Tweet-Ups, etc.

Has there ever been a time when we’ve seen so many media and marketing industry confabs? They range from six-person tweet-ups to the much buzzed-about annual gathering pictured here ——->

The organizers of these events sure know how to entice attendees with all the right buzzwords, e.g., “new media,” “social media,” “PR 2.0,” “Web 3.0,” “community,” “digital impact,” “ad: tech,” “search,” “summit,” “metrics,” “meet-ups,” “tweet-ups,” and the latest, “140 conference,” a less-than-cryptic allusion to one’s max number of Twitter characters.

You’d think that given the state of the economy the number of these gatherings would wither on the vine. After all, budgets for professional development tend to be the first to go when client revenues tighten. Yet, these conferences abound. Here’s a testimonial for the events hosted by one such content/event company:

“MediaPost continues to host valuable industry events. With a down economy, it seems like events like these would be hard pressed to generate the attendance necessary to make them valuable. As it turns out, that has hardly been true. The OMMA events are well attended by the right people in our space to facilitate open conversations around how we can continue to grow online media…”

To me, the proliferation can be attributed to several dynamics:

  • The need for ad-driven content companies to derive revenue from sources other than advertising
  • The desperate desire for media, marketing and PR professionals to ramp onto the social media revolution — for fear of irrelevance, and
  • No shortage in supply of self-styled social media pundits who seem to make a living through their punditry.

Here are some useful resources should you have the time, budget and motivation for self-enlightenment:

Finally, I’d be remiss not to mention several gatherings where this PR pro and blogger plans to speak:

I hope to see you on the circuit.