#Nashville's #TechVille 2012 Social Media Cheat Sheet

Tuesday, May 15th is #TechVille 2012 in #Nashville! 

If you are attending Nashville Technology Council's 2012 annual conference, TechVille than you are about to find out why Nashville, TN has been named by Forbes Magazine as #3 on the list of the "Next Big Boom Towns in the U.S.". It's not because of our booming music scene, but because we have some of the brightest companies and minds in technology.

If you haven't already figured it out, we're kinda a big deal! (As if Google coming to town wasn't a clue.)

I am honored to be covering the TechVille conference as a "SocialITe", along with a few fellow Nashville marketers and fellow Social Media Club Nashville Members. We will put all the good content coming from the event onto the social networks for the world to follow along.

Here's a little social media cheat sheet of some of the topics, speakers, companies, and presenters we'll be tweeting about throughout the day:

Conference Hashtag:  #TechVille

Yo Mama's So Social…

It's mother's day in Nashville, Music City and there are a lot of "mom" tributes on the social networks today from Facebook wishes to Instragram pics to FourSquare check-ins with moms…and guess what? Most of the moms are on the networks are commenting back!

I would have to point out as a disclaimer, that it depends on how old your mom is and what your lifestyle is like. Not all moms are using social media, but the numbers are pretty big, especially for younger moms with children under eighteen.

#HASHTAGS: Teachers hate them, Marketers love them

With the rise of social media usage has come the popularity of hashtags. If you do not know what a hashtag is, you have probably at least seen it in an ad campaign, on a Facebook post, or even in a text or email (by the way, they don’t work in text or email).

Hashtags originated as a way to group conversations, topics, or events within searchable streams in social media. They are most commonly used on Twitter and Google +. I’ve seen hashtags on everything from TV shows (#madmen, #TrueBlood) to general slang (#swagg, #ohsnap) and the ever popular #FF – FollowFriday.

I recently had an interesting conversation with a teacher about how her 8th grade students are using hashtags. She told me students use them everywhere: on homework assignments, in general conversations, and even requested she accompany the lesson plans on the chalkboard each day with hashtags. She hates them because they are overused and misused. This could be a translation issue with youth. Her frustration is understandable.

The Golden Rule of Olympic-sized Success

Joanna Hayes' 2004 Summer Olympics Gold Medal

Today I had the unique opportunity to hold an Olympic Gold Medal in my hand (yes, that one!). That gold medal belongs to the fabulously talented Joanna Hayes for her 2004 Summer Olympics win in the 100 metres hurdles.

Joanna was the keynote speaker at a conference, talking about her journey from a child to winning the gold medal, as well as her competitions and challenges along the way. The key takeaways for me were her messages to "work hard, do the right thing, and be persistent."

Above all, I found it very inspiring that she is going for the gold again in the #2012Olympics, as seen on her Twitter profile here:

 Which got me to thinking....Joanna has already won a Gold Medal, but doesn't want to stop there. She's not settling for success once- she is motivated to make a comeback.

This just proves that you should always strive to better yourself, challenge yourself, and top your own accomplishments because #WINNING is more than just a token, such as a medal- it is proving to yourself that you can make your dreams come true if you try- and try again. Never settle. Strive for greatness!

*Learn more about Joanna Hayes at http://joannahayesfoundation.org/.

Marketing me: The queen bee networking guide to job searching.

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Finding a job is not the most fun thing in the world, but here are a few tips I'll share with you that I'm utilizing to make it work for me:

Determine where to put your stinger:  Set goals / target job search focus on positions of career interest.

 

Drip a little bit’o honey:  Access features, advantages, benefits…AKA skills, qualifications, and current experience that is applicable to reaching that goal position and appealing to recruiters.

Get your stripes on:  Create your marketing materials- keep in mind brand consistency across all points of contact with potential employers (resume, business cards, email signature, LinkedIn profile, blog or personal website) Use consistent descriptions, fonts, colors, etc.