A guest post by Tana McNicol

A couple weeks back, I got offered tickets to a full-day conference called Social Media Unplugged. It was the same day as my son’s birthday, so I couldn’t go, but the organizers generously offered me two tickets to give away (check the comments section, btw, for some great social media tips!). Tana McNicol, a recent student of mine, won the tickets, and I asked her to write about her experience.

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This year’s Social Media + Marketing Unplugged (#smunplugged) at the Segal Graduate School of Business was a must see. Here are a few takeaways from this amazing conference.

Lindsay Smith CEO of Massive Media believes Google+ is not a social network, but rather, a social information network which allows us to cut through the clutter. Google is not trying to be Facebook. Facebook is a place to connect with friends and reach groups of people. With Google + we can build network circles of people with common interests, like a friends group, business group, or co-worker group, and we have the ability to share many different messages with many different groups. We have the ability to send specific information to these segregated groups while still building our social network.

Kumiko Ide Senior Manager/Digital Strategist of Tribal DDB presented on Squareup.com. Who would have thought we could ever pay for a product or service using and iPhone? Squareup.com has processed 2 billion payments in the last 12 months and are signing up 100,000 merchants per month and 70% of those merchants previously did not accept credit cards. This is all done by downloading an app on your Android phone and attaching a credit card scanner. This is a must for small businesses: now you can use credit cards at flea markets, farm markets or even if you are a business consultant, so much better than taking a cheque! The possibilities are endless for businesses and the convenience for consumers amazing. It is easy to believe that 75% of Canadians say this has improved their shopping experience and that many merchants are increasing sales because of it.

Karyn Zuidinga CEO of Analytic Design Group told the story about Dave Carroll and the power of Social Media and United Airlines.  In 2009 a musician named Dave Carroll and his band flew with United Airlines to Chicago. While waiting to take off a passenger yelled “they’re playing with guitars out there” and to his horror employees were throwing around his guitar.  Carroll let 3 employees know while this was happening, but they apparently showed no interest. Sure enough when Carroll landed and received his guitar, it was broken. Carroll called and emailed for months and the airline said there would be no compensation for his guitar. Carroll decided to write a song and film a You Tube Video. With 12 million hits, United Airlines could not help but listen. The power of social media!