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Social Media Brunch (SMB 4): Thoughts and Photos!

Social Media Brunch 4: The lowdown

It’s time for another SMB post! I really wonder if the Social Media Breakfast/SMB title will go the way of Kentucky Fried Chicken/KFC (and all the conspiracy theories that no one ever uses the full name anymore, because what they’re selling is not chicken.) For the record, really, I think the real reason was that KFC wanted to take away the emphasis on the word “fried”. But I’m digressing.

Derrick was throwing up a concept that he and Nadia had talked about. He basically joked that the next SMB could be a Social Media Beer, since it would probably coincide with his coming of age and birthday. Social Media Breakfast, Brunch, what not… I was thinking, going along those lines, the next SMB could easily be anything from a Social Media Beach (power issues?) to Social Media Bash, etc. The feminists are going to kill me for even suggesting Social Media Babes. And the list goes on…

So SMB4, a brunch this time, saw a really good turnout. Held at the URA building, it was obvious that the crowd demographic had shifted slightly again. And really, as with all the SMB events so far, you never know what you’re going to get in terms of attendees.

It came up during discussions with Enning who suggested that there ought to be two separate events for SMB, one catered to the corporate folks, and another for the more casual bloggers out there. I actually think that if the event gets big enough, it would be great to have different breakout sessions, rather than dividing the event up. Right now, the numbers don’t really warrant that yet, but it’s all about constant adjustment and tweaking.

For myself, it was quite a different perspective because I had been live blogging the event, which was pretty much something I had never done before. It turned out to be a pretty fun experience nonetheless! Trying new stuff is always good.

Here are some photos from the event from the folks at Livestudios!

Derrick, Kim, Willy, Me, Claudia and Sherms!

Group shot

…. and the inaugural live blogging shot.

If you’re curious to find out more about SMB events in future, leave a comment, join our Facebook group or visit the SMB Singapore Forum!

Thoughts

I suppose a huge portion of what I think can already be found on the Socialmediabreakfast.sg site post. If I could expand on any point, I guess I truly believe that with social media,

“There isn’t a single formula that fits everyone.”

Perhaps it is not so important to clearly define what social media is, but just to recognize the mere fact that it affects everyone, and to varying degrees. What social media is will probably change over time, what social media is to you will probably change over time.

This really got me thinking. It occurred to me that a lot of the conversation at SMB4 was skewed towards the corporate side of things. It just so happened that things turned out that way, since SMB3 had been a lot more blogger-centric. The word “sincerity” was thrown around a lot during the panel discussions at SMB4, and I couldn’t agree more. I value sincerity in my real life interactions, and there is no reason for me to deviate from this when things are translated to the digital realm.

What is social media to me? At the end of the day, it isn’t just some magic bullet to address the concerns of marketing and PR folks. It isn’t just a (recently) convenient channel where corporations can “reach” their targeted consumers.

It’s a tool that I use to connect with the people that matter to me. It is a space where I can talk to my friends. It is an outlet for me to pen down my thoughts. It is a school where I can learn about what is going on all over the world.

Why I am interested in this, is because it helps me keep in contact with people all over the globe, regardless of our schedules, workload or geographical location.

Why I am interested in this, is because I love thinking about issues, and often, I express myself best through the written word.

Why I am interested in this, is because the social media space is the best book/textbook anyone could ever have due to it’s ever changing nature.

At present, I am not interested in unwanted intrusions into my conversations. If you’re going to talk to me, talk to me as a person and not as another potential “customer”. Corporations need to understand that sincerity and enthusiasm can be smelt a mile away, and likewise, a lack of either simply turns most people off. We may not have a universal remote control to “switch TV channels” like we used to, but we are sure going to make full use of the privacy functions on any platform to tune out unwanted messages.
Short of turning the entire social media space into a giant proverbial Tupperware party (viewed from its most basic concept, where friends promote products/services to other people they know), I am not quite convinced that the true power of social media can be harnessed in any other way right now.

Your thoughts?

P.S : If you were at SMB 4, we’d love it if you could fill out this short survey so we can improve on future sessions!

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Other links:

Tech65′s Audio Recording of the 1st part of the panel discussion
Daryl’s thoughts on SMB4
Benjamin’s thoughts on SMB4
Claudia’s glad SMB4 happened!