This Week in Social Media is proud to present Robert Tercek’s speech from the Casual Connect Conference, entitled “Beyond Play: Gaming in the Connected Age.” As innovation, adaptability, and creativity become increasingly important, applied game theory moves beyond entertainment to open a huge market that will reward companies that are willing to engage an active audience. Robert shares his insights into the startling evolution of gamification. TIMECODES 00:00 Introduction 01:00 Topic for the day: Games Everywhere, and why Robert is a skeptic 02:28 Jeopardy Online; taking traditional games online and why some take off, some don’t 04:30 How games reflect our times 06:09 The most popular game in the world: CityVille 8:49 Where’s the game in CityVille? Giving gifts! 9:39 Zynga’s ’spamming model’ 10:40 Social obligation and social gaming 12:00 Zynga’s symbiotic, but captive, relationship with Facebook 12:49 Gamification sucks! What are we talking about when we talk about gamification. 15:20 Gamification is the datamining business 15:44 Jane McGonigal’s Vision 17:00 Idealists vs. Realists 18:58 Pointification of Life and BF Skinner 21:30 Foursquare+Groupon+Zynga= Giant Habitrail 23:00 TaskRabbit 23:50 An appeal to game developers to do better 24:10 Convergent technology 25:10 Apple has enough cash to buy all the other mobile companies 26:30 The collapsing cycle of innovation 29:00 Augmented reality 32:30 The “One Ring” of social gaming= NFC 34:50 60% of what is purchased on …

What is good about social networking sites?

Sites such as: facebook/myspace/twitter. What are some reasons why they could be considered good?

I just want to create a social networking site, one where it is different than Twitter or Facebook. I just want to create one for my school, to help us connect more differently.

Where would I even begin?

I really like facebook, and I really like twitter, but I don’t like all the games on facebook. Are there any social networking sites between them?

At Social Media Energy, we have a five-step process to develop your social media presence. Its not just about having a Facebook fan page or twitter account, but about having a voice within these social media outlets and maintaining a sense of purpose. Its not enough to just do it anymore, but doing it strategically and with reason. This is a fluid process that takes time and energy and is continuously evolving. Devoting proper resources to social media is essential today, let us help. Listen What are people currently saying about your company or brand? Is it what you want them to be saying? What kind of image do you have in the eyes of the consumer? Socialize – Collaborate with our Social Media Professionals to introduce or change your presence on Facebook, twitter, and YouTube. Respond to what people are saying about you. Find that sense of purpose and create a voice for your company that is both relevant to business goals and strategic in action. Reach Getting closer to the consumer shows your company is human and within reach for your audience. Maintaining this relationship shows your company or brand has experience and will create a community following. Change – Adapt. Be proactive in organizational transformation. Voice your business processes. Measure How is social media affecting ROI? In what areas do you need to step up or modify? Then, start all over and keep listening. Contact us TODAY: www.SocialMediaEnergy.com

www.socialmediapathways.com Drive customers and fans to your business, celebrity or endeavour with The Holy Trinity of Social Media Marketing. How to use Facebook Fan Pages, Twitter, and Your Blog to create maximum internet present for your website. Get more details on how you can use The Holy Trinity of Social Media Marketing at Social Media Pathways.

Mel Carson, Microsoft Advertising, interviews Mary Luangrath, Head Cupcakeologist / Owner, Foiled Cupcakes, on the subject of social media business value at SES New York 2009. Foiled Cupcakes launched its business in June of 2009, and has since only used social media applications to drive sales of its cupcakes. The company was able to surpass its projected sales by more than 600%. Mary said her company collaborated with its fans, reaching out to consumers, and building support behind the brand and not necessarily having to do with the topic of cupcakes. In November of 2009, Marie decided to forgo sending out holiday greeting cards and instead tweeted about her donating cupcakes to various charities, which led to a flood effect, whereby 12 other Chicago-based restaurateurs donated to charities. To learn more about Foiled Cupcakes, please visit: www.foiledcupcakes.com To learn more about speaking at SES, please visit: www.searchenginestrategies.com

The coming of Oprah and Ashton Kutcher to Twitter brought a whole new meaning to the way the social site is perceived today and will be perceived in the future, according to social media expert Chris Brogan. He relates the situation to when the telephone came about saying that with Twitter, some will reject the service after a time, but there will still be newcomers anxious to get involved.

www.StopWritingOnMyWall.com Behind the scenes filming at a Social Media Addicts Association meeting, with members discussing the problems caused by their addiction in graphic detail. Be warned – this is harrowing viewing, not for the faint hearted!

Sit on my Facebook and I’ll whack you up the Twitter. Financially. Update: Thanks for all the comments on this, folks. A lot of people claim that they know this guy. There is no actual guy, hes an amalgam of a hundred different half-assed guru-wannabes Ive encountered online and in real life. For every one good guy, there seems to be ten cowboys. I found the tools for this post here: (duckrabbit.info so if you havent already followed the duckrabbit crowd, do. Enjoy playing with xtranormal.com its a cracking little tool.. Markham Nolan Freelance Journalist www.twitter.com/markhamnolan www.expad.ie