• TONIGHT! The Wordpress Memphis Kickoff!! – 6pm at the LunaWeb offices, 5180 Park, Suite 305
  (FREE)
• LaunchMemphis presents After Hours with Larry Farrell – Sept. 13^th, 5:00 –7:00pm at LaunchMemphis (FREE)
• LaunchMemphis presents a Book Signing with Larry Farrell and Bridget DiCello– Sept. 14^th, 6:30 –8:00pm at Davis Kidd (Also FREE)
• WordCamp Birmingham, Sept. 18 & 19 – http://wordcampbirmingham.org/
  
• BarCamp Jonesboro, Sept 25 – http://www.barcampjonesboro.com/
• Ignite Memphis, Oct. 20, 7:30 pm at Playhouse on the Square
• BarCamp Memphis – November

So go! Jonesboro is only an hour or so away, and we’re trying to put together a caravan to go to Birmingham for WordCamp.

But besides our raves about BarCamps, the podcast also includes a great interview with Michael Synk: the business man, the consultant, the book club organizer. In one of his many roles, Michael coordinates the In-Synk Executive Huddle, a peer group for entrepreneurs and CEOs. In the same vein, he has also formed a Business Book Club, which he describes as “the book club for people who don’t have time to read the book.” RSVP here for the next meeting, which is tomorrow, September 3, 8 am at Davis Kidd, when they’ll be reviewing Blue Ocean Strategy.

After you listen in, find Michael on the web at www.in-synk.com, or on LinkedIn, Twitter, or Facebook!

Download the podcast here, listen with the player below, or click the iTunes logo to subscribe.

Amanda Mauck – Facebook 101

Think you know Facebook? Well, maybe you did a day or two ago, but chances are, they’ve changed something since then. It seems like the internet’s most popular social network site rolls out a new update almost daily, and for the last few months, each and everyone has a parade of privacy complaints right behind it.

Amanda Mauck’s Facebook 101 session was an open forum to ask questions about using the ever-expanding site for your business. Amanda runs the Facebook page for Le Bonheur Children’s Medical Center, which has 8700 fans (or… likers?), posts new content at least a couple of times every day, and uses photos and videos to promote the message of the hospital. She is also on Facebook chat as I write this. She’s definitely someone who’s got the skinny on utilizing Facebook for a business.

The discussion ranged from the basic, like the difference between fan pages and personal profiles, to the more advanced, like Pay-Per-Click ads and Facebook’s statistics service, Insights. Everyone in the room had a different level of familiarity with the site, and Amanda was really great about answering all of the questions thoroughly.

As for “Like” versus “Become a fan?” Amanda’s stance is that it’s just plain ridiculous, and pretty much everyone in the room had to agree.

Audio 101 – Justin McGregor

Podcasting can be intimidating, but Justin McGregor promises it doesn’t have to be. Equipment can be inexpensive, set-up can be simple, and editing can be just as easy as you need it to be.

A podcast with only one or two speakers can be produced with a USB microphone and Audacity, a completely free sound editor. Or, for a little more money, you can upgrade to a dynamic microphone and sound card. The “Audio 101″ session was highly practical, and Justin was great about recommending really specific equipment brands, like the Blue Microphones Yeti USB mic, and the M Audio Fast Track Pro sound card.

Justin also went over the basic three elements of sound editing: compression, equalization, and time expansion, complete with screen shots of audacity editing modes.

Of course, after you edit, you’ll want to share your podcast, and Justin recommended some of the easiest ways to do that, too! Posterous is the easiest (and least expensive – it’s free) way to publish your podcast. Otherwise, you’ll need to purchase some web storage and link to your audio file. Anyone can podcast!

LaunchMemphis and LunaWeb recently co-hosted TribeCamp, a day-long conference on social media, web topics and professional development. The Social Expedition was proud to be a Platinum Sponsor of the event. We’ll be posting notes from some TribeCamp sessions over the next couple of weeks. The posts will be on a variety of topics, from social media to production to content.

Amanda Mauck – Facebook 101

Think you know Facebook? Well, maybe you did a day or two ago, but chances are, they’ve changed something since then. It seems like the internet’s most popular social network site rolls out a new update almost daily, and for the last few months, each and everyone has a parade of privacy complaints right behind it.

Amanda Mauck’s Facebook 101 session was an open forum to ask questions about using the ever-expanding site for your business. Amanda runs the Facebook page for Le Bonheur Children’s Medical Center, which has 8700 fans (or… likers?), posts new content at least a couple of times every day, and uses photos and videos to promote the message of the hospital. She is also on Facebook chat as I write this. She’s definitely someone who’s got the skinny on utilizing Facebook for a business.

The discussion ranged from the basic, like the difference between fan pages and personal profiles, to the more advanced, like Pay-Per-Click ads and Facebook’s statistics service, Insights. Everyone in the room had a different level of familiarity with the site, and Amanda was really great about answering all of the questions thoroughly.

As for “Like” versus “Become a fan?” Amanda’s stance is that it’s just plain ridiculous, and pretty much everyone in the room had to agree.

The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) took place recently, and the nascent gadget freaks in us await January’s unveiling of shiny new toys as though it were Christmas proper. Everyone wants in on the act.

Even Google and Apple unveiled or are unveiling new products this month, and though the true identity of Apple’s product won’t be known until it’s announced Jan. 27, everyone seems to think they know what it is.

While we’ve been telling people for a long time to go ahead and grab the Twitter username you want before someone else does, it seems that Twitter will soon begin releasing usernames that seem to have been abandoned.

If they delete and release these usernames all at once, expect there to be an absolutely insane landgrab, like when Facebook suddenly allowed custom usernames and URLs.

Unfortunately, when it comes to usernames, you can’t always get what you want. But if you try canonical URLs, you’ll get what you need – an easy way to tell your audience how to find your social presence.

Elizabeth Cawein, Matthew Crawford Trisler, Eric Mathews, and Dave Barger

Eric Mathews stopped by our office to drop some knowledge on us about how two Mercury Technology Labs startups – Marks Menus and Into Outdoors – are leveraging social technologies to achieve their goals and provide functionality.

Eric notes that if Memphis wants to maintain a vibrant entrepreneurial community, then what’s going on in that community needs the city’s attention.

The Memphis Flyer gets that – and “20 Under 30,” the cover story of their latest issue, takes that idea to the general public. The story focuses on 20 of the most influential Memphians, most of whom bring attention to how great it can be to live here – and at least two of them are local social luminaries.

Stephen Hackett made the list – not for his “#gojgo” campaign, like Matthew says in the podcast (he hadn’t seen the paper yet, just the list of who was on it) – but for a post on his blog, Fork Bombr, about how if we want Memphis to be a better place, we need to take responsibility for making it so.

And there’s @ILoveMemphis herself, Kerry Crawford Trisler, married to our own Matthew Crawford Trisler (whose heart beats faster at just the sound of her name). Her efforts on Twitter, Facebook, Flickr and the I Love Memphis Blog have earned her not just a spot on the Flyer’s list, but the cover.

Congratulations to everyone on the list – that’s a big honor, and you all deserve it!

Please join us tomorrow – Friday – for the Core Conversation podcast. This time around we’ll be talking about Creative Commons, Copyright/Copyleft issues, and promoting music online with the Creative Commons Foundation and Eric Maskol, who wrote our crazy-catchy theme music.

Do take some time between 11:30 and 12:30 to join us. You can call in to the Core Conversation at 646-721-9429.

As for the Social Expedition Podcast we’ve been talking about all this time, you can Download it here, listen in the player at the bottom of this post, or click the iTunes logo to subscribe.

The day was filled with home run presentations, great food, and a big crowd of extremely fun people.  By the end of the day, we had registered well over 100 SocialCamp attendees and even trended as the #1 topic on Twitter.

There was something for everyone to learn, with topics ranging from introductory 101 presentations, to meaty, uber-advanced discussions.  We saw several traditional presentations, as well as panels, core conversation groups, and quite a few spontaneous discussions.

Thanks to everyone who attended, and helped make this all happen.  The planners and volunteers put a lot of time into putting SocialCamp together, and we couldn’t have asked for a better crowd to attend.  We also had a bunch of wonderful sponsors aside from the Social Media Expedition.  Please go and check them out on the SocialCamp Memphis site.

If you were able to attend, leave a comment to let us know what you thought of the conference.  We plan on bringing more things like this to Memphis, and keeping our city on the Social Media map.  Next on the horizon, we have our monthly Social Media Expedition breakfast on April 1st at the University of Memphis Holiday Inn.  There will be more details posted on the Meetup site.

Here’s an ongoing list of blog write-ups from the event:

Skinny White Boy

The Displaced Texan

Team140.com

SocialCamp Memphis

The post "Geeks and Newbies Unite at SocialCamp Memphis" by lunaweb is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

Like the Expedition, SocialCamp will seek to address how Social Media plays into all facets of our lives, from business to family, and from faith to politics. It is an unconference focusing on Social Media and Social Networking.  Just imagine a convention where the morning is comprised of designated speakers/topics, and the afternoon is comprised of focused discussions and impromptu presentations that are decided on by the attendees.  There will also be core conversations, very similar to the ones we include in our monthly Expedition breakfasts.  Be sure to register for SocialCamp to reserve your spot.

Speaking of breakfasts, this Wednesday, March 4, is the 1 year anniversary of our Social Media Expedition breakfasts.  This one will be at the Crescent Club on Poplar, and will feature Lausanne Collegiate School’s Stewart Crais speaking on tactics for the safety of minors on Social Networking sites.  These breakfasts have grown tremendously over the past year, and the conversation has only gotten better.  This will be another great opportunity to see what the Memphis Social Media community has to offer.

We look forward to seeing all of our Expeditionary friends at both of these great events.  Come out and join the conversation!

.

The post "SocialCamp Memphis a Week Away" by lunaweb is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

TechFuel: Taking Startups to New Heights Organized by LaunchMemphis February 19th, 2009, 5pm-7pm Location: The Tower Room in Clark Tower (5100 Poplar Ave) Inspired by other networking events occurring across the country like Tech Cocktail, the LaunchMemphis TechFuel is designed for technologists, entrepreneurs, media (bloggers), and other business professionals to meet, and share ideas in a fun and open atmosphere. The event is open to the public. With the LaunchMemphis TechFuel we hope to see the Memphis tech community better connected. Follow @launchmemphis on Twitter

eMarketing Group Meeting Organized by Melanee Hannock Evening of February 26th Location: Quetzal The purpose of this group is to let Memphis e-marketing individuals meet each other to connect and discuss marketing topics that are relevant to the group.

Expedition Breakfast Social Media Expedition’s increasingly popular monthly gathering of Social enthusiasts and practitioners for a breakfast of networking, presentation, and collaboration. RSVP and addl. Info March 4th – Wednesday 7:30 – 9:30 UofM Holiday Inn Follow @smexpedition on Twitter

SocialCamp Memphis Organized by LaunchMemphis Evening of March 6th(mixer) and the day of March 7th(main event), 2009 Location: TBD SocialCamp, like BarCamp, is an un-conference; An open format event where programmers, designers and business owners can network and learn. A SocialCamp conference is unlike any other technology conference. Rather than being planned by a committee in advance, each community works together to create its own event. A SocialCamp generally has an underlying theme, but the individual topics and sessions are organized shortly before or even at the event. This enables SocialCamp to be much more than targeted to the needs of its community. Follow @socialcampmem on Twitter SxSW Interactive March 13-17th in Austin, Texas. Are you going? (see local forum)

Upcoming Events Quick List:

Thursday, February 5th – SocialCamp Planners (5:00) **

Saturday, February 7th – Business Boot Camp (all day) **

Thursday, February 12th – Twestival to raise money for water (5:00 until)

Thursday, February 19th – TechFuel Mixer **

Thursday, February 26th – eMarketing Group *

Wednesday, March 4th – Social Media Expedition Breakfast ***

Friday, March 6th – SocialCamp Memphis – Mixer **

Saturday, March 7th – SocialCamp Memphis – Main Event **

March 13th- 17th – SXSW South by Southwest Interactive (Austin, TX)

 * Organized by Melanee Hannock

** Organized by LaunchMemphis

*** Organized by LunaWeb, Inc.

Bookmark These: SocialMediaExpedition.com SocialCampMemphis.com LaunchMemphis.com TweetMemphis.WetPaint.com Follow @smexpedition , @socialcampmem, @launchmemphis

.

The post "Mark Your Calendar – Big Upcoming Events" by lunaweb is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.