A Fond Farewell to Social Media Week London
After five thrilling years, it's time for Social Media Week London’s (SMWLDN) next step and after much consideration it’s time for me and the Chinwag team to pass the baton.
The next edition taking place this September in London will be run by CrowdCentric, founders of Social Media Week and the team that runs the event in New York. It's a massive undertaking and we wish the NYC team all the best.
SMWLDN has been an incredible adventure, both for me personally and the team at Chinwag. It's not without a little nostalgia that we're wishing a fond farewell. From the first week, thinking we'd run 10 events and ending up with 35, to last year’s event last year’s event that saw over 270 events take place across the city.
The real heroes of SMWLDN is the community and I'd like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has participated and helped grow the event since its inception.
From the teams that came together each year to create the event from the 100+ advisors to 200+ event organisers to volunteers and the teams that worked on the event at Chinwag, it's been an honour to be part of this community and long may it continue.
The community is jaw-droppingly awesome. The creativity, the energy, the ability to destroy myths about British cynicism and embrace collaboration on a massive scale has been inspiring and humbling to watch.
A massive thank you to all that have supported the event over the years, an undertaking the size of SMWLDN which is mostly free-to-attend is only possible with plenty of support. A special thank you to Nokia’s Craig Hepburn for his incredibly enthusiastic support.
What next for Chinwag? Well, thanks for asking.
Since Chinwag launched in 1995, we’ve put community at the heart of what we do. Our mission is to: chat, connect and collaborate.
We've taken those words to heart embedding them in our work, whether it's the UK's first community and conference for behavioural science in business, PsychMatters or our Digital Missions helping innovate digital firms grow internationally to client work like the Open Data Institute's Annual Summit.
It's shaping up to be a busy year with Chinwag Psych on May 15 in London, November in NYC and Austin in 2015.
We're working with the Technology Strategy Board on a Trade Mission for Entrepreneurs in Robotics & Autonomous Systems to San Diego and San Francisco for entrepreneurs.
Our client projects includes both public and private collaborative events. sam
chinwag [dot] com (Get in touch) if you're interested in finding out how we can help.
Photo (cc) Pink Sherbet Photography on Flickr.
17 April 2014 by Sam Michel
Sam Michel is the founder of Chinwag and blogs here for work, and more randomly at Toodlepip. He runs Chinwag Jobs, Digital Mission and tends to focus on murky place where technology, community and marketing collide. You'll find him on twitter @toodlepip.
Sam Michel is the founder of Chinwag and blogs here for work, and more randomly at Toodlepip. He runs Chinwag Jobs, Digital Mission and tends to focus on murky place where technology, community and marketing collide. You'll find him on twitter @toodlepip.
Comments
Thanks Chinwag For Organising Social Media Week London
I'd like to thank Sam Michel, Francesca Heath, the two Laurens, + the Chinwag teams of volunteers who created the landmark week, that became central for the meeting and exchanging of insight on the emerging social media landscape - namely Social Media Week London #smwldn.
As a client side marketing guy, I needed to immerse myself 'in all things social' so I could adopt a long-term view in shaping the future for brands and the organisations that own them. Social Media Week has become a 'must do' week for me, and I am grateful for the people I've met, and the learnings I've taken away and been able to share with others.
I look forward to the continued participation in the social media community that has evolved in London around SMWLDN, and pleased to acknowledge that its participants and supporters are those who are shaking up how organisations interact with today's World. I also feel privileged to now be able to call these fellow participants 'colleagues' and 'friends'. I wish both Social Media Week and Chinwag ongoing success.
https://twitter.com/MarkBatchelor
A great journey that benefitted many
Chinwag took a chance on SMW and the whole digital community benefitted from years of hard work and brand building. Solid efforts by Sam and so many others - I have def reaped the rewards at my agency.
I look forward to seeing both brands involve and continue to offer great value.
@RajKotecha