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The meetup, co-organized with Mashable, began as a cozy indoor networking affair. But with high volume levels inside, the group gleefully marched out to the street for an upbeat pep talk; a location much more suited to the themes of improvisation and resourcefulness.
Video: Staying Upbeat in a Down Market
The full video of the "sidewalk keynote" is posted below, courtesy of CenterNetworks. (Warning: contains strong language throughout.) Or skip to the "7 Points" below for our summary.
Gary's 7 Points on a Social Media Upturn
1. "Hustle" - improvise, be resourceful, do whatever it takes to care for your community. Tough times require creative solutions.
2. "Next 24 months are the biggest opportunity for social media" - social media is mature. "It's a baby. But it's mature. It's a baby with a mustache."
3. "Large companies will cut social media because they don't understand it" - the longer the big players stay away from new web technologies, the greater the opportunity for new entrants.
4. "The new barrier to building a brand is your time, not your pocketbook" - nobody can stop you from starting a global media brand from your house; all you need is time.
5. "Telling main street about Twitter is a waste of time" - keep it quiet; knowledge of new web technologies is your competitive advantage.
6. "Take Your Money" - go to Google, type in the keywords in your space. Look at the ads next to the results: these are people who pay to market in your niche. Call them. Convince them to spend those dollars on you instead.
7. "Anything that gets eyeballs is monetizable" - 2500 unique visitors a day should be enough to live on.
Agree? Disagree? Think the "sidewalk keynote" is the new "unconference"? Leave a comment below!
Partners
A final thanks to Conversive and FreshBooks for partnering on this event:
"Conversive®, Inc. provides market-leading automated conversation technology that makes information easily accessible, using the most natural process – one-on-one interaction and engagement. Anything else is just chat."