On Thursday, May 6th Arlene Dickinson spoke about ‘The Future of Social Media’ to a room full of surprisingly dressy (I thought we would see more artsy and/or jeans and blazer type Calgarians, there sure were a bunch of suits) marketing related professionals, put on by the Calgary Chapter of the Canadian Marketing Association.
Strange topic for Arlene Dickinson? I think so, she is clearly a marketing expert – no question, but Arlene on Social Media (SM)? She started the night off by indicating it was an odd topic for the CMA to ask her to speak about.I follow @ArleneDickinson on Twitter, she posts several times a day, but one thing that is evident is that she doesn’t engage with her audience, and that is what SM is all about, engaging, and that is what she told us throughout her talk. But then again – she already has a TV show….maybe there is not enough time in the day to do it all!
A shocking stat from the night, when asked how many people in the room were on Twitter – less than 25% of the people in the room raised their hands. We are marketers, we should be testing all the tools, Arlene was adamant about that, “because I don’t want someone talking for me”. “We can’t keep up with most of it, but we have to participate with most of it”.
Arlene pointed out that an established online presense (that includes social media) can help balance some of the negative online talk about brands.
I would rate the event an 8.5 out of 10. The room (Palliser Hotel) was nice, but it was a long room so the tables were far back, there was a screen at the front of the room that I hoped would project Arlene’s image out to us, but it was not used, so Arlene was very far away and it was difficult to see her.
Arlene was kind, honest and very humble. “Calgary should be proud of our marketing talent” was a message she hit on several times, noting that Canadian marketers need to believe in themselves and tell the world that we are here, and we can market!
I found that hypocritical when we hit the Q&A session, when asked “what has made you the icon you are today” Arlene struggled to answer that, she quietly and humbly said “I don’t know the answer to that question, a bit of luck and being in the right place at the right time”.
Really? It may have more to do with hard work, intelligence and determination! Arlene, Arlene, Arlene we don’t believe it was luck 
After the talk and the Q&A she stayed after the event and spoke with many attendees. The best laugh of the night….
When asked by a young entrepenuer: “Arlene what advice could you give to yourself when you were just starting your entrepreneurial efforts?”
Arlene responded: “Don’t get married”.
The room broke into laughter, and I have to say Arlene has one of those laughs that just makes you laugh even more.A tweet from Arlene during dinner:
I spoke with a colleague that works at a very successful local advertising agency, his comments “she was preaching to the choir”. That is true, I would have preferred to hear about her personal stories of entrepreneurship and what she has learnt, but she was still delightful and hit home the reason to have a personal online presence that YOU own.
As it goes with most events, it is the interaction with other attendees that can put the icing on the cake. I was able to meet up with a handful of colleagues (thank you Twitter!), and I also lucked out and sat at a great table, we had a great night, and connected with some pretty cool people. A fabulous night.
Thank you Calgary CMA, Arlene and my Twitter connections.
Follow on Arlene on Twitter.
Follow Canadian Marketing Association on Twitter
by Shannon Shannon Bowen-Kelsick (sbk)
Twitter: @sbkelsick
contact me: sbk@sbkelsick.com
