Making the Human Connection at #Social360

This past SXSW I got the chance to participate in the held at the South by Southwest (SXSW) Festival. I was one of four speakers chosen to present a 10-minute keynote address about topics relating to the influence of social relationships on business. The “unconference” format means that the participants of the conference create the agenda and decided which issues the panels would be discussing.

I wasn’t sure what to expect coming in, but with the conference now in my rearview mirror I can say that it was a truly unique and inspirational experience. My colleagues who presented all gave excellent talks on the various methods of using the power of social connection between real people to drive business growth and brand identity.

As someone who has been a proponent of the #human2human concept for some time now, it was refreshing to visit a conference where the topic was focused all around people and why businesses should be building connections with them. For example, one concept mentioned a few times was the idea of a social influencer, someone who can impact a consumer’s perception of a brand or buying decision.

Because the participants were able to pick their own topics, it was easy to see that the crowd was engaged and inspired by the keynote speeches as well as the discussion panels. You could feel the excitement as people exchanged ideas and presented their theories on how social ideas influence business strategy.

To me, the #Social360 Unconference’s success is further evidence that making connections between real people is the most important element in commerce. By letting real people provide feedback on what they wanted to hear, Dell did what every business today should be doing with their marketing: creating a personalized experience built on real relationships forged with their audience, the conference’s attendees.

If human connection is powerful enough to create a conference, imagine what it can do for brands and marketers.

#Social360 metrics:
Unique social posts: 1400+
Livestream views: 1000+
YouTube and Flickr archive views: 1000+
Reach: 33+ million

Here’s a list of the content resulting from the event thus far:
Full #Social360 speaker videos: http://new.livestream.com/Dell/Social360
#Social360 presentations and interview clips: YouTube playlist
Mark Schaefer’s Grow blog post: blog posts
Tech Page One article: articles
LinkedIn post: Social Influencers and Brands https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/fine-tune-multi-megaphone-content-cacophony-social-alex-brown-phd
Dell Flickr: Flickr

I think you’ll enjoy this short but fascinating video by clicking here: Mark Schaefer interviews Ari Lightman.

Also, here is the entire 50-minute video of #Social360 “micro-keynotes” featuring Ari Lightman talking about a new view of big data, Mark Schaefer talks about discovering your Alpha Audience, I talk about providing personal experiences on the web, and Natalie Zfat talks about finding your inner story.