Campaign Central - January 2011

[Lisa Qualls]

This forum will serve as Campaign Central for the upcoming Board vote that will run from 1/21 - 2/2 with winners being announced at the 2/4 SMCKC Breakfast. This forum will serve as the primary location for the Board nominees to share a little bit about themselves, their experience and why they would like to serve on the SMCKC Board. We also encourage SMCKC members to ask questions and/or provide supporting statements for their candidate of choice. We will distribute the voting link by end of day tomorrow Friday, January 21st. If you have any questions regarding the nomination and/or voting process please contact your Board Chairman Ed Roberts or myself, Lisa Qualls. Thank you for your support and participation during this very important process!

 

Your nominees (in alphabetical order by last name):

President - 

• Joe Cox
• Celeste Lindell
• Kris McDonald

 

Advocacy - 

• Brenda Bethman
• Kate McKinney
• Laura Watkins

 

Technical - 

• Tom Jenkins
• T-rave

Cheers,

Lisa

[Katy Ryan Schamberger]

Wow - what a fantastic group of nominees! This is going to be a tough decision!

[Shea Sylvia]

While I am extremely appreciative of the nomination (and flattered!), I respectfully withdraw my name from the race. :)

 

With a wedding a few months away and a full plate at work, I just don't have the bandwidth right now. 

 

But thank you for the nomination! And best of luck to the other nominees!

[Celeste Lindell]

Hello everyone,

In case you don't know me, I've been attending social media club gatherings since before there was an actual club. It's what I do for a living, a hobby and a lifestyle.

I'd love the opportunity to increase my involvement and serve the club.

If there's anything else you want to know, here's my LinkedIn profile (or you can just ask me).

Thanks so much for the nomination!

[Laura Watkins]

First and foremost, I really appreciate being nominated!

 

In a nutshell:

 

I moved (back) to Kansas City from Chicago in late April and was introduced to SMCKC by one of my greatest friends, Whitney Mathews. Since joining the club, I organized a Foursquare Meet-Up at O'Dowds and helped Steven Chau organize the SMCKC's Mobile Marketing event at Barkley this summer. I'm a member of the SMCKC education committee and most recently I agreed to lead the official SMCKC March for Babies walk team in April. Professionally, I have worked for the University of Kansas, as well as a few non-profit organizations in Chicago. I'm currently the social media and web analytics coordinator at MMG Worldwide, a marketing agency that focuses on the travel and hospitality industries. 

 

As far as the Advocacy Chair is concerned, I have several ideas for reaching out to area Chambers of Commerce, city governments and non-profit organizations and identifying opportunities to work with those groups. I really appreciate the opportunity and I am quite excited! If you have any questions at all, reach out to me here or on Twitter (@LWatkins84).

 

Thanks!

 

Laura

[Tom Jenkins]

Hello Everyone,

 

My name is Tom Jenkins and I'm excited to be nominated to represent SMCKC as Technology Chair.  My history with this group goes back to the very first meeting.  It was an interesting time with eight of us gathered around a table at Homer's Coffee Shop.  The organization has grown quickly since then and it's exciting to see that we now have over 1,500 members.  In the past I've helped the group by co-organizing an evening speaker event and recently helped Steven with the event at the convention center.

 

I won't bore you for too long but I wanted to share my thoughts on the social media landscape in the foreseeable future.  The adoption velocity that Social Media has enjoyed in recent years is matched by the number of outlets available.   With every web app attempting to integrate a social aspect the sheer number of sites we need to be aware of is staggering.  The landscape is also changing from a national focus on brands to a more local business level.  After a weak entry into generalized social media (Buzz, anyone?) Google is now making a hard push into local with the launch of Google Places and their recent focus on local search results. Combine that with the growing influence of Yelp and services like Groupon entering the review game, and the business social graph is changing.  Sentiment analysis has always been a topic, but with these new review based pushes I feel it will explode this coming year.  Using the tools available to you and having an understanding of them is becoming more and more of a necessity.  This will be a focus for me professionally in the coming year.  As Technology Chair I'd like to have the opportunity to share the technology advances that are available in not only this area but in the greater universe of social media with the group.

 

Since I haven't quite met all 1500 of you (yet) here's a little bit about me personally:  I work for Adcuda, an online marketing company, as the Director of Web Production.  In this position I have the pleasure of wrangling the design, development, content, and support groups.  I also still get to do some development work, coding sites and web apps.  When I'm not at work I co-manage KCWebCore which is an Adobe sponsored user group where we focus on learning web technologies.  Some of you may even be using a WordPress plugin I released a while back called Tweet Stream which allows you to embed your Twitter stream in any widget enabled area.  Combine all of that with the occasional freelance work and my family of five at home and I manage to stay pretty busy. :)

 

Not so busy that I won't have time for the board though, and I'd like to have your vote for position of Technology Chair in the upcoming election.

 

Thank You,

 

Tom Jenkins

 

http://twitter.com/techguytom

http://www.linkedin.com/in/tdjenkins

http://techguytom.com

[Jeremy]

Great nominees for all three positions. Definitely will not make for an easy vote, that's for sure. Good luck to everyone involved!

[Kristopher McDonald]

I received a text a few nights ago, "You were nominated for SMCKC Prez. Would you accept that nomination?" My first response was not quite PG as adrenaline shot through my fingers, but I can echo my following text, "Awesome! Yes, thank you!!!" 

 

If you can't tell, I'm thrilled and excited to be nominated. I would love the opportunity to help further advance the Social Media Club of Kansas City. I have a diverse background in media with degrees in print, broadcast and online journalism from Baker University and the University of Kansas. With my fiancee, Cara Breeden (@cbreecopy), I founded rei digital media.  At rei, we advise small businesses on marketing and communications strategy with an emphasis on digital and social media integration.

 

I have a true passion for social media, non-profits and sports. I strive to better myself and those around me each day and would love the opportunity to lead this tremendous organization. 

 

If you want to know more about me or have questions, you can find me on Twitter (@KrisMcDonald21). 

[Kate McKinney]

I agree with Jeremy - a great group of nominees! I'm flattered to be included as a nominee for Advocacy Chair.

 

I am a lifelong Kansas Citian, mother of four, recovering lawyer, principal at K2Media, a local social media consultancy. K2Media works with local, national and international clients in a variety of business sectors- from retail to health care to B2B. We collaborate with several Kansas City-area PR agencies, web designers and SEO firms to deliver comprehensive digital solutions as well.

 

My business partner Kiran Ross and I also own and operate KCKidsFun.com, an online resource for local parents.

 

We work with several KC-area non-profits - helping them navigate the social media waters. I also present often on social media for business - to groups such as retail merchant associations and real estate managers. In fact, next week, Brooke Beason and I will be presenting an advanced Twitter workshop on behalf of SMCKC at the Enterprise Center of Johnson County.

 

So, that's me. I'm very excited about this opportunity to use my energy and my knowledge of the Kansas City community to benefit SMCKC!

 

Thanks,

Kate McKinney

Twitter: @kbmckinney

LinkedIn: Kate Bohon McKinney

[T-Rave]

Hey, I'm T-Rave, @t_rave, of T-Rave.com and I'm kinda a big deal, ha.

 

No, but really I have been a member since January of 2009. I am a new media content producer and consultant with an online presence beginning before 2008. Also, I work IT for a local healthcare organization. I am a huge geek that has a curiosity for learning new things, which leads to my many skilled areas, mostly ranging in the technical side. 

 

What I bring to the table is my knowledge of new media, mostly in the realms of video, and the knowledge that I implement inside and outside the interwebz. I don't know everything, but the things I do know I want to offer to the group whether it be as a board member or in the committee that helps the board member. 

 

There you have, short and sweet, just like me ;)

[Joe Cox]

Hi Everyone!

I'm the current VP of SMCKC and have been nominated to join the race for the Presidency here in 2011.  

It's great to see so many of our community step up to the plate and want to participate in continuing to make this organization one of the strongest and most valuable in KC by running for positions on the board.  Everyone nominated is a strong and talented member and I'm very proud to be on the same list as them.

I have been a member of SMCKC since winter of 2008 and I have been lucky enough to see the group grow from my first meeting with 15 people around a table at First Watch in Westport to a thriving organization with over 1500 members on our Ning site and anywhere from 75-100 members at each breakfast.  This couldn't have happened without the leadership of both Ed Roberts & now Lisa Qualls and I wanted to take a quick moment to thank them both for laying the tracks to what the group is and will become & being mentors to myself & the rest of the SMCKC community.  Thank You.

Let me quickly lay down my personal priorities for the community in 2011.   

1.  More value to our community builds stronger participation-

We have one of the most diverse and amazing groups here in KC.  We are from all different walks of life and it's that diversity that makes our group so strong and beneficial to the membership.  We currently have 1500 members online and only 10-15% of those participate in our meetings & events. In 2011 we want more participation!  It would be my goal to continue to offer more events, at different locations in the metro, ranging from social 101 to social MBA.  Value to our community is key to better participation, which is key to continuing the momentum of this groups growth.

2. Better school lunches!...umm, excuse me, I had a flashback to highschool for a moment.  

2. Communication-

Better Communication will be key in 2011. From the community to the board to nationals and back the other way, we should continue to make sure that everyone has a voice & that everyone understands what their membership means.  We also have a HUGE opportunity this year with nationals by becoming one of the flagship groups in the world and having a lot of say in the foundation that nationals is setting up from this point on.

3. Fun-

Let us always remember that this group should be fun.

I look forward to every event, because not only am I going to learn , coach, or teach something but I'm also going to be able to have conversations with my friends.  I want everyone in our community to enjoy themselves at our events and see our group as a way to grow themselves more into the person that they want to be.  There are no gurus, ninjas, or mavens in SMCKC.  Everyone has something to learn and everyone has something to bring to the table.  That thought puts a big smile on my face everyday.

 

Thank you all for the nomination and thank you for letting me be a part of this community.  It has helped me in so many ways that it would be my pleasure to help as many of us as possible through leading this gang of digital darlings!  (ok, that was cheesy)

 

If you'd like to know more about my professional background or see more about me online, you can check me out on the links below and be sure to connect if we aren't already.  Thanks!!!

joenormal on twitter

my blog

my linkedin

[Lisa Qualls]

We have election winners! Please join us in congratulating Joe Cox (President), Celeste Lindell (VP), Laura Watkins (Advocacy), and T-Rave (Technology). Thank you to all of our members who took the time to participate and vote.