Yesterday I presented at the New Media Summit in Melbourne, organised by Frocomm. I was the last speaker on Day Two which wasn’t as bad a slot as you might imagine. After hearing the “hows and whats” of new media, I was able to discuss the “why”.

Our trust in major institutions has deteriorated. Now we’re more likely to trust “someone like me” over a company, government or the church. Enron, Weapons of Mass Destruction and Paedophilia have destroyed our trust in major institutions.

We’re also able to access the web - and the change from Web 1.0 (reading content on-line) to Web 2.0 (publishing - like this blog) has made us all instant experts. Finally this on-line empowerment has made us all an “army of one” able to take on our foes and friends in a public sphere.Hence the need to pay attention to Social Media.

The Arthur W Page Society is named after one of the greats in the public relations industry (see also Lee Ivey, Harold Burson and Dan Edelman). The august group conducted a great survey among CEOs and also published a white paper. (Get a copy now - here.) I presented the highlights - see my show at SlideShare. 

There were 150 people in the audience and questions centred on “dark” or covert marketing. That’s when people don’t alert you which company is sponsoring a social media marketing program. These are inevitably disasters - like WalMart and its happy camper van bloggers.  

All in all the event was well attended and well received. Glenn Frost at Frocomm said I was “tied for first” among best presenters. (That blog darling Laurel Papworth and I will take turns sharing the crown.) 

Take a gander at all these presentations - it is great stuff and will help you convince CEOs why they need to engage in social media.