According to news reports and company tallies in 2012, users of social media sites are in the millions worldwide. For example, Twitter has reached 500 million clients and continues to grow daily, Tumblr estimates to have 150 million active participants, and Pinterest comes in at 25 million users. Facebook recently reached a milestone when the site broke the 1 billion active monthly user mark, with 600 million of those individuals logging in through mobile phones and more than 9 million installing the Facebook app to iPads, iPhones and other devices.
With such impressive numbers, it is no surprise that companies are relying on social media to promote their businesses to this large and diverse audience. To discuss this trend, the Saint Peter’s University Board of Regents welcomed members of the region’s business community to their 41st Annual Regents Business Symposium at the Jersey City Hyatt Regency on the Hudson on Friday, December 7. The event explored the theme of “Social Business: It’s More Than Just Facebook” and gathered industry experts to address this cutting-edge topic. The Symposium also served as a fundraising opportunity for scholarship support and other University initiatives.
The Symposium featured Co-founder of Facebook Chris Hughes as the keynote speaker. His address focused on the real story of Facebook, as opposed to what Hughes described as Hollywood’s exaggerated portrayal of the events in the 2010 film The Social Network.
Mark Zuckerberg founded Facebook in 2004 with his college roommates and fellow Harvard University students Hughes, Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum and Dustin Moskovitz. The website’s membership was initially limited by the founders to Harvard students, but was expanded to other colleges in the Boston area, the Ivy League, and Stanford University. It gradually added support for students at various other universities before opening to high school students, and eventually to anyone aged 13 and over.
“[When the site began], we understood that Facebook held the potential to be the platform – not necessarily a platform, but the platform – to shape how people would connect and share on the Web,” Hughes said. “It would be silly to say that we understood the scale of what was about to come or the scale Facebook would reach, but it would be true to say that we knew that what we were building could be used by anyone anywhere to do the most basic of human things – connect with the people that we care about.”
He added, “Facebook, I think, thus far has been the defining example of American ingenuity and entrepreneurship in the 21st century.”
Hughes also discussed the elaborate role social media plays in shaping and marketing a successful business in a technological world, using his position as publisher and editor-in-chief of The New Republic, an American magazine of politics and the arts, as an example.
“Whatever the venture, whether it’s what we are doing at The New Republic or a company that many of you are working in today, we are trying to build brands that appraise relevancy, responsiveness and interact with our consumers better than they ever have before. Not only is this possible in the age of social media, it’s required of all of us to do our jobs as well.”
Hughes also participated in a panel discussion with leading experts on social media, including Elissa J. Glasband, partner, Patton Boggs LLP; David Meerman Scott, marketing and leadership strategist; and JJ Ramberg, host of MSNBC’s Your Business and co-founder of GoodSearch.com. Ernabel Demillo, professor of journalism at Saint Peter’s University and former Good Day New York anchor, served as the moderator. Topics covered included the panelists’ thoughts on infringement of privacy due to potential employers requesting social media passwords, tips for measuring the success of one’s social media efforts beyond likes and followers, and new laws surrounding compliance and regulations on interactive platforms.
In keeping with the theme of social media, questions for the panelists were asked via Twitter using #RBS41. Attendees tweeted questions during the event using smart phones and other devices, and Saint Peter’s students circulated the room with iPads during the question and answer portion for guests to use as well.
Doug Palmer, principal and leader of social media and collaboration practice at Deloitte Consulting LLP, also lent his expertise on the advantages of social business during an afternoon presentation at the Symposium. As a principal and leader of social media and collaboration practice, he discussed the ways in which he advises clients to utilize web-based technologies to create highly interactive platforms.
“How many people check their mobile phones before their feet hit the floor in the morning because it’s their alarm and it’s the way they connect?” Palmer asked. “This is the reality, so it becomes how you build your business around that.”
In realizing this reality as well, Saint Peter’s University constantly utilizes social media outlets, as explained by Eugene J. Cornacchia, Ph.D., president of Saint Peter’s University.
“Simply put, social media helps us solve problems faster, share information better and brings us products and services to market earlier,” Dr. Cornacchia said. “At Saint Peter’s, we have embraced the role that social media plays in our day to day work. It holds a central place in our communications strategies with students, perspective students, employees, alumni and friends.”
In addition to delivering an exciting program on social media, this year’s Symposium broke all previous sponsorship records and raised a total of more than $133,000. A portion of these proceeds will be directed to the construction of the Mac Mahon Student Center and the Patricia Q. Sheehan H’77 Annual Scholarship. Saint Peter’s University gratefully acknowledges the support of these companies and individuals: Patton Boggs LLP, presenting sponsor; United Way of Hudson County, executive sponsor; Bank of America Merrill Lynch/The Spanarkel Browne Granizo Group; CapitalOne Bank; CohnReznick; Fidelity Investments; Genova Burns, Giantomasi & Webster; Schumann Hanlon; Strategic Development Corporation; W.B. Mason Co. Inc.; Brinker Capital Inc.; Goldman Sachs; Liberty Mutual; Sodexo; Staples; TD Bank; Robert A. Cutro ’75; EisnerAmper; Kevin Guckian ’83; Hooker & Holcombe Inc.; John Wiley & Sons Inc.; Johnson & Johnson; Mark Kahrer ’83; Michael Kahrer ’79; Liberty Savings Federal Credit Union; Kenneth J. Mathews ’60; PSE&G; North American Wholesale Lumber Association; Paul Schaetzle ’75; Patricia Q. Sheehan H’77; James and Kathleen Gilvey Tyrrell ’73; UBS; Hudson County Chamber of Commerce.