Another insightful social media guest blog from Dan Slagen, SVP Marketing at Nanigans! Dan writes a great post about what performance marketers should focus on with Facebook. If you are interested in guest blogging e-mail me at taylor [at] mitx [dot] org.

Dan Slagen is SVP Marketing at Nanigans, the pioneering performance advertising SaaS platform that measures, predicts and optimizes ad spend for lifetime ROI across both desktop and mobile. Chosen by over 200 of the world's leading performance marketers across retail, travel, gaming and more, Nanigans has driven more than 1 billion conversions such as new customers acquired and purchases made. Prior to Nanigans, Dan led HubSpot's Global Marketing Relations team across North America, LATAM, EMEA & APAC focusing on direct response marketing, global partnerships and event management. Dan has also led marketing teams at AMP Agency, Rock Coast Media and Wayfair.

For performance marketers, Facebook changed forever this past May.

Nanigans was invited to speak at Facebook’s 2013 Global Sales Conference, in which the company provided an update to its entire sales organization about the past, present and future of Facebook marketing.

The typical agenda for these types of annual updates is to generate a lot of mystique and excitement for the curtain, which when actually drawn back doesn’t reveal anything all that new, innovative or exciting. But that’s never been the case with Facebook.

Continuing on with our June social media theme we have an insightful post from Courtney Nagle, Account Director at SHIFT Communications. Courtney discusses how social media has impacted how we communicate, seek news and measure it. If you are interested in being a guest blogger, please e-mail me at taylor [at] mitx [dot] org.

Courtney Nagle is an Account Director at SHIFT Communications, an integrated communications agency with offices in Boston, New York City and San Francisco. Courtney is based in Boston and has 13 years of experience in public relations primarily focused on technology and enterprise/B2B.  Twitter: @cnagle9397

Thirteen years ago when I first started in PR, social media was a foreign term and dial-up was the only way to connect to the Internet. I counted impressions, called reporters over the phone to confirm their address so I could send them a press kit – there were no thumb drives, no Cision and certainly no Twitter, Facebook or Pinterest… or any other social media channel for that matter. 

Continuing on with our social theme we have a post from former MITX intern Hannah Fleishman who is now over at HubSpot! Hannah discusses the evolution of the customer/brand experience on social media and their upcoming Inbound Marketing Conference. If you are interested in guest blogging e-mail me at taylor [at] mitx [dot] org.

Hannah Fleishman works at HubSpot in Media Relations and is a recent graduate of Emerson College here in Boston. Before HubSpot she interned at MITX, and grew up overseas between Italy, Germany, and Egypt. Hannah loves creating memes, giggles, word play, and lovable marketing.

Boston is home to Fenway Park, some of our country’s oldest history, Ben Affleck, Duck Tours, and a one-of-a-kind Boston Strong spirit. In more recent years, this city has watched a thriving tech marketing landscape take shelter on its shores. Or should I say ‘mah-keting’. Boston is bursting at the seams with innovative marketing companies, firms, agencies, and startups changing the game for marketers worldwide. At HubSpot, we are inspired everyday by Boston-based marketers tackling digital communication to reach their audience in inventive ways, and hope we fuel our marketing community’s burning creativity in return. That’s why I can’t think of a better home for our upcoming INBOUND conference for marketers to connect, discuss, and collaborate with one another. Seriously, I’m wicked excited.

At our 2013 Innovation Awards we had the great honor of inducting the brilliant Dr. Tom Leighton of Akamai into our Innovation Hall of Fame. Tom is a true visionary which is easy to see from the great words of his fellow colleagues in this inspiring tribute:

We are very excited to kick off a new theme for this month! June is all about social media, and we have some exciting posts coming your way. Starting it off is Michael DiLorenzo, Vice President of Audience Development at Rue La La, with a great post that shows how social media best practices apply regardless of industry. If you are interested in guest blogging e-mail me at taylor [at] mitx [dot] org.

Michael DiLorenzo is the Vice President of Audience Development for online retailer Rue La La. In addition to pioneering social media marketing for the NHL, on May 30 he celebrated five years of Tweeting (@TheRueGuy). A Boston-area native, he roots for the New York Rangers and Giants.

You started the social media marketing practice at the NHL, and now you oversee similar initiatives at Rue La La.  Should brands in such differing categories take vastly different approaches to social media?

If you are a brand using Facebook, Google, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube or any other social network, you’re really in the content business, a media company. So whether you are pushing hockey or handbags, you are shortening the distance between your brand and your consumers by serving them delightful content on the sites they most frequently traffic. 

Over time, this will build awareness, trust and authority for your brand, and, necessarily begin to drive consideration and intent.

Our last post for our May Mobile theme is from guest blogger Mike Forrester, Sales Director at Adelphic Mobile. Mike gives great insight to where mobile is going and how it's not so different from where it started. Our theme for next month is social, if you are interested in guest blogging e-mail me at taylor [at] mitx [dot] org.

Mike Forrester is a Sales Director at Adelphic Mobile focused on mobile network and programatic buying to agencies in New England & Chicago. Adelphic Mobile is based outside of Boston and backed by Google Ventures and Matrix Partners. Prior to Adelphic, Mike worked at Yahoo! Mobile focused on cross-platform and mobile network sales. Mike spent 4 and a half years at Yahoo! after seven years in sales at The Hollywood Reporter in Los Angeles. Mike is a graduate of Ithaca College. Twitter: @mikedrummer4

You may have recognized this classic line from “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”, a classic movie. This quote immediately came to mind while thinking about where mobile was going. There’s no denying the complexity of issues within the mobile ecosystem around targeting, tracking, and attribution. But innovation is moving quickly and you have to be on top of it. However, this complexity understandably causes paralysis amongst both marketers AND sellers. IDFA? SDK? Safari Flip-Flop? Wake me up when it’s figured out.

We get many questions from members about how they can get more involved with MITX and what the benefits of being a member are. So to answer these question we made this nifty infographic that has all of that info in one place! Take a look, share it, post it in your office, but most importantly get involved!  

Please note the March for Innovation event discussed in the article below already took place. We wanted to share this great article by Jeffrey Bussgang, a general partner at Flybridge Capital, originally published in Mashable, in support of immigration reform and to keep the issue top of mind.

Recently, I testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce on the topic of immigration reform. I am a former entrepreneur turned venture capitalist at Flybridge Capital Partners and also teach entrepreneurship at Harvard Business School. Like many others, I am struck by how our current broken immigration system is affecting our nation’s ability to compete on the global stage.

In my testimony, I called for the senators to support the legislation introduced by the Gang of Eight. I hope you will join me in this call to action and demand comprehensive immigration reform by going to MarchForInnovation.com. You can send a note to your senators to ask them to work together to find commonsense solutions for our immigration problems. Taking action will take only seconds of your time.

Our next mobile guest blog is by Tom Wilde, CEO of Ramp. Tom writes a great post that discusses the second screen and the impact it is having on television and in turn marketing and advertising. If you are interested in being a guest blogger please contact me at taylor [at] mitx [dot] org.

Tom Wilde is a widely recognized leader in the field of Internet search and online advertising, and prior to becoming RAMP’s CEO has held numerous leadership roles in the field including SVP/GM of the Consumer Division at domain portfolio company NameMedia, senior vice president and general manager of MIVA Inc.’s North American division, responsible for both MIVA’s U.S. online advertising network as well as the company’s consumer business, and senior operating roles managing Terra Lycos’ global search & publishing divisions. Tom has also served on the IAB Search Engine Committee and holds an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Twitter Handle: @RAMPinc

At the events RAMP has been attending this year, there has been a constant buzz around the term “second screen”. Second screen refers to the use of another device while watching television. It seems when we are watching TV, we also want to use our smartphones, laptops or tablets to use social media to react to what we’re watching, surf the web for related – and unrelated – topics, check email, and make purchases. As television viewers’ attention is pulled away from the first screen to the second screen in this age of multitasking, it follows that advertisers and marketers would want to use the second screen as a promotional tool. Second screen provides marketers a gateway to transform their advertising from interruption-driven to a contextually-relevant, engaging return on investment. Here is how second screen is providing value to advertisers:

In less than 2 weeks on Monday, June 3rd, we are celebrating everything that is great and inspiring about innovation in this region and it’s promising to be an exceptional night! Our 10th Annual Innovation Awards Ceremony is going to be one you won't want to miss.

This year we have the great honor of inducting Dr. Tom Leighton, CEO of Akamai Technologies, Inc., into the MITX Innovation Hall of Fame – an accomplished technologist, a true innovator, and a person who continues to shape and contribute to the New England innovation community. Dr. Leighton is Akamai's technology visionary and leads the senior management team in setting the company's strategic direction. His achievements earned him recognition as one of the Top 10 Technology Innovators in U.S. News & World Report. Yesterday Debi Kleiman, President of MITX, had the chance to sit down with Tom and get some insight into his views on innovation.

Debi: “Do you have advice for innovators?”
Tom: “Thinking out of the box, don’t be afraid to make mistakes, because you will make them. What matters is the idea not who said it (good ideas can come from anywhere...).”

Debi: “What inspires you?”
Tom: “Working hard on solving a difficult problem, especially if no one thinks it can be done. I love it when teams come together to work collaboratively and don’t feel constrained by traditional boundaries.”

Debi: “What do you think of innovation in Boston?”
Tom: “There is so much going on in Boston right now in tech. We have great talent, amazing universities, dedicated support organizations to provide resources, VCs and innovative entrepreneurs … you can do anything you want here!”

We couldn't be more excited to honor Tom at this year's ceremony and hope you join us on the 3rd for an exciting night. We have lots more in store as well. We will be announcing the winners of our 15 categories, as well as live on-site demos from our 45 finalists, all hosted by the wonderful Jodi Beggs.