Monday, May 05, 2008

Back to Basics: B2B

When I first started writing this blog, it was focused on social media in the b-to-b space. I was working at a B2B agency at the time so it made sense, plus I saw a lot of potential.

Fast forward to today. I've broadened the focus of the blog (sacrilege!) but I've probably become better known for offering perspectives on the tools and my level of knowledge in general (or you tell me what I'm known for). But occasionally I dabble back into business-to-business applications, because there are some worthy examples and that market is finally starting to catch up.

Which makes a perfect segue to refer to a conference at which I'll be speaking in Boston next month: the Marketing Profs Business to Business Forum 2008. There are going to be some heavy hitters there, talking about all sorts of marketing in the b-to-b space:

Marketing Profs own Roy Young and Ann Handley will be there;
Valeria Maltoni, that Conversation Agent, will talk about making your site engaging for your customers;
My colleague Greg Verdino will walk everyone through the essence behind how to stay current with trends to support your business acumen;
Boston's own Chris Brogan will talk about social media and sales leads;
The inimitable David Meerman Scott will give one of his famous keynotes;
I'll be on a panel with Lewis Green and Robin Carey moderated by Paul Dunay titled "Is Social Media Harder for B2B vs. B2C?"

This is but a small sampling of the entire conference. Take a look at the conference web page and see what you think. And since you're a faithful subscriber to my blog (you have subscribed for free, right?), let me offer you something in return: if you sign up to attend this blockbuster conference and submit the code ESPK08, you can get $200 off the price of registration - make it $350 off if you register before May 19.

I hope you'll take the opportunity to avail yourself of some of the best current thinking on this subject today and consider attending. If you do show up, please introduce yourself, as I'd be delighted to meet you.

Labels: Chris Brogan, Greg Verdino, MarketingProfs, news, speaking

Posted by Scott Monty at 11:08 PM

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Wednesday, December 05, 2007

Great New Portal Hits the Spot

Chip Griffin is a visionary. He keeps churning out start-ups that are simple in concept, yet elegant in execution. Custom Scoop was an idea whose time had come - a new media clipping service, catching the best in blog and podcast content; and Cork & Knife is a e-magazine for foodies. That appeals to my inner diner.

Yesterday, he launched his latest - Media Bullseye. Put briefly, Chip publishes it "to provide media, public relations, and marketing professionals with news and commentary about the modern communications landscape." But the cool part is that it combines video, audio, feature commentary and aggregated content, presenting it all in one slick interface. And naturally, it's completely RSS-able. It's definitely worth checking out.

And here's Chip himself to tell you about his vision.

I'm honored to be one of the early contributors to the site. Joining other social media greats like Chris Brogan and Chris Thilk is an honor (I'm lucky I got in, seeing as my given name isn't Chris). We'll see if I can turn this into a regular feature.

What do you think? Is this an idea whose time has come? Any suggestions for Chip?

Labels: Chip Griffin, Chris Brogan, Chris Thilk, Marketing, Media Bullseye, PR, social media

Posted by Scott Monty at 12:56 PM

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Tuesday, December 04, 2007

100 Posts, 100 Reasons to Follow

If you don't know Chris Brogan yet, where have you been? Chris is one of the founders of PodCamp, does some amazing stuff with text, audio and video, knows how to build communities, and on top of that, is a genuinely nice guy.

Chris is forever asking great questions, partly out of curiosity and partly out of a desire to drive his community to action. I've seen it happen many times, when he blasts a question out to Twitter and gets a wealth of responses that help him make a decision, find a location, or achieve clarity.

This time, Chris is dedicating his next 100 posts to giving back to his community. As he puts it, he'll be "helping you grow the value of your social media and social networking efforts."

Bookmark his site and follow along as he'll surely provide a lot of value and introduce you to some really smart people in the process.

Labels: Chris Brogan, social media

Posted by Scott Monty at 11:26 AM

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About Scott

For hi-res, click here

The best way to describe Scott is "Renaissance Man." Friends and colleagues that know Scott from one facet of his life are very frequently surprised to learn of his interests and talents in other areas.

Scott is a marketing and communications professional focused on the digital industry — specifically on social media. His career spans a number of industries such as healthcare, pharma, biotech, travel, automotive, tech, and communications, and includes a wide range of clients, from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies.

Currently on the staff of corporate communications in Ford Motor Company, Scott heads up the social media function and holds the title Global Digital & Multimedia Communications Manager. He is a strategic advisor on all social media activities across the company, from blogger relations to marketing support, customer service to internal communications and more, as social media is being integrated into many facets of Ford business.

Prior to joining Ford, Scott served as Consigliere for crayon and spent a number of years with PJA Advertising + Marketing, a boutique BtoB agency specializing in health sciences & high tech.

In addition to his consulting and agency background, Scott is an active blogger and podcaster. He writes about the intersection of advertising, marketing and PR at The Social Media Marketing Blog and also writes The Baker Street Blog, a literary undertaking. Scott has been featured in numerous news and business publications, on a variety of podcasts, and on national television. Scott is a recognized thought leader in the social media industry and frequently speaks at industry events.

Scott received his Master's in Medical Science from Boston University's School of Medicine concurrently with his MBA from BU's Graduate School of Management. He lives in the greater Detroit area with his wife and two young sons, golfs all too infrequently, and has a hidden talent for voice over work.

Oh, and one last little-known fact: Scott coined the term "tweetup."

You may download a headshot here, courtesy of C.C. Chapman and a PDF version of Scott's bio here.

Books in which Scott's work is featured:
The New Rules of Marketing & PR
Twitterville
Six Pixels of Separation
Monkeys with Typewriters
Read This First
World Wide Rave
Get Seen

Disclosures/Relationships

Scott is on the Advisory board of SavvyAuntie
Scott is on the Advisory board of Business Smart Tools
Scott is a judge for the SAMMY Awards
Scott is on the Advisory board of The Hive Awards
Named one of iMedia's 25 Top Internet Marketing Leaders & Innovators
This blog's content is also syndicated on Social Media Today
Plaid occasionally does web work for me and designed this site
No animals were harmed in the making of this blog.

Speaking Events

Scott speaks on social media at events, seminars and conferences around the world. His topic generally focuses on corporate use of social media, becoming an online spokesperson, and specifically on the progress that Ford has made in the recent past. If you're interested in booking Scott to speak at your event, please send an email to speaking [AT] scottmonty [DOT] com. Scott's bio and headshot can be found in the "About Scott" tab above.

Some previous engagements include:

BlogWell - How Big Companies Use Social Media - Minneapolis - August 13

Who is Scott Monty?

Hi, I'm Scott. I'm the head of social media for Ford Motor Company. This is my personal blog, where I share my perspectives on social media - the convergence of marketing, advertising and PR on the Web - for marketers, agencies, the enterprise and the individual. This blog contains my personal views.