Speaking/Training

Since 1995, I’ve been a regular invited speaker for corporate, government and trade association audiences on the subjects of Social Media, Social Marketing Integration, and Cultural Trends and Drivers. I enjoy sharing my experiences as well as emerging trends and data with audiences in ways they can relate to, and tying these trends to actionable opportunities for marketers now.

A first-hand perspective on marketers’ challenges

Over the course of my 18-year marketing background, I’ve solved branding, communication and engagement problems for a wide variety of clients and industries. Through digital marketing, direct, events, advertising, branding, PR, packaging design, email and now social marketing, I’ve gained a skill at finding integrated approaches under tight timeframes and budgets. Having been under the gun on the client side, I know the intense pressures and often stunning demands placed on marketers. I have tremendous respect for marketers struggling to make magic happen. Social marketing provides us with opportunities to bring that magic to our brand, our management team, and our stakeholders.

My online experience began in 1977 and I got onto the Arpanet (predecessor of the Internet) in 1979. I was managing online communities in 1991, blogging in 1995 and helping Fortune 100 companies like Procter & Gamble, Kraft Foods, Johnson & Johnson and others take their very first steps online in 1996. I was fortunate to have helped build some of the first interactive sales tools (P&G, 1995), intranets (Kraft Foods and RCA, 1996), interactive environments (General Electric, 1996), artificially-intelligent websites (Kenwood USA, 1997), online loyalty programs (Kenwood, 1997), social networks (MCI, 1998), and ad servers (Mayo Clinic, 1998). I also convinced Ford dealers to embrace the Internet as a sales channel in 1999.

Because of this depth of experience, I bring an old-school perspective and results orientation to the often giddy social media echo chamber.

Questions answered

Through my employer, Tribal DDB, I offer highly topical custom speaking and training sessions for trade associations, management teams, employees, dealers/distributors and local business leaders, answering questions like:

• What exactly IS “social marketing?”
• How are digital technologies creating cultural trends that change purchasing behavior?
• How do I engage consumers and build trust in an era of time starvation?
• Which tools are available? Which ones are fads, which are meaningful?
• How can social strategies and tactics make a difference for business-to-business audiences?
• How do I deal with negative commentary online?
• How do I safely empower bloggers and brand advocates to speak positively about my offering?
• How do I create internal governance processes and staffing support for new social efforts?
• How do I generate content for social venues, and how do I get others to talk about it?
• What’s happening in my category/sector? What are my competitors doing in the social space, and how can I surpass them?
• What are the issues surrounding social media and HR (sourcing, vetting and job search)?

What to expect

An upbeat, humorous, well-researched and often provocative presentation that will challenge your attendees’ perceptions and get them talking. I will often write my presentations in 140-character pages that are simultaneously reposted on Twitter. I call these “presentweetions.”

Weaver speech topics

Trust Drives Transactions: Why Marketing Must Go Social (30-40 mins)

SYNOPSIS: While the marketing profession continues to operate under long-standing practices, our time-and attention-starved consumers have moved on. Empowered with search, intrusion blockers and the ability to express and share opinions with a wide audience, they trust each other and distrust marketers—and as a result, the efficacy of our traditional marketing spend wanes.

Trust Drives Transactions examines this trend, explains the draw of social channels, and offers a new approach to a multi-channel approach: through the lens of trust. Marketers will walk away armed with new data about consumer behavior and with actionable ideas on creating a multi-channel Trust Strategy.

For private or corporate workshops, this talk is usually accompanied by category market research and a competitive social media landscape.

Branding in the Era of the Empowered Consumer (30-40 mins)

SYNOPSIS: As many publicly-traded companies shift all focus to the fiscal quarter, longer-form activities like branding often end up as a lower priority. Yet through this critical activity, identity, messaging, differentiation and positioning drive market success and extend the efficacy of purchased media.

Branding in the Era of the Empowered Consumer covers the practice and importance of branding in an era where customers now control the conversation, message and perception of a brand. In this presentation, we will examine the shift in trust described in other presentations and reexamine the branding process for ways to maintain a brand’s cohesion and promise when distributed across social channels. Attendees will walk away with a fresh perspective on crafting a brand and setting it free in ways that grow revenue.

Talent is Social: Employer Edition (30 mins) and Job Search Edition (40 mins)

SYNOPSIS: As with the Marketing profession, the practice of Human Resources is being altered by social channels. Time starvation is driving recruiters and hiring managers to avoid job boards and seek the perfect candidate via search. Few candidates, however, are leveraging social tools to create an intellectual footprint online. Talent is Social shows both hiring managers as well as candidates how they can be better matches for one another.

Facebook for Business: A Primer (20-30 mins)

SYNOPSIS: As denizens of one of the largest social networks in the world, Facebook’s graying member base is a lucrative audience for business. Yet how should corporations establish a beachhead on Facebook, a social network where consumers are drawn to connect with one another, rather than with brands?

This presentation will show marketers how to set up an initial Facebook presence; walk them through the Dos and Don’ts of Facebook marketing, and discuss consumer behaviors that can build viral awareness for your brand in authentic, selfless ways. Marketers will learn about fan pages, group discussions, social ads, custom pages, “apps,” and the power of the Facebook Connect platform.

Recent speaking engagements

I’ve had the great honor to have been chosen for the following recent presentations:

• 2009 World Brand Congress, “Branding in the Era of the Empowered Consumer.” 11/4/09 in Mumbai, India. [REGISTER]
• Graphic Artists Guild, “Branding in the Era of the Empowered Consumer.” 10/28/09 in Seattle, Washington. [REGISTER]
• International Internet Marketing Association, “Branding in the Era of the Empowered Consumer.” 10/21/09 in Vancouver, BC, Canada. [REGISTER]
• Social Media 101 Conference, “Talent is Social: Employer Edition” 9/25/09 @ Microsoft Campus. [PRESS COVERAGE] [DOWNLOAD/VIEW]
• Reinvention Forum, “Talent is Social: Job-Seeker Edition.” 9/22/09 in Bellevue, Washington. [DOWNLOAD/VIEW]
• 2009 Internet Marketing Conference, “Trust Drives Transactions: a presentweetion for the time-starved (version 3.0)” 9/18/09 in Vancouver, BC, Canada. [DOWNLOAD/VIEW]
• Comcast Social Media Conference, “Opening Remarks: Facebook” and “Facebook for Non-Profits: A Primer.” 8/18/09 in Seattle, Washington. [DOWNLOAD/VIEW OPENING REMARKS] [DOWNLOAD/VIEW BREAKOUT]
• 2009 Perry Ellis International marketing summit, custom¬†social marketing overview and category analysis. Miami, Florida.
• PR for People, “Branding4People: Craft your Brand, Spread your Value, and Win Customers.” [PRESS COVERAGE] [DOWNLOAD/VIEW]
• American Marketing Association, Puget Sound Chapter. “Trust Drives Transactions: Why Healthcare Marketing Must Go Social” [DOWNLOAD/VIEW]
• Social Networking for Business conference. “Facebook for Business: A Primer” (panel). [DOWNLOAD/VIEW]
• 2009 Consumer Electronics Show, Las Vegas. “Trust Drives Transactions: Why Marketing Must Go Social (version 2.0)” [PRESS COVERAGE] [DOWNLOAD/VIEW]
• 2008 Independent Sellers Conference, Seattle. Keynote Presentation: “Small Budget, Big Impact: Creating a Stink with Social Marketing.”
• Biznik ‘08, Seattle. “OMG! U So Have to Leverage Social Marketing” [VIDEO]
• Ad Club of Seattle. “Beyond Social Media: From Tools to Trust.” [DOWNLOAD/VIEW]
• Kitchen Consumer Marketing Conference. “OMG! U So Have to Leverage Social Marketing” (“green” edition)
• Category overview and analysis for a major e-tailer.
• Category overview and overview for a beverage manufacturer.

Earlier engagements include Seybold Seminars (Boston and San Francisco), the International Television Association annual conference, Women in Communications conference, Cable & Television Association for Marketing (CTAM) annual conference, and many more.

Testimonials

‚ÄúEric Weaver is a profound thinker, astute strategist and an inspirational speaker, manager and practitioner in all things digital. He can do ‘what’s now’ while always pushing his clients and colleagues toward ‘what’s next,’ and his dedication to his work is admirable to say the least. There are a very few people in this industry with Eric’s abilities or passion.‚Äù – Gary Goldhammer, SVP, Edelman PR

‚ÄúEric is a branding and social media all-star. He was on a panel at my first Social Networking for Business Conference in May 2009 and I was so impressed that I engaged him to be the lone solo presenter at the recent Social Media 101 Conference held on Microsoft’s Redmond campus. He got very high reviews, was interviewed by local media and gave the audience extreme value during and after his presentation. Every time I speak with Eric I learn something new. I would fully recommend that anyone interested in having a very informative and engaging speaker talk to their group put Eric on top of their list.‚Äù – Joe Kennedy, Bellevue Business Journal and Eastside Entrepreneurs

“Eric Weaver has delivered several outstanding presentations to the members and constituents of Ad Club Seattle over the past few years. Each time, he has delivered an insightful, forward-thinking analysis of the current and future state of online social networks—with specific attention to the ways marketers and advertising professionals can and should be using new media. Based on our experiences with Eric, I strongly endorse him as a presenter and expert on the subject of digital media and social networking.” РGeorge Riddell, President, Ad Club Seattle

“As president of the PSAMA, I meet a lot of people and there isn’t anyone who has a better handle on ‘what’s hot’ than Eric. I’ve heard him speak several times, including once for the PSAMA. He’s always a crowd pleaser and an innovative thought leader. Ad Club, the University of Washington‚Äîwhatever the engagement is‚ÄîI’ll rearrange my schedule to make sure I’m available to hear him present!” – Katherine Hall, past president, American Marketing Association, Puget Sound chapter

“I recently hired Eric to give a talk to our PRforPeople event that was held on July 1st in Seattle. No one can articulate the branding experience the way Eric can‚Äîhe has the talent to connect with his audience and to totally transform their perspective. Eric is much more than a pioneer in social media‚Äîhe is the quintessential social media ‘authority.’” - Patricia Vaccarino, Principal, Xanthus Communications

Audience Reactions

@simchabe: @weave is an amazing & entertaining presenter. <3′ing his overview of facebook

@chrisbrogan: So many funny lines in @weave’s facebook preso.

@semmerson: Great pres by Eric Weaver at #imcmeet on Trust Driving Transactions; says trust has fallen off a cliff among consumers. Integrity=remedy.

@colleencar: @weave just gave an *awesome* preso on best practices on Facebook for business

@johnhcook: Funny talk on using social media to find jobs via Eric Weaver of Tribal DDB Canada.

@finchfrii: Social media mktg is no longer about spewing your msg, its abo being found and trusted. GREAT preso by @weave! #sm101

@AminPali: tonight’s event was the best to date at networkhub. loved the well prepared presentation. super relevant & informative

Let’s get started!

As the global recession impacts event and travel budgets, drawing and engaging jaded marketing audiences gets more difficult. Fortunately, a great deal of curiosity exists around social media, marketing innovation and the opportunity to extend one’s budget using earned media. Attendees will walk away from my presentations having learned something new, with concepts to think about and discuss and actionable implementation ideas, along with a desire to return to future events to hear more.

Contact me at +1 206 905 9328 to learn more or to discuss your particular event.