An Evening with Mari Smith

Our friends at Social Media Club San Diego, is hosting a FREE event with Facebook marketing expert, Mari Smith on Thursday, September 15, 2011 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm. Fast Company dubbed Mari Smith as “the Pied Piper of the online world” and we are delighted to dub her as one of our own here in the San Diego social scene.

Attendees will learn the Top 10 Facebook Do’s and Don’ts and gain insights into the unique culture of Facebook and enjoy Club drink specials and hosted appetizers.

Follow @SMCSanDiego on Twitter, visit their Facebook Page and RSVP, then sign-up for their newsletter for event updates and giveaways. Event hashtag: #SMCSD

Social Media Club is an International organization whose goal is to educate and standardize best practices. Become a Social Media Club Member today: https://socialmediaclub.org/membership

Useful Links:

Mari Smith

http://www.marismith.com/

Prospect Bar & Grill

http://prospectbar.com/

Bullets2Bandages Transforms a Tool of Violence for Healing

I recently attended the Ivy Rooftop party this past weekend where I got

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to see the Bullets2Bandages pieces in person. I like pieces that aren’t flashy, are subtle, and sparks interest so it wasn’t a surprise that the 5.56 hand pressed bullet necklace in an antique finish caught my eye. I’ve had a lot of questions about my piece and I’m always happy to share the story of how the company was created and promote their cause.

What’s their cause you ask? A portion of proceeds are donated to wounded soldiers, their families, and various nonprofit organization for veterans. These guys who have served in the U.S. Navy have experienced firsthand how soldiers and their loved ones can be devastated by war and are doing something to give back to fallen heroes and veterans.

Keep up the great work fellas and I look forward to seeing you achieve your dreams.

Fitness Bucket List: Hike Half Dome

 10+ hours, 400 feet of cables, 14 miles roundtrip

Lesson Learned: Know what the journey will require of you and
seek advice from experts who have gone before!

August Upcoming Events

I’ve put together a list of popular upcoming events that friends and I will be attending to close out the summer. If you’re involved in the San Diego tech, social media, and marketing scene or simply want to join in on the fun – check out the events below.

If there’s an event you know that’s not mentioned, feel free to leave a comment.

Cool As Ever Tech returns 8/13

The third annual Cool As Ever Tech event will bring together SoCal’s web/tech scene for an interactive event hosted at the Del Mar Racetrack on Saturday, August 13th, 2011. RSVP HERE

Join 700+ of your closest social media friends from noon until 6 PM,  as we check in on Foursquare, eat, drink, tweet, people-watch and bet. And, of course, we’ll do all of this in an über-connected and geektastic fashion. Expect real-time Twitter walls, a livestream of the event, and gadgets, goodies, and giveaways that will make even the geekiest of you scream with delight.


WOMMA Wine Wednesday 8/24

Join us at Proper Gastro Pub for an evening of networking and conversation centered around the role social media and word-of-mouth marketing continues to play in our industries. RSVP HERE

WOM and Social Media: What’s Working?

Social media and word-of-mouth marketing continues to grow and are impacting all businesses, small and large. Whether managing an online presence, launching a new product, managing customer service operations or dealing with internal communications, social media and word of mouth now reaches across a multitude of departments and business types. Come prepared to chat about the latest trends in social media and word-of-mouth marketing. What’s working? What’s not? And, where is social media and word-of-mouth headed?

Becky Carroll’s Book Signing Event “The Hidden Power of Your Customers”

Social Media Club San Diego (SMCSD) will be celebrating the book launch of San Diego’s own Becky Carroll and her new book, “The Hidden Power of Customers” at the US Grant Hotel in downtown San Diego this Saturday, July 30th from 11am to 2pm.

The Grant Grill will provide attendees a complimentary celebratory Tropical Mimosa as well as tray passed bites of their signature Grant Grill Pancake, and happy hour pricing on the Lounge menu! Even better, Social Media Club San Diego has arranged free valet parking for guests. Be sure to check in with the event greeter when leaving to receive validation.

Signed copies of the books will be available at the event!

This event helps to support the SMCSD and is priced at $10 to attend, and add $20 for a signed book! (Retail price is $24.95). The first 5 new Pro Members that sign up will receive a signed copy of Becky Carroll’s book and free admission to all of SMCSD’s events for the rest of the year!

About the Book:

Becky reveals the four keys to creating a successful customer strategy through the ROCK acronym:

  • Relevant marketing: Ensure that your marketing strategy is relevant to your customers.
  • Orchestrated customer experience: Engage your customers with a planned experience.
  • Customer-focused culture: Make your customer satisfaction a part of your company DNA.
  • Killer customer service: Take customer service to the next level and the foundation of the customer experience.
I hope that you’ll be able to attend tomorrow’s event! Reserve your spot today at http://smcsd.ticketleap.com/book-signing/.

Operation Onsite Pre-Registration for Comic-Con 2012

 

It was 6:00am on Sunday the last day of Comic-Con 2011 and I was among hundreds of others standing in a long line outside the Douglass Pavilion at the Manchester Grand Hyatt eager to pre-register for Comic-Con 2012. I had heard about onsite pre-registration on Thursday afternoon, the first day of Comic-Con, and was horrified that onsite registration had opened at 8AM and ended at 11AM that morning – I was late by three hours! Was it game over for Comic-Con 2012? I shook my head. No, Sunday would be my last chance for pre-registration. While friends of mine thought that getting in line at 6:30am was outrageous, this early riser was determined to get passes for the next year. There was no way, I was going to miss this deadline. My only hope was that by the time I got to the register, there were still passes to buy.

Early risers hoping to get passes for next year's Comic-Con.

At around 6:30am folks were being shuffled into the pavilion and the line started to move. We were greeted at the entrance and informed that a Temporary Membership ID Card was required in order to purchase tickets and was given the option to purchase one or two tickets (2 tickets max per person). I gladly took two Temporary Membership ID Cards, one for me and one for a family member. In order to purchase any passes for next year, we were told that we had to have a valid badge for the day (Sunday in this case) or a 4-day badge. I expected folks to drop out of line but realized, if they were here as early as I was, they sure as hell had all of their facts in order. Valid badge – check. Temporary Membership ID cards in hand – check. Credit card – check. Now it was time for the waiting game.

Stephanie Garcia waiting in line for onsite pre-registration for Comic-Con 2012.
Thermometer indicating how many passes have been sold for that day.

Inside the pavilion, we were five rows towards the back when a Comic-Con official announced that 4-day Badges with Preview Night sold out by the third row. He encouraged everyone to only purchase badges for the days that they would actually be going. This would give everyone an opportunity to attend. I guess his words of advice helped because by 9am, 4-day Badges with and without Preview Night were still available and I was able to secure four individual badges for each day of Comic-Con and passes for a family member.

And with that said, Operation: Onsite Pre-Registration for Comic-Con 2012 was a success. See you all next year!

Adventure Time Parade at Comic Con 2011

Cartoon Network took over the streets of downtown San Diego for Comic Con 2011 with an Adventure Time Parade. I have to say, the sign spinner they hired had some mad skills. Put that on your resume and what the hell, link to the video above  to prove that your the master of sign spinning.

Ad 2 San Diego offers Pro-bono Marketing Services for Non-Profits


AD 2 SAN DIEGO IS NOW ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS FOR THE 2011-2012 PUBLIC SERVICE CAMPAIGN

San Diego, CA (June 2011) – Ad 2 San Diego (Ad2SD), the young professionals division of the American Advertising Federation, is looking for the next nonprofit organization that is ready to receive an exciting marketing campaign at no cost to the organization. Through the yearly Public Service campaign, the Ad 2 San Diego club will select a local nonprofit organization to work with and help create a full-service integrated marketing campaign. Depending on the selected organization’s needs, this campaign can include anything from complete re-branding, public and media relations strategy, website production, SEO optimization, online strategy design, media placement, and TV production.

The perfect candidate for this exciting campaign is any agency, organization, or group with a passion for marketing and tax-exemption status under the Federal Income Tax section 501(c)(3) or similar.

Every year, Ad 2 clubs nationwide embody the American Advertising Federation’s long- established and firm commitment to public service advertising. Club members active in the public service campaign gain respect and admiration for their contributions to public welfare, as well as the reward of knowing that their skills have been used for genuine good.

Any interested nonprofit organization should contact AD2 San Diego’s Public Service Committee at publicservice@ad2sd.com. The application process is easy and free. The deadline for submitting a completed application is June 30, 2011.

Originally posted at Ad2SD.com by Chelsea Lawrence.

What Skydiving Taught Me as a Corporate Trainer

What Skydiving Taught Me as a Corporate Trainer

 

 
Late January of 2010, I did something that had always scared me – something that I never thought I could do… I jumped out of a perfectly good plane 30,000 feet above ground and lived to tell about it.

I’ll spare you the details leading up to the jump (we can set aside time for that another day or over a cup of coffee) but what I will tell you are the two important lessons I learned during my skydiving experience – lessons that are very relevant to my career as a corporate trainer.

First, I had a professional, an expert, guiding me through the entire process.

As a newbie, I was already terrified of the jump but felt a little bit at ease because I was going to have a tandem instructor strapped to my back and coaching me step by step.

As a Corporate Trainer, I have to remind myself of what it must feel like to be the student who needs to learn an entirely new analytics software. As the expert, I’m familiar with the ins and outs of the system and how to troubleshoot issues. I’m there to coach them along the way.

Second, the safety measures were so rigorous and comprehensive that the risk of failure felt minimal.

The team gave me guidance and told me the best practices to protect myself. I felt safe and was confident that I was in good hands.

As the instructor, it’s my responsibility to help students apply what they’ve learned in the classroom to their day to day activities. Teach them the best practices, how to troubleshoot and ensure that they can apply the key concepts on their own.

After all that preparation, I was ready for that 40 second free fall – well kind of, I still screamed my head off and when my parachute and my eyes finally opened, I saw this beautiful ocean view and enjoyed every second I could.

Thanks to my instructor’s expertise and guidance, I wasn’t that terrified and I was able to accomplish something so much bigger than I could do on my own. By keeping these two lessons in mind, I’m sure that this will improve future training sessions with my students and hopefully help you as a trainer as well.

Remember, put yourself in the shoes of your target audience and get a feel for how the content you’re teaching will be perceived by them. Good luck!

San Diego Bucket List takes on P2K Shooting Range

When TheDailySave sent an email blast to their subscribers last month that featured $20 for 1-Hour Range Time and Gun Rental for 2 People at the P2K Range, my friends and I were all over it. I’ve personally never fired a gun before and have always wanted to try it and with this deal it opened up doors to a new adventure. My friends and I bought the group deal, shared it with our Facebook friends and before we knew it, we were a part of the San Diego Bucket List Facebook group and a date was set.

Below is the video of us at the P2K Shooting Range in El Cajon – enjoy!

The San

Diego Bucket List group also known as Forward Motion was created by Ryan Scott Lum a dear friend of mine from Ad 2 San Diego and an up and coming graphic designer.The exclusive group aims to help each other achieve their dreams, inspire others, and to empower those around them. Currently, the group is invite-only but if you’re interested in joining, watch the Forward Motion video and leave a comment.