Cincinnati has again proven itself a digital media hotspot with a full house in attendance at the fifth Social Media Breakfast, held at LPK's Brand Innovation Center on February 2.
This time around Tim Westergren, founder and Chief Strategy Officer of the widely beloved Pandora Internet Radio, addressed the throng of new media professionals in attendance.
Westergren stressed the importance of customers, illustrating his point with the engaging tale of Pandora's listeners literally saving the company from oblivion. This salvation came just as politicians were toying with policies that would triple music royalty costs; a blow that may have made Pandora too costly to run.
This is where Pandora's listeners – who increase by 40,000 every day – came to the rescue, flooding Washington with a flurry of faxes and passionate feedback.
Westergren said that the response of Pandora's listeners was so great that their outpouring of objections toward the potential increase in music royalties far outnumbered the number of citizens who have protested the Iraq war.
People love Pandora.
This vivid example of democratic action illustrates the increasingly personalized nature of the company-customer relationship. It further shows the hand-in-glove-like fit social media provides for progressive companies ready to do business in this new media landscape.
And Cincinnati is full of tuned-in firms and individuals.
"Cincinnati has a vibrant community tuned into social media," says Kevin Dugan, Social Media Breakfast organizer and Director of Marketing Communications, FRCH Design Worldwide.
This community is the foundation for the Social Media Breakfast's sell-out crowds.
"The first one was held in April of 2008 by a colleague in town on business," Dugan says. "I learned about it the night before, appropriately enough via Twitter. Each one has sold out exponentially faster than the last. We’ve found everyone through word of mouth via social media, using Twitter and Facebook."
Dugan adds that it's not just hip internet start-ups that are employing these technologies. Branches of the local government, such as Hamilton County Job & Family Services, and the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber, are among many more traditional organizations reaching out to members and clients via social media apps like Twitter and Facebook.
And this is only the beginning.
To learn more about the Social Media Breakfast, visit here.
Writer: Jonathan DeHart
Source: Kevin Dugan
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