Social Media Day: Round Two
July 1, 2011 by Bailey
Filed under All, social media
Yesterday was the 2nd annual Social Media Day, and for all of us in the social media marketing field it’s nice to have that recognition. I (personally) spend the majority of my life in Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare and writing blogs so it was nice to actually get out from behind the computer and be social!
This year we held our get together at Uno Mas in Mount Pleasant, keeping to our Mexican food theme (last year was at Taco Boy)! We had a great turnout, great food and even better happyritas!
Thank you to all those who came and a big thanks to Dine with Sal and everyone at Uno Mas for hosting the party! Here at Step Ahead we’re already looking forward to next year.
*** For more pictures visit our Tumblr account!
Social Media News of the Week: June 27, 2011
July 1, 2011 by Bailey
Filed under All, SMNofW, social media
This was a great week for social media mainly because yesterday was Social Media Day (be sure to check out our Social Media Day Charleston event)! Other than that, Google announced their own social network Google +, Twitter lost their co-owner, Biz Stone, and so much more!
On Tuesday, Twitter co-founder Biz Stone announced that he is going to be focusing on other projects and step out of the “twit-light”. Dick Costolo, CEO of the social network, will stay front and center with the company.
Facebook is having to deal with the Winklevoss twins again who are back, now asking the Boston court system to look into their case. When will these guys take a hike? Google is not taking a hike either as they announced their Facebook competitor Google +. I’ve taken a brief look and I’ll admit it’s pretty cool. I don’t think people will just jump off Facebook and join Plus but you just never know! What do y’all think about Google Plus?
On a side note, I swapped my Droid for an iPhone, so the new Tumblr app 2.0 is amazing! And, I still can’t understand what Justin Timberlake sees in MySpace to have bought in but I guess he might just surprise me!
Oh yeah, and Step Ahead joined Tumblr this week, so check us out and follow us!
Step Ahead Welcomes Two Summer Interns
We are pleased to introduce you all to our summer interns, Isabella and Katie. Here at Step Ahead we feel very lucky to have their help this summer and hope to teach them a great deal about social media and public relations!
Isabella first learned about Step Ahead Inc. through her Public Relations Writing course. Holly spoke to her class about social media and Isabella jumped at the chance to work with us (I mean, who wouldn’t? 
). During her time with Step Ahead, she hopes to pick up some valuable PR and social media skills that will help her after she graduates. Isabella is going into her senior year at the College of Charleston.
Katie is a Communication Studies major at the University of Georgia who is taking a chance in the Holy City this summer. After utilizing social media to promote an event on campus, she realized that it was something she was passionate about because it works! Katie hopes to gain an applied understanding of public relations, social media and online marketing that she can utilize in her professional life.
Welcome ladies!
Social Media News of the Week: May 30, 2011
In honor of this short week, I’m going to try and make this social media recap as short as possible! We’ve been offering Foursquare services to our clients for more than a year and it’s a good thing because location just keeps moving right along. But there are some things to watch out for when using Foursquare for marketing, and Mashable does a nice job of explaining the “do nots” of location-based marketing.
If you’ve ever had the “pleasure” of talking to me, you would pick up pretty quickly that I’m obsessed with the music industry and very interested in how bands can take advantage of social media. Well, D.C.-based band Bluebrain did social just right by releasing their newest album as a location-aware app. You have to check out this video to gain full appreciation!
If your company is on Twitter, then you need to take advantage of their new follow button and put it on your website now! Check out our home page to see an example of how it works (oh, and follow us on Twitter while you’re at it!). Have a great weekend everyone!
Social Media News of the Week: May 23, 2011
Let me start off by saying I’m throughly relieved to have survived The Rapture last Saturday at 6 p.m. so I could bring you the Social Media News of the Week! Here are some great tweets from that infamous day!
Speaking of Twitter this was a week full of 2 big updates for the social network. You can now get more detailed email notifications and they have bought TweetDeck! For the past few weeks there have been speculations Twitter would acquire TweetDeck but it appears that they actually did. Do you think there will be any major changes to the platform even though they are keeping their staff and location in London?
On a lighter note, I want to congratulate Scotty McCreery on winning American Idol. According to Mashable, Twitter predicted this by mentioning his competition and rumored love interest, Lauren Alaina. I just love American Idol – what’s your guilty pleasure?
Social Media News of the Week: May 15, 2011
If you’re like me at all and support a local non-profit, then you’ve probably been bombarded with requests to vote for that organization and tons others to win a Chase Community Giving grant. I attended a webinar several weeks ago about social media and non-profits and the partnership between Facebook and Chase is creating great strides in this area. Facebook took this one step further this week by setting up a non-profit resource center.
The site will educate non-profits how they can use social media to spread awareness and generate funds. I’m personally excited to check this page out and hopefully take away some useful information! Even with all the good that Facebook is doing they can’t seem to escape negativity all together. The Winklevoss twins are back and they’re taking their lawsuit to the Supreme Court.
Other big news came to LinkedIn this week when they announced that they are worth $8.9 billion! That makes them worth more than JC Pennys, Chipotle and Tiffany & Company. All this means is that LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman is a very rich man. LinkedIn going into public exchange means Hoffman will net around $855 million, not too shabby, eh? LinkedIn will be the first purely social media site to go public, but I’m guessing they will not be the last!
What are your thoughts?
Social Media News of the Week: May 9, 2011
Looking back on the week’s news, I was intrigued by how many Twitter stories really caught my eye. I usually tie in some sort of theme with my weekly news recap and this week it was just plain and simple: Twitter.
Mashable and CNN both released lists of Twitter influencers, events and celebrity tweeters. Mashable’s Top 10 Historic Tweets list consisted of newsworthy tweets, such as the discovery of ice on Mars to tweet mistakes like the Kenneth Cole Cairo tweet and even an engagement tweet! They also provided us with the top celebrities on Twitter with not many surprises. Ashton Kutcher, Lady GaGa, Oprah and Charlie Sheen were all included.
CNN finished out the lists this week with a list of general Top Tweeters with the ever obvious @google being on the top.
The best Twitter news came at the end of the week when they announced some upgrades to their app on Mac computers. It’s available in the Apple App Store and I really enjoy all the changes!
Step Ahead Steps Ahead … Next Door
Last year, the Charleston City Paper ran an article about how we were growing and busting out of our current space. We were on the lookout for a bigger office to accommodate our growth – and we found one! Right next door…
The fabulous Flagship project managed by the Charleston Digital Corridor was such a success that they decided to add another incubator office space for those companies who had outgrown or were too big for the original Flagship. Enter FS2 (or Flagship 2).
Right next door to our old space, FS2, located at 78 Alexander St., offers larger offices and more space for Charleston’s many growing technology businesses. We picked our space in FS2 and just moved in last week.
We’re so excited about our growth over the past three years, and a new office space is the perfect way to help us continue to grow and keep pace with our favorite social media tools.
Please come by to check it out! We’re happy to give you a tour anytime.
Happy Anniversary Step Ahead Inc.
Dear Step Ahead,
Today is our 1-year anniversary and I can’t even begin to explain how much fun I’ve had with you over the last 365 days. We’ve gone to fun events together that I’ll never forget like the Internet Summit in Raleigh, N.C. We’ve had early mornings, late nights and fun weekends together!
There are a few things that you’ve taught me that will stay with me forever:
1.) TweetDeck is a life saver
2.) Dropbox is amazing
3.) I might not be a writer but I am a blogger!
4.) Always back up your hard drive
5.) Follow up is key
6.) One day we will take over the social media world!
So, again happy anniversary, Step Ahead — you’ve been a great job this past year and I look forward to many more years with you!
Sincerely,
E. Bailey Surrett
Our Favorite Forty Under 40 Winner
Last night we had an absolute blast watching our Charleston executive director, Holly Fisher, receive her 2011 Forty Under 40 award from the Charleston Regional Business Journal. Forty deserving winners, all under the age of 40, were honored for their professional success while also making time for their community through service.
All of us here at Step Ahead know that Holly does an amazing job not only in pr and social media but also in her involvement with Metanoia, the Ruth Rhoden Craven Foundation, Charleston Young Professionals, Society of Professional Journalists and the list goes on. We are in awe 
.
And to make it even sweeter, one of our clients won as well, Tina Whetzel of CrossFit Mt. Pleasant!
Alhambra Hall in Mount Pleasant, S.C. was a gorgeous setting for this fun event and also the perfect place to also “party down” for Holly’s 35th birthday, which happened to be on the same day! We are so happy to have her on our team. Congrats Holly!
