto is because there is always so much great stuff going on. This weekend, I'll definitely be checking out PodCamp Toronto.

I didn't go last year, but from what I heard it was pretty awesome.

And then next week, its Third Tuesday time again here in Toronto! On February 26th, Michael McDerment will be speaking at Fion McCools on University Ave. Read more about it and sign up here.

See you there!

-Parker If you haven't been to a Third Tuesday, you're really missing out.

To everyone who is a regular: I look forward to seeing you again next week.

-Parker

Disclosure: I work for CNW Group, a sponsor of both PodCamp Toronto and Third Tuesdays across Canada.

Dell's Richard Binhammer Raises The Bar For Quick Responses

Last night, Richard Binhammer, better known as RichardAtDell, spoke at Third Tuesday Toronto. Richard has set an impressive precedent by responding to Dell posts within as little as two hours, often within mere minutes. He even responded to an October 25th post about Dell on our very own BlogCampaigning within an impressive time frame. Last night he mentioned that there is little to no point in responding at all if you cannot do so within 24 hours: the sheer immediacy of the blogosphere being its essence. A little primer on Dell’s story: Dell has been used as a case study for large companies aquiring and adjusting to social media practices. In 2005, the company had to deal with Jeff Jarvis’ criticism of the company on his blog, Buzzmachine followed by the exploding batteries crisis on Youtube in 2006.

What transpired has been Dell’s reappropriation of the social media realm, largely thanks to new initiatives such as IdeaStorm, an innovative site where Dell customers put forth suggestions to Dell and then other community members get to vote for these suggestions. Another dialogue-focused Dell project is Direct2Dell, a blog that encourages Dell employees to discuss Dell products and services in the company forum as well as in their own blogs. This dialogue coupled with the company’s openness and transparency has lead to a turnaround in social media perception of Dell.

Perhaps most successfully, has been Richard Binhammer’s personal involvement in Dell’s social media efforts. As a member of the Dell blogger outreach program, he comments on different blogs pertaining to computers and social media. Binhammer mentions that eight times out of ten, he achieves success through his involvement with Dell comments and posts. By engaging in dialogue with Dell consumers (either by explaining the reasons behind company policies or transparently admitting flaws) Binhammer has helped to construct a brand image of Dell as a company that cares about its stakeholders and actively values their input.

How are they doing now? Well, 8.3/10 on CNET isn't such a bad score for their new XPS line of laptops.

Collin Douma mused that much of Dell’s social media brand image is tied up in Binhammer’s personal involvement and ability to respond immediately. What would happen if Dell’s super-blogger could blog no more?

Thanks to CNW for sponsoring last night’s event and a big thanks to Joe Thornley for putting on Third Tuesdays.

For more info on last night's event, read what Dave Fleet and MC OCC have to say or sign up for future events here.

- Jess

Disclosure: BlogCampaigning's Parker Mason works for CNW Group, a sponsor for the Third Tuesday events.

Third Tuesday's Are Back!

Well, the summer is over, I'm back from a great vacation and Third Tuesday is back on. If you don't know what Third Tuesday is, then you're missing out. You can probably find a pretty good explanation about it on Joe Thornley's blog (I've heard him referred to as the Third Tuesday "Grand Poobah," and it's probably an accurate description). Or you can join the Facebook group. Or you can take a look at the MeetUp website for Third Tuesday events in Toronto, Vancouver, and Ottawa. Or I can just tell you that it the event is billed as 'Canada's Social Media Meet Up' and that it certainly doesn't disappoint. I first found out about Third Tuesday Toronto last January when I first moved to this city. Down and out, sleeping on a friend's couch, and feeling miserable in the cold weather, I was fortunate enough to be invited to one of these meet-ups by Paull Young. I'd met him in Australia a few months before, and he was in town as part of his world journey.

'This is good shit,' I thought to myself after meeting some great people, and I attended the next event. Armed with resumes and a freshly-pressed shirt, I met the woman who would become my boss, as well as heaps of other great people who have made me feel welcome in both Toronto and in the social media community.*

Six months later and I'm super stoked that the company I work for, CNW Group, is going to be sponsoring Third Tuesday events in all three cities. I'm excited because I'm working at a job where I'm involved in social media on a daily basis, and where I get to help out with such an an awesome event. If, as Joe Thornley writes, it allows Third Tuesday to concentrate more time on attracting top-notch speakers, then I'm glad that CNW Group can help out as a sponsor. **

The next event is going to be in Toronto on October 15 and will feature Darren Barefoot, a solid blogger and my competition in Buzz Canuck's 1% Army Competition. I look forward to meeting him, and I know that he'll have lots of good stuff to say about our social media world.

I hope to see you all there. If not, try and make it to one of the other Third Tuesday events!

-Parker

*Gratuitous link-love to all those folks I met during the first few Third Tuesday events and whom I'm happy to still be interacting with: Martin Hofmann, David Jones, Terry Fallis, Chris Clarke (congrats on the new job, buddy!), Michael O'Connor-Clarke, Donna Papacosta, Sean Moffitt, Cathy Kurzbock, and Scotty Macdonald.

**DISCLOSURE: As mentioned above, I work for CNW Group. However, this blog is a personal blog and may not reflect the opinions or position of my company.