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This weekend I attended SoCon10, the fourth annual Social Media “Unconference” held at Kennesaw State University. This was my first time at SoCon and I had a great time (definitely will be back again).

I had the pleasure of attending the conference along with my colleague Kathlene Hestir. The conference was broken into two sections on Saturday, two keynote speakers in the morning and a diverse selection of breakout sessions in the afternoon. Below are a few highlights from the keynote speakers.

The first keynote speaker at the conference was Carol Kruse, VP of Global Interactive Marketing at The Coca-Cola Company, and she presented on Coke’s “Fans First” approach in social communities. She talked at length on how the Coca-Cola Facebook Fan Page came to be and how they are managing the page. Coke’s approach? It’s the fans page, not theirs. According to Kruse, 70% of the content is generated by fan participation and 30% of the content is from Coke participation. I was pleasantly surprised by this as I think most brands take the opposite view of how to manage their fan page. Toward the end of the presentation, Kruse summarized some key lessons learned in social media:

• Social media is a tactic & should always be in support of brand objectives
• Platforms change frequently & can be disruptive
• Keep it simple, fewer objectives is better
• Measure along the way
• “Viral” shouldn’t BE your strategy – just part of a comprehensive plan
• Clear the Legal hurdles first - this is new for everyone so legitimate questions arise around every corner
• Always work with pros – there is no “sticking your toe in the water”
• Each new community is an entirely new market and should be treated as much

Dan Siroker, former Deputy New Media Director, Obama Presidential Transition and Director of Analytics for Obama’s Presidential Campaign was the second keynote speaker. He spoke about how his New Media team used data to win the Presidential Election. As a research geek, I’m always excited to see how data can transform the way we do things. Siroker discussed how his team used multivariate testing during the campaign that resulted in raising over half a billion dollars. By testing different elements within the splash page of Barrack Obama’s website, Siroker and his team were able to optimize the page which increased email signups and campaign donations. The following summarize the lessons that were learned during the campaign:

1. Define Quantifiable Success Metrics
2. Question Assumptions
3. Segment & Target Your Audience
4. Take advantage of circumstances
5. Always be Optimizing

Below are some links to additional blog posts recapping the event:

• SoCon10: The Social Media “Unconference” – Stacy Williams
• SoCon10: Part of the Crowd – Steve Burns
• An Unconference: Social Media Business Plans and Revenue Models – Christina Stallings
• SoCon 10 – Connect Because You Can (Recap of the UN-Conference – Desiree Scales