startup weekend

Social Media Maven - and More!

Q: It doesn’t seem like many teams in professional sports are involved in social media. How did your job with the Detroit Red Wings come along?

A: Social media is still new to most companies as well as those in professional sports. My position with the Red Wings was a rare opportunity. This was a situation where the organization created a new position and sought out somebody to help them implement social media and other aspects of digital marketing into the team’s overall business development strategy.

Q: Our Twitter guest question comes from @anwith1n who asks, “Seriously, I would like to know what @shannonpaul would be doing if she weren’t in Social Media?”

A: I’m sure I would be working in communications. I like to consider myself a communicator, connector and strategist — or at least a budding communicator, connector and strategist. I just took to the social media ethos — I always thought it was better to be as real and human as possible in communications. Social media just offered a way of engaging, practicing and testing that theory.

Q: You wrote a post called “Why communicators should get to know SEO” in which you have noted your desire to increase your knowledge about the technical portion of being in Social Media. What prompted this desire and why would others want to follow your lead?

A: Sooner or later, this new way of communication will be common sense. I think it’s great to understand how to adapt business communication strategies from a monologue to a dialogue, but digital strategy doesn’t end there. In order to be effective in communication and business, I think those that will move ahead of the pack will have a strong understanding of how information travels and how dollars are exchanged with the flow of traffic and information on the internet.

Q: One of the “7 random and weird things” about you was the fact that you sold everything you owned and moved to Denver for 2 years. How do you relate that experience of freedom with what you bring to Social Media?

A: I guess this behavior exemplifies a trait you find amongst a lot of people who are passionate about social media. In order to devote most of your free time to learn something in such a non-traditional way — reading other blogs, blogging and diving head-first into social networks, you have to be a little bit of a cowboy, or a pirate as Chris Brogan likes to say. Most of the people I’ve met through involvement in social media dove into this with little thought of personal profit, or simply with the very small hope that maybe someday all this effort to would pay off in one way or another. It’s a big gamble to spend so much time and effort on something as silly as a blog or reading other peoples’ blogs — especially when most of the people in your life don’t really understand what you’re doing! I think that quality is what separates those of us who have real passion from others who simply smell a trend.

Q: You are organizing the upcoming Startup Weekend Detroit (Mar. 27-29). Can you explain what that is, and why other cities would benefit from doing the same?

A: The Startup Weekend organization was founded by Andrew Hyde in Boulder, Colorado. There have been several Startup Weekends in cities across the country and even in Europe. Basically the event gathers together creatives and people with technical skills to launch new companies within a single weekend. Each event is different since the direction is largely determined by the people who show up. I live in Detroit and I was raised here. There are hard times across the country right now, but Detroit is under even more intense strain than most in the U.S. I really believe that the future of this city lies in the ability to bring people together to get great ideas off the ground. Nobody becomes successful in a vacuum. We need each other. Events like Startup Weekend help bring people together with a variety of skills to roll up their sleeves, work side by side and get things done. I attended Startup Weekend in Ann Arbor, Michigan last year. What struck me most about the event was the fact that so much was accomplished in a single weekend. This experience leaves people who attend with the feeling that anything really is possible if you work together. What city couldn’t benefit from a little of that?