DavidKamatoy.Guru

National Hardware Show 2010: Day 1 Sears hosts special Media reception...

Las Vegas, NV- Sears Blue tool Crew hosted a cocktail and hors d' oeuvres event for the Media. The party featured some new tools with a DJ providing the soundtrack.

It's exciting to see one of the oldest brands in the United States

SEARS embracing Social Media. 

 

The real story was the showcasing of the new Sears Blue Tool Crew a sort of Handyman Hotline to get your questions answered for anything having to do with a HARDWARE product bought at Sears. A life line for tools, a GEEK Squad for Screwdrivers...

The team demonstrated logging into the website and requesting help. Within minutes the phone ideally rings with an attendant ready to interact and answer questions.

Dan McClellan and I had a chance to talk with the leads of the division, social media and the PR company taking the lead. 

Sears is taking an aggressive stance and embracing the social media model of interacting with their customers via phone, email and social media. They are utilizing many of the strategies that we talk about on "Blog This With David Kamatoy" and implement with Kamatoy Media Group and our assorted projects: No More Geysers, jugglemail, and CraigGFrancis.com.

We captured some footage today and are planning on interviewing a few more of the principals tomorrow.

• Bill Kiss, Chief Marketing Officer
• S.D. Light SVP- Tools & Hardware

It's exciting to see one of the oldest BRANDS in the United States embracing Social Media. 

So stay tuned because it's clear that we are collectively re-writing the play-book as we go...

We invite you to follow MySears...

Twitter: http://twitter.com/mysears

Website: http://www.mysears.com/

Facebook:http://www.facebook.com/SearsBlueToolCrew

Fun Fact: Sears founded in 1886

Social Networking: From Virtual to Real Relationships

San Diego,Ca- Stephanie Herrmann and the team at Rescue put together the "Tweetup" at the National Hardware Show. Essentially it was a networking session for the people that got to know each other online using Twitter at the National Hardware Show tagged as "#NHS09" on Twitter. While attendance was small real relationships were created.

It was a unique experience to get to know people virtually from twitter messages and blogs. Rapport seemed to happen quickly and there was a genuine desire to see if we could support each other.

"It's like online dating for entrepreneurs."

 One of the more confusing things about social networking is the ability to understand how it converts to a more traditional relationship. We see a lot of people treating Twitter like a FREE ADVERTISING space which while valid needs to me tempered with personal updates, tips, insights otherwise you will be treated like SPAM.

Getting your twitter connected to a blog or at least a landing page or contact page with an email is one of the best ways to help convert to a traditional relationship. In addition if you don't want your larger conversations searched by Google, it's best to do this.

At the point that it seems like an actual conversation further than 140 characters is needed. Request and send contact informtion or a landing page with that contact information listed. Remember to create your email address as a link not as searchable text on a page. That's the quickest way to be spammed.

Tip 1: Balance your messages from pitches,tips and personal updates.
Tip 2: Use Tweetdeck to turn Twitter into a more useable application.
Tip 3: Use a landing page or an about page with contact information to exchange contact info.

"When it seems right ask to have a real conversation or meeting that warrants more than a 140 character interaction."

David Kamatoy is a Juggler on several levels. Currently Professional Juggler Comedian, Blogger, Music Producer , Video Director/Producer, etc. The Kamatoy Media Group is helping companies bridge the gap between social media and traditional advertising with Email Marketing using Jugglemail.com (Get a FREE TRIAL account) and more. If your interested please contact us immediately. Current Clients and Projects include NoMoreGeysers.com, and TheAirGorillaBlog.com.

DavidKamatoy.com will be covering the No More Geysers Story along with other Entreprneurs at the National Hardware Show in Las Vegas, NV

Las Vegas, NV You get a true scope of what it takes to get a product to market when you walk into a trade show like this and you see established companies and products. Entrepreneurs from all over the world with some really fantastic products.

We'll be covering as much as we can while centering around the story of Chris Eader and the No More Geysers team. Steve Kovach and Scott Armstrong were the driving force behind taking a chance at the National Hardware Show.

While yes this is the place to be the actual scope of this show is HUGE. Imagine booths for every category of anything on the shelves of Home Depot and Lowes then multpliy that by 10.

You can see our coverage on NoMoreGeysersBlog.com

VideoBlog / Podcast / Viral video/ Tv It's a video people...

I love all these new terms it's basically "video". The format has changed, the production values are their own but essentially it's video. If I shot this on a $100 camera or a $10,000 camera the content will basically be the same.

That being said...

The first day of the National Hardware Show were just getting out footing. The booth has been set up. I'm about to post some media. But really the bulk of the editing will happen in the evening.

I'll post a few things and then back to media land....