Are We Killing Social with Social?
Doesn’t it seem like a new social network launches every day? From geosocial to social TV, from social gaming to social news, it seems like we’re just adding a “social” layer to everything we do, online or offline. As a digital solution for seemingly every facet of human culture emerges, it’s starting to look a lot like...well, human culture, digitized.
We have to ask: how many social networks are people willing to sign up for? Do people want a massive social network with everyone on it or are they more interested in niche networks focused on different passions? Maybe both. Or, maybe we’ll all just get sick of it and start mailing letters to each other again.
To truly understand the human appetite for social, we will open the aperture of understanding social outside just social networks to examine how people are communicating with peers and brands in life as a whole. Some of our richest data today comes from forums or communities. As the world gets more digital and measurable, increasing our ability to capture people, places and things and the various activities and actions one can take within those combinations, the sharing of that information will be an essential extension of social.
This session will explore why people keep signing up for new social networks, look at “social fatigue”, consider evolving human social behavior and, with the audience’s help, create a collective manifesto about how we will put the “social” back into “social networking”.
Presenters
Caroline Giegerich is the founder and editor of Daily Marauder, a daily website devoted to the intersection of art, technology, and online media. She is a blogger for the Huffington Post and guest writer for Mashable.
Formerly, Caroline was the VP of Innovations at Initiative. She was responsible for brainstorming and executing innovative marketing strategies for Lionsgate, VIZIO, Lucas Arts, Hyundai, Carl’s Jr, Kia, and Dr. Pepper/Snapple across platforms from print, outdoor, TV, events, and digital. She has won three awards for Lionsgate’s Foursquare promotion in 11 cities nationwide surrounding the release of the action movie The Expendables. She also won the 2011 OMMA award for Dr. Pepper’s campaign on Chegg.com to gain distribution rights on college campuses.
Before joining Initiative, she was Manager, Emerging Platforms & Technologies for Home Box Office, Inc, responsible for pursuing strategic relationships in new media, product development, and research in the realm of emerging platforms and technologies as leveraged by internal teams at HBO. Before joining HBO, Caroline worked at the LA Times and in radio as a DJ at a medium market alternative station.
Caroline holds a Bachelors of Arts in Pre-Medical Sciences and Philosophy from Brown University.
Chris Vennard is a long time Googler, with a history of designing and launching some very successful products. Currently, his responsibilities are for Global strategy and solutions for Google+. In his not-so-spare time, Chris enjoys running after his 4 year old boy and 2 year old daughter who keep him on his toes more than the social and advertising communities do.
Jason Kapler is the Director of Marketing at Networked Insights, a data analytics firm that works with networks, brands and agencies to better understand real-time trends from social media. Jason has over ten years of management and operational experience where he has developed digital strategies that drive demand through integrated marketing programs.
At Networked Insights Jason’s primary focus is educating content creators, brand marketers, and media agencies on leveraging social data to stay in-sync with the interests of their target audiences. Tapping into the voice of the consumer as expressed in social media enables companies to capitalize on real-time trends and discover insights that lead to more effective and efficient marketing decisions.
Jason frequently publishes to the Networked Insights Blog and can be found on Twitter at @JasonKapler. He has been quoted as an expert resource in advertising trade publications and blogs.
As the head of iCrossing’s Live Media Studio, Tarah Feinberg is driven by his passion to evolve brands into publishers and participants in their communities. He leads a team of award-winning content creators, seasoned journalists and WOMMA-trained audience managers dedicated to helping marketers build connected brands by using insights to create real-time brand experiences through content, community building and dialogue. With a focus on measurable results, the Live Media Studio is equipped to continually optimize these integrated marketing programs, elevating the effectiveness of content and the strength of brand communities.
Seeing digital platforms as a powerful tool with which to facilitate interactive conversations, rather than passive entertainment, Tarah has worked throughout his career to merge his entertainment sensibilities with the combined needs of advertisers and audiences to create meaningful content experiences. He began his career as an indie filmmaker, spent a few years at HBO in Marketing & Original Programming, was a founding member of the NBC Universal Digital Studio and has held positions as a creative director and digital strategist at various advertising agencies. He has created, developed and overseen the production of video series, interactive experiences, social media engagements and entertainment products for digital and traditional platforms for brands such as Purina, Neutrogena, Lipton, J&J, Colgate, Citibank, AOL and Fox Interactive Media. He is also a member of the Producers Guild, BAFTA, NATAS, NAMAS, IFP, GenArt and other associations.
Tarah grew up in Vermont and graduated from Brandeis University, with a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy and Film Studies. When he’s not obsessing about digital content and emerging platforms, he’s sharing his life with a brilliant foodie and their dog in Brooklyn.
Sunday, March 11
