Social Commerce Panel at Social Media Week

February 13-17 is Social Media Week; people in 12 cities around the world, from New York to London to Paris to Tokyo are gathering to learn about emerging trends in social and mobile media and share ideas on how to best apply them to major industries and individual businesses. Keynote speakers include the CEO of Google Brazil and the White House Director, while individual sessions feature top executives and key influencers like Lisa Stone, co-founder of BlogHer, Mawaan Rizwan, one of the most popular YouTubers in the world..... and Bonggamom.

Yes, me!

Okay, I'm exaggerating my importance somewhat; over the course of the week there will be hundreds of panels across the 12 cities, each with a handful of "key influencers".... but it was still an honor to be asked. Lisa Stone invited me to join her on her panel, "Social Commerce and Rewards" to discuss social commerce and how businesses can leverage social media to generate traffic and revenue. When I accepted Lisa's invitation, I was beyond nervous, but aside from Lisa, I had 2 other bloggers, Beth Blecherman and Stephanie ODea, to bolster my confidence. Beth, Lisa and Stephanie are veterans on the panel circuit, and they also happen to be people I personally know and admire, so I knew they wouldn't let me flounder.

For my very first panel, I think I did alright! I suffered from a small bout of nerves at the beginning, but after a while I settled down and I think that together we managed to keep the conversation flowing and share some relevant insights about why readers turn to bloggers for purchase decisions, whether bloggers should get paid to write reviews (or not), which companies are using social commerce wisely, and what role Pinterest may (or may not) play as a traffic and revenue generator. Fun stuff!

I wish I could find a recording of the session, but the livestream clips have already expired; hopefully it will pop up somewhere. In true blogger fashion, I probably should have asked someone to take a photo of me up on that stage so I could commemorate my very first panel, but it all happened so quickly, I didn't even think of it at the time. Oh, well, hopefully I'll get another chance someday!