As a culmination to The Great #Indiana Initiative of Aught Nine, I launched “#Indiana’s INaugural Social Media Summit New Year’s Luncheon and SMackdown” event on 12-03-09.  Everyone was invited to join Smaller Indiana and the “#Indiana’s Inaugural Social Media Summit Smackdown” group to kibitz.   The conversation is in reverse chronological order  (i.e. comment #1 can be found on the bottom of page 23)

It’s a great case story about inspiring a grassroots event — transparently and entirely online using ONLY social media platforms — for about $25!

INaugural SMackdown Event Budget  =>

3- Large and Impressive Trophies = $14.00

3- Paper Tiaras = $3.00

Confetti, streamers and other accoutrement = $8.00

The text below was captured three days before the Luncheon when the winners would receive their large and impressive trophies ( Scotty’s @Brewhouse on Indy’s North Side )  The Inaugural Three Categories .. Indiana’s Most Influential Dame, Dude and Up and Comer.  In a strange way the comment I made on December 27th (quoted below) summarizes the month long dialog which ensued.

Comment by Amy Stark on December 27, 2009 at 10:31pm

@Robby I value your opinion and the judge idea is great! That’s the kind of kibitzing I like to see. It will add a layer of complexity, however. The planning, judge selection, writing basic by-laws and then developing a nomination process would have to be spearheaded by someone else.
It would have to be someone who is NOT afraid to make mistakes, and who could jump into the process transparently and accept input from the group. You interested?
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@Chris Hadley. I think I’m having more fun than anyone else in the group. Harrison Painter thinks it’s fun, too, and I know I made Becky Pruitt laugh when I decided to replace “competition” with “smackdown.” The trophies were delivered to my home while I was in Ft. Wayne. They are large and impressive, but they are not metal and marble – rather a high grade PLASTIC and marble – LOL.
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@Harrison – You captured my intent perfectly and I’m glad that I’ve had a chance to get to know you better. The Great #Indiana Initiative of Aught Nine began last January, but tweeting-up with you on 12-03-09 – after Get #Indiana2Trend – was the catalyst for putting together this luncheon.
As the Social Media World Turns indeed…I #loveit !
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@Chris Lucas– I was proud of myself that I didn’t ask for any help setting up the nominee form, RSVP, and final ballot, so I’m glad you didn’t insinuate yourself into the process. Being able to learn new applications quickly is vital in social media because the landscape changes so quickly — today’s facebook is yesterday’s My Space.
I love working with the @formspring interface because it is intuitive and the data captured makes me look smart. Plus @formspring understands the economic concept “freemium” which is a must when something can be sold globally via IP.
I set up the final ballot knowing full well if someone wanted to mess with the voting process I couldn’t do much about it given the budget and time constraints. That’s why I required people to look at their vote critically and reflect on the ideal principles of social media – THARG- then I required them to click Yes or, “NO: I am only voting because the nominee asked me to and I haven’t given it much thought.” I was counting on honesty and shame to keep it clean. I’m glad Doug Karr brought this up because it highlighted the fact that no competition can truly measure influence.

I have a pointed question for you, Chris Lucas… WHY DON’T YOU WANT TO PROFIT FROM MY IDEA? Profit is not a dirty word and I would be thrilled if this little goofy idea supported a local business to grow and thrive. PROFIT away formspring!
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@drthomasho – you deserve a special trophy of your own. You are the earliest adapter to social media in Indianapolis to my knowledge, plus you’re one of the few people who understand what I mean when I say twitter is the 21st century version of Big Brother.
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@Doug Karr, I still have business cards with the title, “Smaller Indiana Viral Marketing Liaison” that I passed out for several months in 2008. The main reason I wanted the kibitzing ONLY on Smaller #Indiana is because you & Pat had an impact on my personal social media journey and I feel good about driving traffic here.

But I can’t agree with your statement, “we’re all socially engaged thanks to a single person – Pat Coyle” There are loads of people who have been totally ignoring this Smaller #Indiana group and kibitzing only on twitter. Some have even chastised me because I have been so focused on Smaller #Indiana. YOU and Pat can claim influence over some of us being socially engaged, even MOST of us, but not ALL.
I specifically asked voters to choose the “ …MOST INFLUENTIAL #Indiana Social Media proponent AMONG THE NOMINEES listed below — NOT simply the most popular or a personal favorite.” There are quite a few people who should be on the list who are not. Off the top of my head -Pat Coyle, Chris Baggot, Harrison Painter, Paul Poteet are only a few who should be on the final ballot and yet they aren’t.
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@KathySipple – Even though I don’t know you personally I’m glad you’re leading for Dame because I want the entire state to get into this. Too often peeps in Indy don’t connect beyond Marion and the doughnut counties. If we are going to attract attention globally it will take the entire state working together for our voice to be heard.
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@Chad Pollitt I get what you and Chris Lucas are saying about email addresses, but I didn’t want anyone to think I was gathering data on individuals in order to compile a list of some sort. That may be the ideal approach for #Indiana’s 2nd Annual Social Media Summit New Year’s Luncheon Smackdown!
BTW you have moved into first place for up & comer and I agree wholeheartedly in your assessment that the person who uses SM effectively to capture the most votes is truly influential, and should feel great about keeping the large and impressive trophy for a year! Go Ft. Wayne!
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@BeckyPruitt – L right O L
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@JeffDyson I agree with Chad, too. Moving people to change their mind or perform some action is the very definition of influence.
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I will post the up to the minute voting results in a separate comment. I am resisting the urge to proof-read this post so please forgive any and all typos =)