Events Archive

This Thursday – at 1pm PST – I’ll be talking all about Personal Branding during a Twitter chat – #MarketingChat – organized by those fine people at Experian US.

I’ll be answering a bunch of questions on Personal Branding from the Experian Community Manager – @MikeDelgado – and anyone can join in with their questions and thoughts as well.

These occasions have drawn some engaging and inspiring conversations – like this one on Facebook marketing featuring Brian Carter, Mari Smith, Raymond Ray and Andrea Vahl – so I’m thrilled to be asked to impart some of my experience of helping people with their personal brand!

Again, the Twitter chat starts at 1pm PST this Thursday 12th of February.

Follow me – @MelCarson, @Experian_US and #MarketingChat for all the action!

Hope to “see” you there on Thursday!

Cheers,

Mel

We had a blast at the Seattle Interactive Conference a couple of weeks ago. As always, we came back with the wisdom of some amazing speakers to share with you.

Geoff Colon from Microsoft, a former Brooklyn DJ, talking about “remix culture” was one of the most interesting sessions that shed some light on the future of digital marketing.
Similar thoughts on how digital was transforming the way marketers should be thinking about engaging with consumers were also shared by other speakers from the conference such as Joanna Lord from Porch and Michael King from iPullRank.

Remix is everywhere

According to Geoff speaking at his session “Social by Design,” everything is a “remix” because people are constantly creating value from value others have created.

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One of the other speakers at the Digital East event I gave a talk at a few weeks ago was Andy Beal, CEO and Founder of online reputation tracking tool, Trackur.com.

I’ve known Andy since his SEO days and when he founded Marketing Pilgrim, so in this interview we talk about how he got into the online reputation management space, how he thinks brands and CEOs should approach online reputation and personal branding, and where he believes PR teams should start when letting the executives in their company start using social media to promote themselves and the company brand.

He also give us some advice on what to do with Google Plus, now authorship has been dropped.

Thanks to Andy and the crew from Digital East for lettings us film at the event!

Enjoy!

We’ll be having many more Delightful Conversations like this, so subscribe to our Delightful Communications YouTube Channel and you won’t miss a single one!

Cheers,

Mel

Next week I’ll be heading to Washington DC for the Digital East conference run by those lovely people at TechMedia.

I’ll be there with my Majestic Brand Ambassador hat on and speaking at 9.50am on Wednesday 10th September:

Agile, Delightful & Unexpected: When Social Media and Digital Collide for ROI

Big Data and Content Marketing are all the rage right now, but few marketers are nailing the opportunity they present or integrating them in a cohesive digital PR strategy. In this session, delegates will be taken on a whirlwind journey through what data matters, why content marketing is not such a new thing, how to reach influencers who’ll wax lyrical about your brand, and what it all means for your bottom line!

It’ll be the third TechMedia conference we have attended, and I must say I’ve been really impressed with the content and organization of the event.

If you have a chance to attend this show next week in Tyson’s Corner, then register here!

The cost for a ticket is very reasonable given the amount you’ll learn over the course of the conference.

Hope to see you there!

Mel Carson – Delightful’s Founder and Principle Strategist

Two years after my Seattle Interactive Conference debut talking about the book I co-authored – Pioneers of Digital – I’ll back this October speaking about personal branding and digital PR.

Even though we don’t have a title for my presentation just yet, we wanted to let you know because the “early bird” rate runs out on the 1st of September.

If you’re local to Seattle (or not) you should really make it up to this beautiful city for this fantastic digital event.

I’m proud (no, really I am) to be on the same speaking roster as people I respect like: Jeremiah Owyang, Rand Fishkin, Adam Schoenfeld, Sarah Bird, Joanna Lord and Teal Newland……plus a host of others.

So if you want to see me tear it up (Delightfully) on stage at SIC 2014 and learn a bunch of other digital smarts from the guys I’ve mentioned above, start buying your tickets by registering on the Seattle Interactive 2014 site!

See you in October.

Cheers,

Mel Carson – Delightful’s Founder and Principle Strategist

We’re off to sunny San Francisco in a week or so for the ClickZ Live digital marketing conference!

I’ll be speaking on behalf of Majestic at a theatre session on Wednesday 13th August entitled: How to Use Link Data to Boost Your Social Media and PR Efforts

The premise behind my talk will be that Big Data has so much more potential than just being a buzzword, and I’ll provide a smorgasbord of ideas and case studies that will show the audience how to quickly and easily get ahead of the competition with a little bit of lateral thinking across the disciplines of social media and digital PR.

Immediately after that I’ll take the stage with the fabulous Katherine Griwert from Brafton on: Scaling Engagement: How to Drive Results with an Efficient Content & Social Strategy

Here’s the blurb on that session:

If you’re interested in engaging customers online, you’re probably already posting content on social media. Even though the average company uses 6 social networks for marketing, they’re largely “unsure” about the results. So how do you know what to post, and when, and where, if you want social ROI that really matters? A multi-channel content approach sounds like a lot, but a smart strategy has built-in opportunities to engage prospects and influencers. In this session, led by content marketer Katherine Griwert and Digital PR specialist Mel Carson, we’ll walk you through tips and tactics on strategic content for social.

You’ll learn answers to common challenges, including:

• How to tap into social conversations to create engagement-focused content
• How to carry one content asset across your social pages for maximum ROI
• What types of unique headlines, hashtags and interactions work on leading networks
• How to get the right influencers to share your brand’s message for better engagement and reach
• Simple ways to measure success so you can make intelligent, efficient content choices

Brafton were kind enough to interview me a couple of months back on personal branding strategies and I’m thrilled to be working with them on delivering a top-notch session for the ClickZ Live audience in San Francisco.

Hope to see many of you in California for this fabulous event.

If you won’t make it, we’ll be sure to post the presentations on SlideShare soon.

Cheers,

Mel

For the second year running I’ve been asked to judge the US Search Awards which had it’s baptism of fire to much acclaim in Vegas last year at an event few will ever forget.

It’s always a pleasure and eye-opener to see what great work brands and agencies have been up to over the last year and I’m sure 2014’s will be bigger and better.

The entries close this Friday 18th, so get applying here: US Search Awards!

One top tip to bear in mind if you’re applying is: Don’t rush your application and follow the instructions.

It amazes me how some marketing managers charged with submitting their company entry do so in a haphazard way. You have to remember that, as judges, we’re often looking at hundreds of entries, so don’t make yours easy to dismiss on account of its sparseness or lack of signposts that you understand the category and have aligned your success closely to it.

Hoping to see many of you at Pubcon this year to celebrate that great event and the winners of the US Search Awards 2014!

Get submitting those entries NOW!

Cheers,

Mel

One thing I was most proud of during my time at Microsoft were the videos we created at Advertising Week and the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity.

For about four years I’d travel to these events with a plan to bring them alive for people (as my former boss Jenny Leahy used to put it) “outside the room.”

The videos were then used to promote our presence, be repurposed for other marketing activities and really expand the reach of Microsoft Advertising’s investment in those industry get-togethers.

Recently, the guys from Bing Ads asked me to create one for them. This time I did much of the filming and photography myself and we crowd sourced the rest of the content from other Microsoftees on the ground at the event.

The footage was then sent to my go-to video people >> Cherry Media << in the UK who we worked with in New York and Cannes.

And this was the resulting edit:

You do have to invest in good equipment and editing to create great video, but it doesn’t have to cost the earth. With experience you can start to pick up techniques and visualize how an end edit might look as your filming content at events.

Make sure you check back to the Delightful Blog in a couple of weeks when I’ll be giving some tips on what to look for when filming events for social media amplification.

Thanks for reading/watching!

Mel

In 3 weeks time I’ll be in New York for ClickZ Live, the digital marketing conference programmed by digital marketers.

I’m teaming up with the fabulous Erin Zefkeles from Bing Ads to give an expo theater presentation:

Personal Branding – How to Stand Up and Stand Out as a Digital Marketer

The internet is not just crowded with brands vying for consumers’ attention at every turn, it’s jam packed with gurus, experts and aficionados who claim to be “AdWords Obsessed” or “Social Media Divas” who promote themselves as the thing you need to take your business to the next level through digital marketing. In this session, Mel Carson from Delightful Communications and Erin Zefkeles from Bing Ads, will explore why taking care of your personal brand is so very important in the digital age, and how you can position yourself as an authentic, educated and trustworthy source of advice to your clients and potential customers. There won’t be a whiff of snake oil, we promise!

The session will definitely be different by focusing on how individuals can enhance their personal brands through digital, and in turn help the brands they work for.

The ClickZ Live team are a valued client of Delightful’s, and Erin and I are grateful they’re so enthusiastic about letting us bring this kind of wisdom to their audience!

Learn more about how to register for the event here, follow ClickZ Live on Twitter for the scoop in the run up to this awesome event and do check out what Delightful offers in the way of personal branding services.

One great thing about my wife still working at Microsoft, is the odd invite we get to a sumptuous party.

Just before Christmas, we went to her team’s holiday soiree at the Bellevue Art Museum where there were a number of funtivities going on as people mingled with wine and started winding down for the year.

We made a beeline for the crew from Paint By a Girl who do all sorts of airbrush art and even create custom Ugg boots!

I handed over my business card with the Delightful logo on it, and this is what happened!