Chicago Celebrates “Social Media Week” for the 1st Time!

UPDATE (9/14/11) : To get on the list for the SOCIAL MEDIA WEEK OPENING NIGHT PARTY at Rockit Bar and Grill (22 W Hubbard) on Monday, September 19th,  7pm-1am –  CLICK HERE & check out the full press release below!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Social Media Week Chicago Gets Major Jumpstart with Opening Night Party Hosted By Rockit Ranch Productions, Billy Dec

SocialVibe Joins Party as Sponsor; Public Party Opens at 7pm

CHICAGO (SEPTEMBER 12, 2011) ― Chicago’s first Social Media Week is right around the corner, promising a flurry of activity in the city, around the Globe and online. And, to kickoff the jam-packed week of panels, presentations and discussions, Rockit Ranch Productions is opening the doors to its Rockit Bar & Grill (22 W. Hubbard St.) for the Official Social Media Week Chicago Opening Night Party.  The Party begins at 7pm on Monday, September 19^th.  The event is free to attend and those interested must RSVP through www.RockitBarandGrill.com/SMW.

Far more than just a conference, Social Media Week offers a global perspective on emerging trends in social and mobile marketing. The event will take place at various locations across Chicago from September 19-23. Along with Social Media Week activities in Chicago, simultaneous events will take place in Beirut, Berlin, Buenos Aires, Bogota, Glasgow, Los Angeles, Milan, Moscow, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Vancouver.

SocialVibe, a digital advertising company that powers brand engagement across social sites, also joins the Opening Party as an event sponsor.  SocialVibe’s value-exchange platform rewards consumers for their attention to rich media brand engagements.

City partners Zócalo Group and the Chicago Tribune invite everyone to view the complete schedule and to register for the free to the public events by visiting: www. Socialmediaweek.org/Chicago

“As we’ve worked with the community to create a Social Media Week agenda that takes advantage of all Chicago has to offer, it only seems fitting that one of the preeminent Entertainment & Hospitality Venues in the City will host our Opening Night Party,” said Sarah Beardsley, Newsroom Events Director, Chicago Tribune. “We can’t thank Billy Dec, who serves on the Social Media Week Chicago Advisory Board, and Rockit Ranch Productions enough for their generosity and support for hosting what will certainly be a great party and a tone-setter for the week ahead.”

“The Social Media Week Chicago team would also like to thank SocialVibe for its sponsorship of the Party,” added Beardsley.  “As an organization focused on consumer engagement and social amplification, party-goers can expect a great time from the SocialVibe Chicago team.”

As can be expected, social media itself will also be integrated into the Opening Party : guests will be able to announce their locations on Foursquare for special check-in deals and network through the use of Twitter and QR codes; photos taken during the night and conversations will be tweeted, using the #SMWChicago hashtag, which is also being integrated throughout the week; and, all Twitter posts using the same hashtag will be seen on large screen monitors throughout the party so partygoers can keep up with the conversations.

“Chicago has always been a leader in communications, so its only natural that we thrive with Social Media as well,” said Billy Dec. “Rockit Ranch & I have found great joy in engaging with fellow Chicagoans, as well as those around the world who appreciate Chicago, through Social Media, about all things entertainment, hospitality, food, cocktails, music, fashion, culture, nightlife & more, so when asked to serve on the Social Media Week Advisory Board and Host the Opening Night Party at Rockit, we were honored & fully on board to support!”

For more information about activities and events planned in Chicago, please visit www.socialmediaweek.com/Chicago. You can also keep up with the action by following @SMWChicago on Twitter or connecting on Facebook.

About Zócalo Group

Zócalo Group is a full-service word-of-mouth and social media marketing agency, helping leading consumer and business to business brands become the most talked about and recommended in their category. Based in Chicago, Zócalo Group has received numerous industry awards for brand programs and measurement initiatives. Zócalo Group is a unit of Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE: OMC) and Ketchum. For more information, please visit www.zocalogroup.com.

About the Chicago Tribune

For 164 years, the Chicago Tribune has been a market-leading publication of the Tribune Company.  Reaching five million readers each week in print, online and through radio, television and live events, the Tribune is known for its public service journalism and watchdog reporting.   In 2010, the Tribune launched Trib Nation, a community outreach and audience engagement program that includes a broad menu of live events such as Chicago Forward: Conversations About the Future, a series of public policy discussions; programs by columnists and other journalists; literary events including Author Talks, Lit Fest, and Literary Awards; and classes and seminars under the banner TribU: Lessons for Life.

About Rockit Ranch Productions

Rockit Ranch Productions is Chicago’s premier restaurant and entertainment development company, specializing in the creation, marketing and management of some of the city’s top venues including the New Asian restaurant Sunda, as well as the The Underground and the ever-popular Rockit Bar & Grill, with locations in River North and Wrigleyville). For more information, please go to http://www.rockitranch.com.

About SocialVibe

SocialVibe is a digital advertising technology company that provides the most effective form of brand advertising for some of the world’s top brands. Unlike ad networks that simply deliver impressions through display advertising, SocialVibe provides opt-in engagements that consumers can share across their social graph. SocialVibe enables advertisers to engage at a time when consumers are most motivated to participate in brand experiences, such as while playing a social game, donating to charity or accessing premium content. SocialVibe enables engagements on the Web and on mobile, reaching a universe of more than 200 million socially-connected global consumers. Visit www.socialvibe.com or check out twitter.com/SocialVibeAds for more information.

About Social Media Week

Social Media Week is owned and operated by Crowdcentric Media LLC and is a global platform connecting people, content, and conversation around emerging trends in social and mobile media. Delivered primarily through a network of internationally hosted conferences and online through social media, Social Media Week literally connects hundreds of thousands of people every year through learning experiences that aim to advance our understanding of social media’s role in society. To learn more, visit http://socialmediaweek.org/.

CONTACT:

Jenina Nuñez

jnunez@zocalogroup.com

312.596.6360

Jamie Weil

Jamie@rockitranch.com

310.270.3054

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Hello loyal A Chicago Thing visitors! My name is Tim Toomey, the Interactive Marketing Coordinator for Rockit Ranch Productions. I’m sure most of you have never heard of me, but if you’ve interacted with us through our websites, or via social media in the past year then you’ve been talking to me as I oversee all of the social media for the Rockit Ranch Productions’ venues.

For the first time ever Chicago is celebrating what’s called “Social Media Week” as area businesses and some of the top social media names in Chicago will get together for a week long series of events revolving around every facet of social media. Included in the board of advisers for Social Media week is Adam Brown, currently at Dell computers, who was at one point one of the masterminds behind one of the most popular brands on Facebook, Coca-cola.

If you look at the current advisory board members, you’ll recognize lots of local Chicago based brand names both on and offline including the Chicago Fire, Groupon, Second City, and Loyola University, as well as several large non-traditional global brands including Aon, CDW, ConAgra, and Hyatt. Two other key members of the advisory board that I’m most interested in hopefully hearing more from during Social Media Week is Jim Lecinski, Managing Director for US Sales & Service at Google, and Sarah Personette, Director of Global Agency Relations for Facebook. Hopefully there will be guest speakers at some of the events from both Google and Facebook, but at the very least I’m interested to see who they’ll choose to headline the events around town that week. With Google and Facebook advising on the week long series of events we’re bound to hear from the best speakers with the most cutting edge knowledge of how social media is being used across the board at both B to B as well as direct to consumer companies.

It will be even more interesting to see the development and announcements of events over the course of the next few months especially with the big splash that Google+ has made since it’s inception a few weeks ago.

The full week long series of events will take place at various locations across Chicago from September 19-23rd, as well as 11 other cities around the world simultaneously…For more click here.

Oh by the way our CEO of Rockit Ranch Productions, Inc., Billy Dec, was not only asked to be on the advisory board, but was the first of them to be asked the following three questions just posted today… Check it out: http://bit.ly/pZJUYQ!