The iStrategy conference was held in Atlanta last week and brought together an amazing list speakers from Frederick Townes, the CTO of Mashable to Craig Newmark, Founder of Craigslist & Craigconnects. From start to finish, the conference was on fire! Twitter was lit up with the hashtag #iStrategy, and in between panel sessions, the sweet smell of networking was in the air.
On the first day of the event, a lot of the discussion revolved around social media and how to effectively build a real strategy that was actionable and impactful. With panelists that ranged from Don Steele, Todd Wilms, and Elizabeth Pizzinato we heard a lot of how they were able to achieve success in their companies. We heard that most often listening can be more important talking, that authenticity is still a key to success, and that social media is not something you control, but something in which you need to participate with. Definition 6’s Jennifer Dowd took away another great key point on how to effectively establish a social media practice in a large organization: Raise the social IQ one group at time within a large company. Establish the rules. Do not try to execute a companywide revision of a social media plan because the entire group will not retain the strategy at the same level.
We were fortunate enough to have our CEO Michael Kogon moderate an amazing panel on Social Media & E-Commerce. Kicking off the panel was our Social Media DJTM Ashley Reed, encouraging the audience to participate via Twitter and it would pay off...with some amazing prizes, including an HP Touchpad & a football signed by Dan Marino (thanks to Nutrisystem!). 
The panel was made up of great companies like Rue La La, Vista Print, Nutrisystem, Sears, and HP UK. Each of the different organizations has taken a different approach to e-commerce and social media by engaging with their consumers on mobile, creating their own content and even leveraging their social channels for charitable causes. Ryan Ostrom, from Sears has taken it one step further to become a media company as well, creating their own content including many how-to videos – their most popular is how to turn a picnic table into a keg.
Panelist Christy Monaghan from Nutrisystem said it’s all about engagement for them, with tons of mobile apps created in the last few months where their users have the ability to track calories, and their diet regiment. Christy even mentioned that they have 70% re-engagement for their droid app alone. Stacey Santo from Rue La La has utlized social media for improved customer service. So much, in fact, that Rue La La has its own twitter account solely dedicated to this. Depending on your definition of social media, you must do what is in the best interest of an ultimate goal, make the campaign work for you.
All in all, this event was thought-provoking, insightful and had great networking opportunities (despite the fact there was no soda to be found at all during the breaks!!!) Thanks to the panelists and iStrategy team for inviting us to participate!
Panelist Christy Monaghan from Nutrisystem said it’s all about engagement for them, with tons of mobile apps created in the last few months where their users have the ability to track calories, and their diet regiment. Christy even mentioned that they have 70% re-engagement for their droid app alone. Stacey Santo from Rue La La has utlized social media for improved customer service. So much, in fact, that Rue La La has its own twitter account solely dedicated to this. Depending on your definition of social media, you must do what is in the best interest of an ultimate goal, make the campaign work for you.
All in all, this event was thought-provoking, insightful and had great networking opportunities (despite the fact there was no soda to be found at all during the breaks!!!) Thanks to the panelists and iStrategy team for inviting us to participate!
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