I’m very excited to announce that for the first time Blog World Expo (the world’s largest social media conference) is going to be introducing Social CRM into their agenda mix and I was fortunate enough to be asked to lead that session. I’m also very excited to announce that joining me on stage will be Brent Leary from CRM Essentials.  The purpose of our panel is to help organizations understand how to move from fans and followers to customers and advocates.  In other words, moving beyond social media as channel and towards long term customer engagement strategy.  There has been a lot of talk and a lot of hype around the “SCRM” acronym and term; my hope is that this session will help clarify and explain a lot of the issues and questions that attendees have around this topic.  We also aim to provide some action items that organizations can take back with them to their organizations.

Although Brent and I are somewhat in the space now (SCRM) we both have very different backgrounds and are approaching this topic from both a social and a CRM perspective.  I think this should make things very interesting and valuable for the audience.  Just so you know we’re not going to be spending our time talking about Twitter and Facebook as sticking to a particular channel is a bit irrelevant.  You can also expect conversations around traditional CRM to be bound and plentiful.  A few key things we are going to address:

• Overview of CRM
• Statistics and numbers showing a change in customer behavior and expectations
• Understanding SCRM as a concept and as a practice
• Things organizations need to consider and implement to move from beyond just social channels and into deeper customer engagement strategies
• Key takeaways
• Q&A

I’m sure this is going to change a bit so please don’t me hold to this exact list of items to be covered but the session will most likely address some if not all of these topics.  Of course, there will be time for Q7A as well and that is perhaps going to be the most valuable part of the session.  This SCRM panel is already one of the more popular sessions based on looking at “who is interested” on the blog world site.  I’m hoping for a packed room!

If you want to attend the session it’s going to be on Friday between 4-5 at Island H/1.  Here are the full details of the session.

Start thinking of your questions now and I really hope you can attend, if you are able to make please come say hello and introduce yourself!

Is there anything you would like to see covered at the session?  See you in Vegas!

The Good

• Las Vegas houses some of the world’s most famous restaurants.  Everything from the fancy Michael Minna restaurant to the buffets are top notch and definitely a plus.  I love buffets!
• The entertainment is also second to none.  The finest entertainers in the world come to Vegas to perform and let us not forget the Cirque Du Soleil has made Vegas its home with several resident shows.  Where else can you see Jerry Seinfeld and David Copperfield?  Entertainment also lasts 24/7, you can wake up at any time during the day or night, step outside and find something to do.  The city never sleeps.
• The Hotels in Vegas are a lot of fun to walk through since they are all themed.  You can check out Caesar’s Palace or visit the old canals of Italy at the Venetian.  The architecture and design of the hotels in Vegas are amazing and definitely worth checking out.
• The shopping in Vegas is also top notch.  You can buy pretty much anything in Vegas and every brand name store you can possible think of has a location in Vegas.  It’s certainly not a place to go to shop on a strict budget but if you have a bit of money to throw around you can come back with some pretty nice things.  If you’re a celebrity why not shell out 6 or 7 figures on a nice bracelet nor necklace?
• You can drink anywhere and if you sit down in the casino you can get all the free alcohol your drunken self desires.  Of course that doesn’t usually go well when you’re gambling since you tend to make some pretty stupid decisions.  However, if you can control yourself you should be just fine.

The Bad

• Every time you walk down the strip you get bombarded with people handing out fliers for strippers or hookers, the streets are lined with these fliers and it gets quite irritating.
• The weather in Vegas is also not too great.  Most of the times that I have been there it’s either scorching hot or freezing.  That’s what you get for going out to the desert to get away!
• I’m not a smoker so you can imagine the havoc the Vegas causes for my poor lungs.  After spending some time in a casino it becomes harder for me to breathe, my eyes get red, and I start coughing.  The smoking is definitely a big negative.
• It’s rare to find a clock or a window inside of the actual casino floor, that way the casinos can keep you in their establishments longer; hopefully losing money!
• Las Vegas isn’t exactly the “real world” it’s where people go to party.  This means that it’s very easy to blow a lot of money in just a few days so it’s best to be careful.  I have several friends that have lost thousands of dollars in just a few days.  Vegas is definitely a money sucker.
• Traveling in Las Vegas is not fun.  There are tons of people and you pretty much need to take a cab anywhere you want to go, especially if it’s freezing or scorching hot outside.  There’s traffic everywhere and you end up spending around $20 just to get from one side of the strip to the other.  There’s also a monorail that goes around to some of the hotels which runs around $6 for one way.

Have anything to add to this list of either good or bad things about Las Vegas?  Curious to hear what you guys think!

I’m heading to Las Vegas this morning to attend the Blog World Expo from October 15-18th.  My entire trip is going to be focused around having social media ROI discussions.  It’s also going to be great to see some folks I haven’t seen in a while as well see the KA show from Cirque Du Soleil (which I’m very excited about).  I want to really blow the social media ROI discussion out of the water.  I’m working on a few exciting projects/partnerships that I’ll disclose later but I’m very excited to go after the ROI space head on.

Here are the 2 panel discussions that I’m excited about the most:

Social Media ROI: What, How, Why

• Panelists:  Rob Hahn, Sherry Chris, Amy Geddes, Mike Simonsen, Dan Green

ROI Smackdown: New Media Vs Traditional Media Advertising

• Stephanie Agresta (Moderator), Beth Harte, Deb Micek, Muhammed Saleem, Rob Key

I don’t many of the folks that are participating but I’m looking forward to really getting involved in some interesting conversations.  I have a very strong opinion/idea about social media ROI and the process/methodology that needs to be followed (haven’t really shared this yet).  I’ll definitely be blogging about the event and sharing my 2 cents about the conference.

A lot of the value for me comes from the conversations that I have in the hallways of these large events.  I’m hoping to meet some prospective clients and to forge some business opportunities.  If you’re going to be at the event make sure you let me know!