#140conf Meetup Review - Part I

Last night, I attended the 140 Character Conference Meetup in good old NYC. I hugged many people, said "Awww" more times than I'm comfortable admitting, and took six pages of scribbly notes on the "twearls of wisdom" shared by the fabulous lineup of speakers. Rather than overload your precious eyes, I'm going to split this write-up into two parts. Here we go!

I'm convinced that the unspoken themes of the Meetup were serendipity and humanity. In the context of Twitter, each speaker touched upon the elements whether they knew it or not. Conference creator Jeff Pulver (@jeffpulver) absolutely emphasized these beautifully important facets of life.

The cherry on top was, of course, the networking before and after. I was greeted with hugs from the cool cats I met at the September #140conf Meetup, and was embraced by new-found friends I'd merely tweeted with shortly before the event.

My experience with the #140conf is characterized by serendipity and humanity. I only found out about last month's #140conf Meetup the day before it took place, from a lovely girl I met at a Mashable Meetup earlier in the summer.

Good timing, a great boss, and the planets' alignment allowed me to attend that first #140conf Meetup, and I've been hooked ever since. I'm even going to L.A. next week for the full-blown 2-day 140 Character Conference. I'm excited, to say the very least.

In any case, back to last night's Meetup. Jeff took the stage first, as any awesome host should do.

He introduced Sam Go (@samgo) with MSNBC. She's the awesome chick who arranged with Jeff to host the Meetup in the MSNBC digital café, which was a little cramped for the 200+ attendees, but a funky venue nonetheless.

Sara will also be in L.A. next week for the 140 Character Conference, and she gave us a little peek into what she'll discuss during her five, count ‘em, five minute presentation.

The neatest thing she touched upon was the recently-aired documentary, Inside the White House. She noted that MSNBC has been doing this documentary since the Truman administration, but this year's experience was tremendously different. Why?

Because for the first time, MSNBC was choosing what to footage to include in part based on real-time tweets. Tweets were coming in about how rad it was that Obama keeps apples all over the White House, so MSNBC emphasized that little tidbit. Now that's what I call interactive television.

After Sam's quick speech, Jeff took the stage once more and delivered his usual awesomely inspiring and charismatically heartening spiel about Twitter.

You know, the typical stuff about how:

• ...Twitter is changing the paradigms of how we live and interact
• ...we the people have a voice and that voice matters
• ...social media makes the world smaller but offers limitless opportunities
• ...when the history books of the Internet are written, we'll find that we're living in the Golden Age.

Same old stuff. If you can't sense my sarcasm, well then I just can't help you.

Seriously though, Jeff blows me away every time I hear him talk about Twitter - he's so moved by the technology; judging on the incredible vibes in the MSNBC digital café last night, I know all the Meetup attendants are, too.

So after charging us up with his opening remarks, Jeff invited Anne Mai Bertelsen (@anniemai), Jeff Haley (@haleymedia) and Brian D'Aurelio up for the Panel Discussion: "Twitter amped the radio star."

Here are some gems from the conversation:

• There are definite parallels between radio and Twitter, most notably: intimacy.

• When you're listening to a DJ, it's like he's talking to you- same on Twitter.

• iPods are incorporating interactive technology for certain radio stations: Jeff explained that now you stream radio to your iPod with artist information, stop, start, pause the music, and even click-to-buy a song that you like. Wee!

• Brian was proud of the fact that his radio station(s) are quite active on Facebook and Twitter, among other social sites. When asked why the companies didn't consider creating their own social community, he said, "That'd be like building a hardware store next to a Home Depot." Touché. 

• Brian also utilize Facebook Mapping for 101.9 RXP, a station which recently brought Matt Pinfield on board. Using FB technology, the station would scan profiles for a band name, for example, Kings of Leon. Anyone who had Kings of Leon somewhere on their profile got a private message from Pinfield encouraging them to check out a free song download compliments of 101.9 RXP, and to check out the radio station while they're at it. Pretty clever!

• When it comes to mass emails, the panelists reported that from a regular email blast, they receive actual responses from about 30% of the recipients. That's pretty impressive! From there, one-to-one conversations are built, and that's a big step forward for the radio industry. There's the intimacy! And we come full-circle once more.

Next up was Miz Metro (@mizmetro) - a hip little music chick with a great passion for social media. In fact, she's majoring in New Media at SUNY Purchase, if I remember correctly. Here's some of her smart points:

• Music and new media go hand in hand

• As a brand, it's your responsibility to be aware of new media

• The more connections you have, the more responsibility you have (Jeff hammered this point home, too). 

• It's not just about the fact that you respond, it's about how you respond to everyone!

• Musicians have to consider new forms of content distribution - albums aren't the only way to give your music to the public. 
  • Miz Metro turned an album into a multiple part web series- at the end of every "episode," there's the chance to get a free music download.
    
  • Nice - keeping it interactive, just like new media ought to be.

Next up was Anthony Massucci (@hianthony), columnist, AOL DailyFinance.com and owner of the cutest Twitter handle I've ever encountered.

Here are the main points of his awesome speech:

• The timeless question Twitter critics love to toss around: Is social media making us less social? 

• Answer: Heck no! If anything, it's making us more social. 

• Platforms like Twitter level the playing field; the walls come down, making human connection faster, easier, and more fun.

• Why does Twitter matter? Because it's made up of people!
  

Lastly, Anthony shared a funny and eye-opening anecdote:

Anthony was in Pennsylvania with his wife, and they planned to go to her favorite seafood restaurant. Before heading out, Anthony was checking out local tweets- one person tweeted that the restaurant had just closed down for a less-than-stellar report from the Department of Sanitation (word on the tweet street was bugs galore).

Guess how long it was before the story made it to the local paper? Two weeks. True story!

Now check out #140conf Meetup Review Part II- awesome bullet points from five more awesome speakers' presentations - and a lot less mushy self-reflection, I promise.