Scott,

I think you are right on with two observations:

"If I were going to make a suggestion to ASAE I would say they need multiple tracks based on level of experience."

YES! The whole trick with that, of course, as I learned in my swing dancing years, is to convince beginners not to attend the intermediate/advanced sessions *without* hurting their feelings. Or tell them that they can audit the session if they want to learn, but they can't participate. Because active participation by beginners in sessions that are supposed to be more advanced just slows everyone else down. If anyone figures this out, there should be some sort of prize.

"Think that we could crowdsource the ASAE Social Media Conference starting today by suggesting speakers and topics to be covered on this blog and others?"

I would love to see this - my first suggestion, of course, would be to follow your suggestion above and have tracked sessions.

Hi Elizabeth,

Good seeing you at the Idea Swap the other day. Since I was there with you, and I attended an Alexandria Brown Bag on Social Media today, I had to comment on your post.

First of all I like turkey. There is turkey bacon, turkey jerky, turkey fricasee, turkey sandwiches, turkey casserole, jerk turkey, fried turkey. Thanks for allowing me to have that Forrest Gump moment. :-)

What I am finding interesting about many of the association social media events that I have been going to is that the audience continues to change. The people that I used to see at those types of events no longer attend and new people have taken their place. What does that mean? Does that mean that the people who used to come to the events have taken everything they learned at the events, and through other means, and are now doing so well at using social media that they don't need to attend anymore? Does it mean they leave events as frustrated as they were when they walked through the door and have thrown in the towel on Social Media? Or, does it mean that there are still a ton of people out there in the association space who don't have a basic understanding of social media and are therefore clamoring to get to an event like the 2 I attended this week. My guess is that all 3 may be true to a certain extent but the more correct answer is that there are still a ton of people who need the 101 type stuff and that is why these events occur regularly and the same conversation happens over and over again.

Is it bad that the basic conversations continue to happen? I truly believe that it is important for people to get that basic social media knowledge as social media does, and will continue to be a very valuable "weapon" for associations. I also think it is great that people are willing to swallow their pride a little, attend events on the basics and admit their cluelessness.

The big question is where and when will we start finding the advanced social media user seminars that you are referring to? Is buzz 2009 going to be for that? Will ASAE's event be for that? If I were going to make a suggestion to ASAE I would say they need multiple tracks based on level of experience. That would guarantee a huge turnout plus a satisfied audience regardless of level of knowledge.

Think that we could crowdsource the ASAE Social Media Conference starting today by suggesting speakers and topics to be covered on this blog and others? I vote for having at least one session that demonstrates how associations have used traditional media (dm, email, telemarketing, etc) and social media together to really increase response. I would even be willing to mention this at ASAE Annual Meeting during our Marketing Section Council Meeting to get other suggestions.