For those of you who still think social media is just a fad that will eventually fade away, don’t try selling that idea to members of the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) – St. Louis, or to regulars of Social Media Club – St. Louis (SMCSTL) events. I attended two successful events last week put on by these organizations that covered topics concerning social media.

IABC Luncheon

Nearly 100 people showed up to the IABC luncheon that focused on social media in the B2B workplace, a presentation put on by Dora Smith, the director of global social media for Siemens Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) Software.

Smith covered:

• Social media effects on communications from a location, influence, quantity and culture perspective.
• Siemens’ (a B2B software company) approach, goals and objectives in social media.
• A technology launch integrated with social media that won an IABC Gold Quill Award.
• Her recommendations on social media frameworks and resources.

Some of Smith’s tips:

• Consider social media’s impact on search and the new Social Search.
• Follow Forrester’s 4-step Social Media Approach: People, Objectives, Strategy, Technology.
• Survey your customers first before venturing out into social media and monitoring a conversation.
• The most important aspect of Twitter is that if you do things right, you begin to surround yourself with a great group of people.
• Social media road map: Listen, train ambassadors, engage, train bloggers: start internally, talk externally, energize.

SMCSTL
The SMCSTL event later that evening featured speaker David Garland, the founder and host of The Rise To The Top on ABC in St. Louis. His discussion, titled “Maximizing Content Marketing: Creating, Promotion, and ROI,” focused on how to create and take advantage of the content you put online and achieve measurable results to execute your strategy. Garland was a great speaker and interacted with the crowd well. “I approach social media like working the room at a cocktail party,” he said.

As a member of IABC’s Professional Development Committee, we have seen that events focused on social media tend to increase attendance due to the high interest to learn more about how to use social media as a communication tool. Judging by the turnout at both of these events (and the fact that they were on the same day) I think it’s safe to say that social media is sticking around for a while and is constantly gaining popularity in St. Louis.

Upcoming Social Media Programs in St. Louis
Webster University and The Vandiver Group, Inc. (TVG) will also be putting on an event focused on social media. Webster’s School of Business and Technology and TVG will present a social media seminar, “Engaging Your Employees: Web 2.0” on Friday, December 11, at Webster University. This event is free and open to the public and includes a free continental breakfast, which will be served at 7:30 a.m. The seminar will begin at 8 a.m. At this seminar you will learn the benefits of the latest social media platforms when engaging with employees. Seating for this event is limited, so RSVP today!

IABC – St. Louis (@IABCstl on Twitter) puts on events, panels and speakers on the last Thursday of every month and SMCSTL (@SMCSTL on Twitter) holds events on the third Thursday of every month. Due to the holidays, IABC will be putting on a special event on Tuesday, December 15, again focused on social media at the Schlafly Tap Room. Schlafly Co-Founder and Vice President Dan Kopman will present “See What’s Brewing at Schlafly: Social Media” and he will share Schlafly’s experiences in Web 2.0 and how your company can get results with social media. This program is open to both members and non-members, and you can register here.