Here’s my keynote presentation from Infopresse I gave last month “Social Media and the Food Industry” .

The toplines:

- 16 insights

- 6 reasons why your company should lead this effort

- 9 Essentials to get this world right

- 20 great food examples

Let me know your thoughts and and other great industry examples or insight.

We’re in Montreal this week with our ever-delightful and engaged friends at Infopresse presenting “The Food Industry and Social Media”.

Always enjoy our trips to Montreal and always impressed with the “lean-forward-ness” of the Infopresse audience. April 14th is the date at the Park Hyatt Regency Montreal.

Hopefully we can parlay some of the leanings from our book Wikibrands alongside our command of great social media done well in Food, to educate and trade conversations with an engaged audience.

I’ll be sharing the stage with other fellow foodie/business potentates - Luc Durand from Ipsos Descarie, Pierre-Bernard Dow Blanchet from Taxi and Patrice Resther from Haussmann Conseil to give a full 360 degree view of how to do business in “alimentation” for 2010 and beyond.

Please feel free to chat with us after the session as we have dedicated the afternoon to meeting some of Montreal’s finest digital players, progressive marketeers and engaged business people.

No, it’s not a social media or marketing book - although they are both in there. We are telling stories about companies that have embraced this new culture of peering and openness and gone much deeper than other content on the subject on how they’re making it work. If you are in an organization, starting a business, knee deep in the digital thickets, love the concept of customer enagagement or have an affinity for the culture of the marketplace, this is the book for you.

We’re elated McGraw Hill has decided to publish us and that Don Tapscott, author of Wikinomics and Grown Up Digital is writing the foreword.

It’s personally exciting getting to talk to and meet some of the best in the business and understanding first hand what makes their efforts tick. Our on-shelf date is in December’10 so the insights are coming fast and furious.

Here are the basic tenets of what this book is about and why it will be different:

-          Rigorous discipline - this is not a personal opinion book but substantive opinion developed from investigating hundreds of brand experiences and primary interviews with the architects behind these efforts, distilled through the lenses of the authors who have a combined forty years of experience on the progressive side of strategy, marketing, digital and communications practices

-          A balanced viewpoint - there is no axe to grind or embedded functional bias among the authors. We operate across many different worlds and come in contact with a large web of different resources and opinions.

-          How business practitioners succeed- a higher order challenge exists within companies now, not on “what to do” or “how not to mess up big time” necessarily (although we briefly touch on this) but rather “how to do it” in order to not only move individual opinion but large stakeholder groups to rally behind these efforts. We will investigate these organizations to find out what makes their efforts successful.

-          Some foundational basis on why people need to change - we have primary research and survey information not broadly revealed to the general public yet.

-          A smart way to integrate web 2.0 into their strategies and tactics for growing brands - we provide a structure across chapters, reference guide and ancillary awards, vlog and wiki that will provide role models, success stories, best practices and reference tools to make conclusions instantly translatable.

-          Credibility and support of Don Tapscott and Wikinomics - with a foreword and counsel by Don Tapscott, best selling author and highly credible “father of collaboration” and expert understanding of digital environment, in addition to the affiliated title of this book, we’ll have instant credibility from CEO/CIO/CMO audience and from the much larger business, media, communications and public audience.

-          Outside of the Echo Chamber - although we’re very well-connected, we don’t believe we’re over-exposed our insights or content to the larger community nor do we group oursleves into a number of thought leaders who tend to see the world through a partisan lens.

Join along for the ride at our Facebook group, Twitter page @wikibrands and soon to be launched blog or connect with me personally at @seanmoffitt

Looking for 5 key potential roles to fill given our expected 2010 activity. If you want to create impact on cool projects from day one, work hard and play hard - we want to hear about from you. :

Word of Mouth Project Leader - (Full Time and Part time, contract) you are the hub that turns our community and word of mouth wheel - having a great intellectual curiosity, penchant for above-and-beyond client service with a capacity for overcoming hurdles and conceptualizing, planning and delivering not just good but awesome stuff that gets noticed and talked about. You love variety, are comfortable working in new environments/situations and also have a discipline for getting the job done. Social media savvy for our clients, socially likable for our partners and socially connected to our influencers are essentials.

Trend-savvy, Lead Tastemaker (Intern) - you have an instinct for what’s next, can intelligently identify new breaking and creative stuff and can write conversationally about all of it - more than just fashion, or gadgets or mashing numbers and research - you drink up culture in full gulps - the interesting fads, the seasonal styles, the cultural trends and long range futures (but please no divas or egomaniacs)., You’re comfortable in helping build aesthetically pleasing print and web stuff and hosting an extended community of Canadian tastemakers and trendspotters

Active, Fitness and Sports Sherpa (Intern) - you can’t sit still on the couch, you have a try anything once attitude to fitness, outdoors, health, play, sport, gear, style and adventure - you are a passionate active-ite, word hard/play hard and have experience in social media, building community and building grassroots events/experience and activation programs. Sponsorship, business development and online content management are also key needs. A perfect passion play for somebody that leads this lifestyle and wants to work in an entrepreneurial environment.

Community Portal Web Developer/Producer - you have a clear understanding and history of building good user experience-driven environments, although you understand the tech and are smart at the code, you actually care about the eventual use of the web environment, understand its connection to affiliated social networks and also put a high premium on design. Oh, and deadlines are important to you. If you’re interested in leading some of the best leading edge work in Canada, this is your job.

Wordpress Expert - you not only know how to develop in Wordpress, you know how to integrate into other platforms, effectively content manage it, have a keen design eye to tailor it and can break it in order to provide the functionality our blogs and websites need. Wordpress and guru have been placed next to your name at some point in your life.

If interested, send along a brief cover letter that grabs our attention and a CV or portfolio to match to: spreadtheword@agentwildfire.com

An invite and referral-only gathering of style-conscious tastemakers, innovation brokers, culture-savvy trendspotters & seriously connected ringleaders who live, work, play & think ahead of the mainstream.

the big idea:
The future is already here, it’s just not widely distributed yet. Less than 4% of the population are true trailblazers of culture - the people that develop incredibly creative or innovative stuff or the people that spot the best stuff first. They are incredible allies for brands trying to build crowdsourced content and creative, sparks for innovation research and seed ambassadors for new launches. TrendCity is the first Canadian-focused network of thousands of these early-adopting people.

elements:
Email newsletter and Insight Blog - exposure among leading Canadian people, places and things
“Wall of Orange” Trendspotter Network - a database of informed early market movers
“Wall of Purple” Tastemaker Network - a hothouse of creative talent and ideasparks
Trend Reports - periodic and customized reports on marketplace and cultural trends
TrendCity Beta Testers - feedback from informed market tastemakers
TrendCity Launching Pad - twice-yearly live event platform for launching products
TrendCity Consulting - workshops and private events on creative ideas and insight on what’s next

benefits:
- superior concept research
- advance testing group
- seeded tastemaker and trendspotter exposure
- innovation stimulus
- seeded and credible ambassadors
- marketplace insight

scope:
- Geography - Canada - Major Cities
- Timing - All year - April and September events, November professional event
- Scale - 5,000 qualified trendspotters/tastemakers

the right partners:
- New launches
- Buzz industries –i.e. entertainment/fashion
- Tech, gadgets, hardware and wireless
- Innovation and insight chasers
- Premium brands and exclusive products
- User-generated content seekers
- Non-traditional exploratory techniques

contact:
Agent Wildfire - Canada’s Word of Mouth Experts www.agentwildfire.com 416-255-4500

Plans for 2010 include 27 events and 4 private executive events across 5 cities – Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Calgary and Ottawa - with membership climbing to 7,000 invited or referred members.

the big idea:
“What would happen if we gathered together the most interesting people across the Canadian business world?” You know those people – the intelligent and crazy smart, the passionate and opinionated, the mavericks and the mavens, the change agents and titans of commerce, with some undefinable trait that makes them extraordinarily interesting.

The League of Kickass (LOK) is that group; a key influencer network of Canadian business people slightly ahead of their time.

elements:
Communing Online – LOK members access a community-based site of their peers, customizing their profile to include videos and photos to share with other members, participating in writing blog posts and discussion forums and inviting other friends and colleagues to join the league

Connecting Live - members are invited to full group events held once every one-four months in their respective cities for inspiring talks and panel discussions by fascinating people at one-of-a-kind venues – Toronto and Vancouver and soon to be Montreal, Ottawa and Calgary.

Exclusive VIP Sessions – intimate dinners/lunches every three months of leading executives of 24-48 people where they can network, collaborate, converse and get inspired in the company of their peers who share their passion.

External Blog, Video and Social Extensions – breaking LOK news, meeting wrap-ups, surveys and interviews with Canada’s top business leaders and guest thought leaders on our dedicated blog & extended out on key social networks.

Industry Segments of Members
- Senior business visionaries and CEOs
- Marketing leaders
- Media newsmakers
- Digital and technology experts
- Communications professionals, agency heads and creative directors
- Designers & architects
- Entrepreneurs and startup founders
- Leading university academics and deans
- Culture and entertainment celebrities
- Strategists and consultants
- Not for profit leaders and government
- Plus an Under 30 sub-community of young talent

the benefits:
- The LOK is one of the only professional networks in Canada to pull leading talent across a wide range of business and creative disciplines to provide sponsor-friendly reach
- The LOK meets regularly offline and online to deliver sponsor-friendly touchpoints:
- The LOK affiliates with the best of the best people, exposes the best ideas and elevates debate and new perspectives to generate sponsor-friendly perception and exposure via:
-Unique venues and event formats
-Great, inspiring speakers and rainmakers
-Passionate, talented members
-Relevant themes and ideas
-And now top sponsors

scope:
- Geography - Canada - Toronto, Vancouver, Ottawa, Calgary and Montreal
- Timing - All year - 25 full member events, 2 under 30 events and 4 private exec. events
- Scale - 7,000 approved and/or referred members

the right partners:
- a forward thinking, innovative or ideas-driven firm
- a business-to-business firm
- a company targeting a business/creative audience
- single event partners -for topic-interested clients
- companies looking for HR enhancement/talent acquisition effort
- a company with an ongoing stream of industry news
- a media company
- launch products/startup companies

urls:
The League of Kickass Content/Blog Site - http://theleagueofkickass.com/
LOKBP Community Site - http://theleagueofkickassbusinesspeople.ning.com/
LOKU30 Community Site - http://theleagueofkickassunder30.ning.com/

contact:
Agent Wildfire - Canada’s Word of Mouth Experts www.agentwildfire.com 416-255-4500

the big idea:
The good stuff on web is still local. And while there are plenty of local media stops that cater to entertainment, music, real estate, dining out, tourist locales…etc., nothing that we have found caters to local active life. Big opportunity. Not only are these people passionate, they are also an incorrigibly social, high income, high educated bunch…and they are waiting to discover your next big thing (i.e. trip, purchase, prized gear, exclusive experience). Generation Go provides the platform to be discovered by these people.

elements:
Community - a targeted influencer community of active people that can be harnessed for variety of benefits
Blog - a local insider blog that surfaces unique neighborhood experiences, events, personalities, sales, getaways and gear
Email Nerwsletter - a periodic content and sponsored email that surfaces the best stuff to get off the couch and …out there
Passport - a seasonally relevant passport pocket guide to the best in the city
Campaign Go-Licious - a concentrated period of grassroots events, promotion and outreach to people who want to get active
Go Events/Experiences - special events that appeal to the competitive, charitable and corporate teams of the city
Go Directory - a local listing of the best active venues in the city

7 Channels of Activity
- adventure
- fitness
- health
- gear and style
- outdoors
- play
- sports

the benefits:
- An extremely valuable grassroots active audience
- Multiple sponsorable touchpoints
- Local activation of campaigns and marketing efforts
- A unique city-based online and live world forum
- Category-exclusive sponsorship opportunities
- Corporate social responsibility for healthy living, outdoors/environment and community participation

scope:
- Geography - Toronto (Vancouver in late 2010 and Montreal in early 2011)
- Timing - All year - with concentrated Spring and Fall activity windows
- Scale - 1000s of influencers exposed, 7 different touchpoints

the right clients:
- an adventurous, fitness or health-seeking target customer
- an active pursuit, vacation or getaway
- a new product or service launch
- a seasonally relevant activity or campaign
- a campaign for improved health, fitness, sustainability or urban renewal
- an upcoming launch party, competition or charity event
- a breakthrough product/product feature

url:
www.gengo.ca

contact:
Agent Wildfire - Canada’s Word of Mouth Experts www.agentwildfire.com 416-255-4500

the big idea:
The web is filled with “dreck”, wouldn’t you want to find the best of the web all in one place, customized to your interest. And wouldn’t you want you brand sitting in or next to that content too. Although global sites exist, there is yet to be an aggregated best of the web for Canadians, that’s The Influencers in the Know. Tune into our curated web, find out what the influencers are reading and discover special announcements. Content also linked to TheInfluencers.ca

the benefits:
- Cutting edge web exposure/sponsorship for innovative brands
- Target selective influencer audiences
- Promote relevant events
- Conduct blogger outreach
- Provide sponsored, seeded content
- Recruit influencer network
- Optimize search engine rankings

scope:
- Geography - National
- Timing - Fourth quarter 2010
- Scale - 1000s of influencers exposed

the right clients:
- an early adopter, passion-driven audience
- a new launch or campaign
- an upcoming event
- a breakthrough product/product feature
- a content rich, taste-appealing web destination

url:
www.theinfluencersintheknow.com

contact:
Agent Wildfire - Canada’s Word of Mouth Experts www.agentwildfire.com 416-255-4500

the big idea:
A profiled group of thousands of Canadian tastemakers, trendspotters, opinion leaders, experts, social ringleaders and grassroots celebrities - essentially, the people that influence what the other people buy, think and do. In a connected world, you need these people. Now with more community features, web functionalities, expanded campaign slots and customized content

the benefits:
- Opportunity for clients to build brands/launches with an influential member group
- Word of Mouth campaigns/influencer seeding
- User-generated programs
- Insight and research programs
- Brand experience/VIP events
- Promoting base Agent Wildfire stand alone communities or campaigns
- Engage influencers on a more cost effective and time-efficient basis
- Build an opportunity to for a uniquely Canadian, portfolio-wide category exclusivity

scope:
- Geography - National
- Timing - Third quarter 2010
- Scale - 10s, 100s, or 1000s of influencers engaged

the right clients:
- a natural opinion leader audience
- a new launch, audience or claim
- a need for credibility, authenticity or pre-seeding
- a grassroots approach or complement to a mass campaign
- a need to build or change perception

url:
www.theinfluencers.ca

contact:
Agent Wildfire - Canada’s Word of Mouth Experts www.agentwildfire.com 416-255-4500

We’ve polled you, cajoled you and nicely asked you what you want to see in the future for the League of Kickass Business People. Many of you have been kind enough to tell us. In fact, our event topics have been so well received, that at least 3 major conferences have stolen …ahem, I mean …flattered us with imitating our topics recently.

2010 looks exceptionally rosy for the LOK - we plan on being in 5 cities with 24 events, tripling our membership with a supporting cast of wonderful sponsors and new initiatives.

So, yes, by all means, go to your industry specific events but when it comes to collaborating, networking, kibbitzing and sharing and showing off your brain and powers of conversation to smart people across a wide range of industries, make The League of Kickass your first choice for inspiration in 2010.

We have sweated bullets on our plan ..but this will only happen with your help!

Have a look at our 2010 schedule and if it gets you excited like us, we humbly ask for five things:

- Identify events where you could volunteer some of your time, head, arms and legs to pull greatness off as part of a sub-team

- Tap ideal speakers and contact information for people that might be perfect for the event

- Put us in touch with annual and event-specific sponsors who would love to get behind what we’re doing and be affiliated with the most interesting people with the best ideas

- Let us know about unique exciting venues that would be a perfect complement for the event topic

- Place these events on your “must attend” calendar and grab a couple of kickass professional friends

The 2010 League of Kickass Business People Schedule (Draft)

January: The League of Kickass Dragons Den
• The League of Kickass Dragon’s Den will feature 16 up and coming businesses, entrepreneurs, and business developers that will have an opportunity to pitch their ideas to four judges who will comment, critique and offer advice based on their own business experience for your entertainment value. The goal is for entrepreneurs to have a valid opportunity to show their creativity, business smarts and plans to those who have excelled at their own start ups.

February: The Future of Sport/Olympic Party
• With the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games happening in February, we thought it would be kickass to look at the changing landscapes of sport and business in Canada. Especially with the Olympics in Canada sport, its athletes and businesses have intertwined. From athletic sponsors, to active-minded organizations to leading sports brands and from the business of sport to sport as a business. We will look at all the angles, pros and cons of sport and business in Canada.

March: The Buzz Report
• Reporting on the top trends across Canada. Looking at trends, business, design, technology, marketing, public relations, communications, advertising and social media will be a set of leading experts and first time release of survey data. What will 2010 and the new decade bring? Be the first to go and the first to know.

April: Culture Camp
• Taking a look at everything culture. Music. Art. Theatre. Performance. Film. This event will put 12 of the leading arts organizations under one roof and get them unplugged for your delight. A combination of the best of the business and art of Toronto’s culture on display with hoped for special announcement too.

May: Personal branding
• Your career and image in the world is no longer what you say it is, it’s what they say it is. The world is networked, and you need to jump in the deep end - expand their network, build a personal brand, and find the best position. May is the month of personal branding. We plan to bring in experts on branding and career development to explain how to create and control your personal brand. From social networking to blogging to networking and creating a database – people have an opportunity to bounce their hard hitting questions off seasoned experts who have achieved personal brand success. Open to both LOKBP and LOKU30 members with a special mentorship session.

June: Meet the CEOs
• Meet your leaders. They may not have had a career in marketing but they certainly know how to work with them. Over the last couple of decades, marketing and the world of communications has lost a seat at the executive table, these CEOs will let you know how to get it back. An intimate and up close night with 5 of Canada’s leading chiefs of business.

July: The League of Kickass Amazing Race
• Think Amazing Race - really cool places + interesting sights + creative tasks + urban exploration with a professional and creative twist. The weather is great. Team will race in well-balanced and talented groups of four that will compete for clues to find and figure out who will become the Kickass Amazing Race champions. We are putting the kickass in teambuilding, communications and relays with the help of supporting industry celebrities, agencies and clients. We will have teams of four from different companies compete against one another for the Amazing Race challenge and charity with a patio finale.

August: Kickass Cares – Who’s your City?
• With thousands of members and advisory panels in five cities, the League of Kickass is looking to give back to the communities we come from. The choice of where to live is arguably the most important decision we make, as important as choosing a spouse or a career. In fact, place exerts powerful influence over the jobs and careers we have access to, the people meet and our “mating markets” and our ability to lead happy and fulfilled lives. The LOK will choose a charity that works towards the betterment of all these 5 cities on the same day. Each city, will hold an event to raise money and volunteer time for charities of their choosing. We hope to crowdsource best solutions and have our community come together and give back to the people, places, and areas that enrich our lives.

September: Kickass Corporate Social Responsibility
• Let’s grab a deeper look at Corporate Social Responsibility. Lately there has been a push for businesses to adopt corporate social responsibility initiatives to ensure their business is onside and practices the values entrenched in the company. This event will look at how businesses are adopting CSR, what is important when discussing CSR and why it’s become so important.

October: Kickass Pecha Kucha
• PechaKucha Night is a forum for inspiring creatives covering off 12 different faces of the Kickass business landscape (arts, design, technology, photography, architecture, ads, marketing, innovation, trends, PR, the customer, social media) in rapidfire fashion. Drawing its name from the Japanese term for the sound of conversation (”chit chat”). We give the presentation format a bit of a spin but still based on a simple idea: 30 images x 30 seconds. It’s a format that makes presentations concise, and keeps things moving at a rapid pace and displays the magnitude of Canadian out-of-the-box thinking.

November: Customer Experience
• The most successful businesses influence people through engaging, authentic experiences that render personal value. Easier said than done. We highlight top Canadian businesses and people getting it right and the opportunities they tap into and hurdles they overcome. We’ll discover what leading, well-loved companies are doing to deliver a mulit-level experience that sets it apart in the eyes of its customers ,serves to increase their spend and builds unwavering loyalty and even, dare we say it, inspires love for their brand.

December: Alternative Marketing/Media
• Marketing and communications doesn’t fit in nice tidy boxes anymore. It comes in different shapes, forms, mediums and avenues. With marketing now so accessible, what is the right way to go about it? Alternative marketing is getting more attention and acceptance every day – it is predicted that 25% of a company’s marketing spend is on the alternative side of things and skyrocketing up. Mobile. Guerrilla. Mashups. Gaming. Digital display. Video. Word of mouth. Community. Geo-targeting. It’s all so new and exciting, but what’s a business to do? We’ll let each expert tell you and start the debate.

We hope to over the coming weeks finalize our schedule for Vancouver and our first expansions into Montreal, Ottawa and Calgary as well as 4 events for the League of Kickass Under 30.

Let us know what you thing. our operators are waiting on standby.