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The Social Media Conference Suriname (SMCS)
If you have heard about the Social Media Conference Suriname, it is an annual conference on Social Media and Social Media related topics such as Online Marketing, E-Commerce, Marketing and Personal Development. Founded in 2017, I initially identified 7 reasons why it was important to create a Social Media Conference for Suriname.
- The growing impact of Social Media in the media landscape
- The diversification of Social Media beyond Facebook
- To educate on shifting advertising budgets from offline to online
- To help organizations to better incorporate Social Media
- To understand the battle between Social Media consumption and Social Media production
- Finding a role for Social Media in the world of ICT
- A conference that provided opportunities for like-minded people in the field of social media and online marketing
The Social Media Conference Suriname 2022
This October, we celebrate the 6th annual SMCS. The first 3 editions were held physically and due to Covid, for the past 2 years, the event had been a virtual one. We are pleased to announced that SMCS 2022 will once again be an in-person event!
So, 6 years later, how much has changed when it comes to those 7 reasons to host the event?
To be honest, they have become more relevant than ever.
1. The growing impact of Social Media in the media landscape
In case you missed it. TikTok was a sponsor of the 2020 European Championships (Held in 2021 due to Covid). YouTube TV is the presenting sponsor of the NBA Finals, while Facebook-owned Oculus is now the official Marketing Partner of the NBA. Social Media has not only taking the media industry by storm, its brands have taken over prime roles of the traditional Fortunes 500 companies.
2. The diversification of Social Media beyond Facebook
Yes, Meta (Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp) holds a massive stake in the Social Media realm, but they have some heavy competition as users are now continuously more active on other platforms, which requires organization to better understand how other platforms work as well.
3. To educate on shifting advertising budgets from offline to online
More often than not a lot of C-level decision makers still refer to social media as a 'last resort' for a low performing product/service or because it is considered a cheaper medium to advertise. Many of them however don't understand how paid online media works, leading to wasted budgets and a lot of disappointment.
4. To help organizations to better incorporate Social Media
As the previous 3 points highlight working points for the old school marketeer, it's not only the older generations that have to better understand how today online and social media work, but also the younger generations that still have to understand the basics of PR, Branding and Marketing. Many young successful social media fanatics with large followings still struggle to monetize because they don't understand basic marketing principles and have never touched one of Kotler's books. This makes it harder for them to help management when poor social media strategies are implemented.
5. To understand the battle between Social Media consumption and Social Media production
I never thought this point would age as well as it did. The struggle between consuming content and creating content has never been bigger. Just like the opportunity of making a living as a creator. At the same time, social media consumption can be an addiction leading to depression, unfulfillment and destructing of life. Finding the right balance between consumption and production continues to grow in importance, both in professional and in personal life.
6. Finding a role for Social Media in the world of ICT
Finding how social media fits into the world of ICT also continues to become more complex. While I focused on mobile app development in 2017, interests have now partly gravitated towards blockchain eco-systems and decentralized finance. As web3 is still pretty much in the early phase, predicting how social media will fit in is as hard as figuring out in the 1990s what the use case for blogs would be 20 years later.
7. A conference that provided opportunities for like-minded people in the field of social media and online marketing
As excited as I am that this years Social Media Conference Suriname will be an in-person event, I am even more excited about what's in store for the participants.
Currently, the promotional image features 3 crowd favorites from past events (Jay Austin, Dorien Morin-van Dam and Sheetal Sujan) and 2 Keynote speakers, Mark Schaefer and Mike Allton. Like Dorien recently mentioned, I too am really excited to meet up and reconnect with them, but this is just a small part of the complete lineup. On October 27 and 28, there will be a total of 21 sessions (4 keynotes, 4 individual sessions, 7 panels and 6 workshops) for participants to attend. Together with a group of local (and international) companies, we are currently working out the full programming to make the event as interactive as possible so all attendees get the most out of their SMCS experience.
The SMCS is back, and I'm as excited as ever!
What's Hiving?
Back from vacation - Just had a week of vacation as my mother celebrated her 70th Birthday (more on her next week). We celebrated in Brazil, including a couple of days at the beach.
I got to spend some quality time with the kids and only did some urgent tasks (yes, conference preparations are in full swing).
Hivefest - Yes, I'm very well aware this also meant I completely missed @hivefest, but luckily, the sessions are available to watch:
Splinterlands - Preparing for the SMCS also means that I have to skip Splinterfest and to be honest, I have slowed down a bit in general (sorry to my guild). But I'm excited for riftwatchers and spend a bit of my airdrop SPS and vouchers for some packs.
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