Thanks everyone who joined Social: IRL in Wichita and Kansas City – Event recaps and key takeaways

The last few weeks have been busy for Social: IRL, with events in Wichita and Kansas City. January 31, we headed to Wichita, KS, to host “No BS Social Media” with Social Media Explorer’s Jason Falls.  Then, on February 9, we were in Kansas City with “Conversation Agent” Valeria Maltoni for “Rethinking Business in the Age of the Social Consumer.”

We wanted to take a moment to thank everyone who participated in these two special events and to share recaps posted by several event attendees.

No BS Social Media:

We were joined in Wichita by a great group of attendees – the individual business and organizations represented are listed in this earlier post.  Jason Falls delivered a powerful presentation focusing on three key areas of social media – planning strategically, driving business, and measuring success.

Thank you event sponsors Cox Communications, Andy McGinnis Public Relations, ColabDigital, Spredfast, SocialVolt, Expion, Spiral16, emfluence, and ManageFlitter.

And a special thank you to our hosts Junior League of Wichita, who not only provided a great event space but treated attendees to food from their new cookbook.

For a recap of the event and a special video interview with Jason Falls, check out this post “Answers to tough Social Media Questions,” by event sponsor Sprial16.

Rethinking Business in the Age of the Social Consumer:

A diverse group of local and regional business, and national brands and agencies, joined Social: IRL in Kansas City for “Rethinking Business in the Age of the Social Consumer.”  The full attendee list is included in this earlier post.

Valeria Maltoni started the day with the keynote “Rethinking Business” session, which challenged attendees to rethink, deconstruct, and reconstruct established business practices. Afternoon sessions included Garmin’s Jake Jacobson on adding personality to a brand, Armstrong Teasdale’s Jeff Schultz on legal issues surrounding ownership of online content and community, Appinions‘ Larry Levy on rethinking influencer marketing, Spredfast’s Austin Lytle who helped attendees answer the question “Do I Need a Social Media Command Center”, and Expion’s Kevin Magee on the opportunities for regional and national brands to “take social local.”  The day wrapped up with SocialVolt’s Joe Cox and Spiral16’s Eric Melin leading a discussion on key takeaways.

Thank you event sponsors Spredfast, SocialVolt, Expion, Spiral16, Appinions, emfluence, ManageFlitter, Garmin, and the Social Media Club of Kansas City.  Also a special thank you to our venue, the Crowne Plaza Kansas City and their representative Patrick Conroy who not only took great care of attendees but took additional steps to ensure we had a robust wifi network with plenty of additional bandwidth.

For recaps and key takeaways from the sessions, check out these posts from some of our attendees:

Spredfast – Rethinking Business in the Age of the Social Consumer: Social IRL Insights

Tony Faustino – 5 Takeaways from Valeria Maltoni: Rethinking Business in the Age of the Social Consumer

Katy Ryan Schamberger – Conversation Isn’t Merely An Art Form; It’s A Business Strategy

Sprial16 – How to Refocus Your Business in the Social Age (includes video interview with Valeria Maltoni)

Ashley Mahoney – Social: IRL Conference in a Nutshell