This is part of my extensive recap of the Optmization Summit in Dallas on March 23-24, 2010.

There were so many good workshops at OptSum happening concurrently that I almost felt I needed to apologize to some of the speakers for not making their seminars, only because I couldn’t bear the thought of missing another seminar that was happening at the same time. So my strategy for the week was to simply go see the speakers I was familiar with and trust that their topics would apply. Of course, even this strategy bit me square in the hind cheeks because I still missed John Jantsch (although I did buy a book), Mark Roberge of HubSpot, Giovanni Galucci, Jay Ehret and Eric Brown (who I wasn’t familiar with before the conference but it became clear that he’s yet another worthy wizard to keep up with).

But I was familiar with Brains on Fire, and had heard of Geno Church. So my first workshop was an easy choice. As I looked around the room and saw such marketing luminaries as Mack Collier, Christopher S. Penn, Duncan Alney and Lionel Menchaca, I knew I had surely made a good choice.

My limited but albeit impressionable exposure to Brains on Fire in the past is mostly due to Spike Jones. I heard Spike speak at a Direct Selling Association back in 2005 or 2006 (where, ironically, the main topic of discussion before Spike spoke was how to chorale disgruntled bloggers. Suffice it to say that was not his topic), and then began reading more of him and his fellow colleagues at Brains on Fire. My minute exposure to the Brains on Fire crew has left me with this impression: there are lots of companies out there right now waxing poetic about storytelling; Brains on Fire actually does it and does it well. They literally are masters of clarifying the story and then finding the most effective ways to tell it. Geno Church only confirmed this half-baked impression for me.

Social Media Agnosticism

Right away, Geno made one thing clear: “I am a social media agnostic.” I think it’s interesting that 2010 is becoming the year where people are realizing that, well, it’s people that still make the difference in social media. In other words, social media can be a means to an end, but those who succeed in this space are only using the tools to drive more connections and interactions between real people. Geno talked quite a bit about how we’re “getting lost in the tactics.” And what else would you expect from a true storyteller.

Geno spent a good portion of his time pulling examples from two clients: Fiskars Scissors and Best Buy Musical Instruments. First, let me say that I had no idea Best Buy had a musical instrument department. Being a musician, Geno at the least can tell his client that his speech made a potential customer aware. In addition, Geno showed how something as mundane and ordinary as a pair of scissors can actually tell a great story and fuel a thriving community.  Geno used these examples to show the differences between a movement and a campaign.

The Makings of a Movement

With that said, here are my key takeaways from Geno’s workshop, paired with my own thoughts and reactions:

1. 90% of Word of Mouth Marketing still occurs offline. I’m not surprised by the principle behind this, but I am shocked by the lopsided stat. It only supports the idea that our online efforts work best when they introduce us to more friends and fans, which then hopefully sparks an offline relationship of some sort.
2. Campaigns have a beginning and end; movements go on as long as the community wants it to. I think it’s also important to realize most campaigns make a big splash at the beginning, whereas movements sometimes start with a groundswell.
3. Campaigns are created; movements evolve.
4. Campaigns have a switch; movements have a volume knob. This visualization is one of the big three takeaways I had from Geno’s talk. This one will stick with me because I think it does such a great job at capturing the biggest difference between a movement and a campaign.
5. Movements are built on passion. To restate the obvious, if there is no passion, there is no movement. Too many companies try to force a movement out of something that no one cares about.
6. Movements begin with the first conversation. Here’s a question: should companies try to be a part of that first conversation, or try to find the first conversation?
7. Movements have inspirational leadership. Geno had a supporting point that “passion cannot be made; influence can.” This is one of those statements that sounded OK when I first heard, but as it marinated in my feeble brain, it became more and more profound. Realize that influence is as good as it gets when it comes to what you can nurture and create. Too many of us are trying to spark passion, when we really have no ability to do it.
8. Movements have a barrier of entry. Geno made a point that people who can jump right into the movement can easily jump right out. It’s important to require some skins in the game before you’re a welcome member of the group. It assures that you’re getting people who are passionate about the movement and more likely to fan the flame.
9. Movements empower people with knowledge.
10. Movements have powerful identities.
11. Movements encourage ownership. Are you OK if members of your movement mess with your logo? Make it their own? You kinda have to be (because they’re going to do it anyway). Even if it’s misguided ownership, you still need to encourage it rather than squash it. In Geno’s words, “Build it like it’ll live forever; build it like you’ll run out of money tomorrow. “
12. Movements make advocates and members feel like rock stars. Mack Collier’s presentation was completely how to make this come to life, so more on that soon.
13. Movements live online AND offline. I would daresay if it doesn’t live in both places, then it’s not a movement. Movements should transcend distribution channels. Geno added a stat that is quite compelling, in that Fiskateers share Fiskars with eight to 10 people per month.
14. Movements get results.

Clearly, this seminar was crammed with great info. The amazing thing is Geno went on to share some stats and figures that really showed how these movements create incredible results.

One story Geno told was about Love 146, a non-profit organization with the mission of ending child sex slavery and exploitation. The Love 146 video says everything, and it almost brought me to tears. As moving as the video was, Geno extracted an excellent marketing truth: your identity can spark your storytelling. Once you’ve seen the Love 146 video, this makes sense. How can your name and identity get people to ask you tell your story?

A big thanks to Geno for an amazing workshop, and for sticking around the entire conference and attending workshops yourself.

Next up: Jason Falls. Be sure to read all of my Optimization Summit reviews as they go live.

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