You got a case? I'll give you a free pass

I'm starting to prep for the first Starting the Conversation workshop where the Social Media Club has asked me to serve as host-moderator. The people coming are looking for real and usable stories of how social media was used to help a company.

I'm looking for recent applications of how companies of any size, doing business anywhere have used social media to get closer to their customers.

I'm not just blogging and wikis, but any social media including video, audio and community development. The more innovative the case study is the better.

If you give me a good one, I'll use it here after we talk. If you give me a great one, I'll use it in the first for workshops, citing you and your company by name.  If you happen to be geographically close to Palo Alto (June 11), New York City(June 19), Boston (June 21) or Austin (June 26), I'll give you two free passes for your case study.

If you cannot make it yourself, I'll comp one designated friend to attend for free.

Just leave a comment below--my top preference.  If you are a bit shy, then email me here.

Comments

[Chip Griffin]

The other Shel actually did a nice job of writing up a case study about CustomScoop. We sponsor the FIR podcast and it has truly become an interactive experience where we have improved our sponsor messaging, made sales, gotten product feedback, and expanded a complimentary program for educators all based on that sponsorship. He covers mostly the sponsor messaging part, but I'm happy to share some of the other details if you would find that helpful.

[Joseph A di Paolantonio]

Shel, in our consulting practice we set up blogs for gathering requirements, asking questions and providing status, a wiki for documentation, and for team building... Well, with folk contributing to the project from a variety of time zones around the globe, we can't go out to supper or Malibu Raceway or Great America, so, as an half-elf bard, I lead our group through the wonders of Everquest. More recently, we've been investigating using Second Life for meetings, and even informational displays.

[G. Kofi Annan]

Hi Shel. My company, Annansi Clothing Co. is a Africa-inspired streetwear label that has been using social media to both grow our market, raise awareness and position the brand in the minds of our customer. Though we are located in one of the most diverse cities in the world, New York City, our market is quite undeveloped and a large part of our continued successes has been due to our using the many tools to communicate with our community.

If you take a look at our new site, http://www.annansiclothing.com, you'll see that we use everyting from video, to myspace, to blogging, to newsletters in building a community and a brand. Please contact me if you're interested in hearing more about us.