A compilation of predictions for 2011 social media trends from some of the best experts on the web.

“It will become increasingly apparent that many of the functions of a corporation can be duplicated outside a corporation by new vetted social media applications.  Networks of people will become “corporations” and trade knowledge assets through the trade of virtual currency contracts.”  -Dan Robles, Conversational Currency

“Ongoing privacy issues will lead to a tightening up on the key social media sites and a universal legislation developed. This will primarily deal with the increasing attacks on our privacy due to the amount of information we’re putting out and who owns this.”  -Natalie Sisson, The Suitcase Entrepreneur

“But even if WikiLeaks itself gets shut down, we’re going to see the rise of “leakification” in journalism, and more importantly we’ll see a number of new media entities, not just mirror sites, that will model themselves to serve whistle blowers — WikiLeaks copycats of sorts.”  -Vadim Lavrusik, Mashable

“There are a number of great companies and apps currently experimenting with (or betting their business on) QR codes, and I predict that we’ll see a great deal more in QR territory in the coming year, including greater brand integration in print magazines, more consistent use in outdoor media, and even some clever mashups of QR codes, gamification and social commerce.”  -Stephanie Schwab, Social Media Explorer

“In the coming year, gaps in our video experience will be filled with the integration of filtering, tagging, editing and locating tools into each and every video feed. Both companies and consumers will increasingly rely on video to provide information and behavioral cues that are not otherwise present in texts, tweets and status updates, making video a critical component of the value chain for its impact on shaping people’s’ perception about companies and about each other.”  -Ravit Lichtenberg, Ustrategy.com

“Open source publishing application WordPress will become the platform of choice. Why? It makes it easier for websites to implement search-engine optimization at little to no cost with plug-ins, which add specific capabilities to software applications.”  -Starr Hall, Entrepreneur

“Blogs are an imperative part of the social space, allowing companies to generate branded content that can be used as fodder across social mediums. If your company has a blog, your social media agency should have a large role in the content creation, the editorial calendar, the site design and more. In 2011, I predict we’ll see more companies turning to agencies for help with their blog strategy and management and more agencies trying to integrate this into their services.”  -Callen, Don’t Drink the Kool-Aid Blog

“As competition heats up in the form of cheaper, smarter phones and an assortment of tablets that may hit the market, technology consumers will come one step closer to being connected 24/7, and in more powerful ways than previously possible. Social networking will be on the go, out of the house, and out of the office. More competition, variety, power, and affordability in devices will fuel the increase of ubiquitous social computing.”  -David Armano, Harvard Business Review

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SB: How do you think you can leverage your knowledge of the “old” ad world to modern advertising and its ever-changing trends?

CT: Some things never change. Brands will always want to be on the tips of everyone’s tongue. At the same time, consumers will always want to be entertained, to be given something to talk about. To fill all those awkward silences with their loved ones. Today we merely have a more various and sophisticated set of tools with which to do this. Which of course makes it all the more fun.

SB: When did you begin your involvement with social media?

CT: Despite my best efforts to introduce social media back in the 1960′s, the whole thing didn’t really catch on until a few years ago. I myself first set up my Facebook account back in March of this year.

SB: Describe your social media “approach”.

CT: My social media approach is to try to unite a wide and disparate group of people (namely those who work in or around the advertising world) through participation in something both intriguing and fun. What I have learnt is that people are very proud indeed of working in the advertising arena. It is an industry with a richly creative and highly influential history. I offer people a way of feeling an even closer connection to this advertising history, whilst also offering them an active role in its future.

SB: You have a pretty large following on social media (namely, Facebook).  What steps did you go to attaining this popularity?

CT: People love a story. A narrative. From day one of my social media life I gave people more than just a random smattering of advertising wisdom. I let them into the story of my unfolding life, and burgeoning advertising comeback.

SB: What led you to start this online recruitment search?

CT: T&T’s success will depend entirely on participation and involvement from talented people. It is important to recruit people in a semi-formal way, even within the fluid world of social media.

SB: What has the response been like?

CT: Overwhelming.

SB: What is the most interesting response you have received so far?

CT: Each and every response has been fascinating. I particularly enjoy receiving applications from students. Anyone looking for their first break. One curious character sent me a 10 minute animation about her love of chickens.

SB: Have there been any offensive submissions?

CT: Not a single one.

SB: What kind of talent do you hope to find through this search?  Are you looking to collect a large pool of individuals or just a select few?

CT: A large pool of anyone hungry to do something different.

SB: What is in the works for Trunchpole & Trunchpole?

CT: T&T will soon have the largest, most diverse and most talented creative department of any agency on the planet. As well as recruiting individuals through social media I have also formed strategic partnerships with a number of the most prestigious advertising colleges in the world. Phase one of the return of T&T is almost complete.

SB: Where will your headquarters be located?

CT: T&T headquarters is wherever I happen to be.

Take some time to check out Cornelius’ blog for T&T HERE.  You can also follow him on Facebook HERE as well as Press Kitchen.

It’s pretty obvious as we head into the holiday shopping season that there are no shortage of sales to be had. With Black Friday and “Cyber Monday,” shoppers are encouraged to make their purchases on the spot in order to get the best deals before they are gone.

To keep this incentive for immediate purchases, many brands are turning to online sample sales to sell their merchandise or services at a discount for a limited time (typically one or two days). With the recent nationwide Gap sale, Groupon has moved up as a front-runner in this daily sale phenomenon. Local Groupon participant iFlyHollywood offered a 56% discount on 2 Indoor Skydiving Flights and accompanying DVD which sold to 1,299 Angelinos. Their Groupon experience not only increased their local name recognition (even among those Groupon members who did not purchase their offer) but also saw increased sales after their Groupon participation.

Highlights of some of the most popular Daily Sales:

Fashion:

• Hautelook: Each day, HauteLook offers discounts of 50 to 75 percent off millions of members in the U.S. and Canada. Membership is free to join and everyone is welcome.
• RueLaLa:  Rue La La is an exciting new division of Retail Convergence, Inc., a portfolio of e-commerce companies leveraging a common technology platform, customer database, and management team to revolutionize online shopping.
• Ideeli:  ideeli is the fastest-growing online members-only shopping site in the U.S. Our 3 million members enjoy limited-time sales featuring the most sought-after brands across the categories of apparel, accessories, home, beauty, travel and kids. Each event is designed by ideeli editors to offer an exclusive shopping opportunity with new brands featured each day at up to 80% off.
• Gilt Group: Gilt Groupe provides invitation-only access to highly coveted products and experiences at insider prices. Each day, Gilt offers its members a curated selection of merchandise, including apparel, accessories and lifestyle items across the women’s, men’s and children’s categories. In addition, we provide the best in home décor and entertaining essentials, along with luxury travel packages and fantastic offers on local services and experiences.
• Swirl:  Swirl is an online sample sale site created in partnership with DailyCandy. What this means for you: clothing and accessories from the world’s best designers, from up-and-coming buzzmakers to our favorite established brands, at 80% off.

Local Services:

• Groupon:  Groupon features a daily deal on the best stuff to do, see, eat and buy in a variety of cities across the U.S., Canada, Europe and soon beyond.
• Living Social:  LivingSocial connects customers to cool stuff. In addition to our popular Facebook apps—Pick5 and Visual Bookshelf—we also offer daily deals to the best places in your city, so you can: Try new things without breaking the bank, support local businesses and hang out with your friends, guilt free.
• Deal On:  DealOn provides its members with access to unique offers from the most reputable local merchants and vendors. The DealOn staff works hard scouring each city for unique venues, offers and experiences.

• Daily Candy:  DailyCandy editors scour the corners of the U.S. and London to deliver the very best in style, food, fashion and fun fro free via e-mail, video and the Web. Tuesday’s DailyCandy Deals features special sales (always at least 25% off!) and promotions exclusively for DailyCandy subscribers.
• Yelp: Yelp was founded to help people find great local businessed like dentists, hair stylist and mechanics. In addition to reviews, you can use Yelp to find events, special offers, lists and talk with other Yelpers.

I have recently started to realize (and subsequently, NOT appreciate) the amount of methods through which I can be contacted.  In a given day I am sending and receiving messages through my personal e-mail, alumni e-mail, work e-mail, Blackberry Messenger, text messages, Facebook messages, Facebook chat, Twitter, g-chat, AIM and maybe the occasional smoke signal or paper airplane.  It’s not that I want to be cut off from communication; I actually quite enjoy a good amount of interpersonal relations throughout my day.  What really bothers me is how difficult it seems to keep up with all the messages on the numerous amounts of platforms that keep piling up.

This is the type of problem that the new Facebook messaging system, announced at a special presentation by Mark Zuckerberg yesterday in San Francisco, seeks to solve.  The new system, which has been referred to by some as “Facebook e-mail” is modeled more like a chat than an e-mail.  Messages can be sent to users across multiple platforms (e-mail, cell phone, etc.) in real time.  The innovative system will also allow you to control your privacy settings to not only block spam, but also prioritize the messages in your inbox.  The platform will be rolled out slowly by invitation over the next couple of months, and you can request an invitation to participate here: http://www.facebook.com/about/messages/

“Social media is like a snowball rolling down the hill. It’s picking up speed. Five years from now, it’s going to be the standard.” – Jeff Antaya, chief marketing officer of Plante Moran

“Twitter is like a tragically hip New York night club. It is a cool, easy way for companies to engage customers in social media. But the experience can be loud and crowded.” – Bob Warfield, CEO of Helpstream

“Every year the Web offers up hundreds of new experimental services and ideas, and while you don’t have time to try them all, if you’re able to pinpoint the applications with the most traction, your early adopter status will come with long-term rewards.” – Jennifer Van Grove, editor & social media strategist

“Quit counting fans, followers and blog subscribers like bottle caps. Think, instead, about what you’re hoping to achieve with and through the community that actually cares about what you’re doing.” – Amber Naslund, Social Media Today

“The value of being connected and transparent is so high that the roadbumps of privacy issues are much lower in actual experience than people’s fears.” – Reid Hoffman, founder and executive chairman of LinkedIn

“Innovation needs to be part of your culture. Consumers are transforming faster than we are, and if we don’t catch up, we’re in trouble.” – Ian Schafer, CEO of Deep Focus

“ATA – be AUTHENCTIC, be TRANSPARENT, be ALTRUISTIC, and you will find enough success in social media to have a satisfying career and experience.” – Nils Montan, Contributor at Business Week

“Businesses used to have a small suggestion box near the door that mostly housed dust bunnies and an occasional piece of gum. Rarely would someone get back to you. But people can now make a post from an iPhone or a BlackBerry while they’re sitting in your restaurant.” – Charles Nelson, President of Sprinkles Cupcakes president

“Text is a very free and abstract notion. We learn a lot about people through text where we wouldn’t through speech because it’s harder to crystalize what you want to say verbally. With text, you can compose yourself a bit more. If you make it more immediate, you make it more transparent because people are updating all of the time and they are in more of the moment.” -Jack Dorsey, Twitter Founder

“It’s about creating new market opportunities. Giving users new ways to be creative…We see our technology as a platform for other things.” – Chad Hurley, YouTube Founder

“People have really gotten comfortable not only sharing more information and different kinds, but more openly and with more people – and that social norm is just something that has evolved over time.” – Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook Founder

Creating a relevant and engaging social media campaign is much like packing an enticing and delicious lunch for a child to take to school.  Children often tend to have fickle palates, but can also be persuaded if you proceed with caution.  The same can be said for the fans/followers of your social media campaign.  Here is a recipe for building the perfect lunch as aligned with a seamless social media campaign:

1. 1/3 Main Course: The Ham and Cheese on wheat or the bagel sandwich of your lunch should be postings about the actual work that your company is doing.  This can include postings about finished products that your company has produced as well as news about projects that your company is currently working on.
2. 1/3 Healthy Foods: The carrots, strawberries and apples of your lunch should be your company’s postings about your employees as related to the business that you are in, press hits, industry events attended, postings of links to articles relevant to your industry etc.  These postings should reflect your industry expertise and viewpoints.
3. 1/3 Treats: The candy, chips and cupcakes of your lunch should be the content that you post that is not specifically related to the work that your company is doing.  For example: posts about your company’s favorite local lunch spots, pictures from inside the office, and postings about other news as relating to your company culture (i.e. Company kickball team, book club, etc.)

In our consumption-focused society (especially here in Los Angeles!) it is extremely important to each do our best to lessen our negative impact on the environment.  So we’ve decided to step out of our typical social media related posts and talk about simple ways that we have found to be more eco-friendly in the workplace:

1. Use hand towels in the restroom instead of disposable paper products.  If your office restroom goes through too high of a volume of people in a typical day, try to get paper products made from recyclable materials.
2. Use glasses instead of paper cups for water.  Consider buying company-branded glasses or mugs that each employee can be given and may re-use for daily use.  You could also encourage your employees to bring their own glasses/cups from home.
3. Separate your recycling.  It sounds so simple, so it is really amazing how so many people DON’T do it.  Make sure that the recycling bin is located near the trash, so that employees may not use laziness as an excuse for not recycling!
4. Re-use scratch paper.  We all make printing mistakes, but throwing away the paper only creates more waste.  Reuse the paper for printing that will stay within the office or cut up the paper and use the blank side to create note paper.
5. Turn things OFF.  When the last person leaves the office at the end of the day, ensure that all lights and equipment are off in order to conserve energy.
6. Encourage employees to bring their lunches in re-usable containers.  Instead of using plastic bags, encourage employees to use tupperware to transport their homemade midday treats.
7. Use nontoxic and organic cleaning products.  Product lines like Seventh Generation and Method can be found at any local grocery store.

If your office is not eco at all–don’t stress–start by adding one green initiative a month and you are already making great strides toward lessening your carbon footprint!