WOMMA – wrong

 Marketing, Online Communities, social media, social networks  No Responses »
Oct 112008
 

I’m not very cross with WOMMA but I do think it’s important to remind them occasionally – not enough to harass, just occasionally – that they are wrong in disallowing anyone who is not an agency to join:

Connect to WOMMA; Join the WOMM Conversation

There are tons of ways to get connected to WOMMA and our amazing community of word of mouth marketing experts, thinkers, and trendsetters. WOMMA is a hub for people who “get” word of mouth marketing, and we’d love to have you join us. Here are a few ways you can get connected:

My comment (dunno if they will print it)

…actually, WOMMA is NOT the place to connect to marketing experts. It’s the place to connect to traditional agencies. Case in point: I’m not even allowed to join WOMMA as I don’t have staff. This is in spite of the fact that Advertising Age listed me as the #134 most influential blogger globally and B&T Magazine listed me as #4 in Australia.

I’m not allowed to sign the ethics statement in spite of the fact that I’m involved with social media projects in Australia, Asia, and the Middle East for huge global companies. For example: Middle East Broadcasting – MBC, funded by Royal House of Saud – flew me in to teach social media to Arabic women in Jeddah, Saudi as part of “iMatter” – helping Islamic women find a voice online. Social media at its’ most world-changing no?

I teach social media and word of mouth marketing all over the world, but regularly in courses at the University of Sydney and University of Western Sydney. But I can’t recommend WOMMA to my students – how can I recommend a word of mouth organisation that does not recognise the power of a single influential marketer or evangelist?

I suggest you look at Social Media Today instead, if you want to truly connect with people who “truly” get word of mouth marketing. Or anyone at the Twitter Agency http://twitteragency.com/ :) Until WOMMA offer individual memberships or non-sole operator ones, they won’t “get” social media, unfortunately, in spite of clearly having the potential to lead in this field. :(

And I know that some of you sole operators out there joined – but you must’ve cheated. How many staff did you fib and say worked in your ‘agency’ :P and no, they won’t count the wife and kids… Heh.

No individual memberships = FAIL.

My previous post is here.

EDIT: currently getting 500 errors when submitting comment. So it’s here, in case they want to read it. Of course, I got no response from emails or blog posts last time…

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Event: Freelance Journalists and Blogging

 Citizen Journalism, consumer gen. media, Media, Online Communities, Social Media Australia, social networks, user generated content  8 Responses »
Jun 022008
 

Hi I’m speaking on Tuesday 17th June to a bunch of freelance journalists: INVITATION Facebook, blogging and freelance journalism The Sydney Freelance Journalists Group (MEAA) invites you to find out why social media sites like Facebook, Flickr, LinkedIn and Blogger could be vital to your future as a freelancer. Join fellow freelance journalists at a historic venue at The Rocks and stay on for free snacks and networking. When: Tuesday 17 June 2008, arrive 6 p.m. for a 6.30 pm. start Where: Orient Hotel, 89 George Street, The Rocks, Sydney Topic: Facebook, blogging and freelance journalism Speaker: Laurel Papworth, leading Continue Reading…

Interviewed by Shel Israel

 Citizen Journalism, Online Communities, social media, Social Media Australia, social networks, web 2.0  5 Responses »
Apr 282008
 

iMatter social network for Arabic Women Shel Israel (co-author, with Robert Scoble, of Naked Converations) interviewed me about my Saudi Arabia trip. Here are the questions he asked me: SAP Global Survey: Australia’s Laurel Papworth Building a Social Network for Arab Women 1. You have two blogs. One shows an almost stern-looking corporate sort of woman. The other portrays a free-wheelin’ Aussie with pink hair. How do you reconcile these multiple personalities?2. How did you come to be invited to Saudi Arabia? Why did you decide to go? What scared you about going and can you talk about your problems Continue Reading…

Jouney to Jeddah: Homeward Bound

 Event, Personal  1 Response »
Mar 202008
 

Last night: The Sun sinking into the Red Sea Just a quick post – last hour in the hotel here at Jeddah. Then heading to the airport – women aren’t meant to be travelling alone, so this could be interesting. I overnight in Dubai (should be at my hotel after 9 I guess) and leave first thing in the morning for the last leg home to Sydney. I will try to Twitter from my mobile phone but don’t worry if you don’t hear from me for a few days. Thanks to everyone who had taken such an interest in this Continue Reading…

Women in Business: Behind the Veil

 Online Communities, social networks  4 Responses »
Mar 182008
 

Sitting in my hotel room in Jeddah, trying to resist the lure of waffles with strawberries. Found this article in Gulf Business magazine: Behind the VeilTo the average observer in the West, women in the Middle East are a repressed gender, confined to their homes by the ‘conservative’ male. The truth is a bit different. There has been a dramatic shift in Arab attitudes over the past decade, with women in the Middle East now charging up the corporate ladder and finding success on their own terms. The article then goes on to talk about women entrepreneurs in the region, Continue Reading…

Journey to Jeddah – Day Three and Four

 Online Communities, social media, social networks  1 Response »
Mar 182008
 

Four stories of chandelier anyone? First of all, 2webcrew live podcast with comments channel is about to start. I’m usually on there, but all this travelling has meant I’ve not been able to do it for 3 weeks, but still, they are doing a fabbo job! Duncan Riley from TechCrunch, Cameron Reilly from The Podcast Network and Bronwen Clune of Norg Newspapers. And the usually assorted wierdos and geeks. Background first, then Day One. And day two is about Women and Identity in Saudi Arabia. Day Three and Four have been similar to each other. You might like to know: Continue Reading…

Journey to Jeddah – Day Two – Women and Identity

 web 2.0  5 Responses »
Mar 172008
 

Background first, then Day One. Oh and thanks to Shel Israel for writing about and understanding the importance of this project. And Stilgherrian (hmmm, I think) So Sunday is a working day in Saudi – the weekend is Thursday and Friday. I had concerns about travelling from the Hilton Hotel to the Effat College (private woman’s University) as we were two women being driven by a male taxi driver. But it was ok – except there is bedlam on the roads here and one really big smash- up. The press conference was held in the main auditorium. All women except Continue Reading…

Journey to Jeddah – Day One

 blogs, web 2.0  9 Responses »
Mar 152008
 

(Background to the “New Arab Woman’s” project) Well two things happened. One was before I even got to Saudi Arabia. I arrived in Dubai airport and realised my Nokia 95 wasn’t picking up a service provider. Somehow international roaming had got switched off. I had it on when I went to New Zealand a while ago, but since then I had upgraded – certainly a new SIM card cos the Optus guys told me it was better to have U-Sim or whatever it was called. I was told – promised actually – that the settings would be the same, but Continue Reading…

Event: Saudi Arabia: Arab Women Creating Content

 Online Communities, social media, social networks, web 2.0  9 Responses »
Mar 132008
 

Journey to Kingdom of Saudi Arabia – I fly out late tonight, Sydney time. Heigh ho, Heigh ho, it’s off to Jeddah I go. In December 2006, a major Middle East broadcaster had a writing competition. They invited young Arab women to write in and say why they mattered. As in “why do Arab women matter”. The prize was an internship at the company, working with their Arab Women’s channel and other media properties. Over 2000 women responded. HRH Princess Abta Al Saud attended the ceremony and 17,000 women signed up for an as yet unformed online community to support Continue Reading…