This guest post by Kelvin KC Claveria (@KCClaveria) originally appeared on kcclaveria.com

The podcast I attended focused on a Hubspot ebook that dispels six social media myths. The biggest takeaways from me are the following:

• Publishing on social networks on weekends may be beneficial. In fact, the aforementioned Hubspot study suggests that posts on the weekends tend to get higher engagement. (Check your analytics and identify your audience to determine if this tactic is right for your business.)
• “Please Retweet” (as opposed to “Please RT”) has been found to result to more retweets. There’s still something to be said about spelling words out, it seems!
• Content curation is important (and there are tons of tools to help with that), but what separates great curators from others is consistency AND personality.
• Providing value should be your #1 goal regardless of the medium. Whether via email newsletters, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or Google Plus, what makes fans attracted to you is the value you give them. In other words, DON’T SPAM!

Here’s a Storify that has even more cool tidbits from the event. It sounds like the 2nd podcast was just as interesting as the first one!

© 2012, KC Claveria. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. Please link back to kcclaveria.com

SMCYVR Digital Scavenger Hunt, Trout Lake Park

In 2011, social media came of age. In 2012, it will become even more a part of mainstream culture. Most of us in the social media world can live in a bit of  bubble. In this bubble, we begin to think that everyone is using Twitter daily and signing up for Google+ wondering what to do. In reality, about 10% of online users in North America use Twitter; and Google+ only has 2.5% of the user base of Facebook.

Each and every member of the Social Media Club is a powerful evangelist for this world changing technology. When we describe social media to newbies with #hashtags and @mentions, we miss an amazing opportunity to tell the real story.

The story of families reunited by Facebook, high school sweethearts reconnected and new friends married by a connection made on Twitter. It’s not the technology that inspires people to join the revolution; it’s the human storie. The connections and the friends we make through the new social telephone are what will inspire those on the fence to join the new human collective. Share the stories, spread the love, and join Social Media Club Vancouver as we work to bridge the digital divide and turn followers into real friends.

I want to personally invite you join Social Media Club HQ and Social Media Club Vancouver this year as we share, learn and grow together in the true spirit of open community.

Your host, James Karg 

welcomes SMCYVR  to The Bunker Project

No food but tons of fun!!! Oh and did we mention the cheap beer???

Come get your social media on with the Bunker Project
January 18th 2012, 7:00 pm
The Den on barclay 1348 Robson st.
The Bunker project goes live at: 7:15 pm
Price of cheap beer: $4.50 for the beer on special others are still really cheap

How the show works: The bunker project does 2 shows in one night. The hosts have some topics to talk about but like to have you as a guest. Bring your opinions and thoughts to share on a bunch of topics. Also bring your drinking muscle because its a casual chat over some delicious black beer. The back part of the bar is used as a recording studio. The first show usually starts recording  7:15 – 7:30 and then a break and then the second show is recorded.

more at http://www.meetup.com/Social-Media-Club-Vancouvers-Pub-night/

Thanks, James, SMCYVR EVENTS

Here’s this week’s list of social media stories worth sharing:

• 9 Handy Social Media Tips from Grandma: Grandmother Tips, is a humorous collection of tips our grandmothers never taught us, but we might share with our grandchildren. (PSFK)

• Social Trust Factor: 10 Tips to Establish Credibility:  Building trust doesn’t happen overnight. However, there are some simple things you can to increase your credibility and the trust factor. (Social Media Today)

• Be a Tweep, Not a Tool–How Hashtags Can Win Friends and Influence Enemies:  That little # symbol can help you build a worldwide following. (Kristen Lamb’s Blog)

• Twitter’s Top 10 Remarkable Tweet Stories of the Year:  Twitter looks back on the most “remarkable” stories that surfaced this year involving a single Tweet and how it affected the lives of its users. (Mashable)

• Who is Using Geo-Social Networking? [Infographic]:  Location based technology spans back many years and it was instantly inevitable that we would see this technology being used for a variety of different purposes in the near future. (Urban Times)

Our weekly curation of the hottest news in social media!

• 3 ways to embrace social without losing your local roots: With more than 100 stores nationwide, REI is [the USA’s] largest co-op. And despite the big national presence, REI fans tend to have a strong connection to their local store. (Smart Blog on Social Media)

• Social Proof Is The New Marketing: What is social proof?  Put simply, it’s the positive influence created when someone finds out that others are doing something.  It’s also known as informational social influence. (TechCrunch)

• Some Processes Shouldn’t Be Automated:  We’ve gone too far in developing tools that pretend we are carrying on a relationship when actually we are not, and then insisting we be known as relationship marketers. (Social Media Club)

• Social Media Concierge–Tips, Tricks & Thoughts: Insights from Marc’s experience as the Social Media Concierge for Event Camp Vancouver. (Amuse Consulting)

• Here’s How To REALLY Use LinkedIn (Infographic):  LinkedIn is the proverbial dark horse of social media: we all know it’s there, but few of us use it to its full potential. (Business Insider)

In honour of the upcoming Meetup of Meetups, this week’s curator’s corner is a ‘list of lists’:

• 5 Distribution Channels For Serious Content Creators: Today, internet users have more options than ever for where, when and how they consume content. (SocialFresh)

• 6 Misconceptions of Social Media: In order to understand what social media is, you first need to understand what it isn’t. (Dave Gallant)

• 7 Top Trends in Social Media: One of the major drivers of changes to society and technology is the evolution of the mobile phone from a dumb device that just makes calls and texts to a web connected “smart phone”. (Jeff Bullas)

• 10 Reasons to Stop Apologizing for Your Online Life: IRL: In Real Life. It’s used as shorthand all over the Internet, to distinguish what happens online from what happens offline. And it’s a lie. (Alexandra Samuel)

• 10 Words That Will Increase (or Decrease) Your Twitter CTR: After compiling a dataset of more than 200,000 link-containing Tweets to generate the CTR heatmap, [Dan Zarrella] decided to dig into what words, phrases and characters correlate with higher (or lower CTR).

This is the 4^th Annual Meetup of all Meetups that we are associated with here in Vancouver.

We have joined forces with the likes of the

• Third Tuesday Meetup
• Vancouver Blogger’s Meetup
• Vancouver Entrepreneur Meetup Group
• Real Estate Technology Meetup the
• Vancouver Sales Performance Meetup
• Socialized Lunch Meetup, the
• Social Media Club Vancouver 
• Young Professionals Meetup
• ByzHub Meetup

for one big year end social mixer. We have several other Meetup’s involved and as we confirm their involvement they will be added to the list. Many of these Meetups share the same members and same goals; to help people connect, share best practices and create community.

We expect 400 + people to attend and would appreciate your RSVP asap. This is an opportunity to expand your network, connect, and have fun in a casual atmosphere.

http://www.meetup.com/Social-Media-Club-Vancouvers-Pub-night

December 6, 2011

Schedule:

6:00 pm Arrive, register and get your Meetup Badge

6:30 pm 5 minute welcome and thanks to the sponsors

6:35 pm til late: Positive community building and networking anarchy! Have fun

8:00 pm twitpic of the night award.

*** If you’re a member of multiple meetups you will get more than one invite. Simply RSVP yes for one***

  Important Notes: If you’re going to drink please arrange a drive home with a designated driver or taxi.

Drinking and twittering or updating FaceBook should be done while seated or leaning against a bar to avoid shaky photo syndrome. Photos will be taken at the event and posted on flickr and Facebook so we would strongly suggest not wearing any lampshades on your head etc. unless that is part of your online branding strategy.

Mahony & Sons Public House http://maps.google.com/maps/

Parking – Available in the Vancouver Convention Centre or street side on Canada Place Road.

We are asking for a donation of $10 or some can food for the food bank – 100% of proceeds are donated to the food bank

This week’s installment of share-worthy social media snippets:

• I’m Not Coming Into Work Today, I’ll Be On Twitter: Gone are the days when university students, graduates and young professionals were hungry to commence their careers and earn their first buck. (Urban Times)

• Thought Leadership 2.0: Social media has opened the doorway to a whole new level of leadership and influence. Do you fit the profile? (Inc)

• 26 Promising Social Media Stats for Small Businesses: New research shows incredible opportunity for small businesses. (Social Media Examiner)

• The Blogger’s Guide to Meaningful Engagement on Facebook, Google+, and Twitter: Getting meaningful engagement with your followers isn’t easy. You can easily drown in the noise, so you need tips and tools to help you break through that noise. These ideas will help you do just that. (ProBlogger)

• 6 Best Practices for Modern SEO: If your business or blog needs to be seen and clicked, take into account the following six search engine tips. (Mashable)

Next week marks the return of the Third Wednesday SMCYVR Pub Night. EVERY MONTH, 3RD WEEK, 3RD DAY – great things happen in 3s.

This months meet up will be held in the Angel Room of the OPUS Hotel. We’ll be gathering on Wednesday, November 16, 2011 between 7 and 10 pm.  The OPUS Hotel is located at 350 Davie Street, Yaletown, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada V6B 5Z6 (map)

Please take a moment to RSVP on our Meetup page.

To keep things interesting, we will be hosting a fun photo contest leading up to the event.  In honour of the modern elegance of our host, November’s theme is simple elegance meets modern and it comes with a contest!

The Challenge: Submit photographs of what ‘elegant meets modern’  means to you via Twitter using the #smcyvrPUB tag prior to arriving. Whomever takes our favourite photo will win a $50 for Cento Notti at the Opus.

Be sure to thank our host and sponsor on Twitter. We wouldn’t be able to host these events without them!  They can be found at: @OPUShotel and @CentoNotti

* THE DECEMBER #smcyvrPUB NIGHT WILL BE REPLACED WITH THE MEETUP OF MEETUPS EVENT DETAILS TO FOLLOW*

RESULTS: