WOMMA-U Was a Hit, But You Don't Have to Take Our Word for It

WOMMA's first ever Word of Mouth Marketing University, which took place May 8-9 in Miami, was a rousing success. The word of mouth marketing industry came together for some great hands-on learning -- both in our classroom-style breakout sessions, as well is in our WOMM in Action interactive sessions, in which word of mouth marketers worked together to create WOMM programs for a handful of charitable organizations.

But we don't want to get carried away patting ourselves on the back. Here are some other perspectives on what went down at WOMMA's WOMM-U:

- Li Evans from the Search Marketing Gurus blog attended WOMM-U and provided some great perspectives on a number of our keynote and case studies speakers, including this blog post featuring Jen Gulvik and her Houlihan's case study:
http://www.searchmarketinggurus.com/search_marketing_gurus/2008/05/womma-womm-u-je.html

- This post from Spike Jones of WOMMA member company Brains on Fire offers up some of the "juicy tidbits" taken from WOMM-U, as well as some observations:
http://brainsonfire.com/blog/2008/05/12/observations-from-womm-u-in-miami/

- On the Tapio blog, Miami local Alex de Carvalho posted about the Miami blogger dinner, which attracted a slew of WOMM-U attendees:
http://www.tapio.com/2008/05/miami-blogger-d.html

- WOMMA-U garnered a mention in today's Miami Herald:
http://www.miamiherald.com/business/story/528961.html

- You can also check out the WOMM-U Flickr group:
http://flickr.com/photos/hyku/2478364764/

- The WOMM-U live blog also has tons of great information. Check it out at:
http://www.womma.org/wommu

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U.S. Consumers Want Communities for Hobbies, Social and Professional Networking

Nearly half (48%) of all U.S. internet users report belonging to a hobby-based online community, 41% say they are members of an online social community, and a third belong to an online professional community, according to the 2008 Digital Future Project, which is being compiled by the USC Annenberg School Center for the Digital Future. These numbers are up dramatically from the data gathered regarding online community use in 2005.

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More Companies Creating Space to Capture Negative Feedback

Companies are getting on board with the idea that their customers want to be heard -- and will find a way to get their opinions out there whether the company likes it or not. According to this article from The Boston Globe, more and more consumer-oriented businesses are accepting honest feedback from their customers -- allowing them to post reviews and comments that aren't always flattering -- directly on their websites. The driving idea behind this approach seems to be "they're going to say it anyway, so why not let them say it here," and is opening a previously closed line of communication between consumers and companies.

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To Do: Join WOMMA for a Members-Only Call to Discuss UK Legislation

Some recently passed UK legislation that impacts word of mouth marketers across the pond has created a great deal of buzz in the industry -- with word of mouth marketers in the U.S. wondering how this affects them.

To address the questions this legislation has inspired, WOMMA is hosting a members-only conference call on Tuesday, May 13, 2008 at 3:00 p.m. EST featuring WOMMA Board president, Ed Keller, CEO of the Keller Fay Group, WOMMA's legal council Tony DiResta, Partner at Reed Smith and former Director of the FTC's Southeast Regional Office, and WOM UK President Steve Barton.

Join this call to learn:
- What this legislation means for UK WOM marketers -- and what it doesn't
- What WOMMA is doing to create ethical standards in word of mouth marketing
- How WOMMA is working to foster an educational relationship with the FTC
- What WOM marketers need to do to make self-regulation a continued reality for the industry
- What WOMMA is doing going forward to continue promoting ethical standards in WOMM

WOMMA members: To get the dial-in information for this call, send an email request to membership@womma.org.

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