2009-04-29T12:18:03+00:00 82 776 Everybody in marketing knows about CRM. But what about VRM? VRM, or Vendor Relationship Management, is the reciprocal of CRM or Customer Relationship Management. It provides customers with tools for engaging with vendors in ways that work for both parties. Doc Searls has [coined the phrase][1] "fourth party services" as a classification for user-driven services. In other words, there is a growing opportunity to be a company that advocates on behalf of the customer — just as your browser is supposed to be your "user agent". Companies like Virgin America, Zappos, Twitter or Evernote are doing fairly well here. Some questions the panel will discuss: - How do I do it right? - Where do I begin? - Who is doing it right? - How do I manage my brand across many social media sites? - Can I still be in total control? *Moderated by Boris Veldhuijzen van Zanten* [1]: http://www.linuxjournal.com/content/get-ready-fourth-party-services 2009-05-20T21:54:35+00:00 2009-05-06T15:30:01+00:00 Chris Heuer has been engaged in interactive communications since 1993, and launched his first agency, Guru Communications, out of South Beach, Florida in 1994. Over the years he has helped numerous startups with go-to market strategies, product design, web site development, online marketing campaigns, ecommerce and what is now widely referred to as Social Media. Seeing similarities between the rise of the Web as a vital communications technology and the current rise of Social Media, Chris formed Social Media Club in March, 2006 to help more people understand the greater significance of what it means to be social and how media production/consumption has changed. To this end, Social Media Club is promoting media literacy, encouraging the sharing of lessons learned, promoting industry standards such as Creative Commons and discussing questions of ethics. More recently, Chris organized AdHocnium, a team of "Creative Catalysts" from around the world who educate agencies and their clients and partner to develop social engagement strategies that deliver creative impact, brand preference AND measurable ROI. In addition to his direct endeavors, he serves as an advisory board member for Buzzlogic, You2Gov and SMtv. He is a frequent speaker, workshop leader and a trained facilitator and has organized numerous unconferences for the community and private organizations of all sizes. Chris graduated from American University in 1991 with an interdisciplinary degree in Communications, Legal Institutions, Economics and Government AdHocnium http://www.adhocnium.com 1602 http://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisheuer San Francisco, CA Chris Heuer http://www.chrisheuer.com /avatars/1602/thumb/Chris_Heuer.jpg Please see http://wiki.factoryjoe.com/Bio OpenID Foundation 1585 http://www.linkedin.com/in/factoryjoe San Francisco factoryjoe http://factoryjoe.com 2.42 /avatars/1585/thumb/300x300.png 2009-04-23T14:50:56+00:00 On May 5 & 6 the next conference is taking place at Kampnagel in Hamburg. Organised by SinnerSchrader, the next conference is one of the most important networking and trend conferences within the European web industry. 2009-05-06T00:00:00+00:00 http://next09.com 82 Hamburg, Germany 2009-05-05T00:00:00+00:00 2009-04-23T14:50:56+00:00 3.13