We were very excited to attend this year’s Gravity Summit at UCLA.

What a great event! We wanted to share this review of Gravity Summit from WhatGives.com.

Did you attend? What did you think?

by guest blogger, Matt Meeks
originally located here: http://bit.ly/dkCjnf

One of the beautiful things about the Internet is that everybody can now market themselves and their content in exciting new ways; and, many are doing a great job of it. One look at Felicia Day’s work over the past three years will tell you that there is something to this whole Internet business. As a sidenote, last night I re-watched the Guild Season 1 on Netflix – awesome.

Anyway, we all know that online marketing is nothing new, but one of the earliest online marketing tools, search engine optimization, can now be used to put Web video content in front of new audiences. While SEO has been around for a long time, Web television is still in its infancy. Today, script optimization presents a huge opportunity for content creators to promote video content; and as far as I have seen, nobody is openly taking advantage of it.

Recently, Hulu announced that they have enabled closed caption search, which means that you can now insert popular search terms into your scripts to help shows index. In addition to Hulu, YouTube and Google have been doing this for even longer. If you don’t believe me, check out the following video to see closed captioning SEO actually work: http://bit.ly/11G2ic

Optimizing YouTube is easy, because a little something called AdWords exists to tell you what people are searching for in Google. Due to the fact that Google owns YouTube, this is probably a good place to start.

Unfortunately, there is no Hulu “AdWords,” so when optimizing a video for Hulu I would stick to what Hulu’s audience is looking for. First, I would look at the Hulu homepage. Outside of that, Hulu users are searching for timely news items and top network television shows.

So, my advice to content creators is this: become a news source. Host a weekly video series discussing the top news or a roundup of network television shows and what you, as independent writers, think about them. Doing this may just land you a coveted spot on Hulu, somewhere between a clip of Peter Griffin fighting a chicken and that Shy Ronnie SNL skit.

My advice to studios – hire some internal Internet savvy people and put them on your creative teams. So far, you are failing in this regard. Put one marketer on your writing staff. Hire junior writers to take background character work and use this to strategically infiltrate the Internet with Twitter accounts, blogs, etc. Let your characters live and breathe online (Hint: all of this activity can be optimized as well).

My advice to content destination sites – provide creators with your search data. Sure, you will probably be flooded with a bunch of spam videos but tweaking your search algorithms can filter those out; and, on the up side your site traffic will go through the roof.

Anyway, just my thoughts on it all. Let the games begin.

@MattMeeks

It’s a wrap folks! The Google Analytics panel was a big success with a great turnout of over 150 people at the Mahalo office in Santa Monica. Our new volunteer board pulled off a great panel full of juicy tidbits of knowledge from start to finish.

Here’s what we learned:

1. It takes 5 minutes: Google Analytics is about as easy to setup as setting your alarm clock. Seriously. It gets even easier if you use a content management system like WordPress or Blogger because of the use of commonly included page elements like headers and footers. Set aside 5 minutes, get your cut and paste skills ready and prepare to collect analytics data via the 2 lines or so of JavaScript provided by Google with your account.

2. You need to have goals to measure against. Lots of people get stuck on volume of traffic and say, “Look Ma, I got 5,000 hits today!” That’s great if your goal is to have 5,000 hits (as the case may be with those looking for advertising revenue based on volume). Where they go wrong is focusing on the goal behaviors such as “collect an email” or “add an item to the shopping cart” all the way to “spend $10.00 to buy my eBook”. With goals in place, your metrics have so much more meaning and the time you spend analyzing data will drive more informed decisions geared at improving your conversion rates.

3. Track your inbound traffic. Almost as important as what they do on your site is where they came from and how they got there. There’s definitely an art form to the inbound traffic and it all appears to begin with the way you setup the inbound link. This is especially useful if you use links in social media (blogs, tweets, Facebook links or YouTube links) to grab some traffic. Taking a few moments to code your links so that they provide information to your Google Analytics will pay off for you big time when it comes time to understand which traffic is most valuable and which messaging tactics are more likely to result in your goals. (Good tip: Avoid the long and confusing URLs and use a URL shortener like bit.ly for extra style points and to shorten the link for use within Twitter).

4. Help is everywhere. There are TONS of great resources out there for people who really want to get into Google Analytics. Here are a few that were mentioned on the panel:
a.) Avinash Kaushik is THE MAN when it comes to Google Analytics. Head over to his blog and check out the books he’s written on the subject: http://www.kaushik.net/avinash/
b.) Google has a “Conversion University” with a TON of great training materials to get you up and running. Here’s a link: http://www.google.com/support/conversionuniversity/
c.) You can setup Google Analytics within a Facebook Fan Page (who knew?): http://www.webdigi.co.uk/blog/2010/google-analytics-for-facebook-fan-pages/
d.) Google Analytics works within RSS feeds as well: http://adsenseforfeeds.blogspot.com/2009/11/afternoon-frank-hey-howdy-george.html
e.) Use this tool to build your Google-Analytics-friendly URL so that you can track your inbound link traffic: http://www.google.com/support/googleanalytics/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=55578

5. Have Fun With Funnels: Funnels are useful tools to show the number of steps towards a goal and to identify how many people drop off at each step. This quickly leads to the desire to cut the number of steps leading up to your goal. You’d be surprised at how many people miss this point.

Okay, that’s all you get. Next time you’re just going to have to join us in-person. I guarantee you that all those people with notepads who were scribbling furiously have some more tidbits of sweet Google Analytics knowledge as a result of the panel. Maybe they’ll share it with you if you ask a question to our twitter hashtag at #smcla.

Speakers included:

John Shiple, CTO, Ultralive
www.linkedin.com/in/johnshiple

Alex Becker, Co-Founder and President, Highly Relevant
www.linkedin.com/in/alexybecker

Andrew Hahn, Luxury Link and Familygetaway.com
www.linkedin.com/in/andrewhahn

Erica Forrette, Online Marketing / E-commerce with a stealth startup (moderator)
www.linkedin.com/in/ericaforrette

A huge thank you to our location host! Mahalo
Mahalo.com
902 Colorado Ave
Santa Monica, CA 90401

TechZulu streamed this event live for us! If you were unable to attend, please check www.techzulu.com and watch the taped recording! We can’t wait to tune into www.techzulu.com during SXSW to see what’s going on at the Social Media Clubhouse! Rawk on TechZulu

A special thank you to our food sponsor for this event, Fresh Brothers Pizza!
Check out their website at http://www.FreshBrothers.com
Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/freshbrothers
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/freshbrothers

Confused by Analytics? Want to know if your tweet really made a difference in your company’s bottom line? This month we are going to take a deeper dive into one of the easiest ways to measure online social media efforts – through Google analytics.

Come join Social Media Club – Los Angeles on Tuesday, Feb. 23rd from 7-9:30pm as we discuss the topic of Google Analytics!

Speakers include:

John Shiple, CTO, Ultralive
www.linkedin.com/in/johnshiple

Alex Becker, Co-Founder and President, Highly Relevant
www.linkedin.com/in/alexybecker

Andrew Hahn, Luxury Link and Familygetaway.com
www.linkedin.com/in/andrewhahn

Erica Forrette, Online Marketing / E-commerce with a stealth startup (moderator)
www.linkedin.com/in/ericaforrette

A huge thank you to our location host! Mahalo
Mahalo
902 Colorado Ave
Santa Monica, CA 90401

What is Google Analytics?

Google Analytics is the enterprise-class web analytics solution that gives you rich insights into your website traffic and marketing effectiveness. Powerful, flexible and easy-to-use features now let you see and analyze your traffic data in an entirely new way. With Google Analytics, you’re more prepared to write better-targeted ads, strengthen your marketing initiatives and create higher converting websites.

Techzulu will be streaming this event live for us! If you are unable to attend, please check www.techzulu.com and watch the show live!

A special thank you to our food sponsor for this event, Fresh Brothers Pizza!
Check out their website at http://wwwFreshBrothers.com
Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/freshbrothers
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/freshbrothers

Register now: http://ow.ly/1oIzdh

Thanks Fresh Brothers, TechZulu and Mahalo for making this event possible!

Gravity Summit at UCLA- Best Learning and Networking Event You’ll Attend All Year! Plus you can get CE Credits for attendance! http://bit.ly/7GhSRc

SPECIAL DISCOUNT OF $100 OFF FOR SMCLA FOLKS!! Register here for $249 (reg. $349) http://bit.ly/bwYz1y

What is Gravity Summit?
Gravity Summit events help bridge the gap between the new Social Media Marketing tools and the business community. We seek to help educate and inform marketing professionals, small business owners, advertisers, and c-Level executives, and others, about the exciting new marketing and communications landscape that is evolving daily.
Gravity Summit is the brainchild of New Media Visionary, Author and Strategic Consultant Rodney Rumford. Beverly Macy, Managing Partner of Y&M Partners LLC, also teaches Social Media Marketing for the UCLA Extension Executive Business and Management Division.

Who Attends Gravity Summit Events?
Industries: Healthcare, pharmaceutical, communications, real estate, communications, software applications companies, franchise organizations, nutriceuticals, sports marketing, entertainment, music and gaming, financial services, non-profit organizations, advertising and PR, packaged goods
Decision Makers: Senior VP, CEO, President, Physician, Recording Artist, Publisher, VP Business Development, VP Marketing, Director of Client Services, Director Events and Promo, Business Manager, Senior Partner, Director of Membership Development, Managing Director, Director Content Management, SEO Specialist and more

Most social media events are preaching to the choir. We are raising the bar and increasing the level of education by presenting actionable knowledge that will help attendees move the meter and have an impact on their marketing objectives.

We deliver the critical knowledge on what to do next and what matters most for your business. In these competitive times, having this knowledge and knowing how to move forward can be a strong strategic advantage.
We will present the latest in digital leadership knowledge to help you with your business.

Attendees walk away with:
Best Practices
Action Items
Unique Insights
Case Studies
Unique Trends Data
Clearly Defined Objectives
Access to a Peer Network

GRAVITY SUMMIT 1 YEAR ANNIVERSARY EVENT
Monday, February 22, 2010
Covel Commons, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
330 DeNeve Drive, Los ANgeles, CA 90095
More Information: Beverly Macy 310-860-4788 beverly@gravitysummit.com
AGENDA
8:30 – 9:00 – Registration and Breakfast
9:00 – Welcome and Overview – Beverly Macy
9:20 – Keynote,Jeffrey Hayzlett, Eastman Kodak

9:50 – USA Today, Brian Dresher
10:10- Boost Mobile, Rachel Gross
10:30 – Networking Break
10:50 – Mazda / Rebel Industries, David Harris/Josh Levine
11:10 – Citizen Net, Dan Benaymin
11:30 – AWARDS PROGRAM, Co-Hosted Gravity Summit/UCLA Extension Business & Management Program

@Feliciaday
@shareourstrength Domino Foods
@jeffreyhayzlett Kodak
12:15 – LUNCH
1:15 – BREAKOUT SESSIONS – Choose One

Music, Entertainment, Sports, Sponsored by LA Clippers

Getting Started, Sponsored by GoDaddy.com
2:30 Networking Break
2:45 – Keynote, Ramon de Leon, Domino’s Pizza

3:10 – Turbo Tax, Scott Gulbransen
3:30 – Satellite Marketing, Kevin Popovic
3:50 – Markyr Media – Bringing It All Together, Kyra Reed
4:10 – Closing Comments
4:30 Adjourn
AFTER PARTY at The Roxy Theater on Sunset, Sponsored by Flip and Mazda

Hey everyone,

The 2nd annual Gravity Summit is coming up next week on Monday, 2/22 – if you haven’t signed up yet, there’s still time! Social Media Club members can get $100 off the registration pricing by clicking here. Here’s more info:

Gravity Summit at UCLA- Best Learning and Networking Event You’ll Attend All Year! Plus you can get CE Credits for attendance!

Gravity Summit events help bridge the gap between the new Social Media Marketing tools and the business community. We seek to help educate and inform marketing professionals, small business owners, advertisers, and c-Level executives, and others, about the exciting new marketing and communications landscape that is evolving daily.

Gravity Summit is the brainchild of New Media Visionary, Author and Strategic Consultant Rodney Rumford. Beverly Macy, Managing Partner of Y&M Partners LLC, also teaches Social Media Marketing for the UCLA Extension Executive Business and Management Division.

Who Attends Gravity Summit Events?

Industries: Healthcare, pharmaceutical, communications, real estate, communications, software applications companies, franchise organizations, nutriceuticals, sports marketing, entertainment, music and gaming, financial services, non-profit organizations, advertising and PR, packaged goods

Decision Makers: Senior VP, CEO, President, Physician, Recording Artist, Publisher, VP Business Development, VP Marketing, Director of Client Services, Director Events and Promo, Business Manager, Senior Partner, Director of Membership Development, Managing Director, Director Content Management, SEO Specialist and more

Most social media events are preaching to the choir. We are raising the bar and increasing the level of education by presenting actionable knowledge that will help attendees move the meter and have an impact on their marketing objectives.

We deliver the critical knowledge on what to do next and what matters most for your business. In these competitive times, having this knowledge and knowing how to move forward can be a strong strategic advantage.

We will present the latest in digital leadership knowledge to help you with your business.

Attendees walk away with:

Best Practices
Action Items
Unique Insights
Case Studies
Unique Trends Data
Clearly Defined Objectives
Access to a Peer Network

I’ll be there and I hope you will too!

Confused by Analytics? Want to know if your tweet really made a difference in your company’s bottom line? This month we are going to take a deeper dive into one of the easiest ways to measure online social media efforts – through Google analytics.

Come join Social Media Club – Los Angeles on Tuesday, Feb. 23rd from 7-9:30pm as we discuss the topic of Google Analytics!

Speakers include:

John Shiple, CTO, Ultralive
www.linkedin.com/in/johnshiple

Alex Becker, Co-Founder and President, Highly Relevant
www.linkedin.com/in/alexybecker

Andrew Hahn, Luxury Link and Familygetaway.com
www.linkedin.com/in/andrewhahn

Erica Forrette, Online Marketing / E-commerce with a stealth startup (moderator)
www.linkedin.com/in/ericaforrette

A huge thank you to our location host! Mahalo
Mahalo
902 Colorado Ave
Santa Monica, CA 90401

What is Google Analytics?

Google Analytics is the enterprise-class web analytics solution that gives you rich insights into your website traffic and marketing effectiveness. Powerful, flexible and easy-to-use features now let you see and analyze your traffic data in an entirely new way. With Google Analytics, you’re more prepared to write better-targeted ads, strengthen your marketing initiatives and create higher converting websites.

A special thank you to our food sponsor for this event, Fresh Brothers Pizza!
Check out their website at http://wwwFreshBrothers.com
Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/freshbrothers
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/freshbrothers

Register now: http://ow.ly/1oIzdh

Thanks Fresh Brothers and Mahalo for making this event possible!

Social Media Club of Los Angeles invites you to “Dating & Relationships: The Game Has Changed” at 12th & Highland in Manhattan Beach on January 14th 7pm – 10pm to mix, mingle and discuss how Social Media has changed the rules of dating. Exactly one month before Valentine’s Day, come hear all about how social media can help you with the hook ups. There is no cost to attend so what are you waiting for?

RSVP HERE: Facebook Event Link

Panelists

Liz H. Kelly (@lizhkelly)

Liz is a Relationship Expert, Great Love Reporter and Author of Smart Man Hunting who puts a new spin on relationships with love lessons from Hollywood Movies and Happy Hearts in her Great Life, Great Love series (Http://www.greatlifegreatlove.com). In her second life, Liz is a PR and Social Media Marketing Consultant, Sunrise Road Media (http://www.sunriseroadmedia.com), who used to work for MySpace running their biggest advertising campaigns. You can follow her updates and dating tips on Twitter @lizhkelly

Linda Sherman (@lindasherman)

Linda Sherman

Linda is a Social Media Marketing Consultant with a solid background in corporate marketing and finance. She set up Coors Japan and was responsible for creating and executing a unique and successful marketing and sales strategy for ZIMA that is still sustained as a premium brand there today. Linda managed 500+ employees as CEO of Club Med Japan. Linda’s current clients include http://SingularCity.com where she is acting Community Manager. Linda’s company is http://couragegroup.com. Her blog is http://ItsDifferent4Girls.com.

Julie Spira (@juliespira)

Julie Spira is known world-wide as The Cyber-Dating Expert™ and is the author of “The Perils of Cyber-Dating: Confessions of a Hopeful Romantic Looking for Love Online.” She is the host of “Ask the Cyber-Dating Expert Radio Show” and has been featured on FOX News, BBC, Men’s Health, KTLA, and the Los Angeles Business Journal for her expertise in online dating. Julie is the LA Dating Advice Columnist on Examiner.com and a contributor to The Huffington Post. She currently holds the position of Executive VP/Director of Social Media for Brandloft – a marketing and branding firm. Visit her at http://CyberDatingExpert.com and http://SocialMediaMore.com

Evan Marc Katz (@evanmarckatz)

A combination of Dr. Drew and Adam Carolla, he has traveled cross-country with his powerful, laugh-out-loud observations on dating. Whether addressing a ballroom of singles at the Washington Hilton or running a series of seminars for JDate at Club Med, Evan shows that there’s no contradiction between education and entertainment.

Analis Flox (@avflox)

A.V. Flox is the editor of Sex and the 405, a sex news site, as well as a sex and relationships columnist for BlogHer, the leading women’s network on the web. A geek at heart, she got her start on the web in the 90s, and has been using it to her advantage in dating since. She has written several articles about using technology to connect with potential matches and swears by Twitter, but she’s also aware of how the web is changing our interactions and that constant connection and lifestreaming can also lead to complications in established relationships. Digital has collided into analog–for better or worse. Let’s play.

Dating + Relationships Panel Questions
(Panel starts at 8pm)

1. Why is January the biggest month for internet dating? What are the new trends for 2010?
2. How is social media changing the rules of dating? (exs as friends, people who you meet on Match.com checking out your FB profile, how to use Fan Pages for people who are not really friends)
3. What new types of humor and actions are happening with social media and relationships (ie proposals on twitter, marriage status changed on FB during wedding, wedding videos on youtube, etc)
4. How are social media sites now monetizing dating and relationship services? (FB is now partnering with a dating site – need to get name)
5. How is mobile changing the way singles interact? Dating apps? (Julie can take the lead on this question – Liz can also answer – GPS, everything is real time)
6. How can you build a community online for dating and relationships
7. What is the best way to manage your online personality and perceptions in your profile, photos and tweets? (personal branding, photos, messaging, tone, videos, etc)
8. What advice can you share for a first date for guys – and for girls?
9. What internet dating and social media conferences do you recommend?
10. Where do you see internet dating and social media going in 5 years?

Venue Info

12th & Highland, Manhattan Beach CA 90266
304 12th St. Manhattan Beach 310-545-1881
http://www.12andhighland.com/
Contact: geoffabrown@gmail.com / 310.418.4347 for sponsorship or speaker requests.

A very special invitation to SMCLA folks:  This Week in Startups

We are very excited to invite the Social Media Club members to this week’s This Week in Startups. If you are interested in attending, please RSVP here:  http://twistmeetup2.eventbrite.com/

Live Episode & Meetup with DNAMail
December 11th, 2009
George Naspo, CEO of IKANO

Jason Calacanis and the team at This Week in Startups is doing a
special episode of TWiST this coming Friday with a live in studio
viewing party and reception! If you’re near LA, come on over to the
Mahalo offices where you can hang out and watch the episode live with other TWiST fans from our studio. Plus, as soon as the episode’s over, we’ll be hosting a reception with Jason and the whole TWiST gang.

It all starts live @ 4:30p PST on Friday. If you’re going to
be coming, make sure to let us knowby RSVP’ing here: http://twistmeetup2.eventbrite.com/

Jason’s guest on Friday will be George Naspo, CEO of IKANO
Communications (the parent company of DNAMail). George has over 30 years of business experience with telecommunication start-ups, turnarounds and emerging growth companies. He joined IKANO in 2005 after working at three other Insight Venture Partners NYC portfolio companies. He has led the company’s push into cloud computing and hosted services with a series of acquisitions and strategic partnerships – DNAmail is part of Naspo’s larger push to bring numerous services from one provider to start-ups, medium sized enterprises, and small business. He holds a BS from the University of Toleda and an MS from University of Southern Come join Jason, George Naspo (CEO of Ikano Communications) and the whole TWiST gang for a special live episode and meetup at the Mahalo.com offices.

The event be starting with the live episode, featuring George Naspo, at
4:30pm and following that immediately with a reception at 6:00pm.
Come by to watch the episode with other TWiST fans and then stick around for some great networking.

They’ll also have some light hors’ d oeuvres and beverages for you to enjoy!

It’s time again to come together for the holidays!

We invite you to the Second Annual Digital Family Reunion on Wednesday, December 2nd at Wokcano Restaurant in Santa Monica from 6-11pm.

In association with some of the region’s top trade associations/social networking groups and industry hosts, DFR ‘09 promises to be the largest holiday party of the season and help weave our various communities of interest into the larger collective family of professionals working in and around the technology industry.

Join us as we kick off the holiday season in grand style.

Tell a friend, and purchase your ticket at www.digitialfamilyinc.com .
Use discount code: DFR30 to receive $30 price.

*FACEBOOK EVENT LINK*
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=178076912660#/event.php?eid=178076912660&ref=mf