Smith School’s Center for Excellence in Service Hosts Industry-Focused Social Media Forum

Oct. 1, 2010 – The Center for Excellence in Service (CES) at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business hosted the Social Media Forum, which invited social media and marketing industry practitioners to discuss how marketers leverage social media.

Hugh Courtney, vice dean of the Smith School, opened the day by acknowledging the attendees’ and panelists’ various backgrounds, saying, “The right people are gathered here today.”

Janet Wagner, director of the CES, which both conceived of and hosted the event, spoke of the center’s mission and the reasoning behind hosting a social media event: “The social media are a vehicle for building relationships with customers. They are the newest way to listen, learn from and do a better job of serving your customers.”

Wendy Moe, Smith School associate professor of marketing and program director for the Social Media Forum, took the podium to give an overview of the day and to introduce the first speaker, Chris Boudreaux, senior vice president of Management Consulting at Converseon and founder of SocialMediaGovernance.com, the foremost online resource on governance in social media.

Boudreaux compared social media to a free puppy, saying it costs no money in the beginning and seems to be lots of fun, until the vet bills skyrocket. He went on to discuss how social media’s place in a company is often unclear, as many are unsure of which department should own it, what its accountability is, what kind of data can actually be retrieved from its use, and what its scalability might be. Heads nodded in agreement in the audience as Boudreaux advised everyone to take a look at the people, process and technology involved with the integration of social media in marketing, communications and customer service.

A panel discussion followed, featuring David Berkowitz, senior director of emerging media and innovation for digital marketing agency 360i; Alexandra Nicholson, manager and social media strategist for USA Today’s Digital Marketing team; Don Steele, vice president of digital marketing for the MTVN Entertainment Group; and Susan Thronson, senior vice president of global marketing for Marriott International, Inc. David Godes, Smith School associate professor of marketing, moderated the panel, kicking off with the question: “What is a social media strategy, and how is it created? And how do you balance listening versus promoting?”

Berkowitz responded that companies need to engage consumers in the way they’re already “living” online instead of constantly inventing new ways to draw people in. With regard to presenting social media strategy to higher-ups, Nicholson warned attendees “Don’t fail big. Set up small, tangible things to show your leadership.” Steele shared his creed – that all online conversation must be smart, honest, organic, and engaging. Thronson discussed the issues Marriott has with middlemen, such as Orbitz.com or Expedia.com, interrupting online conversations, and how Marriott has had to develop a strategy to disrupt that and come back into conversations in a meaningful way. She also discussed how news can negatively affect Google search rankings, as Jet Blue Airlines’ website lost a lot of ground in search placement after one of their employees grabbed a few beers and slid out the emergency exit back in August.