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Some people say that everything should evolve naturally, that whole ‘if it ain’t broke don’t fix it’ mentality. Those people wouldn’t be us. While we do base each monthly topic on suggestions from you via our Uservoice forum, giving us a level of confidence that the content is somewhat of value, we decided to test our perception and devote some time to collective rumination. To that end we decided to host an open house at SMC Phoenix in May to gather feedback, have an open discussion, and hopefully discover a few new ideas to improve the group even more.

Topic Panels

Pretty strongly everyone liked the panel format and wanted it to continue. We heard that the exchange of ideas hits just the right balance between panelists and audience alike sharing their experiences and knowledge and learning something new. Our less than formal format gives people the feeling that they can ask questions and not be embarrassed whether they are beginners or just not as skilled in a specific area. Creating an environment conducive to open discussion and collaboration is what we aim for and we’re happy to hear that we’re hitting that mark. We will be shifting the structure a bit to ensure we’re not limiting a great presenter by making him moderate, but other than that we won’t be changing much structurally.

We will be looking for attendees to be part of the panels, so will start announcing the upcoming panels at each event and ask for volunteers.  We’ll then talk with everyone after the event and put together a good, balanced panel. Not everyone can be on every panel, but we want to rotate as much as possible.  Here’s what’s upcoming:

• June Panel: Comparative Social Media Models – How does SM work differently for a non-profit, a business, a brand, etc.
• July Panel: Social Media Monitoring – How do you tell if your efforts are effective?
• August Panel: Security, Privacy, and Legal Issues – How to protect yourself and your business online.

Member Involvement

Our level of member involvement could use some adjustment. We can and should make things more interactive but the Google group just isn’t going to cut it. We’re going to start building out our site by using the blog more frequently, having guest bloggers talk about their experiences and up and coming tools and provide more content on what is going on locally. We’re also looking at creating an opt in member directory where people can go to find the resources they need.

Announcements, Events & Meetups

From here out, we are going to limit announcements to social media related events, like Social Media AZ conference, WordPress Camp AZ, etc.  If you have something you want to mention, let us know before each meeting.

The recent tweetups with Jason Falls and Jay Baer were a lot of fun, and we’ll try to either coordinate more or just pass on the word when one is going on locally. People indicated they would like to connect more than just at the regular meetings.

Guest Blogging

We’d like to start having local social media people write about relevant topics on our blog. These don’t have to be massive, weighty topics, and we would love for them to have a local tie in some fashion.  If you’re interested in participating, let us know.

Odds & Ends

We had a lot of good ideas come up throughout the night. Mentoring pairing was suggested, as was trying a debate format some nights. Having a annual or bi-annual “Social Media Bootcamp” came up as a way to cover a lot of introductory topics for new people at regular intervals. Teachers for the Bootcamp could come from the group.  We also had a request for a “This Month in Social Media” recap at the start of the sessions. We’ll be giving some of these a try as we work out the kinks.

Thank you!

A big thanks to all that attended and provided their valuable opinions and ideas. Growth can’t sustain in a vacuum and any club is only as great as its members. If you’d like to watch the entire session online, Stephen Murphey has posted the video it in its entirety.

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