This Weekend: Duran Duran and Red Magnet Media do DLD
Meet Kristen Hawley, Our Digital Strategy Consultant
What did you do before arriving at Red Magnet Media?
I started as an editorial assistant at a glossy magazine in New York when print was still king and switched to digital editorial a few years later. After nine years in New York City, I flew west to California for the food, sun and opportunities in the tech industry. After a stint on the PR team at Twitter, I decided to return to my creative roots in a new capacity. My stock answer to the question, “Where do you see yourself in five years?” is: “I want to be doing something that doesn’t exist today.” I love the adventure!
What led you to working in social media?
I have a background and training in traditional journalism, but learned very quickly that adapting to a changing industry was the key to success. Facebook wasn’t around when I was in college, but it’s indispensable now. I’ll always love magazines and traditional practices, and I love applying those values to a new challenge. And I’ll always be a grammar nerd wielding an AP Stylebook, but I love watching brands adapt creatively to a changing climate.
What do you love most about social media?
Everyone has a voice — celebrity or not. Quality content will get you noticed. And I love that social media has a way of surfacing quality content on its own. It’s a nod to my editorial roots — content will always be king.
What’s the best part about being surrounded by the tech industry in San Francisco?
Before moving to the Bay Area and working in tech, I didn’t understand the industry’s creativity. From product conception to design and even engineering, it’s a creative process. Being surrounded by even the most analytical tech-minded friends and colleagues is inspiring on a creative level.
What’s the best part about San Francisco?
I live in a walkable city, but can drive to the best wine-growing region on the continent, amazing skiing and some of the best ocean views in the world. Plus, my fiance lives here. He’s alright.
Tweet Kristen a hello at @kh.
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So You Want to be a Community Manager
Things are going great at Red Magnet Media, and growing bigger every day – which puts us in the market for more brain power! We’re looking for a junior level strategist who’s available on a freelance basis. If you can list five online music influencers at the bat of an eye, are known as the source of what’s the most newsworthy in Mashable/TechCrunch to your friends, and know a thing or two about crafting the perfect Tweet, we’d like to meet with you.
You:
- Hungry for the opportunity to do great, creative Community Management work
- Fantastic writer of social media content – Blogs, tweets, Facebook posts – and switching writing voice
- Know how to cleverly promote content to create engagement and buzz throughout the interwebs
- Opinionated about your top five social and mobile apps
- Avid pop culture enthusiast passionate about music, fashion, food, health, and anything lifestyle. Into forward and trendsetting things.
- Able to take an idea from concept to completion, and capable of communicating the process remotely and in person
- Comfortable with numbers, analysis, and making actionable goals and next steps based on current and past performance
- 2-3 years in a social media or digital strategy space, or tons of well-formed opinions on the industry
- Available to commute to San Francisco a couple of times a week
Us:
- Boutique social and digital strategy agency in San Francisco, California
- Working with high-profile clients in lifestyle and entertainment industries
- 10+ years of collective experience building communities, marketing lifestyle brands, and managing key relationships with innovators
- More curious? Look here, then Google us.
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This Week in Music: Spotify, Facebook, and Beyond
Last week Rachel joined Ian Rogers of Topspin and his fellow guests Antony Bruno (Billboard, Digital Music), Bob Moczydlowsky (Topspin), and Tyler Crowley (Skweal) on This Week In Music. This episode is the first attempt at a news roundtable format, which means lots of intelligent discussion on the latest buzz.
Hit the play button to get the outside insights to F8′s announcements, Spotify, Zynga, and more:
If you’re in the mood to jump ahead, click through for timestamps. Read more…
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Meet Sasha Pasulka, Red Magnet Media’s Digital Strategy Consultant
Red Magnet Media wouldn’t be where it is today without our consultant in Seattle, Sasha Pasulka. A woman with a fascinating nontraditional route to online media, Sasha is an incredibly smart lady with a heaping serving of Delight to Work With. We asked Sasha a little about her background, her thoughts on online media’s future, and – of course – Sasha Pasulka Fun Facts.
This week you can catch Sasha at BlogHer ’11 in San Diego. If you’re in town, tweet us a note and we’ll do our best to get you connected!
What do you do at Red Magnet Media?
Even before the proposal stage, I work with our potential clients to make sure we understand their audience, their business model and their needs, and that we’re a good fit for them. Once we’ve teamed up with a client, my role is less defined but much busier. I imagine and implement huge digital initiatives to promote an upcoming tour, I introduce the client to the digital tastemakers in their industry, I respond to the client’s international fans on Twitter at two o’clock in the morning, I train the client’s team in state-of-the-art social media tools, and I make sure an event’s VIP bloggers get the kind of pizza they requested. I want all our clients to be seen as innovators who find effective and creative ways to leverage digital media, and I do whatever needs to be done to make that happen.
From your point of view, why do creative brands need our help?
As is true with any creative endeavor, digital strategy is a science as much as it is an art. It requires study and practice as much as an innate understanding and passion. If you want to make a great video, you bring in an expert videographer. If you want to choreograph a great dance number, you bring in an experienced choreographer. You don’t use your lighting guy to set up your sound, and you don’t let your bassist negotiate with venues. You hire tried-and-true professionals who know all the ins and outs of their specific craft, because they’re a lot better at it than an amateur. Digital strategy is no different.
Dollmag.ca once described you as an “accidental media maven.” What’s so accidental about your route to online media?
[The] Canadian blog handed me that epithet, but I won’t disagree with it. I studied computer science in college and worked for several years as a software developer with a defense contractor before I started a celebrity gossip blog on the side. It was never intended to be a business — just a hobby. It eventually gained enough of a following that I left software to run it full-time, and launched several other blogs over the next four years. Read more…
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A Visual.ly Twitter Faceoff: @masters212 vs. @athenavo
We’ve had fun playing with Visual.ly’s Twitter infographic, and we couldn’t help pitting Rachel’s (@masters212) avatar against Athena’s (@athenavo) avatar. Who tweets supreme?
Check back on this post – The data updates dynamically pending Rachel’s and Athena’s Twitter moods. Excellent and fun work, Visual.ly!
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Music Artists – Breaking Out Online
If Athena’s contributions at last week’s Social Media Club discussion “Social Media in the Music and Entertainment World” were any indication, it’s that the conversation about the intersection of the social web and music landscape needs to happen…yesterday. Red Magnet Media Co-Founder and Partner Rachel Masters will be speaking at tomorrow’s IdeaJam in LA, and you’re invited to watch live over YouTube.
What is IdeaJam? From the innovators of Intel Edge, Idea Jam is a brainstorming session specifically crafted toward furthering emerging music artists’ new work.
Tomorrow two talented YouTube artists who’ve already carved their own notches in the up-and-coming music scene will be the guinea pigs for an interactive discussion on how to make social media work for independent music. YouTube stars Delaney Gibson and Joseph Vincent will get on-the-spot expert consultation from not only Rachel, but also DA Wallach of Chester French, Topspin CEO Ian Rogers, Justin Bieber’s manager Scooter Braun, and more.
Thursday June 30, 2011
10:30 – 12:30 pm
bit.ly/musicideajam
Get a feel for Delaney’s and Joseph’s styles on their YouTube channels, and compare your notes on recommendations and ideas during tomorrow’s IdeaJam!
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Social Media in the Music and Entertainment World
Update: Athena von Oech will be taking the helm tonight at Social Media Club San Francisco. Hope to see you there!
See the Masters in action! Red Magnet Media Co-Founder and partner Rachel Masters will be speaking at a Social Media Club San Francisco panel tomorrow, June 21, 2011. The topic? The importance of social media in today’s music scene.
On June 21, we’ll be talking about the use of social media in the music and entertainment world. While this sector was lagging behind for many years, many in it have caught up and we want to see what the corporate world can learn from the innovative programs they’ve developed.
Our Speakers include:
- Chris Saad of Echo’s StreamServer (they’ve worked with Lady Gaga and others)
- Rachel Masters, co-founder of Red Magnet Media (worked with Duran Duran, Linkin Park and others)
- Jennifer Neeley, Host, The A-List Podcast (moderator)
Tuesday June 21, 2011
6:00 – 9:00 pm
CoTweet by ExactTarget
301 Brannan Street
1st Floor
San Francisco, California 94107
$10 advance, $20 at the door. Free if you’ve already paid your SMCSFO dues.
Tickets can be purchased in advance at: http://smcsfo0611.eventbrite.com/
Update: Athena von Oech will be taking the helm tonight at Social Media Club San Francisco. Hope to see you there!
Hooked on Twitter: Duran Duran
In its June issue, culture magazine Paper calls our client Duran Duran “The Unexpected Breakout Band of the Year.” True, the gentlemen are quintessential icons of the 80s, and it was anyone’s guess that they’d be gracing the stage at Coachella some thirty years later. But Duran Duran is not comprised of your regular breed of seasoned rockers. They’ve been quick to the trends of today, in fact, now the men of Rio Duran Duran have fully embraced social networking to engage with their audience and express themselves.
We are honored to be working with the band and their wonderful online Content Director, Katy Krassner, to leverage social networking services and develop strategic marketing opportunities in a manner that reflects their fantastic sense of style and humor. In fact, now some of the men of Duran Duran are hooked.
[Simon] Le Bon is loving Twitter too. (It’s obviously the hardest drug seized on by today’s been-there rockers.) “It’s an instant two-way street,” says Le Bon. “We have a lot of opinionated fans that tell us, ‘You don’t want to do that. Do this!’”
We’re so pleased that Duran Duran is finding Twitter useful in connecting to fans. With this level of adaptability, time will forever treat them well.
New wave, indeed.
Follow the boys here: @duranduran, @thisistherealjt, @simonjclebon
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Introducing Mayka Mei, Red Magnet Media’s Senior Strategist
We’re excited to welcome to the team Mayka Mei, Red Magnet Media’s Senior Strategist and first full-time employee! Mayka comes to us from the fashion marketing world, and has a background working with indie fashion brands, pop entertainment artists, and social gaming. To let you get to know the woman with blue hair, we asked her a few questions. (Fun facts at the end!)
When did you start getting into social media? What interests you about it?
I started my first blog ten years ago. Back then, it was simply the power to personally publish that attracted me. For the most part, my fascination with leading social media concepts hasn’t deviated from that. I’ve always been for the people and I get excited by any platform that enables an individual or group of people to take full charge of representing themselves.
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