What I have learned 1 year in Social Media

Friday November 7, 2008 was the first Detroit Social Media event I ever attended. Before that I had used Social Media tools like Digg, Twitter, Facebook and MySpace. But before this event I didn’t realize the sense of community that Social Media brought to the MetroDetroit area. My original intentions of going to the tweet up was to network with people in the Interactive Media field hoping to further my knowledge in Interactive media and to find a new job. What I actually received from this event were a group of great friends and sense belonging in a community. Since then I have attended multiple tweet ups, Social Media Club Detroit events, Tweet Tea, Tech Karaoke, Start Up Weekend, Podcamp, Module and other events. With all these experiences, I want to share with you a few things that I have learned in my 1+ year in the Detroit Social Media Community.

1. All of us are not Internet nerds. Contrary to belief, not everybody who is a part of the Detroit Social Media community are all Internet nerds. I have met a wide array of people who just enjoy the community. I met have musicians, writers, lawyers, doctors, and engineers through Social Media.
2. We don’t speak nerd. Even though I am fluent in nerd, I never had to use it at any Social Media event. Very few of my conversations at a tweet up or any other event is about Social Media. I had discussion about sports, music, movies, and politics. I connected with the first people I met at my very first tweet up talking about the being Filipino with my friend Henry, and discussing movies and music Shauna, Chris and Brian.
3. If you want attention bring a 40 oz. At a Biznet Tweet Up I brought a 40 oz, it was most cost effective adult beverage I could think of. Ever since then I have consistently brought a 40 oz to every to Biznet Tweet Up. You might ask why this is important? It’s because I was consistent. I learned that you have to be consistent in this community. You can get away by making a big impact at the first two or three events you attended and then live off the notoriety you received from those events. You need to be consistent online and offline to make a true impact.
4. Be yourself. This is probably the most important thing I have learned. Don’t worry about trying to impress people, being the funniest or most interesting person in the room. Just relax and be yourself.
5. We all care about the community. Everybody in the Detroit Social Media community is very passionate about it and the city of Detroit. We are constantly thinking about how to make our community and city better with Social Media. Whether its bringing a group together to do some volunteer work or having discussion on how to transform Detroit from a Manufacturing city to a Tech City. Everybody in the Social Media community deeply care about Detroit and the little community that we have built together.

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