Social Media Week: From Digital Champions To Silicon Roundabouts

I've popped into two Social Media Week events so far this week, An Audience with Martha Lane Fox, over the road at LBi, and a breakfast briefing at the Design Council called "From Silicon Roundabouts to a Silicon World over Breakfast".

However, I was too late for breakfast as it had taken me longer than expected to actually escape from Silicon Roundabout due to horrendous Tube delays on the Central line - dontcha just love Tech City, where the future's bright and the Tubes are shitty? But I digress.

Over in the East, Martha was talking digital inclusion in her capacity as Digital Inclusion Champion, though the audience was just as curious to hear about what life was like in the build-up to the lastminute.com sale at the peak of the dotcom bubble, the 2am soul searching and the breakneck speed that turned this ancient historian into a dotcom millionare and a poster child for British entrepreneurship.

Martha was pointing out that there are many reasons why almost 10 million people in the UK remain excluded from digital society ie they have no internet connection, poverty, fear and lack of technical infrastructure being three of the chief culprits.

Fascinating stuff, reminding me that Brick Lane is itself something of a dividing line - I wonder how many people on the Chicksand Estate have broadband?

This morning's event featured another charismatic founder, Wendy Tan White, founder of Moonfruit.com, who talked eloquently about her experience of using social media to build and market her own hugely successful brand.

When I spoke to her after the session, her commitment to transparency and top notch client service was clear. Ash Choudhury, from Nokia, and Mel Carson, from Microsoft, were also on the panel.

All three speakers agreed entering new territories brings significant challenges for a social media strategist and offered their insights into how these could be managed: Think global, act local; take it step by step; prepare contingency plans; be prepared to think beyond Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

All good tips and for once the eastbound Central line was running smoothly, whisking me back to Unruly HQ in time to plan for our own Social Media Week event, a global breakfast screening taking place on Friday, exploring cultural differences around social video, with contributions from China, Brazil, India, France  and the USA. And global breakfast goodies to boot. Nom nom.

By Sarah Wood