The Morning After Mesh: A Third Tuesday Social Media Breakfast with Bryan Person

• • , ,

ThirdTuesdayTorontoThird Tuesday Toronto has taken on a range of different formats – a small group gathering in a pub; a large event of 200+ people; a dinner conversation. What’s made all of these events distinctive is that we look for interesting speakers with a unique perspective who can provide a jumping off point for our conversations. What has bound all of these formats together is our focus on social media and its impact on community building, communications and organizations.

This week we’re venturing into new ground. We’re holding our first Third Tuesday Social Media Breakfast. On the morning after Mesh, April 9.

Why breakfast? Well, it’s convenient for some people who can’t stay downtown in the evening. And even more importantly, Bryan Person is in Toronto.

bryan-person-090405Bryan Person is the founder of the Social Media Breakfast series which, along with Social Media Club, would be considered the U.S. counterpart to Third Tuesday. His day job is social media evangelist for LiveWorld, an agency that builds, manages, and moderates online white-label communities for brands. Bryan will be in town next week for Mesh and would like to catch up with Toronto’s digital leaders … over breakfast, of course!

I’ve known Bryan for several years. So, when he said that he’d be coming to Toronto, what would be more natural than offering him a hearty Toronto social media welcome. And who knows, this may just be the start of a Third Tuesday Social Media Breakfast series.

If you’re interested in meeting Bryan and talking social media over breakfast, you can register online to attend the Third Tuesday Toronto Social Media Breakfast.

Who would you like to hear talk about what they are doing in social media / Web 2.0?

• • ,

Who would you like to hear speak at a Third Tuesday social media meetup or the Social Media Breakfast?

Third TuesdayThe volunteers organizing the Ottawa Third Tuesday and Toronto Third Tuesday and Social Media Breakfast are reaching out to our contacts to in order to put together this season’s program. We’re looking for speakers who

  • have something unique and thought provoking to say about social media;
  • are developing social Web apps; or
  • have applied it to community building, communication, public relations or marketing.

Of course, the quality of an event series is driven by the participation of the people who attend. So, we want to invite speakers who you you want to hear address the topics that you find interesting.

We’ve had some great speakers in the past, including: Shel Israel, Shel Holtz, Richard Binhammer, Mathew Ingram, Michael Geist, Mark Evans, Colin McKay, Anthony Williams, Rob Hyndman, Michael McDerment, Saul Colt, Katie Paine, Marcel LeBrun, Stephen Taylor, Paul Wells, Marshall Sponder, Mitch Joel, Alex and Ali de Bold, Darren Barefoot, Jesse Brown, Brendan Hodgson, Giovanni Rodriguez, Danielle Donders, Ryan Anderson, Marc Snyder, David Jones, Terry Fallis, Julie Rusciolelli, Keith McArthur and Martin Waxman.

We’ve established a tradition of great speakers and strong participation from attendees. Please help us to continue in this way. Let us know who you’d like to hear from and what topics you’d like to have addressed.

Can You Help us bring Social Media Breakfasts to Toronto?

• • , ,

Bringing Social Media Breakfasts to Toronto

Social Media Breakfasts are coming to Toronto.

We have the organizers. We have the will. We have the network to reach out to and attract great speakers. And we know we have a lot of people interested in attending.

Now, we need help with two final essentials.

Can you help?

We need help finding a location in Toronto where we can hold the Social Media Breakfast. Do you have a meeting room or open concept office that could accommodate up to 100 people for a 7:30AM to 9AM meetup? If so, would you consider hosting the first breakfast?

Even if you can’t host the event, would you be able to help us by sponsoring the breakfast or sound system?

What can we give you in return for hosting or sponsoring the Social Media Breakfast? Recognition in blog posts, on the Social Media Breakfast Website and at the event itself. And the sincere gratitude of a large and growing social media community.

About the Social Media Breakfast

The Social Media Breakfast was Launched first in Boston in 2007 by Bryan Person. Since then, it has spread to cities throughout the United States and elsewhere. The concept was brought to Canada earlier this year by Simon Chen, Rob Lane and Ryan Anderson, who organized Social Media Breakfast Ottawa.

Social Media Breakfasts provide people interested in social media and Web 2.0 with an opportunity to network and hear from business leaders and thought leaders.

Who is behind the Social Media Breakfast in Toronto?

Social Media Breakfast Toronto is being initiated by the people who organize Third Tuesday Toronto. The Third Tuesday Toronto community has grown to over 1,000 members who meet once a month after work to hear social media thought leaders talk about the newest developments in social media, online communities, Web apps, marketing and public relations.

We’ve decided to organize a Social Media Breakfast series to meet the needs of Toronto social media enthusiasts who want to network and discuss the latest developments in social media, but who find that mornings are better for this than evenings after work. And for the most committed social media enthusiasts, we can go to both events. 🙂

Over to you

If you can help or know someone who can help us with a location or sponsorship, please leave a comment on this post or send a direct message to “thornley” on Twitter or an email to joseph.thornley [at] gmail.com.

More about the Social Media Breakfast

Recap of Social Media Breakfast Ottawa 1

Mark Blevis podcasted the Social Media Breakfast Ottawa 1

Andrew Alexander’s Flickr photos from Social Media Breakfast Ottawa 1

Simon Chen talks about bringing the Social Media Breakfast to Ottawa

Highlights of Overlay.tv CEO Rob Lane’s presentation at Social Media Breakfast Ottawa 2

Overlay.tv: It's about creating community in video

• • , ,

When Overlay.tv launched in Beta on February 15, it was widely and positively viewed as a potential building block in the future of online video and advertising.

I’m told that Overlay.tv is making good progress toward a full release. As I write this, a new Beta is days away from release. And the folks at Overlay.tv are saying that release will be a minor step and won’t last long.

Rob Lane, the CEO of Overlay.tv, has been notching up the profile of Overlay.tv in advance of its release, with recent appearances at Social Media Breakfasts in both Boston and Ottawa.

I’ve created a four minute video of the parts of Rob’s presentation in Ottawa in which he describes overlay.tv, how it can be used to add relevant content and product information to any video.

Some of the things he said that caught my attention:

“If you look at video today, essentially it’s a passive experience. You put a video up. You sit there. You watch it. You may turn away and do something else. … What we’re trying to do at Overlay is to create a deeper interaction. And that interaction can be everything from hot spots to conversation in video to building community around video itself … It’s all about transforming what is a passive lean-back experience into an engaged experience.”

“If you create a video that people are interested in, they are more likely to want to interact with that video. … [Your choice of overlays is] all about relevance. [to the content of the video]”

“It’s about creating community in video.”

If you’re interested in knowing more about Overlay.tv, I’d recommend that you follow @roblane and @bitpakkit (a.k.a. Ben Watson, Overlay.tv’s Vice President of Marketing) on Twitter. Both Rob and Ben maintain an active presence on Twitter. Overlay.tv does have a blog. However, it has not been updated since April 25. (Come on guys. I’m sure you have lots of great content you could share. How about an “overlay of the day” to start with? 😉 )

Also, Mark Blevis blogs and podcasts his take on Rob Lane’s appearance at Social Media Breakfast Ottawa

Now Serving – Social Media Breakfast in Canada

• • , , ,

Since Bryan Person organized the first Social Media Breakfast in Boston last year, the concept has caught on and been introduced in cities across the United States.

Now, the Social Media Breakfast concept has been brought to Ottawa, Canada’s capital, by Rob Lane, Ryan Anderson and Simon Chen.

The first Social Media Breakfast in Ottawa was a great success, drawing a standing room only crowd. Mark Blevis , Melany Gallant , Stacey , and Simon Chen covered it in posts and pictures .

The second Social Media Breakfast Ottawa will be held on July 15. The guest speaker (and host) will be Rob Lane, founder and President of Overlay.tv . (If you’re interested in attending this event, register on Eventbrite .)

SMB Ottawa co-founder Simon Chen sat down with me to talk about the Social Media Breakfasts – what they are, the upcoming event with Rob Lane and who attends these events. By the way, I thought it was interesting that Simon got the idea to bring the Social Media Breakfast concept to Ottawa while he was following the Twitter stream discussing the Boston Social Media Breakfasts.

Watch the complete videoof my discussion with Simon Chen below.