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Health & Fitness

Why I Love Social Media Club - St. Louis

If you're thinking about getting into the St. Louis social media scene, coming to a SMCSTL (Social Media Club - St. Louis) event is the best way to do it.

If you are into social media and live in the St. Louis area, then you need to check out SMCSTL (Social Media Club - St. Louis). If you haven't been to one of their events before, then you need to make sure you go to the next one because you are missing out.

I have been attending SMCSTL events since they relaunched in May 2009. I wasn't there for the actual relaunch party, but I was there the next month for their first panel, Social Media and the Small Business.

This was right around the time I joined Twitter as well and first started getting involved in the St. Louis social media scene. And what an exciting time it was!

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I'm not sure what the "Twitterverse" is like in other cities, but I can tell you we are a close-knit group here in St. Louis. I can still remember some of the people I met at the initial SMCSTL events and I love how I can always go back and find someone I know. And that's exactly how I felt when I went to SMCSTL's most recent event featuring a sports blogger panel on Aug. 30 at Gio's Downtown. 

I hadn't actually been to an SMCSTL event since January when they featured a higher education panel that I really enjoyed. And I was actually given some grief for not coming around for a while by an SMCSTL board member and friend of mine. He joked that the sports panel is what drove me out of my hiatus, and I half-joked that it was true. It didn't help that all three panelists were popular writers/bloggers for the Cardinals, which, along with sports in general and education, is a topic I'm particularly fond of.

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Even better than meeting up with old friends was introducing a friend of mine to the St. Louis social media scene. Apparently it's a trend I'm starting, because I brought a different friend to the last SMCSTL meeting, and it was also her first time. Who wants to go with me next? 

Anyway, I figured this was going to be a topic my friend would enjoy, considering he's also a huge Cardinals fan like me and an even bigger Blues fan. Plus he is working on his MBA and wants to get more involved in social media, and not just for recreational purposes. He's even thinking about changing his Twitter handle to something more professional, which I thought was interesting. Twitter can have so many different purposes for people, it just depends on what you want out of it. 

I learned a lot of interesting information from the panel, which included:

This is actually the second time I've heard Gould and Leach speak. The first time was at the Cardinals inaugural Social Media Night, and they only got to speak a few minutes each, which was not enough for me. Here's actually a direct quote from my blog post about the event:

"I found what Derrick Goold and Matthew Leach had to say the most interesting, and I would like to have an hour just to hear them talk about how Twitter and social media have changed their line of work."

I guess someone heard me and granted my wish! (Thanks SMCSTL!) Here are a few of my favorite tidbits from the night:

  • Page views is one way of keeping score. Ignoring them is like ignoring the score. (Gould)
  • Thoughts on criticism:
    • Criticism is good because someone has to tell you how you're doing. (Leach)
    • While it can be good, know not to defend yourself on a message board because you'd only be inviting the "piranhas" to attack you. (Gould)
    • The ability for writers to become more self-aware of how they are doing is better than it's ever been, thanks to social media. Back in the day readers would have to send in letters to the editor to get their voice heard. Not anymore.
    • Valuable criticism can actually come from trolling. 
  • Thoughts on ESPN's social media policy, which states that their writers cannot break news on Twitter without breaking it on ESPN first:
    • If you're the first to break news but nobody comes to your site, you lost. (Leach)
    • Twitter bolsters the coverage. It is not the coverage. (Leach)
    • Too many writers give away their best on Twitter. Sometimes it's better to tease a breaking news story on Twitter without actually breaking the news. That's what your article is for. Draw your followers there.
    • "I want to give you a reason to come back. If my story isn't breaking but brings you back, I prefer that." (Leach)
  • One of my favorite metaphors of the night by Gould: Articles are the writer's backyard, message boards are everyone else's backyard. They meet at the fence on the writer's blog.
  • Good journalism comes from being passionate about or biased toward something. (Leach)

What I found most interesting was the panelists' debate on the ESPN social media policy. Personally, I understand where ESPN is coming from. They want the news to break on their website to draw people there rather than Twitter. Even though I have personally said that . I liked Leach's philosophy best, and I think Gould agreed with it, to merely tease the breaking news story on Twitter first, then post the link to the full story on their website.

I also asked them whether or not their employers required that they all have Twitter accounts or if it was something they took upon themselves. Gould and Leach both responded that they were asked by their employers to join Twitter, but have since then really taken the initiative in building their reputation on Twitter and online, not only for them as writers, but for their employers as well.

I have to admit my only disappointment at this event was not being able to meet the Weatherbird. Yes, I said the Weatherbird, as in the little cartoon bird that appears on the front page of every St. Louis Post-Dispatch and according to Twitter is the "St. Louis Post-Dispatch's ambassador to the web." I have tweeted with him (or her?) several times and I'd love to meet the man (or woman) behind the mask! Oh well, another day, Weatherbird, another day. 

But other than that I had a great time and I'm looking forward to the next SMCSTL event!

Speaking of which, a board member of SMCSTL will be speaking at  at the end of the month during TweetUp SCC Week, which I am helping to plan and promote as part of the Marketing and Communications Department.

TweetUp SCC is going to be a week of events focused on the educational, professional and networking uses of social media, and it's the first time we've hosted an event like this at SCC. A faculty member at SCC, who is also very into social media, approached me about it and we've been planning it ever since!

The SMCSTL presentation, Networking vs. Friending, will discuss the difference between networking and “friending” on social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook, as well as the benefits of networking via social media. The presentation will be at 6 p.m. Monday, Sept. 26, in the auditorium of the Social Sciences Building on the SCC campus.

I will also be giving a presentation about SCC's social media efforts at noon that same day in the same location. We will also show two films, "The Social Network" and "Catfish," as well as two other panels, including one on privacy and security. For the full lineup of events and details visit the TweetUp SCC Web page. Feel free to email me with any questions, or search Twitter for #tweetupSCC for more information!

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