The 9th Social Fresh social media conference made its way to Tampa last week, and filled the DoubleTree Westshore with hundreds of social media geeks. Marketers, PR specialists, small business owners, and agency consultants spent two days exploring the latest trends and industry best practices in the realm of social media marketing.
In addition to the networking and ideas that come with that many minds in one place, I came away rejuvenated and validated in my practices and approach.
The first session was Social Media Hospitality, presented by Brian Simpson, Director, Digital Media Vikram Chatwal Hotels, NYC. Brian spoke realistically and frankly about why we need to stop building our audience and start trying to engage the people who are already our fans. Stop worrying about the 'Likes' and focus on the conversation.
The lessons that he really hammered home for me included (after the jump):
This article appears in Feb 24 – Mar 2, 2011.