Everyone loves to win a Social Media Award… so we thought we’d make it more fun in 2013… we’ll give out a social media award of some description every week… if you want to be a winner then you’d better tell us why

Every week I’ll shine a light on a social media campaign that made laugh or cry! Or it might be a thought that grabs my attention, something I think you should ponder…

You need to tweet @jondavey with the reason why you and yours should be a winner… or complete our contact us form with a few words…

SOCIAL MEDIA AWARD OF THE WEEK ENDING 19TH JANUARY 2013
This week’s prize has to go to the Australian Courts for ruling that although Google doesn’t technically publish content because computers are doing all the work… if asked to remove links then they should oblige and respect the wishes of the individual not wishing to be indexed.

The Guardian reported at the end of November, “Milorad Trkulja, a music promoter, took action against Google over material online, which linked him with criminal figures in Melbourne. Trkulja has never been involved in any criminal activity, but was unfortunate enough to have been shot in a restaurant in 2004.”

It reminded me of the case of Richard O’Dwyer, the student wanted for extradition by the USA and initially signed off by Theresa May MP, who was simply adding links to sources of TV content… he didn’t publish the content… oh, yeah, but he manually added links so I guess that makes him an evil criminal! It was his mum who sorted that out, as all good mums do…

The only reason the yanks wanted him was because he’d made a few quid out of it… so I guess he paid tax in the UK but that’s not good enough for the Americans? The only reason Google have been able to get away with it is because they have bigger lawyers and as we have seen from Big Brother, “USA are best, the greatest, they offer freedom”… mmmm well done Australia.

SOCIAL MEDIA AWARD OF THE WEEK ENDING 12TH JANUARY 2013
My first social media award of 2013 has to go to Mark Zuckerberg… he was one of the first to start the social media party… some might think this great business practice… others will find it a tad arrogant… does it make you laugh or cry? You can send Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg a direct email via Facebook… it only costs you $100 if you want it to land in his inbox… I wonder if that guarantees he’ll read it or is that $1000!

Social Media Christmas Competition 2012
For 12 working days we ran the Social Media Christmas Competition and after the votes have been counted and verified we have our Social Media Award WINNERS for December 2012.

I used 12 days because it was a Christmas competition and I like working around rhythms in my head, they resonate better for me and probably for others.

We didn’t get a ton of votes because most folk CBA… they are thinking, “I’ll never win, I never win anything” ;( and so don’t enter in the first place… not the attitude of a WINNER…

I knew before I even posted the competition who would win at least one of the prizes. A guy who is constantly on the go, pushing his current brand as far and wide as he can, ensuring he is on the radar of decision makers… a firm believer in “something has to happen” if you keep peddling… he presented at our BinB EXPO earlier in the year and I caught this footage of him at CompTIA a few weeks ago where he earned this pitch by knocking Microsoft into 2nd place!

AND OUR SOCIAL MEDIA AWARD WINNERS FOR 2012 ARE:

Best LinkedIn Group : Channel & Account Management Experts (run by guess who!)

Most Influential Business Person “Thought Leader” on LinkedIn : Ian Moyse

Best Offline Events run by a LinkedIn Group : NRG Networks

When it comes to networking lunches then those run by NRG Networks are second to none. Always a good cross section of business professionals in attendance… you should ask Dave Clarke if you can attend one near you soon… I shot this footage at a question and answer session after the main event… most folk had left to do the next thing on their to do list but this captures the essence of NRG Networks. Go join their LinkedIn Group.

The key to being a Social Media Award WINNER is you have to enter… I won Social Media Week’s Personality of the Year in February because I took time to enter with this video… vote4me.org.uk

This has lead to a number of opportunities which have included doing some work for LinkedIn & IBM as a direct result… so don’t miss out on opportunities to shine more brightly than you do right now and enter the relevant competitions that come your way… you just don’t know where they may lead…

AND SO WHAT DO OUR WINNERS WIN?

As I read through this year’s entries there was one that made me Laugh Out Loud… and that was for @warpdog who are the unofficial Walthamstow Tourist Board who shot this amazing visitor attraction video… watch out for the CGI and augmented reality

Or maybe that is the reality…

Each of our winners will receive one of the LIMITED EDITION Mattresses of Walthamstow 2013 Calendars… and better still, you don’t have to worry about not having your very own copy, you can order them online… you’re just a click away…

If you want to be a sponsor of our next Social Media Awards 2013, which will probably happen in January, assuming we’re all still around after the 21st December, then you’d best get in touch with me via phone, email or LinkedIn.

Thank you.

Jon Davey
Director of Aspirational Customer Experiences
Encouraging Positive, Proactive Participation
SOCIAL MEDIA DIRECTORS
01753 852904