2010 Blogging While Brown Conference (#BWB)

Today is the first day of the 2010 Blogging While Brown Conference, which will be taking place in Washington, D.C. This will be my second time attending the conference, which I'm very excited about. The next few posts will recap the various sessions and activities that we'll be attending and participating in during the two-day conference.

Click here to see what's in store for us later today.

CarLocate.com Adds a Socialize Page

CarLocate.com is a nationwide new and used car search portal. Their new "Socialize" page makes it easier to join the car-buying conversation with CarLocate.com and other consumer on the site.

The new page offers a number of resources to help you find relevant information about cars and car buying and the ability to interact with the CarLocate.com team and other car shoppers. You'll also be able to quickly browse information about CarLocate.com's activities, contests, events and social media. In the automotive forum, visitors an connect with other users and click the "Share" button. Fans can also join conversations on CarLocate.com's Facebook, Youtube and Twitter.

New social media game lauched for "The Last Airbender" movie release

Last week, Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon Movies and Crunchyroll, Inc., announced the release of "Become the Avatar," a freeplay interactive social media game, based on M. Night Shyamalan's July 2nd 3D release, "The Last Airbender."

The experience includes visuals from the film and allows fans to play as any of the Four Nations in various adventures.

For your personal experience, visit http://www.thelastairbendermovie.com/ or go to their Facebook at http://apps.facebook.com/becometheavatar.

Today is National Doughnut Day

Prepare to see a lot of pictures with Krispy Kreme doughnuts and their sign taking over Twitter and Facebook today. In honor of National Doughnut Day, Krispy Kreme is offering a free doughnut to customers. No purchase is necessary. All they ask is that this promotion invade Twitter and Facebook with the hashtag #KrispyKreme. Once you've picked up your free doughnut, they'd like you to take a picture of yourself at their establishments with your favorite doughnut then post it to Twitter and/or Facebook. What a sweet treat or should I say sweet tweet. To monitor their promotion, be sure to follow them at www.Facebook.com/KrispyKreme and www.Twitter.com/krispy_kreme. Enjoy.

New Study Explains Gap Analysis between Techies and Tech Marketers' Usage

UBM TechWeb (www.ubmtechweb.com) just released a social media research study that provides a comprehensive portrait of how technology professionals and technology marketers are using social networking sites such as LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and blogs. The study, "Social Media at Work," is the first study of its kind to examine both the usage and preferences of technology decision makers and the activities technology marketers employ to reach them.

The research, which studies the social media consumption habits of 630 technology professional respondents and 350 technology marketing respondents, reveals a gap between the social networks that technology decision makers are most consuming and the networks technology marketers are using to connect with them. "While many technology marketers have established a presence on Facebook and Twitter, many are not taking full advantage of the sites that technology professionals frequent and value most, such as LinkedIn and blogs," said Brandon Friesen, VP and online strategist at UBM TechWeb.

The study also confirms a significant rise in the role social media plays professionally, as it now accounts for an average of 13% of the total time that technology professionals spend consuming media for work purposes. While this is a substantial lift from a study conducted on IT professionals just two years ago, study results also point to the importance of using social media in combination with a fully integrated communications strategy.

Research Highlights:

-- Technology professionals (CIOs, IT VP/Directors, IT Managers,
Line-of-business management, etc.)
-- Social media is ranked fourth out of eleven in terms of time
investment devoted to information sources; technology B2B web
sites were #1.
-- Four in ten respondents plan to increase the amount of time they
spend with social media.
-- LinkedIn and blogs were ranked as the top two most used for
business purposes.
-- Almost 60% use social networks to get information about technology
purchases.

-- Technology marketers (CMO/SVP/VP Marketing, Directors, Managers, Media
Management, etc.)
-- Technology organizations are increasing marketing spend for social
media outlets over the next 12 months.
-- While most have not used social media to deliver a marketing ROI,
one-third will be tasked to do so in 2010.
-- Facebook and Twitter were ranked as the top two most influential
sites.
-- Corporate blogs may be more influential than marketers believe.

"Understanding the technology decision-making audiences' motivations and behaviors when it comes to social media is exceptionally critical - especially at this stage where marketers are still feeling their way when it comes to social networking," said Scott Vaughan, VP Marketing, UBM TechWeb. ''Social media allows you to get a market pulse and truly listen to what your customers and prospects are saying, driving both short and longer term go-to-market strategy."

For related perspective and insight, visit www.createyournextcustomer.com, UBM TechWeb's site for technology marketers.