Social media, explored and explained at #140ConfHV

Etiquette be damned — pick up your smart phone while the speaker is talking and upload some snarky quip about where you are. The guy next to you is doing it. The lady behind you is staring blankly into her tiny phone screen with a smirk. Turn around. Everyone is looking at their phone or tablet screens, buried deep in the barely-aware of one another’s existence as each person plummets down the rabbit hole of their phone’s social media app. You are seated on the flickering strand of the quantum axis between social media and real-life interface.
That new reality of modern life, where people are half in the “real” world and half in cyberspace seemingly from the moment they are awoken by a text message tone to when they pass out at night still clutching their Android, was the subject of the recent #140ConfHV at the Seven21 Media Center hosted by the Kingston-based social media advertising marketing group DragonSearch.
Kingston’s edition was one of several conferences on the different facets and uses of social media, held throughout different cities in the country on the same day. Last week at the #140ConfHV (for the Twitter-illiterate, the symbol formerly known as the “number sign” is now called a “hashtag” and allows tweets to be searched for content; 140 refers to the character limit of a post and “ConfHV” refers to conference in the Hudson Valley), speakers and panelists who hail mostly from the community spoke on a broad spectrum of “trending” topics. Using social media to break through small-town bubbles, infiltrate big cities and even cross into global marketing; introducing children to social media; how to flush out Hudson Valley talent; entrepreneurial lifestyles; social media how it affects public relations and journalism; cross-promoting local businesses; and community building were covered throughout the all-day conference.
Behold a large screen behind the speakers with a browser opened to a live Twitter feed on which conference attendees — both those in the room and those following online — tweeted and re-tweeted their comments, thoughts and real-time quotes from speakers.
Businesses, local and beyond, laid out their social media strategies. Consultant Andrew Edwards talked about the utility of tracking visits from social media sites to business’ websites versus other sources. Saugerties boutique owner Ashley Megan Drewes explained how cross-referencing projected herself as a collaborist, which soon opened up new doors for her. Patrick Decker of the Dutchess County Regional Chamber of Commerce said his organization observed a 30 percent increase in an event attendance thanks to a social media blast, and added that the chamber now offers professional social media counseling for businesses.