Having been given the opportunity to have work experience in Social Media at Specialmoves, Tempero and Mint, I didn’t know what to expect; Social Media is a broad topic which looks at various aspects such as social networks and newspaper articles. Before I knew so little but now I know so much.

The week mainly consisted of workshops educating us on how social media is managed; that’s how I became more familiar with the term “moderation” in terms of media. Other than setting up rooms for workshops and helping to clear up with Emma and Lindsay (which I strangely enjoyed) I learnt how forums are kept under control and what skills moderators much have to successfully control them. It’s something that people, especially young people, don’t take much notice of; so much hard work is put into managing social networks (in particular) and keeping everyone safe that people don’t realise how vital it is to stick to the guidelines – only making moderators jobs harder.

Despite this, I see their job as something exciting, a chance to see people’s opinions and how the general public react to major events; such as deaths of celebrities. It can be a very emotional job but something to look forward to.

I saw just how controversial issues on Social Media bring complications to managing Social Networks; things like sexism can cause so much traffic. I went to the “women in a room” event, which looked at how women are seen on the Internet”: opinions that are not respected but downgraded, according to Laurie Penny. This got me thinking; I have never experienced a situation like that (and hopefully I won’t) but it opened my eyes. So much goes on, on the Internet that I couldn’t possibly imagine. I didn’t think that women could still be degraded and face abuse (possibly due to my naivety). It was a shocking realisation but it is reality.

I gained so much out of the week that I didn’t expect I would – it was far more enjoyable than I thought it would be. It’s got me excited about Social Media in general and could be a possible career choice! I especially had fun experimenting with the visual parts of  writing this blog!

Social Media Week was a great opportunity to find out what went on behind the social networking sites I so frequently used. Signing up to the work experience, I knew it would be a great way to learn more about the more about the technical side to socialising online, but after the introductions from Specialmoves, Tempero and Mint, it was clear that it was a lot more than HTML and coding, and also that it was really, really fun, which is helped by the super friendly people working there.

The Tempero workshops taught me loads about Social Media linked with big companies, and how they do various tasks, which ultimately results in the company having a stronger bond with its customers. They also taught me about the management behind co-ordinating a social media company, and all you have to be aware of, including legalities, which was way more interesting than I anticipated.

Lindsay showed some projects Specialmoves actually did, including the Halifax fundraising personal music videos and the Misfits clip, and explained what companies used Specialmoves for, and this was really good because I’d never really thought about the organisation and work put into the interactive parts of company’s websites. The Women In A Room workshop brought up some really interesting issues, and was a really fun, laid back event.

The Mint workshops brought out our arty side, with several creative activities, getting us to bring our ideas and creating a physical product. We were taught about how they come up with their products, the briefs which they were given and the process they go through before they come up with the product. It was generally a great experience, and definitely brought out a more arty side.

Generally, the whole experience was one I’m extremely happy about taking, and it’s brought out a new interest, its something I’d love to do again.

We can now confirm a list of speakers for our Facebook event on Thursday 16th February.

Guest speakers for the event include Richard Sedley, Commercial Director at Foviance and author of Winners and Losers in a Troubled Economy, who will talk about seduction, influence and persuasion – the art and science of social design. Gavin Clark, Head of Flash at Specialmoves, will cover his experiences wrestling with personalised videos on Facebook.

As usual Iskandar Najmuddin, Technical Director at Syncapse, will get us up to speed with his not-to-be-missed what’s new on the Facebook platform rundown, Dave Nattriss, a freelance developer and secretary of the FDGL committee will tell us what’s hot on Facebook, and Todd Chaffee, CEO of Bluecrow and FDGL chairman will host the evening and talk about recent Facebook news.

To get your tickets, click here.

We’re very happy to annouce that Ally Branley, Community and Social Media Manager at Channel 4 will be co-hosting our Creating a Social Media Management Planworkshop. Tempero has worked with Channel 4 for a long time now (so long we’ve lost count, but we think around 7 years), moderating all of their online spaces – including a massive 85 Facebook pages!

Thanks to Ally for giving up her time for what we hope will be a useful and insightful workshop.

Nico Henderijckx, Sony’s European Forum & Communities Manager, will be sharing inside knowledge on how Sony works with their online community “super-users” in our Social Media Week London keynote session.

He will highlight the key challenges involved in managing a super-user community on a European scale, as well as providing tips on how to build relationships with super users on a local and regional level, and how to keep them interested. Spaces for this talk are filling up fast, so get booking asap!

OK, so tickets for Women in a Room are going really well. If you’d like to meet other fab ladies working in tech do join us. We’re really excited that author Kate Bussman is one of our speakers. At the end of last year she published the first social media almanac ‘A Twitter Year: 365 Days in 140 Characters’. We’re very pleased that her publisher is sending us some copies for on the night. Thanks Kate!

“For a roundup of the tweets that made us laugh (and cry) this year, grab Kate Bussmann’s genius A Twitter Year” InStyle

“The perfect gift for the Twitter addict in your life” Red 

Us Specialmovers are partnering with Facebook Developer Garage to put on a killer Social Media Week event. And Gavin, our Head of Flash, (yes, that’s him!) is currently deciding which of his fine Hawaiian t-shirts to wear, whilst polishing the content of his talk. It’s gonna be great!

Tickets have just gone on sale and always go like hot cakes so get a ticket while you can. More details to follow.

Only 2 more weeks until the Exmouth House Social calendar of events kicks off.

Monday 13th February will see the beginning of  the collaboration of four London digital agencies to form “Exmouth House Social”  for Social Media Week London 2012.

Calendar of events to be confirmed soon.