MPlanet and Citizen Journalism

Although I was not at MPlanet (I was in NY at the Fortune Innovation Forum which you can read about on my blog), I have heard a lot of good things about it. Perhaps one of the RAMA members who attended will write a personal note. But, in the meantime, I wanted to share some thoughts from the blogosphere.

Over at Marketing Shift, this report on Dennis L. Dunlap's keynote, is quite enlightening. To quote, "Understanding the customers and how best to respond to them are critical to a company's success. Clients want marketers to become their business partners and to help shape the future of the company, including the sales force." Wow. I couldn't have said it better.

Over at Small Business Branding, the subject of "the long tail" came up. To whit, "Bloggers are having ahuge amount of influence in consumer decision making. Your business is what Google says your business is (and bloggers show that). People are searching for very specific things. It's becoming necessary for businesses to gain control of this medium and generate positive word of mouth in the blogosphere." Wow.

From there, I went to Ann Handley's blog (who knew?) from Marketing Profs, where this quote really jumped out at me, "Any event that sees the wisdom of marketing to bloggers is tops in my book!" The bolding is hers, not mine. I wish I could have been there to meet Ann, and Roy Young. And everybody.

If you want more, hop over to Josh's blog and see his post on IBM Chairman and CEO, Sam Palmisano, deserves a serious review. Teaser quote, "Globalization is about tapping into the creative talents from across the globe, as said before, cost is not always the major factor." While you're there, check out the comment from David Kinard.

It sounds like it was a GREAT conference. If YOU were there, chime in with your input. Those of us who couldn't go are anxious to hear more.