with Tara Hunt of "Citizen Agency"

Workshop Outline

NB: All workshop passes include FREE entry into the 2009 Fuel Conference on Tuesday June 23rd

Everyone knows about blogs and social networks such as Facebook and Twitter. And they've heard about someone who has used them to grow a huge customer base. Everyone wants to be hands-on, grass roots and interactive. But what does this mean? And more to the point, how do you do it?

The Whuffie Factor will traverse the landscape of Web 2.0 and show you how to become a player, it is not just another workshop about online marketing.

NB: Refreshments and a generous lunch are provided

What Will the Workshop Cover?

People see the huge business potential of the online world and the first impulse is: let's throw a bunch of money at it. To which Tara Hunt says: "Stop! Money isn't the capital of choice in online communities, it is Whuffie - social capital‚ how to raise it is the heart of this workshop."

In the Web 2.0 world, market capital flows from having high social capital. Without Whuffie you lose your connections and any recommendation you make will be seen as spam, met with negative reactions and a loss of social capital. This workshop will provide the strategic map and specific tactics for success in the lucrative, but strange and elusive world of online communities.

Who Should Attend?

Web site owners, community managers, web start-up founders and anyone interested in building a strong, vibrant and effective community around their web site and company.

What Will You Learn?

Registration & Coffee: 8:15 - 9:00am

What the heck is Whuffie and how will it help my business?

• The Whuffie story
• The changing marketplace: markets are conversations
• The power of community marketing

Principle #1: Turning the Bullhorn Around

• How to turn the bullhorn around: creating an open environment for feedback
• Looking outwards - 10 easy steps
• The 8 powerful rules to responding to feedback
• Sharing of feedback stories

Coffee Break: 10:30 - 10:45

Principle #2: Becoming Part of the Community You Serve

• Key to building community
• The tools and how to use them: blogging, vlogging, podcasting, twitter, etc
• Depositing and withdrawing from your Whuffie account
• Discussion on the tools of the trade

Principle #3: Creating Amazing Customer Experiences

• How to create amazing customer experiences
• 11 tips on how to be remarkable
• Discussion on how your favourite companies are remarkable

Lunch is provided: 12:30 - 14:00

Principle #4: Embracing the Chaos

• The benefits to becoming so open it hurts
• 11 ways to help you feel much better about embracing the chaos
• Discussion of how you embrace the chaos

Principle #5: Finding Your Higher Purpose

• What is a higher purpose and how does one get one?
• 5 ways to find your higher purpose
• Discussion on how you are going to find your higher purpose

Coffee Break: 15:30 - 15:45

What Next? Practical Applications

• Four stages of community
• The entrepreneur's Whuffie checklist
• Workshopping your own business plans

Q & A: 17:00 - 17:30

• Discussion on topics of your choice

Social: 18:00 - till late

What You'll Walk Away With

The Legendary Carson Workshops Survival Kit

Each attendee will receive this amazing kit, which is chock full of useful tips and resources. We'll also be placing valuable tools on the disc as well!

Best Practice Advice

There will also be a section covering best practice plus a full set of presentation slides from the day

Practical Knowledge

We're not going to bore you with theory. You will receive practical training that focuses on information that you can immediately incorporate into your business.

Who's Presenting?

Tara Hunt is co-founder of Citizen Agency.

She is a leading authority on online communities‚ how they are our changing culture and how businesses can adapt effectively to this new environment. She specializes in community marketing‚ delighting and enchanting the people in the communities a company serves through product, communication and experience.

Community marketing is not about pushing messages or creating strong brands, but building relationships and engaging communities. Tara is an expert in using the tools and the opportunities of the participatory web to create and improve business relationships of all kinds.

Tara is the author of "The Whuffie Factor: Using the Power of Social Networks to Build Your Business" (due in mid 2009), an insightful and practical guide to connecting with the online communities that matter to your business in ways that enrich you both. Tara is co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer of Citizen Agency, an Internet consultancy specializing in community-centric strategies around product research, design, development and marketing.

She has 11+ years experience in web design, 8 years in online marketing and 4+ years of blogging on HorsePigCow. She is a frequent speaker on the subject of marketing and community building at technology conferences, including Mesh, ETech and Web 2.0 Expo and The Future of Web Apps

Photo credit: Lane Hartwell http://www.fetching.net

The Venue - RIBA London

Carson Workshops take place home of the Royal Institute of British Architects located at 66 Portland Place London. Centrally located it's only a ten minute walk from Oxford Circus or Great Portland Street Underground stations and is considered an Art Deco landmark in the heart of the West End, offers every kind of venue in a single, spectacular building. Workshops take place in the Wren Room located on the sixth floor which offers amazing panoramic views across central London and beyond.

Find out more about RIBA: http://www.architecture.com/RIBAVenues/RIBAVenues.aspx