Measuring Third Tuesday Toronto
Last night’s Third Tuesday Toronto had a more relaxed atmosphere than the events I’m familiar with in Ottawa. Perhaps that was because of the size of the crowd (standing room only in a room with a capacity of 160) or maybe because I was sitting with the wild kids at the back of the room (Jay Moonah, Eden Spodek, Doug Walker, Dave Fleet and ring leader Collin Douma).
Michael O’Connor Clarke moderated a discussion on measuring social media with panelists Katie Paine, President of KD Paine and Partners and author of Measuring Public Relationships, Marshall Sponder, Chair of the Web Analytics Association`s Community and Social Media committee, and Marcel Lebrun, President of Radian6.
Most of the discussion centered around the need for metrics and how they should be presented to clients or management as well as some of the elements that can be measured. Ms. Paine’s direct approach which includes the ‘Suckiness Factor’ boldly displayed on charts and graphs was by far the most interesting and entertaining. I had hoped for more discussion on methods for collecting metrics and specific case studies on the collection, presentation and influence of metrics in decision making by clients.
The panelists’ parting thoughts on social media and metrics ensured that the evening wrapped up on a high note.
- Katie Paine: ‘measure how much social media traffic you get’
- Marshall Sponder: ‘listen about you’
- Marcel Lebrun: ‘listen about the marketplace’
I’m off to the Mesh Conference. I hope to have the opportunity to blog during the day.
May 21st, 2008 at 8:12 am
Mark,
I’ve been called many things but never a wild kid before. ;) Great seeing you last night and hope to catch up with you at mesh over the next two days.
I’m looking forward to the social media measurement panel on Thursday.
May 21st, 2008 at 9:50 am
Eden is being modest, she’s pretty wild. ;-)
My fave comment of the evening (probably ‘cus it was in response to my question) was Katie talking about creating metrics to help the boardroom folks “get it”. One she talked about was the “suckiness quotient” — basically the idea being using Technorati and similar to tools to search for your brand with words like “sucks,” and then comparing that to competitors.
So Mark, let me just say for the record — I’m pretty sure that you under-index on suckiness. :-)
May 21st, 2008 at 10:15 am
Thanks for the summary Mark.Now I know who was making all the noise in the back of the room! ;-) No, just kidding.
You mentioned that you had hoped for more discussion on methods for collecting metrics, etc. Maybe we can continue the discussion here, if you like. Can you elaborate a bit more on this?
Marcel
May 22nd, 2008 at 5:20 am
Thanks for the nice words! Just to clarify, the point of the “suckiness quotient” was that organizations need to look at their social media metrics competitively. In other words they needto measure not just their own “social media traffic” but they need to measure the entire conversation taking place in their market or their industry.
May 22nd, 2008 at 9:44 am
Hey now, social media measurement is no fun without hecklers.