Detroit’s tech and interactive community came out in force for last month’s Techkaraoke event, drawing our largest crowd yet.

After six months, word is starting to get out about this great event.  I actually had people at the TEDxDetroit afterglow mention to me that they heard plenty of stories about our crazy jam sessions.

While I had hoped to capture the entire night on camera, my Flip died shortly after the event started.  However, Ryan Meray happened to grab my cover of The Proclaimers song, “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles).”  Enjoy!

Side note:  Henry and I are actually Scottish twins.  No lie.

To view the other great photos from Techkaraoke Detroit’s November event, check out the sets posted by Icontic.com’s Brian Ambrozy and Dave Peckens on Flickr.

To learn more about Techkaraoke Detroit, check out our Facebook group.

Did you know there is a Facebook Fan Page for Mackinac Historic Parks or that the Michigan Grape and Wine Council regularly tweets about great local wines?  In fact, the Michigan government Web site lists 26 Facebook pages, 21 Twitter accounts and 14 YouTube channels maintained by the state on its “Social Networking (Web 2.0)” page.

While many of us have already heard about the Pure Michigan social media success story, it seems the entire Michigan government social media program is attracting a few eyeballs.  The multiple Twitter accounts have more than 28,000 combined followers and the 14 YouTube channels have generated more than 41,000 views.

When digging a little deeper, it looks like each outpost employs a different engagement strategy.  Many of the sites are merely acting as extensions of their Web counterparts and rebroadcasting information.  There are only a few channels that are actively interacting with fans and followers. While creating a dialogue isn’t always an essential part of a social media strategy, I think two-way conversations are playing an increasingly important role in the government 2.0 movement.

Overall, I’m glad to see that the Michigan government is experimenting and giving average citizens newfound access to lawmakers and important state programs.  Mark this down as another “local” social media experiment that you should keep your eye on.

Your turn.

What do you think of Michigan’s social media strategy?  Are you fan?  What are they doing well?  Where could they improve?

Last Saturday was a big day for Detroit’s interactive community. A number of social media, business and communications experts from all over North America gathered in Southfield at Lawrence Tech. to share their thoughts on social media and personal branding.

When the conference finally came to a close, and co-workers, fellow professionals and friends started asking me about what I learned, the first words that came to mind were, “You simply had to be there.”

To see my take on the energy and excitement felt during Brand Camp University 2009, check out this recap video.

I also encourage you to check out some of the attendee and speaker reactions available on the Brand Camp University blog.

Special thanks to Henry Balanon and Hubert Sawyers for helping shoot the footage. Super special thanks to Brand Camp University’s official photographer, Paul Manoian, and Brian Ambrozy of Prime Pics for the awesome photos.

Your turn.

If you made it out to Brand Camp University 2009, what was your big takeaway?  What are you going to change about your personal brand and the way you do business?

Co-organizing Brand Camp University has been one of the most rewarding and time-consuming projects I have ever undertaken.  Hajj Flemings and I spent countless weekends discussing content, identifying speakers, strategizing promotion and experimenting with format changes at Caribou Coffee in Royal Oak.  We constantly bounced ideas off each other. Proposals were challenged.  Every so often, moments of brilliance surfaced, followed by a few facepalms.  Luckily, after every meeting, we left excited knowing that we were now one day closer to the big event.  As Hajj would say, “we were cooking with gas.”

During the six plus months spent developing Brand Camp University, we learned a lot.  This Wednesday, we are going to share some of that knowledge with the Detroit social media community at the Social Media Club Detroit October chapter meeting.

Some of the questions we hope to answer include:

1. Why do large social media conferences matter to the Detroit region?
2. How do you grow a conference idea?
3. What are ways to approach creating a conference?
4. What’s the appropriate balance between content and personality?
5. Why should you match conference content to the region/market?
6. How do you create reasonable conference expectations?
7. What are the complexities of dealing with rock star speakers?
8. How do you create “need” and make sure your conference stands out?

As an added bonus, we will also be holding a drawing for free tickets to Brand Camp University 09, which takes place this weekend at Lawrence Technological University in Southfield.

The Social Media Club Detroit October meeting will be held at Java Exchange in Detroit near Wayne State University. To RSVP, visit the Facebook event page. To learn more about upcoming Social Media Club Detroit meetings and events, become a fan on Facebook.

**Originally posted by Ken Burbary on http://www.i-detroit.com**

Detroit has an thriving community of Digital marketing, advertising, creative and technology professionals. The community does exceptional work supporting the online communication efforts of brands like Ford Motor Company, General Motors, Jeep, GeekSquad, United States Postal Service, Unite States Navy, and Michelin to name a few. However, we’ve long lived in the shadow of our industrial reputation the region earned decades ago. We’re trying to change that and show a different side of Detroit, the Digital side. Some ambitious members of this community have submitted their ideas for panels at the 2010 SXSW interactive festival. For those unfamiliar with it, SXSWi is one of, if not, the biggest annual industry event. People travel from all over the globe to attend, learn and share their professional experience in digital communications.

“SXSW Interactive features five days of compelling presentations from the brightest minds in emerging technology, scores of exciting networking events hosted by industry leaders and an unbeatable line up of special programs showcasing the best new websites, video games and startup ideas the community has to offer.”

I’m highlighting 6 sessions submitted by Detroit based Digital professionals. I’m asking for your help to get their ideas selected for the conference. It takes only a few moments of your time to vote. Simply go to the SXSW panel picker by clicking on the session titles below, and click the icon to vote (note: you will need to register if you don’t already have an account). Every vote counts. Let’s get these panelists into the “big show” and highlight the emerging talent that is right in your own backyard.

Building Social Strategies at Fortune 100 Companies - panel session with Scott Monty, Ford Motor Company

Description: Companies of all sizes are adopting social media and community, but large organizations have some unique challenges and opportunities. This panel will uncover best practices through stories told by social media leaders from Ford, Nationwide, IBM, Microsoft, SAP and Dell.

Using Social Media to Find a New Gig – panel session by Shelli Gutholm, Aquent

Description: Don’t expect to get your next job by stuffing a bunch of resumes into envelopes and sending to “HR”. The best way to find the job of your dreams is by networking through Social Media. Social networking helps bypass the anonymity of the proverbial resume “black hole”. How you can use Social Media to secure your next job? We will be reviewing the tools and best practices that job seekers should utilize in a search. Also, we will outline some of the common mistakes job seekers make when using Social Media, which could lead to your efforts being sabotaged before they even begin.

Real World ROI and Social Media Strategies – panel session by Cosmin Ghiurau, BOSSdev Inc.

Description: Why Social Matters to Business Calculating the ROI of Social Case Study: CPR Week Digital Campaign for the American Heart Association Available with a client representative to participate These three topics can be presented as independent sessions or combined into one session. All three topics are focused upon how business can effectively understand, implement and measure web 2.0 marketing programs. Knowledge on the latest research and methods for digital marketing and social media Resources to leverage to stay informed on digital marketing and social media Real world examples of how businesses implement and measure web 2.0 programs ROI calculator to estimate and measure your own web 2.0 programs

Beyond the Click: Converting Website Visitors into Customers – solo session by Ayat Shukairy, Invesp Consulting

Description: For an online business, persuading visitors to purchase your product or service is crucial to increasing sales. Using the science and art of analytics analysis, marketing, usability and software, discover how the Conversion Framework approach can convert online visitors into customers such as RHDJapan and Metro Uniforms.

Industrial To Interactive: From Old Town To Tech Town – panel session by iDetroit members

Description: The idea of your city being home to the next thriving digital community is enticing. However, traditionally non-tech regions face a challenge. How do you introduce, develop and grow a digital movement within a location that has never seen one? Detroit is one such city currently grappling with this issue.

Using Facebook to Leverage Social Marketing and Gain ROI - dual session by K. Alan Robbins, BOSSdev Inc.

Description: Panel will cover the evolution of the social networking universe; provide valuable information with respect to the capabilities and unique aspects of the Facebook platform; valuable tips to help you craft an effective Facebook guerilla marketing campaign; and provide key criteria to help you to pick an effective development partner.

General Motors has been pretty busy lately.  The brand has been virtually everywhere, launching new cars and making some pretty big announcements. So, with all this activity going on, you can image how awesome it was to hear that the GM social media team wanted to host a tweetup for Metro Detroiters at Bar Louie in Novi on August 10th.

Great food. Interesting conversation. A couple of cool cars on display.  How could the Detroit Twitter community say no?

The GM Summer Tweetup drew a great crowd of 50+ attendees

Connecting with the people in your backyard
For me, this was more than just another opportunity to see old friends and make new ones.  GM will always have a strong connection to Metro Detroit and many of us here are personally and professionally invested in the company’s success. This tweetup presented a chance for Detroiters to connect with the people behind one of our brands and hear more about where the company is headed.

For more thoughts on this topic, check out the video below featuring me and Chris Barger, GM’s Director of Global Social Media Communications.  Note the handsome expression in the video still.

Also, I’d like to thank the lovely Lish for helping organize this great event.  She did all the legwork and deserves all the credit.

As always, to stay informed about the latest news and events related to Detroit Tweetups, please join our Facebook group. To see who attended the GM Tweetup, check out the list of handles below.  If for some reason you attended the tweetup and your Twitter handle is absent, please post it in the comments.

@wendyclark
@lish
@davesacre
@becksdavis
@becksdavishubby
@kewlrats
@alexfishernet
@verdelifestyles
@1485peet
@genebrady
@ktkruzn
@dukedna
@lisakup
@anig05
@mollysly
@shedski
@hmayers
@hajjflemings
@skinjunkie
@cbaccus
@rockdrool
@margosha8
@turbobrown
@shaunan
@cxiro
@potsie
@tinawebanalytic
@hondagrrl
@freshmenz
@detroitvoice
@drintelmann
@rmercader
@lesleyhettinger
@mrb8507
@jfavreau
@danieleizans
@cbarger
@julieglissman
@qoswhit
@davemurr
@jwphillips
@tvdeegan
@rposluszny
@mabdelno
@metajp
@christas
@tomehenderson
@bchesnutt
@positivecities
@essohhbee
@joem32
@jangosteve
@davebenjamin
@tomshea

@ejohnsonroxx (not valid – anyone know this handle?)

The Detroit Chapter of TechKaraoke held its first official event on Friday, July 24th, at the Royal Kubo in Clawson.  The picture above only captures a fraction of the awesomeness that went on that night.  So, enjoy the video!

Important things to mention:

1. The lighting was crazy, which had an impact on the video quality.
2. @Farms loves to dance on stage.
3. MC @HubertGAM knows how to pump up the crowd!
4. Be sure to check out Icrontic’s great event recap and visit their Flickr page to view some fantastic photos.
5. We decided to introduce a new element to TechKaraoke.  We are presenting a trophy to the “Best in Show” performer of the night at each event.  Mr. @digitalvision was our first winner and will be tasked with adding something to our awesome trophy.  He will also serve as judge at the next TechKaraoke Detroit event.

To be honest, TechKaraoke is quickly becoming one of my favorite events.  The feedback has been stellar and there have already been numerous inquiries about the next event.

Currently, we plan to hold TechKaraoke Detroit every other month at Royal Kubo.  Our next event will be on a Friday sometime in mid to late September.  To stay informed, be sure to join the TechKaraoke Detroit Facebook Group.

AWESOME UPDATE – 5:23PM 7/31/2009

Our friends at Royal Kubo loved the photos and videos.  In fact, they liked them so much, they plan on throwing in a $30 bar tab for the “Best in Show” winner at the next event!  SWEET!

I think most of the readers of this blog are now well aware of my affinity for recapping tweetups and other local events.  However, since the Detroit social media community accomplished something very special this past Wednesday, I’d like to hand the recap duties over to someone else.

Detroit Twitterers & Live to Givers!

The most recent Detroit Tweetup was a monstrous success. We attracted over 100 people (new #detroittu record) and raised over $1,500 for our Bloomfield Hills non-profit organization, Live to Give Foundation (L2G). If you are unaware, L2G helps families in their time of need in a PERSONAL way with mini movies that reveal our donators, fundraisers and families in need. We were launched in November of 2007 by two college seniors and now are run by 5 post graduates all under 23 years old. Social media (obviously including Twitter) is our main outreach and have raised almost $20,000 because of it.

With the support we gained at the Tweetup in Novi, we are able to provide the Shuck family with 2 more months of rent and utilities while they try to escape homelessness, joblessness, and medical issues.

Thank you to everyone who attended, Fox 2 and Channel 7 for the stories they presented, our generous sponsors (Identity Marketing & Public Relations, iDetroit, CRT Medical Systems, Twitart.com, LA Productions and C! Tech Solutions), Bar Louie for their hospitality and Brandon (@bchesnutt) for taking so much initiative to make this wonderful night happen.

We have created our “personal touch” video of the night’s festivities and encourage you to take 3 minutes to see the Tweetup fun!

From the bottom of our passionate hearts, thank you!

The entire Live to Give team
Ryan, Kevin, Matt, Ashley & Kelly

Thank you to everyone for helping make this first Charity Tweetup a success.  It’s always a great time when we all get together.  Doing some good in the process was an added bonus.

For those who are wondering, we will be exploring this idea again in the future.  To stay informed as to when this will happen, follow Ken Burbary and I on Twitter or join the Detroit Tweetups Facebook Group.

At the Tweetup, I interviewed Ryan, Matt and Kevin from Live To Give to find out how Twitter has improved their communications efforts and what they thought of the Charity Tweetup.

You can check out some photos on my Flickr page.

Here is the attendance list:

First off, be sure to follow @livetogive.

The Sponsors

These great companies generously donated at least $1 each for every attendee, ensuring Live To Give received $7.50 for each attendee at the Tweetup.

Identity Marketing & Public Relations
@identitypr
@bchesnutt
@aming44
@andreabogos
@erinsabo
@tnixon16
Lauren Hughes (who also brought a friend – thanks Lauren!)

LA Productions
@lisakup
@anig05

C! Tech Solutions
@ryanmeray / @ctechsinc

iDetroit
@davemurr
@balanon

Twitart.com
@kauf / @twitartdotcom

CRT Medical Systems
They generously bumped up their donation to $2.50 per attendee by the end of the night.  Totally awesome!  Plus, they brought about a dozen people.  Wow.

The Attendees

I have to give a very heartfelt thanks to all of the Metro Detroit Twitter users who came out and supported this great cause. I can’t even tell you how much pride I have for our growing community.

@elatlboy
@estrellabella10
@laurenweber84
@chrismoritz
@loritwilliams
@davebenjamin
@corab
@klavaute / @quickenloans
@amurphy / @quizzle
@red5050
@wmtylerwalker
@detroitvoice
@kevinbiznet
@freshmenz
@jennimurr
@swarheit
@damnredhead
@rmercader
@ericjvogel / @socialmediamstr
@mollysly
@hcwlau
@leftos
@guffly (brought like 3 people!)
@genebrady
@kirstenross
@alisondunn2
@ayeskey
@lish
@kimpossiblydire
@muddypuppy
@tailwheel

In addition to our awesome local Twitter users, another 45 people came out to support Live To Give.  We even converted a few into new Twitter users based on our efforts. Sah-weet.

Contrary to popular belief, when you put a bunch of social media-types together in one room at a Detroit Tweetup, we rarely sit around and actually talk about social media.  

Instead, we like to indulge in some great conversation and have a little fun.  We might even randomly decide to “Office Space” a malfunctioning copier.  Check out @charliecurve’s hilarious aggression-filled video below. Note: the lyrics in this video are NSFW, so put your earmuffs on.

Special thanks to @kevinbiznet for another great Biznet Tweetup.

It’s official.  Tech Karaoke Detroit is up and running.

In case you were unable to attend our “launch event,” enjoy this lovely video recap.

You can also check out some hilarious photos on Flickr. The event was grunge themed, so I hope that explains the flannel.

Want to rock the mic with us next time and be part of the awesomeness?  Join our Facebook group for updates and details on our next event.