Tech Wednesday

Hello, everyone! Today I have a special Tech Wednesday interview with my good friend Laura Gesin. Laura is a technology teacher at Communications High School in Wall, NJ, and the owner of the New Jersey-based VoxPopNJ, a company dedicated to teaching professionals how to use social media as a marketing and branding tool. Not only that, but she is also a major influence on my own pursuits of web design and social networking.

Last week, Laura attended TWTRCON 2010, a daylong event on the business uses of Twitter and other emerging social media. I contacted her (through Twitter, of course) and got her feedback on the event, and on social media in general.


Which social media sites/third-party social media managers do you use?
Twitter/Tweetdeck, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Foursquare

Which one of those is your favorite?
Twitter although Foursquare is definitely moving up in usage. Facebook I’m using less and less.

What sort of events/speeches/etc went on at TWTRCON? What did you attend?
The event was in one large ballroom, so I saw all of the panels/presentations. The best was probably the “Right Time, Right Place” panel with Foursquare, etc. that I wrote about on my blog. The real eye opener was the Real Time Media Brands panel made up of online and traditional news organizations. Huffington Post, and to a great extent the Associated Press, “get it”. The New York Times, not so much. I love the Times, am a subscriber, but didn’t realize just how resistant they are to new media.

How would you define Foursquare? How does it work?
Foursquare is a geolocation social networking program. Users follow friends much like Facebook, but instead of posting your status or tweeting what you’re doing, you check in where you are currently (1 button, what could be easier). For example, when I go to my local health food store, I check in, get points for the visit, and because I’ve been there more than anyone, am now Mayor. It is a game in the sense that you compete for points with your foursquare friends, and earn badges like “swarm” (when more than 50 people check into one location in a short period of time). Retailers are now using Foursquare to reach customers directly. For example, Starbucks now gives all their Foursquare Mayors $1 a frappuccino each visit. That’s really the power of Foursquare.

What sorts of businesses are using Foursquare? For what purposes?
Starbucks, as I stated before. I recently saw on Twitter that some Whole Foods locations are rewarding people who visit a certain number of times with free food. I think businesses will begin doing this more and more as they see large retailers like Starbucks and Whole Foods utilizing Foursquare. The ability to connect with customers at your location, rather than remotely is a big plus! It also promotes brand loyalty. With so many retailers to choose from, and such a difficult economy, it really has an impact on the bottom line.

Do you think there will continue to be many small social networking phenomena, or is Facebook just going to aggregate everything into one massive social media Matrix (sans-Neo)?
I actually think Facebook is not the leader in business social media. In fact, I think most business people would say the same. Facebook is a landing page that provides information, creates a community, and promotes discussion, but platforms like Twitter drive the traffic to Facebook, and Foursquare provides an entirely new way to interact with customers. I think a year from now, we’ll be talking about Foursquare they way we talk about Twitter today, and Facebook will be part of a social media marketing strategy but not the primary piece.

Be sure to visit Laura Gesin’s website and the VoxPopNJ site.