Tiaras and Tears: The problem with the Female Social Media Guru UK Award
You may have caught my previous thoughts on women being under-represented at industry events. So while it’s fantastic to see Social Glue initiate a Female Social Media Guru UK Award it caused a few rumblings and raised some questions for me…
Couldn’t we just recognise these women amongst their peers [male & female]. I think this is the heart of the problem the award is attempting to address.
Jamie has justified thus:
This is a debate we have had over the last few weeks. You are right there should be no division on gender but if you look at speaker panels there clearly is. Hopefully this combats the problem.
The “you missed off so-and-so” outcry was almost certainly due to lack of criteria [it seems to be just something to do with the internet and having a vagina being female] and probably a misconception there’s only a small number of fantastic women in Social Media.
I also found the later ranking of all nominees, with number of votes displayed, in poor taste.
I don’t want to get too down on Jamie. It was intended to address a very real issue and was well intentioned but comparing these women across their diverse areas is bit like like apples and oranges.
Here’s some of my faves and the areas where I think they are Social Media gurus. I’m pleased some of them made the list.
How not to run a social media conference in London
Another day, another event, another load of griping online. If you’re planning a social media conference in London here’s some common complaints distilled into tips for doing it well.
Is Skittles risking their online reputation?
The marketing community is full of praise for Skittles’ Social Media campaign. The company has handed over Skittles.com to UGC communities and are seeing what happens.
Sound risky? Well as Econsultancy’s Chris Lake suggested
“It appears to be an extension of the old adage about there being no such thing as bad PR.”
While right now most people seem to be generating warm fuzzy feelings around the brand it could all go horribly wrong. I asked one of my clients, moderation specialists Tempero, for their thoughts and received a perhaps surprising response suggesting more companies should look at putting their brands into the hands of consumers – in moderation of course.
Read after the jump to see what MD, Dominic Sparkes, had to say.
About:
I'm Darika Ahrens and I help brands develop marketing strategies for Social Media.
My background is in Public Relations for companies like Orange, Microsoft, Philips, HTC, Yell.com, and Estee Lauder. I've worked with and trained some of the UK's top agencies.
In 2009 the Financial Times referred to me as "a new breed of business matchmaker" due to my network of contacts and way I work creating bespoke teams to deliver projects.