Social Media Week 2010 Is Under Way

Social Media Week 2010 kicked off with a press conference at the Paley Center for Media in New York and will run through Feb. 5 in New York, Berlin, London, San Francisco, Sao Paulo, and Toronto.

Social Media Week founder and executive director Toby Daniels started things off, saying, “Social media is having a profound impact on our society. Social media is creating a community that is global in scope.”

On the About Social Media Week page, Daniels added:

Social media has permeated society and is creating a global community that is unprecedented in scope. Social Media Week embraces this phenomenon and is pioneering the way as a global platform for conversation, connectivity, and learning. The conference aims to advance the uses of social media in the corporate, public, and nonprofit sectors, and engage communities on a local and global level.

Paley Center for Media chief operations officer Christy Carpenter followed by mentioning CBS broadcast legend William Paley, for whom the facility is named, saying:

If Bill Paley were here today, I think he’d be very proud that the organization that bears his name is home to Think Social. Our goal with Think Social is to drive positive outcomes around the world through these new networking tools.

Next up was Pip Marquez de la Plata, chief marketing officer at Meebo, who said:

My guess would be that if I asked all of you to define social media, we’d get a wide variety of answers. There’s a big difference between how this media is defined and other traditional media. I think we all agree that social media is complex and needs further clarification.

PepsiCo chief engagement officer Frank Cooper discussed the beverage maker’s Pepsi Refresh initiative, which was announced in December. Cooper said:

Social Media Week has to be one of the coolest experiences ever, and we appreciate the opportunity to be a part of that conversation. We’re giving away over $20 million to fund ideas, both big and small. These are ideas that come straight from the people and are voted on by the people. The center of gravity for this project is social media.

And the opening press conference wrapped up with Deep Focus CEO and Social Media Week advisory board member Ian Shafer, who said of social media:

It’s forcing governments to listen to their people once again. For brands, the depth of social interaction is just as important as the depth and frequency of ad impressions.

From the About Social Media Week page:

The week-long, international Social Media Week conference is designed as a series of localized events, which city partners are responsible for organizing. Over the course of the week and in each city, programs will span a variety of formats, ranging from talks, presentations, and panel discussions, to interactive workshops, seminars, networking events, and drinks receptions.

Social Media Week is co-produced by Colaboratorie Mutopo.

Join Baratunde Thurston (left), The Onion’s Director of Digital and author of How to Be Black, for an entertaining look at creative social media campaigns in our Social Media Marketing Boot Camp starting February 16. Other speakers include Morin Oluwole (Facebook), Tim Devane (bitly), and SocialTimes' writer Devon Glenn.   Register now.