It’s rare that I know something about social media that C.C. Chapman doesn’t, but earlier this evening I left the third WBUR social media get-together and saw this tweet.
So, for C.C. and others, let me set the context. WBUR‘s social media guy, Ken George, called the third WBUR tweet-up, the usual informal social media gabfest with the added lure of a tour of the station. I was lucky enough to be in on the first such event, but missed the second. I hope C.C. can join us for one in the future.
The discussion was pretty free-flowing, and I’m sure it flowed even freeer when the crew decamped to the bar, but I’ll try to mention some of the interesting people and themes I noticed.
David Boeri, host of WBUR’s Radio Boston, kicked things off with a discussion of using twitter and other social media to source stories or find trends and ideas as they bubble up. He came with an attitude of “beginners mind” and probably left with a headache. The crowd was eager to help, but I’m not sure if even those of us swimming in new media fully understand what it is we’re in the midst of. As one said, “I have over 800 followers [on twitter] and I have no idea why.”
A soft-spoken woman named Angie mentioned an event called Courteous Mass, a reaction to the sometimes controversial Critical Mass, but specifically committed to obeying traffic laws (in contrast to the “corking” through red lights common to Critical Mass) and being nice to both pedestrians and drivers while celebrating urban bike-riding. Bravo, I say. As a pedestrian and a driver, I find the behavior of many cyclists unnerving and reckless while wishing that more people could safely ride bikes in the city.
Manifest Magazine is a twice-monthly free magazine about “ordinary people with extraordinary experiences” delivered, oddly to my mind, in PDF via a blog. The creator of the magazine spoke of his use of “most favorited” searches to find interesting and up-and-coming authors and interview subjects. Worth a look, as I’m sure will be whatever this gentleman does next.
On the way home, I walked over the BU bridge and watched the moon peek in and out of the clouds.
Glad to hear it was a great time. I wished I could have gone to it.
But, what my tweet was about was that I personally was getting congratulations and didn’t know why. Turns out that I was on Marketplace last night that runs on WBUR and other stations and that is what people were congratulating me about, but confused me.
Funny that it synced up with the gathering last night which I’m psyched to read more about and great capture of the moon as well.
That’s classic. We were in the WBUR lunchroom talking social media – and some people were complaining that CC had been excluded from prior radio coverage of social media – more or less at the same time that his marketplace piece was airing. Here’s the link: “Even though they are relatively small in number, users of the Twitter online service are a powerful group. And companies looking to make quick contact with customers have taken notice. Jennifer Collins reports.” (and as public radio junkies will no doubt point out, Marketplace is aired on WBUR but produced by American Public Media )
Great seeing you last night. Did you notice @wbur (@kengeorge) asking for input on Twitter and the blog regarding what’s next for WBUR and more importantly – “Just What Do You Want Anyhow?” http://tinyurl.com/6dk5zj.
I already get everything I want from WBUR – especially Only A Game, Wait Wait, This American Life, Marketplace, new updates, election coverage. Actually, I wish they all worked for my MBA school – Northeastern ;).
Kudos to WBUR for really joining the conversation and asking its fans what we want.
Cheers, Adam
PS I posted some pictures from the who tweetup and audio from Sunset dinner/drinks w. @kengeorge (@wbur) @andreamercado @stevegarfield @ http://www.utterz.com/adamzand AKA http://www.utterli.com/AdamZand