Chris Brogan is one of my heroes.  About 7 years ago when I started getting more engaged in social media, I found his blog and signed up for email updates. Perhaps it was the fact that he is from Boston and I am from New Hampshire with many a visit to the Boston area.  Maybe it was his affiliation with Hubspot, a company I admire and recommend.  Either way, today, he is just one of two blogs that come directly into my inbox and that I read religiously.  One year ago, just prior to the release of his new book “Trust Agents” (Brogan and Julien Smith),  Chris Brogan  wrote about what it might mean to be a Trust Agent in a blog post. I posted a comment and begged (I am not proud) for him to come to Madison.

Success!  Chris Brogan, author of Trust Agents, will be speaking at the Accelerate Madison meeting on June 21.  It is a rare treat to have author, blogger and social media guru Brogan in the Midwest.  Brogan is traveling to Madison to speak at an event for American Family Insurance. During his visit to Madison, Troy Janisch, Digital Marketing Manager at American Family Insurance, invited Brogan to speak in the evening on behalf of Accelerate Madison. He graciously accepted.

Here is the link to register for the Madison event hosted by Accelerate Madison – registration link.

“Brogan has a lot to offer Madison participants. Everyone is short on time, trust, and attention.  This makes it a challenge for businesses to build ANY meaningful customer, business or personal relationship — in the real world or online,” Janisch said. “Chris Brogan shares his recipe for building TRUST over TIME by utilizing social networks.”

Brogan After Dark After Party

Not to be outdone, the Social Media Club of Madison is stepping up to the plate to partner with Accelerate Madison, American Family Insurance and CUNA Mutual Group to bring you “SOCIAL MEDIA: An Evening with Chris Brogan.”  We are working with Pooley’s to create the most awesome After Party that Chris will also attend.

Madison SMC We will be hosting post-event networking at Pooley’s to raise a glass in honor of Chris Brogan, celebrated author, educator and all around swell guy. A purely social event, the Social Media Club is hauling out the red carpet for our favorite Twitterati, offering complimentary food, libation specials, music, sweet door prizes, swaggy giveaways and plenty of surprises throughout the evening. This is one social you won’t want to miss!

Please register for the free post-event networking here.*

What a difference a year makes

One year after the “Are you a trust agent ” post, even the Madison business community is looking much different in terms of the social web. With a bid for Google Fiber in the works, several leading social media companies (Shoutlet and Networked Insights), and social media engagement on the rise from coffee shops to some of the largest engineering firms, Madison is really on the social  map. Even American Family Insurance, the behemouth insurance company in our midst, has seen the light, hired a topnotch digital marketing director, Troy Janisch, and has been called “the most ambitious company on Facebook” by Facebook themselves.

Who’s your trust agent?
If Chris Brogan is a trust agent for the masses, then Troy Janisch is the trust agent for Madison.  Chris Brogan, because of his approach, philosophy and book, epitomizes the goal of social engagement for many businesses.  He was the right choice to bring to Madison for AMFam’s internal training to build an army of trust agents.

Please register for the presentation by Chris Brogan at the Accelerate Madison website. If you can’t make the presentation or don’t get your ticket soon enough (we expect this event to be sold out) then come to the Brogan After Dark After Party at Pooleys hosted by the Social Media Club of Madison.  This is a free event but an RSVP is needed to make sure we have enough food, space etc.

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