A chimpanzee brain at the Science Museum London (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It is human nature for our brain to be constantly in need of new information.  Social media delivers just that.  It is an excuse when you’re bored.  An easy way to stalk your best friend.  The leading cause of procrastination.  But most importantly, it is an addiction.

Personal Consumption of Social Media

Personally, facebook and twitter consumes a lot of my time.  The invention of applications on our phones gives us the ability to reload our FaceBook or twitter every second, if we want to.  Most people I know will go out to dinner and spend half of their time on their phones looking at status updates and tweets.

But why?  I believe that social media is addicting in the way that waking up for high school was bearable.  Sure, classes were boring and you wanted to smash your alarm clock.  But, being able to see and interact with all of your friends in between classes and during lunch more than made up for both injustices.

Why Addiction?

Human nature as a whole constantly craves social interaction.  Social media feeds this craving on an infinite scale.  No one needs to step out of their house anymore.  Information about friends, sports, news, and even other countries can be generated with just a username, email and password to a social media site.  The abundance of information that social media delivers makes it an addicting phenomenon that few people can explain.

Social Media Challenge

Start your vacation with a splash (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I would like to challenge anyone to take a week off of social media.  I’m going to go out on a limb and say most people will fail within the first 2 hours.  By having access to social media for so long, going without it feels like there’s a black hole, as if we lost a part of us.  Those who don’t use social media in our culture are seen as rebels.  After all, how many people do you know without a facebook?

And for those social media addicts out there remember one thing,

“you are what you tweet” – Alex Tew.

A perspective on social media by Kevin Anderson, our LaCrosse playing intern from UWMadison

Related articles

• Study: Social media is ‘brain candy’ (bizjournals.com)
• Twitter Addiction: Fact or Fiction? (drjezphillips.wordpress.com)
• How to avoid the selfishness of social MEdia (adigaskell.org)
• Our Brains Make Facebook Worth $90 Billion (neurosciencemarketing.com)
• See brain surgery Storified on Wednesday (storify.com)
• Why you might really, actually be addicted to Facebook (howto.cnet.com)
• Social media is the devil… and I’m getting old! (gemnicholls.com)
• Would Gandhi Use Social Media? (shareable.net)
• Let’s get real about ‘digital detoxing’ (news.cnet.com)

image via Wendy Soucie

Time to get out and vote!  We have provided bio, info, twitter handles, and LinkedIn profiles for Madison SMC members to research each nominee before voting. Members are defined as one of the 566 people on our current mailing list as of Friday May 4, at Midnight.  Some of the offices, you may note, are uncontested. There will be space for write in candidates for all offices except for president. As you may note in a prior post, the presidential nominees must have already been on the board to pursue the president position.

Look for your email that gives members the link to vote. This will be a unique link to each member. If anyone else uses your link, there vote will override the prior vote.

President Nominees

Bryan Bliss

Bryan Bliss

@blissfulfun(Twitter)

@social_media_wi(Twitter)

http://www.linkedin.com/in/bryanbliss

Past SMC role: Sponsorship

Self employed. Digital campaign Strategy: defining, distilling and declaring a message to demographically targeted and well understood audience. media production, syndication and optimization for professional results. online video, social media, banners and direct communication strategy, analytics and optimization platforms.

Marivic Valencia

Marivic Valencia

@Techpr

http://www.linkedin.com/in/marivicvalencia

Past SMC role: Queen of Fun, Communications

Marivic, through ValenciaPR, provides PR and Social Media for tech, print and professional services. She is  “the human decoder ring of digital marketing and social media.”

Vice President Nominee

Jessica Underwood

Jessica Underwood, New Business Development & Social Media Strategist

@junderwood

www.linkedin.com/in/junderwood

Social media and its uses in business, personal branding, and social applications are interests I am very passionate about. I attend a lot of networking events in Madison and the surrounding area. I would love to help build up the Madison SMC group. I know many of you from social networking and networking IRL. I would look forward to serving on a board for such a great group of people and friends. It’s great when you find others who share your interests and passions. I look forward to continued connections with everyone in this group and helping make it a staple group of Madison’s networking culture and a standout chapter of the national SMC.

Currently, I work for Reed, Sendecke, & Krebsbach (RS+K). We are a full-service ad agency with 34 years of history working in Madison. In my role, I function to bring in new business, raise awareness of the agency, and supply social media expertise to all campaigns. I am lucky that this position allows me to do what I love: meet people and demonstrate creativity and social media savvy. I have a background in online sales and training media sales reps on how to package new media with traditional media. As @junderwood on Twitter, I have the pleasure of sharing my thoughts and experiences with Madison and beyond. I look forward to being more involved with Madison SMC.

Treasurer Nominee

Al Zobel

Al Zobel

http://www.linkedin.com/in/alzobel

Social Media is not a passing fad. It’s vitally important for businesses and business owners to learn how to use Social Media effectively to brand and build their businesses. That’s why I like the SMB meetings so much…I always learn something that can be applied or otherwise used to shape a marketing message using Social Media.

Working in the Financial Services industry, I’m severely handicapped on the use of Social Media to market my practice. I’m not allowed to Tweet about my practice (not directly anyway), can’t have a Facebook page, and have to get approval to post anything on LinkedIn. That doesn’t mean, though, that I can’t use Social Media to my advantage.

I’m a Financial Planner, and a registered Stock Broker…I serve my clients with financial advice designed to make sure they never go poor. I’m good with money.

Secretary Nominee

Maureen Alley

@MaureenAlley

http://www.linkedin.com/in/maureenalley

Maureen Alley is community editor for ForResidentialPros.com, managing the social media accounts and online editorial for FRP and its sister brands: Qualified
Remodeler, Residential Design + Build, and Kitchen & Bath Design News. Previously, she was editor for Residential Design + Build magazine, and managing editor for Website
Magazine and Residential Design + Build magazine. Maureen is also a part-time instructor for Madison College and Marian University.

Membership Nominee

Tracey Ziegler

Tracey Ziegler – Sales Executive /Owner

@tziegler / @urhealthconnect

http://www.linkedin.com/in/traceyziegler

Blog:http://www.yourhealthconnector.net

I work for Shoutlet, a SMMS company, and the club is a great way to stay involved and up on industry trends.  I can contribute time and am willing to contribute the Professional Member fee (I believe it is $100).  I’m active in Social and network consistently.

Sales of Social Media Execution Software with Shoutlet in Madison, WI. I work with my clients to provide a tool that helps them be effective and efficient in their Social Media Marketing.

Communications Nominee

Kira Sparks

Kira Sparks

@kksparks

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/kira-sparks/7/640/828

Kira Sparks is currently Communications & Social Media Manager for the National Center for Media Engagement. As a writer and social media communicator, she provides education and professional development opportunities for public media professionals. Previous to NCME, Kira worked in digital marketing and copywriting at CPM Marketing Group and Timpano Group.  She has served as both Web chair and Assistant Public Service Chair of Ad 2 Madison. She graduated from the UW-Madison with a bachelors degree in Journalism – Strategic Communications and Political Science.

I’m interested in being on the board of the Social Media Club of Madison because I’m passionate about the ways social media can transform the way organizations do business. Every day I spend time learning, using and exploring social media channels. As communications chair, I’d love the chance to share learning opportunities with communications professionals, meet leading thinkers in social media and learn about best practices in our ever-changing industry.

Sponsorship Nominee

Trish Baden

Trish Baden

@trishbaden

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/tricia-baden/21/675/b10

I am always interested in using my skills in editing, writing, graphic design, marketing, communications, as well as the knowledge I have acquired from my educational and work experiences. I work well with people of all ages, have strong communication skills, extensive knowledge and experience in the realm of creative writing and editing, marketing, social media, strategic communications, and business development from my corporate involvement and internships. I have a passion for not only learning new things but also improving on the skills I already possess.

I am interested in getting more involved in the professional areas of applying social media in business situations.  I hope to contribute with skills in content development and management, Writing, Editing, Social Media, graphic design, layout and ad print design, Sound/Video/Photo Editing, Etc.

Program Nominee

Kristin Uttech

Kristin Uttech, Co-chair and Marketing Professor at Madison College

@mktmomprof

http://www.linkedin.com/in/kristinauttech

Kristin has spent over 20 years in leadership positions in corporate marketing.  She spent the majority of her career at Penda Corporation as their Director of Marketing Communications where she developed strategic communications plans for current and emerging business units. While at Penda, she was named the Madison Chapter AMA Marketer of the Year as a result of her national consumer co-branded campaign with NASCAR and Craftsman.  She was also the Director of Vertical Marketing for Sonic Foundry where she targeted corporate and higher education markets to drive sales of Mediasite, a leading webcasting technology.    She has extensive experience in corporate training, public relations, consumer and trade advertising, social media, and new product development.  She currently serves as the Co-chair and Marketing Professor for Madison College.  She was instrumental in developing the Social Media Certificate program at Madison College as well as the curriculum for two new course offerings, Social Media Campaigns and Mobile Marketing.  She has a BA from UW-Claire, a MBA from Marquette University and is planning to start a Phd in Organizational Leadership in 2013.

I am really interested in understanding the latest trends in Social Media.  I would like to help bring the best and brightest speakers to our club!  We have so many great organizations in Madison that can benefit from our Club. With my current position at Madison College, I’m well suited to help drive education and learning.  I’d like to help to take us to the next level…and have fun doing it!

Carleen Wild

Carleen Wild

@carleenwild

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/carleen-wild/8/111/449

Carleen Wild anchors the 11, 4 and 5pm news for the NBC affiliate in Madison.  She has been an active member of the community, volunteering on boards, for community events and an active participant in learning wherever she can.  Carleen has loved being even remotely active in Social Media Club and Social Media Breakfast but is excited to be a part of helping SMC grow, thrive and connect people and places!  And, not just here in Madtown but the connections we can make and lessons we can learn from others and share throughout the state and around the globe!

Interest Statement:

Wendy Soucie along with the help of a few others have created something special here with Social Media Club.  The insights I’ve gleaned on best practices of social media and harnessing the power of social media for the greater good has me fired up about being a part of the programming committee!  I want to help connect Madisonians to good things happening here at home, and throughout the world.  And bring those opportunities here to you!

Related articles

• Call for Nominations to the 2012 Madison SMC Board (madisonsmc.org)
• What are the official Madison SMC board positions? (madisonsmc.org)
• Madison SMC Gets Student Interns for Election Help (madisonsmc.org)
• UWSocial Event Recap from Student Intern – Colleen (madisonsmc.org)

Compliments of our Intern team of Sasha, Adam, kevin, Colleen and Xi

Image via CrunchBase

If people ask you what kind of Social Media you are actively using, your answer may probably be Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. But those are only part of my answers. Four years ago, I came to the U.S. for my college degree and that was when I started to know more about the most popular social media in the U.S. or probably around the world.

Facebook has more than 845 million active users around the world as of February 2012, while Twitter has 140 million and LinkedIn has 150 million.

Social Media in China

In August 2009, a social media website called Weibo was launched in China under SINA Corporation. Weibo has the similar concepts as Twitter, but allows users to directly view the pictures and video uploaded instead of an attached link.

I became a user of Weibo in 2010 and I love the way that I can follow the people and organizations that I want to keep myself updated on. I seldom go on news websites nowadays because I can get all the news from Weibo. Weibo has more than 300 million active users as of February 2012.

RenRen

Another social media website that I have been using for more than 6 years is called Renren. It was started by 4 Chinese college graduates in late 2005. And in April 2011, Renren’s stock started to trade publicly in the New York Stock Exchange. Renren has a total of more than 160 million active users as of February 2011.

I have always been interested in the different kinds of social media websites around the world. Although they may seem very different, they are basically built on the same principle that is to enable the constant exchange of information among users. Thanks to all the social media website, we can get information without the barriers of time and distance.

This is a guest post from Xi Zhang – but you can call her “C”. A senior at UW-Madison, she has a double major in Marketing, Management and Entrepreneurship. She works as a Student Supervisor at the University Dining and Culinary Services for almost four years. After she graduates, she will be working with Unilever as an Assistant Brand Manager. She likes music (singing) and sports (Volleyball and Taekwondo). The best ways to connect with her are through Facebook and Linkedin. And of course, Weibo and RenRen.

Related articles

• The Not-So-Great Firewall of China (chinadailymail.com)
• With Enterprise 2.0, Sina Weibo Looks to Cash in on Social Ads (techrice.com)
• Renren Launches a Social Travel Platform and App, Wants to Take a Trip (techinasia.com)
• Institutional Use of Social Media in China (ukwebfocus.wordpress.com)
• Snubbed by Apple, China’s Renren becomes the first social network app for Windows 8 (thenextweb.com)
• Mogujie: China’s Biggest Pinterest Clone is a Social Commerce Money Machine (techinasia.com)
• London Mayor Fails at Weibo, Copy-and-Pasting Random Messages From Twitter (techinasia.com)
• Why Social and Mobile Are a Whole Different Game in China (factbrowser.com)
• China’s new ‘real name’ regulations to strip web users of anonymity (vancouverobserver.com)

image via Kevin Anderson

Lacrosse and social media?

As part of the Wisconsin Men’s MCLA lacrosse team, I’ve seen first-hand the impact social media has on connecting teams with their fans.  My lacrosse team has both an active Facebook fan page, as well as a twitter account (@badgerlacrosse). Using Social Media

The Wisconsin Lacrosse Facebook Page  is primarily used to share things like game pictures, times and locations of upcoming games, news articles, and special announcements. It also gives the team a chance to interact with fans through posts and comments.

Twitter, on the other hand, is used to make daily announcements and to update followers on every games play-by-play action. Simple tweets like,

“Anderson scores for the Badgers on man-up, the game is tied 6-6”

allows parents and fans that couldn’t attend the game an opportunity to follow the score via social media. This is especially useful for parents of my teammates who live in New Jersey, Maine, and California.

Using these social media outlets gives badger lacrosse the ability to reach out to people interested in the program from all corners of the United States. We regularly interact with teams like BYU, Illinois, and Florida, and we have even developed preliminary plans to play South Carolina in 2013 via twitter.

Lastly, social media is a good way for my lacrosse team to interact with recruits interested in playing for the Badgers. Twitter helped us lock an all-state midfielder from Illinois just last week. With a relatively new but growing sport like lacrosse, social media has given Wisconsin lacrosse the opportunity to gain attention, exposure, and new players. Now days, if your team isn’t involved in social media, it really isn’t much of team.

Guest Post from Kevin Anderson, one of our UW Madison interns helping organize our elections.

What commitment is needed to be a Madison SMC Board Member?

It means you are willing to serve as a leader in your business and related Social Media profession as well as honor the responsibilities as defined by the global Social Media Club organization.  You will be present (or virtually present) for all Leadership Board meetings, be an active member of the social media community and lead by example in your online and offline behavior.

Puppies in a bin. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

How long is the commitment?

All board members shall serve 12-month terms, but are eligible for re-election for up to five consecutive terms.  Terms will run from June 1 – May 31.

What is the election process?

Board elections will be held every 12 months and requires a nomination process with the exception of the Chairman position which will be held by the outgoing President and the incoming president position which will be help by the VP or President elect from the prior year.

1. Nomination process: Any member can nominate themselves or another member by submitting name and experience to the current President (Wendy Soucie) or submitting an email with your name, qualifications, short bio and position interested in. The nomination process will be open for a minimum of two weeks or until at least one nomination is filled for each position. In order to be considered for the President role you must have participated on the Madison SMC board for a minimum of one year prior or held the VP/President Elect position in the past.

2. Voting process: Any active member will be allowed one vote for each position. The voting process will be open for a minimum of two weeks. Each board member counts for one vote and two collective votes from the membership group (popular vote). There are currently 4  board members. Active members are those who have opted into the mailing list before the nomination slate of officers is sent for voting.

What do the chair specific positions entail?

President Responsibilities

The Presiding Officer (the actual title may be President, Chair, or other as determined by the Club’s Board of Directors) shall serve as the executive officer of the Club, preside at all meetings of the membership and the Board of Directors, be an ex-officio member of all committees, exercise general supervision over Club affairs and perform such other duties as are ordinarily incumbent upon a Presiding Officer; and shall represent the Club in all relations with Social Media Club and perform a like function in their behalf in relation to the Club. The Presiding Officer  shall attend all duly called District meetings or, in the case of absence for good reason, provide for the Club’s representation by an accredited representative.

1. Lead development of annual strategic plan and key performance indicators
2. Report on strategic plan progress
3. Support committee chairpersons as needed
4. Serve as primary point of contact to the National chapter
5. Represent Madison SMC to media outlets as needed or assign appropriate board member with expertise
6. Attend Madison SMC events and serve as facilitator as needed
7. Actively participate on various social networking sites professionally and branded Madison SMC sites
8. Reach out to complimentary local organizations to build awareness and relationships
9. Lead executive board meetings
10. Guide, counsel and coach executive board members as needed

Vice President/Incoming President Responsibilities

The Vice Presidents (or such title as established by the Club’s board of Directors) shall perform such duties as are ordinarily incumbent upon Vice Presidents and such other duties as may be assigned to them by the Presiding Officer or Board of Directors.

1. Fulfill the responsibilities of the President in the President’s absence
2. Assist all Board members as needed.
3. Document and distribute minutes of Board meetings.
4. Help recruit committee leads and team members as needed by Board members.
5. Actively participate on various social networking sites professionally and branded Madison SMC sites
6. Establish meaningful contact with local chapters elsewhere.
7. Participate in global calls and initiatives.
8. Offer writing/editing and strategy services to board members, other chapters/national.
9. Establish and manage ethics committee to provide guidance and thought leadership to membership, primarily through blog posts and various social network updates.
10. Develop catalog of local resources members can use to enhance their social media experience.
11. Support president’s agenda.
12. Serve as liaison to sister SMC organizations in the region.
13. Solicit feedback from membership relevant to areas of ownership. (All board members).

Treasurer Responsibilities

The Treasurer shall keep and maintain all records of fees, dues and monies collected and disbursed. Submit regular financial statements in the form, manner and frequency prescribed by the Board of Directors, prepare an annual statement for the annual meeting of the Club and generally perform such duties as are ordinarily incumbent upon a Treasurer.

1. The treasurer shall provide a budget report at each board meeting.
2. The treasurer shall chair the finance committee, assist in the preparation of the budget, help develop fundraising plans, manage all organizational accounting bookkeeping and make financial information available to board members and the public.
3. The treasurer will work closely with the National organization to ensure financial policies are aligned and in place according to National rules.
4. Actively participate on various social networking sites professionally and branded Madison SMC sites

Programming Responsibilities

Program Chair: The program chair’s responsibilities will include laying out the program’s calendar for the year, posting blogs for calendar and events, defining the topics for each meeting, and actively qualify the speakers for those meetings. Finally, the program chair will be in charge of putting together a subcommittee that will do event planning and the logistics associated with such events.

1. Handle event accounting in partnership with the Treasurer.
2. Point of contact for speakers.
3. Coordinate and plan event program. Create new events as necessary.
4. Email updates and special communications as needed to membership
5. Make sure we have equipment needed for events (projectors, screens, streaming, etc)
6. Organize monthly events with committee.
7. Help find sponsors – venues, catering, swag
8. Manage committee members to ensure Madison SMC events are being held throughout the Dane County area, well communicated to the membership, and well documented for post-event sharing.
9. Actively participate on various social networking sites professionally and branded Madison SMC sites
10. Coordinate with Communications committee to share event information

Communications Responsibilities

Communications shall keep and maintain the minutes of all meetings of the Board of Directors, business meetings and all records of membership, attendance and service to the Club, in the form and manner prescribed by the Board of Directors. The Communications chair  shall also prepare and file all reports required by SMC, and generally perform such duties as are ordinarily incumbent upon a Secretary.

1. Responsible for Madison SMC public relations and serve as media point of contact
2. Weekly email updates and special communications as needed to membership
3. Coordinate with Programming committee to learn of and distribute event information
4. Actively look for and be aware of educational/speaking opportunities Madison SMC members can take a part in and post them online
5. Create communications plan for all areas of social media including, but not limited to Blog, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, Youtube, Flickr, Pinterest
6. Lead chapter blog; develop editorial calendar; and assist with development of website content.
7. Post events to community calendars
8. Leverage the resources of Madison SMC
9. Identify speaking, panel, workshop opportunities for membership at conferences, seminars, businesses
10. Actively participate on various social networking sites professionally and branded Madison SMC sites

Membership Responsibilities

Recruits new members, professional and student, as well as responds to requests to join. The membership chair will pursue paid membership status national members along with working with local campuses to find members from academia. The membership chair reviews and updates membership lists, creates packets featuring information for potential new members, and posts a blog at least once a month introducing new members.

1. Welcoming new members into the Madison SMC online community
2. Share volunteer opportunities with New Technology Chair to post to website
3. Ensuring new and existing members know about all of our resources/events where they can connect
4. Serve as a liaison with local/regional colleges. Build a presence of the Madison SMC organization.
5. Coordinate and execute two membership drives each year
6. Actively participate on various social networking sites professionally and branded Madison SMC sites
7. Serve as community representative to ensure appropriate support is given to non-profit organizations.

 New Technology/Innovation Chair Responsibilities

1. Maintain website
2. Help keep social media networks updated
3. Help other members get setup on social networks if they are not.
4. Serve as the subject matter expert on new technology and how it impacts social media
5. Share new technology updates
6. Actively participate on various social networking sites

Sponsorship Responsibilities

Finds businesses to donate money in order to keep meeting fees low. The sponsorship chair will actively seek business partners and recruit sponsors for food and facilities. The sponsorship chair will also create new guidelines that match nationals, seek partners or affiliates for software licenses, and post updates blogs at least once a month.

1. Lead effort to find strategic ongoing and monthly sponsors – venues, catering, swag
2. Create guidelines that match those of the national organizations and solicit national sponsors on behalf of the global organization.
3. Post blog updates at least once a month highlighting ongoing sponsors and sponsoring opportunities
4. Ensure that hi resolution logos and materials from sponsors have been received for promotion across Madison SMC properties according to sponsorship level

Social Media Cafe (Photo credit: Cristiano Betta)

Guest post from Adam Moscherosch, one of our student interns:

I’ll be the first to admit that I haven’t always been the quickest to adopt new social media trends. I never had a MySpace, I didn’t join Facebook until the end of high school, and Twitter was just an afterthought. I had nothing against them but I had no real use for them either. That all changed when social media was adopted by the sports world.

Sports Central

Sports have always been a central part of my life. ESPN.com is easily my most visited website followed closely by SI.com (Sports Illustrated). I can sit and watch SportsCenter hour after hour and I always have the big game on. Where does social media come into the picture?  Well, two to three years ago a trend started. It began with a few posts and tweets and has evolved into such a phenomenon that if you don’t use social media you will be lost when it comes to your favorite player or team.

Sports networks post fan’s pictures and reactions from games, reporters break the latest stories on twitter, and athletes update followers about their everyday lives. Social media has changed the way we interact and this is as evident in the sports world as anywhere else. Superstar athletes are more accessible than ever, rumors and stories spread at unbelievable speeds, and best of all average fans now have a voice.

Sports adoption of social media has made me realize the true power it possesses in all aspects of life. It brings people together and allows them to share their thoughts, ideas, and experiences like nothing has before. Social media truly is amazing and I’m glad to finally be catching up.

-Adam

Adam Moscherosch is a senior in the Wisconsin School of Business double majoring in Marketing and Management & Human Resources with plans to graduate in May 2012

We are all herders. 

I have a beautiful Samoyed named Birdie [Please, spare your jokes about the name]. If this was Siberia circa 1800 Birdie would be busy pulling sleds for her explorer master, keeping him warm during bedtime and herding reindeer all day long.

Fridtjof Nansen, a famous polar explorer, took the role of the Samoyed to a whole new level. Social history explains how Nansen fed his weaker dogs to the stronger ones as he plunged down the treacherous trails of the expedition. As you may imagine, few dogs remained as he arrived at his destination.

As we chart new territory in the social media landscape we have all done our share of herding. Herding people to our tweets. Herding people to like our FB post. Herding people to join our social media club. Herding people to come to our events and post blog entries. Herding [AWESOME] sponsors to put us up for the night and give us free cupcakes and such. Herding enough interested parties to help us achieve the goal of becoming a national chapter. Herding interns to help us do the herding…

Thankfully, our expedition comes with appropriate shelter from the elements.

#madisonsmc

image via Colleen Reddy

President’s Note: Madison SMC has the help of 5 college students for the next 6 -8 weeks to help with a number of chores. They are working with us to set up our election, organize the events to celebrate and perhaps learn something about how a small group of people can get something (or nothing) done.

image via Colleen Reddy

Waking up early is not easy for us college kids.  Our clocks are biologically altered to second shift. But I must say, I am glad I rolled out of bed last week for SMB Madison. The coffee was hot (and unfortunately the room was too) but the people were energetic and inviting.  The lead speaker was John Lucas from the Office of Communications and Marketing on campus  to tell us how they have connected to an estimated 1,000,000 people in total fans, followers, and friends.

#UWSocial has been able to leverage the awesome campus community to engage a network much broader than their current students by meaningfully engaging followers in what they call “inspired goofiness”.  They love to tell stories about the amazing people and events at UW and they do so in a fun and exciting tone.  I think that the key to their success is really the so-called “echo chamber”.  It requires collaboration and the sharing of stories that users want to hear so they retweet or repost to show support and affiliation.

Those of you reading this were probably in attendance, so I won’t bore you with repetition, but from a first-time attendees point of view, SMB is pretty awesome. It’s an informal way of connecting, networking, and learning.  They meet every 3^rd Wednesday of each month, but you know they’ll be tweeting if something changes!  Thanks to the presenters and #SMBMad.

-C

Image by Jacques Marneweck(http://www.powertrip.co.za/) via CrunchBase

It’s an election year and Social Media Club of Madison wants to get in the game!  We are applying to be a full chapter of Social Media Club. That means we have raised the necessary $1000 in funds and in professional membership fees to do so.

As part of the suggested Bylaws offered by the National Social Media Club, Social Media Club of Madison (MadisonSMC)  must hold an election for a 2012 Board. In order to do so, we must have a call for nominations for the positions open. And this is it!  Our official chapter application is now in the mail to the national Social Media Club leader Kristie Wells.

Let’s nominate

Personal Branding Panel at May MadisonSMC event (Photo credit: wendysoucie)

All positions are up for grabs with a few incumbents on the list.

• President/Chair
• Vice-President (President-Elect)
• Secretary/Treasurer
• Membership Chair
• Sponsorship/Partner Chair
• Program Chair

Nominee info required

Nominations can be submitted by email to madisonsmc@gmail.com. Please include the nominee’s

• Name
• Title, Company
• Phone
• Twitter Handle
• LinkedIn Profile Link
• Blog Address (if applicable)
• Other pertinent social presence links
• Brief 150 work max statement on why you wish to be involved with MadisonSMC
• Short business bio (160 characters)
• Include a picture attachment

Here is an example for me, Wendy Soucie

• Wendy Soucie
• Principal, Wendy Soucie Consulting
• 608-225-1985
• @Wendysoucie  @wisocialmedia
• http://linkedin.com/in/wendysoucie
• Social Presence: http://xeeme.com/wendysoucie
• Blog: http://networkmindshare.blogspot.com  and http://wendysoucie.com/blog/

I will spare you the bio and statement for now. It is the intention of the Executive Committee to hold nominations until March 29, 2012 at which time MadisonSMC will have a #Meet&Greet of all the nominated persons. The election will follow the week of April 2, 2012.

Who is a member?

image via Wendy Soucie

The current members of Social Media Club of Madison shall have the right to elect Officers of the Chapter at the Annual Meeting of the Chapter. The Annual Meeting and other meetings of Chapter Members shall be held at a time and place each year determined by the Executive Committee.  The executive committee consists of past officers including: Wendy Soucie, Marivic Valencia, Ellie Humphrey, Melissa Anderson, Marlena Deutsch, Jeffrey Powers, Kelly Cuene, and Liesel Olson.

You are considered a member if you are on our email list.  It currently consist of all past attendees of MadisonSMC events, individuals who submitted their email and specifically asked to be on the membership list.  We send one email out to that list for updating (opt-in or opt out) and will  accept additions to the list until April 2, 2012.

We have added a email signup on our  website: www.madisonsmc.org,  Facebook page: MadisonSMC

Annual meeting

image via Wendy Souci

Notice of the Annual Meeting and other meetings of the Members shall be delivered via email to all Members at least three (3) days in advance of such meeting. As part of the notice for the Annual Meeting, the Clerk shall include the slate of nominees selected by the  Executive Committee (aka Nominating Committee)  to serve as Officers of the Chapter.

We are looking forward to exciting happenings in Madison with Social Media Club. We will focus on afternoon and evening events at various locations around Madison! Come join us.

Related articles

• Madison SMC Gets Student Interns for Election Help (madisonsmc.org)
• The board of directors (vator.tv)