Speakers at the PR Advanced event included representatives from JetBlue, the Boston Red Sox, Dunkin’ Donuts, Wholefoods and myself, representing Carrot Creative and my personal brand, Just Creative Design.

Entitled “The Art of Online Self Promotion: Branding, Blogging & Social Media“, my talk gave insight on how to create a strong personal brand identity, how to set up a blog & run it as a self promotional tool and how to build relationships across social media platforms… and then some.

It all turned out a huge success, considering the fact that all of the Carrot Creative business cards & stickers had evaporated by the end of the talk. Student and teacher feedback was also another great indicator, as well as a few more offers to talk elsewhere, including an offer for regular weekly lectures.

A few attendees of the conference wrote about what they learned from me and the conference as a whole.  A select few are linked below:

• Branding Yourself ‘PR Advanced’ Wrap Up by Ginny Rose
• ‘PR Advanced’ Conference Wrap Up by Emily Forrest
• Branding Myself by Ellie Botelho
• Takeaways from PR Advanced 2010 by Emilie Toole

There are also a few pictures up of the PR Advanced event, with more to follow.

The #PRAdvanced hashtag turned into a trending topic on Twitter, which was made possible by the Q&A that was set up via Tweetdeck (such a great idea). There are a lot of great tips to pick up from that stream, so be sure to check it out.

Overall it was an extremely pleasurable experience, supported by awesome event coordination (great job Chelsea n co!), a plethora of talented speakers and most importantly, the extremely passionate students & teachers that gave up a Saturday up to attend. Carrot Creative and myself thank you all for the support.

Oh, and thanks once again for the shiny thank you certificate.

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Dumbo loft, check.
Free Brooklyn beer, check (thank you RRE Ventures).
Everyone in room geeking-out over mobile apps, check.

This pretty much sums up the Monday Mobile Brooklyn event this past Monday night where our very own Robert Gaafar, Carrot Creative’s CEO presented our submission to the NYC Big Apps contest: “Where Brooklyn App?”

In case you missed it, this application allows users to tour key Brooklyn points of interest through an augmented reality lens and create a social atmosphere for other travelers to document their trip.

Data Sets

1. Directory of Historic Houses
2. Directory of Parks Disability Accessibility Facilities and Programs
3. Directory of Playgrounds
4. Directory of Recreation Centers

Integration Features

1. Augmented Reality
2. Google Maps
3. Facebook Connect
4. Twitter OAuth
5. Foursquare
6. Flickr

Where Brooklyn App is not available yet. We are currently waiting for approval from Apple.

Bobby rocked it obviously but there were other fun and innovative presentations like the Sit or Squat public restroom locator. Our friend Phil from PegShot sharing the photo/video application that “pegs” your location with a picture or video. My personal favorite, NYC Broken Meters to help city drivers find free parking but utilizing the city data.

Thanks again to Mobile Monday Brooklyn for organizing another excuse for the digital minds from Brooklyn and Manhattan to get together in one room to share, learn, and well, drink.

Peace out luddites, you don’t stand a chance in Brooklyn.

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“Building brands in the billion dollar app boom” was the overarching agenda of Digiday’s App conference in Los Angeles on December 12th.  Top brand marketers, agency executives, publishers and app developers came together to discuss and explore how brands can harness the power of the explosive mobile and social app market.

Mike Germano, gave the morning keynote.  “I know social media must being doing well as an industry because when I tell women at the bar what I do, they actually give me their number.”  Diving into a case study of The Onion Microfiche, one of the top 15 selling news apps on iTunes, Mike reflected on the challenges and success Carrot had working with the brand.  A company culture match made in heaven, Carrot got a chance to design a tongue-in-cheek app for the nations leading satirical newspaper, poking fun at the very industry we thrive in.

“For those of you who don’t know, a microfiche is basically a giant computer, but without the porn,” Mike quipped.  “By combining the old-school feel of newspaper slides with the new-age zing of mobile, Carrot nailed the market by creating an app that allowed users to easily share over 20 years of Onion headlines at their fingertips. And at $.99, that’s just a digital convenience tax.”

Later in the day, I took the stage on a panel moderated by Tameka Kee of PaidContent entitled “The Dollars and Sense of Apps as Commerce”.  Touching on how apps are helping monetize social and mobile marketing, as well as the possibility of in-app purchasing, the panel featured representatives from Fandango, Quattro Wireless, Mobclix and Billing Revolution.

“One of the biggest mistakes brands make as they rush to develop an app is letting the mobile version of their website falter.  If you want to drive leads to your website, especially from your iPhone app, make sure your mobile platform is built well and leaves the user wanting to check out the full experience for themselves online.”

Over drinks with DM2 Events owner Nick Friese and Content Director Sarah Schoenfelder, Mike and I raved about the the quality of speakers and what a successful event it had been.  The only thing we suggested?  “Smoke machines.  Keynotes should totally be introduced with smoke machines.”

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These experts include:

Sarah Bernard, President of 23/6, a political satire site created at the Huffington Post and now part of IAC (Barry Diller) offering insight into current events, from politics to pop culture.

Howard Greenstein, President of The Harbrooke Group, a Social Media Consultant and advisor to WEtv for “WE Vote ’08″.

Rachel Sterne, Founder and CEO of GroundReport, one of the hottest citizen journalism sites.

and will be moderated by:

Ellis Henican, an award-winning Columnist for Newsday/amNew York and Political Analyst at Fox News Channel

The main focus of the event will be the influence of social media on modern elections and how emerging technology can be used to influence and inform the electorate.

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Below is a copy of my presentation for your perusal.

This article is copyright © 2012 

One of the most respected names in business publishing has asked me to speak at their worldwide Direct Marketers Forum this coming March. Direct Marketing International Magazine is “the only publication which has the global reach among international direct and interactive marketing professionals. Now in its third decade, DMI was the first magazine to be printed in the UK for direct marketers – so not only is it unique, it is also truly original!”

This exciting opportunity is a great way to stay informed about marketing activities around the globe and to find out how my European counterparts are using the Social-Web in powerful new ways.

I am very excited to travel and share to an international audience our Social Media tactics. 2009 IDI Marketers Forum “International Direct & Interactive” will make stops in New York, London, Singapore, Hong Kong, Mumbai, Brussels, & Budapest.

Find out more here.

This article is copyright © 2012 

This article is copyright © 2012