Some thoughts on #Media140

Having recently helped out Media140′s driving force Ande Gregson (@dailytwitter) with a few Word Press issues and pushing the event a little to some interested creative agency clients, we at Sumac were delighted to be listed amongst the event’s sponsors and partners. I couldn’t help but chuckle ironically to myself however, when during Ande’s welcoming speach, the big screen was filled with logos. There amongst the better known sponsors – Revolution, iab, Contagious, etc. – sat the lovely Sumac leaf completely unaccompanied by the word Sumac. We’re not exactly a household name and I am trying to raise our profile so why oh why did I not send an image file with the company name in it? Not one to readily accept mistakes, I might stick with it. Look out for that leaf!

The opening keynote set a certain tone. AKQA CEO Tom Bedecarre (@tombed) clearly loves Twitter and is well respected amongst this community. His authenticity and good humour shone but his mention of “twitter haters” brought it to my attention that the room was quite possibly full of them. The antagonism amongst the agency delegates suddenly seemed palpable. There is much scepticism amongst this crowd and they’re looking for answers that Tom wasn’t giving.

The first panel didn’t actually help much too much, the inevitable question of return on investment came up and by the time the forum was open to the floor, the crowd were baying for real world examples. I exaggerate a little but those that didn’t already get it, weren’t getting it and those that did, were so pissed off at the BT wifi fail that they couldn’t care less what anyone was saying.

Creative crowdsourcing with Nic Ray (IdeaBounty) and Noam Buchalter (Unilever) was thought provoking. I’ve heard talk of this in relation to technical services but not really considered it in relation to “creative” ideas. David (Evans – co-owner of Sumac) did ask me how that differs from the competitive pitch that we and our clients dislike so much, or the tender process where you have to put in so much effort up-front for your proposal to be marked against a checklist of requirements before you’ve even met the client. He has a point. If Unilever really felt that Lowe weren’t coming up with the goods for Pepperami, couldn’t they just talk to a few more agencies, look them in the eye and see which one they felt they might like to work with? Oh and for the record – a Pepperami in every kid’s lunchbox – not my idea of the social good.

The next panel really picked up the pace due to some extreme provocation from George Nimeh of Iris Digital (@iboy) and some fantastically wise and honest straight-talking from Daren Forsyth (@darenBBC) and Lloyd Davis, founder of the Tuttle club (@lloyddavis). George was discussing “idiots” who don’t already know the do’s and don’ts that are basically common sense and the fact that most agencies just want to know how to make money from social media. My urge to cheer was quickly stifled by Lloyd and Darens’ call for understanding and forgiveness. It became aparent to my guests, confirmed by Lloyd, that everyone was making it up as they go along. I felt frankly comforted by the whole thing at that point.

Next up a keynote from Ciaran Norris of Mindshare (@ciaranj). I have to be honest I can’t remember what Ciaran spoke about but I do remember it being insightful and funny (there is a summary here). I couldn’t ask for more than that before lunch – great stuff.

In the first afternoon keynote John Beasley of Red Bull showed off what they have been up to with their various diverse social engagement activities and it was damn impressive. They have clearly embraced social media wholesale, 15% of the X-fighter budget going on digital – perhaps a higher figure than it sounds given the impressive nature of the event at Battersea Power Station and the chap jumping over Tower Bridge.

The next panel started brightly, with Amelia Torode of VCCP (@Amelia_Torode) discussing her relationship with Aleksandr the meerkat. It would have been even more interesting if she’d expanded a little on her comment regarding the initial buy-in from the client and that they continue to pay very little for the campaign. Forgive me Amelia if I picked up on this incorrectly, it was only a passing comment but this is a big issue for agencies trying to find their feet with social media. The debate may have picked up but descended into embarassing school-room humour – some of it admittedly funny – thanks to the damn twitterfall. Ted Hunt from innocent did look pretty fed-up when he arrived and I’m not sure he felt much better when he left. I’ve commented on the Twitterfall/Back Channel before on the Media140 blog so don’t get me started! Interesting to re-read Brian Condon’s article there by the way, especially with regards to infrastructure.

Things back on track with Richard Baker on the next panel who tweets magnificently for Virgin Trains (@richard_baker). The most interesting question here as far as I’m concerned was on the subject of ownership of the relationships developed through social media platforms. The best way for organisations to engage in a very human and sociable way is to encourage their employees to do so on their behalf. But what happens when they individual moves on? The consensus is that honesty is the best policy but this is something new. No doubt this stuff will find its way into employee contracts very soon.

The final keynote seemed like it might give the agencies the information they’d really come for with the title “Show me the money!”. Unfortuantely Glam Media’s Bernard Desarnauts only managed to tell them how they might spend their money – on his product. Tinker (alarm) bells were ringing. You don’t want to pay for a conference only to become a captive audience for someone to pitch their wares. I’m know there was a broader significance to his presentation but it was quite shameless.

Thankfully, Media140 labs finished the event on a high note, thanks in no small part to David McCandless (@mccandelish) whose own self-concious plugging of his book was entirely appropriate and backed up by a fascinating insight into his motivated visualisations. Utku Can Akyuz plugged Mint Digital’s open-source Hemlock platform which Sumac will certainly take a look at and Mark Rock discussed something of the future for social media darling Audioboo.

I’m not sure many delegates realised before the event that they were eligable for the after party but Ollie and I did our best to get through the bar tab. Cheers all at media140 – a fascinating day.

More coverage here by the way.