Bender Helper Impact

Best Week Ever!

Written by Matt Meeks Monday November 02, 2009

No, this blog post isn’t going to read like a segment from VH1, but I figured “Best Week Ever!” was an appropriate title. Last week, I flew to New York to attend the Mediabistro UGCX conference and meet with some long-time agency friends and clients. In the end, I ended up having a great time discussing business and getting to know some excellent people.

While I have traveled all over the country on business, I had yet to travel to New York in a business capacity (crazy for someone in PR, right?). So, going into this trip, the only memories I had were from a trip with my Dad in the 7th grade and a brief few hours where I was lost in the Bronx in college (don’t ask). Needless to say, I didn’t know much about what to expect outside of what I saw on TV and remembering that the food was really… really good.

Brooklyn Bridge Park where B/HI NY plays kickball

My first day in the city was the most relaxing. I set up shop at the B/HI offices, hammered out some work and met my New York colleagues. In the afternoon, I headed down to the UGCX conference where I had some good conversations with thought leaders in the social media space. It was interesting to hear them talk about the New York digital scene, and I was grateful to promote some of the visionary people, companies, and movements coming out of Los Angeles. Specifically, there was a lot of talk about what is happening here in the Web TV space. Way to go Tubefilter! After UGCX, I wrapped the day up with a game of kickball under the Brooklyn Bridge and a few beers on the lower east side.

The next couple days were a bit of a blur with back-to-back meetings introducing B/HI Buzz to a number of our New York contacts. I met with marketing and PR teams at Nickelodeon, MTV Networks, Lionsgate, Classic Media, HBO, Kuma Games and Virgin Mobile amongst others. Throw into that mix an interview with  The New York Times on how studios are embracing social media, and I had a very busy few days on my hands.

Based on my conversations, the majority of the companies I met with have a firm grasp of the platforms available to them and appear to have an online presence in the appropriate areas. The challenge that they seem to be facing is coming up with new creative ways to maximize that online presence and track the effectiveness of their outreach. Enter B/HI Buzz! Over the course of these meetings, I was able to talk them through some of their pain points and brainstorm a number of solutions (the best part of my job). After a string of very successful meetings, I went out to join some friends for Karaoke only to find that I had lost my driver’s license. Luckily FedEx followed through on their priority overnight delivery of my passport.

Apart from losing my driver’s license, the trip was a huge success. I got to meet everyone in the B/HI New York office (now when we talk on Twitter I can rest easy that we have also met in person), I had a number of great meetings, and I learned a thing or two at the UGCX. Thank you New York for the best week ever.

[Follow Matt: @MattMeeks]