The Social LA digerati were out in force this past weekend in Los Angeles with two hugely successful events -- Getting Social at the Getty (#GettySocial) and the 3rd Annual Streamy Awards at the Hollywood Palladium, hosted by Chris Hardwick.
More than 400 people throughout the Southland RSVP'd for a gathering at the J. Paul Getty Museum -- a first of its kind social media tweetup where participants will go on a digital scavenger hunt for art, culture and history at one of the world's most honored museums. Annelisa Stephan, Getty Communications, welcomed the group with an overview of how the Getty is using social media. Nic Adler,owner of The Roxy on Sunset later addressed the gathering on the impact of social media on the arts.
The Streamy Awards is presented annually by Dick Clark Productions and Tubefilter to recognize and honor excellence in online video, including directing, acting, producing, and writing. The third annual ceremony event took place at the packed Hollywood Palladium. Larry King , Shira Lazar, and Lance Bass were among the presenters.
I had a chance to sit down with Drew Baldwin of TubeFilter at the after-party at Andaz on Sunset Blvd., where he shared his vision of how online digital and social media are converging with traditional media. He said that these awards are honoring "content creators and distributors who are clearly game-changers" in the entertainment industry. Lisa Donovan, co-Founder of Maker Studios also commented on the theme of 'the rapid evolution in entertainment' as her company racks up an eye-popping 2.5 billion views monthly.
What's clear is that everyone wants what they don't have -- the online desire is to go network, and the network desire is to go 'viral.' Maybe Netflix has the right answer -- become a TV network that distributes online only (or first). That's what happened with House of Cards, the Netflix sensation everyone's talking about. Not because it's so great (it's really good, but not great); not because it dumped all 13 episodes at once (disruptive? maybe). It's the right answer because it's combining what Hollywood does best -- epic storytelling when and where the consumer wants it.
Not really a new business model, but an evolving one, indeed.
Beverly Macy teaches social media and global marketing and branding at the UCLA Extension. She advises Fortune 500 companies on real-time social media and is the co-author of the best-seller The Power of Real-Time Social Media Marketing. You can email her at beverlymacy@gmail.com