February 9th marked the second installment of podCamp Western Mass, this year held on the campus of Westfield State College in Westfield, MA.
After attending last year’s podcamp, I was eager to come back and see what “2.0” would bring. Let’s just say I wasn’t disappointed. I began the morning by presenting a session on Social Media 101 and Integration of Social Media Into Existing Websites and Online Marketing. I would estimate that there were between 40-45 people in the room for my session which resulted in a great conversation about how to get started on sites like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. A great number of people got involved in the session as well as shared information, strategies and concepts on not only how to get started in social media, but also how to use it for your business.
After my presentation I sat down to listen to Steve Garfield talk about his expertise on web video and how it can be integrated into blogs, websites, etc. Steve definitely knows his stuff and provided some great tips on lighting, angles and some “gadgets” that can help your web video look more professional. My particular favorite and most likely soon to be in my gadget bag was the X Shot. This cool tool allows you essentially add about three feet to your arm length and allows you to be in the shot without having someone hold your camera or camcorder for you. Definitely worth the under $50 price tag.
Next was a session held by Jaclyn Stevenson on using social media in public relations. Jax is a very talented writer and great PR professional, so it was great to sit down and learn from her. She told us about some sites I already knew about like HARO, pitchengine.com, grader.com and one I didn’t know about, Helium.com.
I again participated in one of the last sessions of the day, which was a “roundtable discussion” about how social media has affected our personal and professional lives. I was fortunate enough to be on this panel with other Western Mass social media rockstars like Christine Pilch, Kelly Galanis, Lesley Lambert, Val Nelson and Jaclyn Stevenson.
In this discussion panel, we shared our experiences with social media and explained the various benefits that we’ve received by forming (or strengthening) our social media friendships as well as being able to reach out to new clients. It was a great session, and I was lucky to be included with this group of talented Pioneer Valley women.
If you’re looking for ways to get involved and not sure where to start, a podcamp is a great place to start. While there is no date set for the next podCamp Western MA, you can still follow the hashtag #PCWM for tweets on the previous and upcoming podCamps in Western Mass! You can also visit http://podcamp.pbworks.com for information on other regional podcamps.
You can view my presentation slides over at slideshare.net
Finally, a special thanks to the organizers and sponsors of podcamp Western MA…
Organizers:
Morriss Partee
Jaclyn Stevenson
Kelly Galanis
Sponsors:
Westfield State College
Winstanley Partners
Microsoft BizSpark
