Social Media is many things to many people.
As we gear up for next weeks launch of Social Media Cub Columbia, we invited Trey Pennington, PR professional and leader of Social Media Club Greenville to come down and help kick us off and tell us what social media means to him.
Trey Pennington is the Marketing Director for ShowCase Marketing in Greenville, SC. Since 1988, Trey has helped build family owned and start-up businesses, and helped non-profit organizations serving the needs of disadvantage children. When he is not doing marketing and helping charities in the Upstate, Trey can be found exploring social media or technology or theology at home with his wife, Jean, and six children (18, 16, 14, 11, 8, and 6).
Inspired by the series from *Danny Brown, we asked Trey “Five Questions about Social Media.”
Here’s what he had to say:
1) How do you define social media?
I like Danny’s definition: Social media is “anything you want it to be.” There’s profundity there. I might add a little and say, social media is simply a digital way to do what humans have been doing since the beginning, connecting with other human beings (for whatever their purpose in connecting was/is).
2) Which social media tools or applications do you use, and why these in particular?
Though I have a ton of profiles/accounts, my #1 tool is Twitter and #2 tool is Facebook (though Facebook’s roots in kids’ stuff is beginning to make it less useful as a grown-up place to be).
3) With increasingly busy schedules, Where do you find time for social media?
Busy for sure. I have six children (18, 16, 14, 11, 8, and 6), am active at church and Rotary, and serve on the SC Board of Nursing (not a nurse). SO I’ve replaced TV with social media. However, the time is not a burden—in many ways, social media enables me to accomplish much more in less time.
4) What advice would you give to local businesses wishing to effectively embrace social media?
Business should first buy into a couple of principles before jumping on the bandwagon: 1) be more concerned about listening to and helping other people than making money, and 2) if you really want to “get more,” you’ll have to learn to enjoy giving more first (NOT discounts, or even “better service”; more later).
5) Where do you see the future of social media?
Eventually, we’ll stop talking about social media because: 1) it will have become so integrated into our lives that we won’t notice it anymore, and 2) we will move beyond our fascination with technology and reconnect with what it means to be human (care for and connection with other humans).
Remember, these are only my opinions—the world of digital social media is fairly new and there are no true “authorities” yet or universally accepted accreditations, so I could be completely washed up.
Join us for the launch of Social Media Club Columbia and meet Trey Pennington NEXT Thursday, February 26, from 6-7pm. Whether you’re a power user or new to the concept, make sure you’re there!
Social Media Club Columbia
Thursday February 26, 2009
6:00pm – 7:00pm
MacDougall’s Restaurant 902-F
Gervais Street Columbia, SC
*For more about the series “Discussing Social Media with…” by Danny Brown visit his Web site at http://dannybrown.me/discussing-social-media-with/
