#MidweekMinute: Fighting Snapchat & killing Storify

Facebook adds new features, kills an old one, and resurrects yet another oldie-but-goodie; Instagram introduces a new app and a new function; Tinder gets personal; Tweetstorms & Twitter videos get a boost.

Facebook adds video music library, AR for Messenger, and tries to resurrect the Poke, while quietly removing the ticker feed (who knew that was still even a thing?); Instagram takes messaging out of the app with Direct, and also now lets you follow hashtags; Tinder will be showing your matches your Insta & Spotify activity (if you let it); Twitter Threads kills Storify, while the platform will also now let you view counts on public videos.

Christine Gritmon Inc. 10/3/17 Christine Gritmon Inc. 10/3/17

#INBOUND17: Piera Gelardi

Refinery29 founder Piera Gelardi talks about creating the conditions for creativity at #INBOUND17.

I love Refinery29. So I was super excited when their founder, Piera Gelardi - who is my age! - opened up the first full day of INBOUND17. The fierce red suit & matching lipstick only added to my feelings of connection with this brunette badass.

I never planned to grow my company. Silly, right? But I didn't. And now I do. So any lessons on leadership and growth at this conference were lapped up eagerly. Piera's office sounds unbelievably fun: she encourages them to think more creatively, gives them the pressure-free space to do so, and even fuels brainstorming sessions with candy and rose. But she's also running a company, so maintaining the feeling of that creative space has had to become a deliberate priority in the hustle and bustle of everyday business. Hearing her ideas - and the recurring theme of the conference talks, which all dealt with identity and connection - was refreshing and inspiring.

Christine Gritmon Inc. 10/2/17 Christine Gritmon Inc. 10/2/17

#INBOUND17: Brene Brown

Author Brene Brown talks about belonging & connection at #INBOUND17.

I live-tweet things at conferences; it's what I do. It's how I take notes. It's how I share the experience with those unable to attend. It's how I get noticed by fellow conference-goers (and, ideally, the organizers; bring me in as a speaker for #INBOUND18, HubSpot!). And it's how I'm able to digest the experience after the fact, when I'm able to focus again on the words and main points.

Everyone I know has been reading Brene Brown's latest book, Braving the Wilderness (as my cover image shows, I will soon be joining them, with my very own signed copy!). I had seen them posting quotes and snapshots of pages that held special resonance from them. And, early on in Brene's presentation, some of her words sounded awfully familiar. Were we just hearing a re-hash of her book? And what does any of this have to do with marketing? The answers became clear: no, she wasn't just re-hashing her book, or if she was, she was doing it in a sufficiently engaging manner to make me feel like she was truly WITH us (and made me want to read the book, of course). As for what it has to do with marketing: the theme that seemed to emerge throughout EVERY talk at this year's conference was that of connection. And Brene's book is about belonging. Makes perfect sense. And yes, her words will be affecting the way I approach my work, as well as the way I move through the world.

Christine Gritmon Inc. 7/2/17 Christine Gritmon Inc. 7/2/17

My favorite insights from #SMDay

Highlights from The Content Funnel's #SMDay meetup in NYC

I was all psyched to celebrate #SocialMediaDay (yes, internet holidays always get a hashtag) this year - and was shocked to discover only ONE #SMDay meetup planned for NYC! The Content Funnel is primarily real-estate based, so I wasn't sure if this particular event would be super-relevant to me... but with speakers from Seamless/Grubhub, Boxed, Comedy Central & more, I decided to go for it. I had a phenomenal time, learned a ton, and even got to record a surprise pop-up episode of Social with the CEO of The Content Funnel, Michael Beckerman!

As usual, I Tweeted... as usual, I'll be sharing my Storify threads in blog posts all week. Check out my episode of Social here, and see below for a collection of my favorite random tweets. Threads of the full presentations will be released one per day throughout the week.

7/3: Be Like Zack Morris: Using the power of storytelling to sell via social media

7/4: Disrupting an utterly boring category: A look into how Boxed is changing the way toilet paper is bought

7/5: Planning for change. Why the “annual” plan needs to be interrupted

7/6: Integrating online customer feedback with offline customer experiences

Posting 7/7: Getting Smarter On Social: A “how-to” for social media analytics & insights

*Kate McKnight's presentation was great, but a) it was more of a journey through a process her company went through than something specifically relevant to my business, and b) I was super-distracted at that time since I was busily posting & promoting the livestream I had just recorded... but don't worry, you'll see way more of her insights on Thursday when I share my tweets from the whole presentation!

Christine Gritmon Inc. 5/30/17 Christine Gritmon Inc. 5/30/17

Get Seen, Be Heard webinar

Do I live-tweet and then Storify basically every educational talk I attend?

Practically.

Do I live-tweet and then Storify basically every educational talk I attend?

Practically.

I first met Karen Yankovich last year at Mahwah Regional Chamber of Commerce's Social Media Day (I'll be giving a workshop on personal branding at this year's event, on June 15) and we stayed in touch via social media. I took her free LinkedIn webinar last year, knowing full well that it would end with a sales pitch for the paid course. And you know what? I learned so much in that free hour that I went for it. And I've used the specific knowledge I gained in that longer webinar to make at least ten times what the webinar cost me, in less than a year.

Karen's been working with PR pro Christina Daves on their Get Seen, Be Heard program, which is all about the potent 1-2 punch of social media + PR. One of my professional goals right now is to establish industry expertise and become a more in-demand speaker. The time for this was right for me. Yet I still somehow entered today's free webinar expecting to just do the freebie, see how those lessons worked for me for a little while, and then maybe do the paid course this fall or something. But a) they may not be offering it in the fall, because this isn't a pre-recorded course, it's live, so it's happening when it's happening; and b) they're masters of making it sound so good that you just can't not. And I do believe that I will once again turn my soon-to-be-learned knowledge around into a more-than-tenfold profit.

Anyway. Here are some jewels from this afternoon's freebie. I expect I'll be getting plenty of blog fodder out of the full course, too (though don't worry, Karen & Christina, I won't give away all your secrets!).

#MidweekMinute: Fighting Snapchat & killing Storify

Facebook Sound Collection

Facebook AR in Messenger

Facebook Removes Ticker

Facebook Resurrecting the Poke

Instagram Direct

Instagram letting you follow hashtags

Tinder showing your online activity to matches

Twitter Threads kills Storify

Twitter Will Show View Counts on Public Videos

#INBOUND17: Piera Gelardi

#INBOUND17: Brene Brown

My favorite insights from #SMDay

Get Seen, Be Heard webinar