Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/33429
Gans sums up by paraphrasing Face- book’s founder:“As Mark Zuckerberg has said — it’s the re-architecting of society in every sector. And we are seeing that in media, and the more we all talk and be part of building that, it’s a good thing.” JUMP JumpLA’s executive producer Damon Webster might be a relatively new hire, but he is not new to commercial work or to using social media to create a community or promote a brand. After nine years at Saatchi & Saatchi, LA, where he was director of advertising pro- duction, Webster started www.photoin- duced.com, a broadband channel Website that evolved into a social networking site for professional photographers and enthusiasts that includes news, reviews and shared in- formation. For the past four months he has been executive producer at the LA branch of the bi-coastal editing house Jump (www.jumpla.tv). “After many years in professional broad- cast, I have been steeped in new media for the past six years,” he explains. “In addition to my Website, I have two Twitter feeds and two Facebook pages; I built a business using every bit of social media that I could.” Feed- back from those accounts taught him how to better use social media, he says. Webster will put these skills to work at JumpLA. He acknowledges that while the studio had a Facebook presence since be- fore he arrived,“we are building that to get where we should be.”The studio is currently looking at all the different ways to expand its presence in the social media world. “Social media gets down to a very old model,” he says. “It’s still,‘Can you deliver the eyeballs or ears, and can you convert them?’ Sometimes you just want to know that the brand has been heard.” But Webster wants to make sure those hearing the message care enough to come back. “If you can set your company up as having a particular or unique insight into the business, then it becomes a destination, not just white noise — you can’t just talk about our guy just did this or that project… so un- less it’s something relevant to the commu- nity, don’t bother.” Webster often shares cool event hap- penings and restaurant suggestions on his personal Twitter feed. His intention is to do the same with JumpLA.“It’s a great way to share the personality of the company with the community. Maybe I’ll be telling you about an event that’s relevant and that helps you get a sense of what we like as a studio. WheresSpot: an online community for ad pros EW YORK — A decade ago, Perry Schaffer and Michael Porte co-founded WheresSpot (http://wheresspot.com), a social media resource for the advertising community. Both have deep roots in the commercial business and under- stood how important trusted profes- sional referrals are to the ad industry. Each job brings new teams, technical challenges and a mountain of research. What if there was a way to share real- time information with experienced producers and talents from around the country? From this core idea, WheresSpot was born. WheresSpot’s original format was as an email list-serve. Since then, Schaffer and Porte created and dis- carded a number of social media plat- forms, some from scratch and others carefully selected to use the best on- line communication tools available as a platform for its members with an evolution in step with social media. “We’ve been keeping an eye on so- cial media trends before there was a term to describe it” says Porte.“WheresSpot began before there was Facebook or Twitter, but we knew that conversation was the only way to build the community.” Schaffer adds:“We have never been afraid to re- imagine the role and capabilities of WheresSpot.At one time,we had a team of programmers and moder- ators keeping track of each post, and building social tools that hadn’t yet been invented.We saw smart — and better capitalized — people working on the same kinds of ideas and decided WheresSpot would live in the places frequented by people every day.” Accordingly, today’s community lives on the Face- book,Twitter, LinkedIn and Ning platforms — provid- ing different kinds of resources within each. Facebook seems to be the current favorite.With Facebook, par- Maybe it’s a screening party. “As I now go out and try to put a slightly different face on what JumpLA is, the goal is to let people know we don’t just cut :30 spots;we edit content in a variety of formats.” One way they might do that, says Web- ster, is with a screening party or Tweeting out a question about the studio, and the first 10 people who respond correctly win a prize. “It’s a great means of promotion and engaging people. I think there is a certain skill set in using those 140 characters.” Webster recognizes that in order to be successful in social media, you have to be a regular user of social networks. “Everyone communicates this way these days, through ticipants have the opportunity to easily post videos, links and images and invite commentary from others. This curatorial aspect to the WheresSpot content has added a layer of connectedness to its members who Perry Schaffer and Michael Porte have made sure WheresSpot has evolved right along with social media trends. are able to celebrate the great and even deride the bad, within the ad world. Members from all stripes within the advertising in- dustry — agencies, production companies, edit houses and supporting vendors — can post queries relating to needs and resources.WheresSpot is a unique place where producers can crowd-source their needs and find solutions that would otherwise elude them. “All the stories we’ve heard about people who have gotten jobs and made significant connections has been very gratifying,” concludes Schaffer.“And we have heard serious stories: directors getting major five-fig- ure jobs; productions staffed like entirely thru WS; one gent with an audio post business who virtually built a business off one post! I’ve even gotten a job or two as a rep (my day job).” a mobile app or online or on Vimeo or YouTube or whatever, and if a post house has an understanding of all those screens and actually uses them,” they can be success- ful in this realm. He stresses his point, “I’m not a gamer, but I make sure I know how to use every gaming platform available.” Being up to date on what is out there is key.Webster spoke at SXSW last year about interactive.“Three years ago the big word was Twitter, last year it was FourSquare, and this year it was a concept: play.This ties into apps like FourSquare,” he says.“People check in and then you get points between you and your friends.You don’t win anything but you are playing.” www.postmagazine.com May 2011 • Post 29 N