Toronto Marketing Geek Dinner II

I'm on my way home from the Marketing Geek Dinner II. It's rounded out some recent thinking on social media and the need for human beings to connect. Many years ago when I was a wide-eyed lass learning the DM trade, I had an instructor for a Direct Mail class (no, Virginia there was no email marketing; yes, I'm dating myself). This wise veteran (Mike McCormick) instructed us, “put a human being on it”, “don't chop bodies”, “people are interested in people”. These are maxims I carry today, to personalize, find the human story, connect with your audience, and have a real person behind your communication --and while you're at it "put a face on it."

The Geek dinners and YouTube are about putting a face on our connections, because humans are visual beings and pack animals (as Cesar would say). The meetup over dinner is an ancient ritual that no proliferation of social media can replace. Although, that gets me thinking it would be a worthy experiment. A group Skype dinner... Hmm... Can you imagine the introductions – 'hey you, we haven't met, open your chat window for a virtual handshake.' 'This is Andrew, the search guru. This is Ed, another PR blogger...You know Mitch, yes, we're just waiting for his v-cast to come out.'

So.. who else was there? Michael of course, Goody, Mirabel, Dave, Sean, Susan, Michelle, Sandy, Chris, Lorraine, Kathryn, Steve, Sulemaan and others I have still to meet at the next dinner. Thanks for organizing Mitch and Michael!