pic used w/permission of Wm. Marc Salsberry of TechZulu (more pics & videos can be found at their site)

I had the pleasure of attending the LA Social Media Club event at Mahola‘s headquarters here in LA this past Monday night.

Approximately 200 people in and outside of the social media realm attended the event which included dinner, drinks, networking, and a panel discussion emceed by Jackie Peters of HeavyBag Media and including Nicole Jordan from Rubicon Project, Michael Dorausch a chiropractor who’s use social media as a pioneer in his industry, Robert Richman a social media strategist, and Brian Solis, a social media guru, co-founder of Social Media Club, and principle of FutureWorks.

You can follow Social Media Club on twitter by clicking here and I urge you to visit Social Media Club’s site here for an event in your area and if you’re in LA it’s time to join the group on Facebook and start coming to the events!

I enjoyed enlightening discussions with many of the attendees including Devlyn Steele, CEO of ToolsToLife.com about the value of content and his value-driven social network, with Francisco Dao, founder of TheKillerPitch and blogger for FastCompany about PR in the social media realm, Kyra Reed and Marjorie Kase, co-founders of Markyr Media, an LA social media PR agency about the value of authenticity in social media, and enjoyed a thoughtful discussion on the evolution of web design with Andy Dugan of C/D Entertainment. I definitely can’t forget Tiffany Weller of Done! SEO who so graciously turned a dry event into a party with her wine and bartending services and TechZulu‘s presence with Jennifer Stavros, Efren Toscano, and Cristina Cinque and though I didn’t get a chance to speak with him, I could see Hayden Black of GoodnightBurbank and AbigailsTeenDiary cracking everyone up.

I can’t forget Tim Street‘s hilarious and poignant tweets throughout the evening, Edwin Duterte of OneKeyAway fame, John Noland Marchesini, Omar Foshizzi of WhoopTonez.net, Salvador Medrano, and last, but certainly not least, photographer Wm. Marc Salsberry of TechZulu and owner of WMSProductions for the great event pictures available on Facebook and TechZulu and for permission to use them on this post.

Some interesting points of discussion and a few of my takeaways/thoughts from the event:

• Care must be taken to remember that if you’re in this industry (“the left”) it seems like everyone and their Mom is on Twitter and is networked on Facebook. Yet, their is still a vast ocean of individuals who’ve never experienced social media (Wikipedia’s entry was showcased during the event) and its grandeur and who have no idea what web 2.0 even means. Additionally, if you’re in this industry it’s easy to fall prey to the overwhelming sensation that everything in the realm of social media and social networking is so fast-paced and saturated that you should give up on launching anything without heavy competition and earlier-to-market entrants. We must remember it takes the rest of the world time to catch on to new trends, so if you’re ahead of the curve or riding the curve, don’t become overwhelmed. Even 37Signals, with their uber-popular blog Signal vs. Noise recently wrote about how when they launched their blog they thought it was too little too late, what with the thousands of blogs cropping up before theirs hit cyberspace. Yet, their blog is now incredibly popular and widely regarded in the tech and design communities and proved to be an invaluable marketing channel helping to propel their products to success. Lesson: if you create content worth talking about, people will talk about it. Give them no choice and don’t fear the clutter. Clutter only makes you look better.
• There was some talk about social network “cultures” and how Fortune 1000s and companies in general aim to enter the social fray without context. Facebook has a culture. mySpace has a culture. Bebo and Twitter and Digg and Squidoo have cultures. I see similarities between entering social media spaces and entering foreign markets: before entering a foreign market you must understand the culture and if you don’t, you must find someone who does. I think Facebook and mySpace and other social networking channels can have cultures within cultures, in the form of groups and such. McDonalds didn’t go into India serving meat burgers and a company shouldn’t go into the social networking realm blindly ignoring existing cultures. Immerse yourself (or find others who are immersed) and give value to gain recognition.
• Corporate social media endeavors are often successful when bridging corporate with humanity. In my opinion, the best marketers aren’t marketers; they’re customers, other departments, and fans in general. Corporations that have experienced success often experience success as the result of social media being attached to an individual or group of individuals or sometimes simply a passionate fan. It’s 2008 and it’s time to bring personality and humanity to your business if you’re entering the social sphere.

Other memorable quotes included:

• “once you know where to look, you know where to be”
• “…the Internet has experienced several waves including a wave of static websites, a wave of interactive websites, and the current wave of social websites…”
• “social media is a conversation, not a campaign”
• “people make it viral”
• “there’s nothing that succeeds like success”

Can’t forget some more pics courtesy of Wm. Marc Salsberry of TechZulu (more pics & videos can be found at their site):

Last of all, I want to hear your thoughts on the event! If I left you out or if you thought a discussion point was particularly thought-provoking, please post a comment… I’ll review each comment and will incorporate them into the post as pertinent. What did you gain from SMC LA? Will you go to the next event? How would you improve it? Also, can someone post the link to the “Social Media Guide” mentioned during the evening? What other social media events in LA and beyond are worth attending?

If you want to hear about upcoming social media / social networking posts and other riffs and rants, follow this blog and join me on twitter! Until next time…!