Thinking Social

Length: 45 to 60 minutes.

Using a mix of personal anecdotes and examples from companies that get it or don’t, this talk tries to get at the big questions surrounding social media.

Audiences are becoming more engaged and increasingly expect to be able to interact, give their opinions and converse with brands.

When and how do you decide to engage in social media platforms? How much time do you devote to social media and who should be doing it? If you think of social media as a “conversation” with your customers, then what is your brand’s “voice” and how do you find it? How do you keep the conversation going using “action chains” targeted at specific user expectations? How do you increase participation and maximize its value? What can be measured and what can’t?

The goal of the talk is to present the costumer with ways of thinking about these questions, and models for moving forward in an ever-changing landscape.

Values: Marketing in a connected world—how to approach Social Media; how to get the most from your customers.

Smart Fun—Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Everything

Length: Variable, up to an hour; can also be done as a series of short interstitials throughout a conference.

A collection of visuals and stories inspired by years of online curiosity and research. From the history of airplane safety cards to the audience-assisted search for the creator of a random online viral audio clip. Very funny and fast paced. In the style of the performance that was a hit at the Ted conference, etc…

Values: Fun.

Smart Fun—The Hard Way: Lessons Learned from a Life Online

Length: Variable, up to an hour.

Through stories, interactive applications and tons of slides, Ze talks about his crazy experiences in the online world, starting with a viral hit that propelled him into the center stage of online celebrity (before that even existed) through the creation of the world’s first earth sandwich, to a two thousand person game of ro-sham-bo, to collaboratively written music about anxiety, to a dress up your vacuum cleaners bit. A funny and often touching look at the modern struggle of connecting with a vast but unseen audience.

Values: How to connect with your audience. How to change with the changing desires of your audience. Fun.

Contagious Media Workshop

Length: two 45 minute talks and an hour of moderated question and answer directed at the company's specific challenges.

Ze and colleague Jonah Peretti, co-founder of HuffingtonPost, cover contagious media in depth from both cultural and practical standpoints. The two presentations are followed by a planned Q&A session to address the specific concerns of the brand or company.

Contagious Media: Beyond Viral Marketing

Length: 45 to 60 minutes.

Viral Marketing campaigns are risky and even when they work it is hard to convert that success into long-term value. Network–oriented thinking shouldn’t be in isolation, it should permeate all facets of a brand's online and offline presence.

This talk draws upon years of experience as a creator of widely shared media, as the facilitator of massive online communities, and as a social media consultant to a wide range of industries.

How do you build in “social imperatives” so that people share your media? How do you build opportunities for your customers to show you what they think is interesting? How can you use statistics to adjust your strategy in real time? How do you create “emotional resonance” with your audience? Once you have started a conversation with the audience, how do you keep it going? How do you increase participation and how do you get people to talk behind your back?

Values: Marketing in a connected world—how to effectively engage online audiences.