After 3 days of being surrounded by the largest concentration of iPhones and “twitterati” (avid Twitter users) known to man, I learned a lot about how to use social media to be transparent, genuine, and put a face behind logo.
First, I stopped by the “If you liked it, then you should have put a Digg on it” panel covering social media for traditional companies. I’ll confess that the title’s homage to Beyonce’s song Single Ladies was what got me in the door, but I’m glad that I went.
Panelists included JCPenney, Carnival Cruises, and H&R Block, who all discussed their activity in the social media sphere. Their stories were mostly of trial-and-error approaches to see what worked; for instance, Carnival discovered that a colorful cruise ship captain gained popularity on Facebook, whereas a traditional brand page did not.
My next stop was intended to be the Twitter for Marketers panel, but it was full and overflowing into the hall by the time I got there. Turns out, SXSWers are a proactive group. We organized an impromptu overflow discussion in the hallway on Twitter, including some basics on how to use it, pitfalls to avoid, and how to manage a corporate “persona” on Twitter.
The talk turned out to be really valuable, as we got to hear from social media reps from IBM, Southwest Airlines, and others. Our ultra-connected group quickly began documenting the session itself, taking pictures, videos, and tweeting about our hallway chat. Check out the video below for a fun overview! I’m the person in the first frame, looking bored but in reality just trying to drink it all in. You can also read a great recap of the session at LaLunaBlanca, or by searching hashtag #tweethall at search.twitter.com
TweetHall – Rejected Connected from LunaWeb on Vimeo.
Posted on March 19th, 2009
A division of