Leading social media strategist Nichole Kelly of Full Frontal ROI will present, “No Fluff ROI,” which will guide you through a systematic, measurement oriented and practical approach to connecting your organization’s social media marketing activity to metrics that matter to your company and its executives. The May gathering of LDA will take place from 6-8 p.m. ET on Wednesday, May 16 at Interactive Media Lab at 124 North First Street in Downtown Louisville. Admission is free and the event is open to the public, but attendees are asked to RSVP for the event.

Nichole is most widely known for her Full Frontal ROI methodology, which she will share in her talk, presented in frequent contributions to widely read social media blogs Social Media Explorer and Social Media Examiner. She is a frequent speaker at events like MarketingProfs, Social Fresh and Social Media Explorer’s Explore events, as well as numerous PRSA, IABC and AMA talks.

She is the CEO of Full Frontal ROI Consulting, the social media firm anchored on understand its customer’s bottom line. She has been highlighted by leading organizations as a social media strategy and measurement expert including Forrester Research, Marketing Profs, Radian6 and HootSuite.

Register to attend below and bring your note-taking device of preference. This event will get your brain working!

The time has come to choose a side: #TeamStarTrek and #TeamStarWars. The answer — or, at least, the Louisville Digital Association’s  reckless attempt to reach one — will support Apple Patch in their efforts to provide therapeutic iPads for autistic adults.

This April 18, in association with the Mayor’s Give A Day service week, the LDA is harnessing the power of the Trekkies vs. Jedi geek rivalry to raise funds for ApplePatch’s iPad project. Just go to one of two Amazon wishlists — #TeamStarTrek or #TeamStarWars – where you can purchase iPads, accessories or Amazon gift cards to gear up the Apple Patch crew. Whichever sci-fi franchise delivers the most tech (or tech-equivalent cash) by 5pm on April 18 will earn annual bragging rights over their fellow geeks.

But wait, there’s more. From 9am to 5pm on April 18, the LDA is challenging geeks of all persuasions to spread the word about the Apple Patch fundraiser with a galaxy-sized social media blitz. Transmit the donation links (and their associated hashtags and smack talk) via Facebook, Google+, Twitter, LinkedIn, e-mail, blogs, holonet, subspace radio and/or telepathic mindblast — whatever it takes to make the masses aware of our cause.

A victory party at Vint Coffee Holiday Manor awaits the winners from 6-9pm. A consolation party (awkwardly also at at Vint Coffee Holiday Manor) and a year of friendly mockery awaits the runners-up. April 18 will determine which side you’re on. Get ready.

May the Force be with you. Live long and prosper. Be there or be square.

The panel lineup includes:

• Bobby Ferreri, Executive Director of Louisville Enterprise Corp
• Adam Fish, Chief Advocate at Forge Louisville
• Rob May, cofounder of Backupify
• Dave Durand, cofounder of Keepio
• Sean O’Leary, Senior Director of Venture Finance, Kentucky Science & Technology Corp.

Panel topics will include:

• How does Louisville develop a strategic startup-VC advantage?
• In what startup sectors can (or should) Louisville specialize?
• What critical factors does Louisville need to improve to attract more VCs and startups?
• Should Louisville act alone, or as part of a larger startup region?
• Can Louisville leverage our major corporate players to attract more startups and VCs?

Got a strong opinion about Louisville’s startup community, or are you sitting on a business idea just waiting for the right venture capital boost? Then you need to be at this panel. The rebirth of Louisville’s startup community depends on all of us, and it all starts Mar. 21.

Reserve your seat here.

Apple Patch, which works to provide assistance to autistic adults, needs funds to purchase therapeutic iPads for its clients. This April 18, in association with the Mayor’s Give A Day service week, the LDA is harnessing the power of the Star Wars vs. Star Trek geek rivalry to power their fundraising efforts. Just as we pitted toothpaste vs. soap to benefit Home of the Innocents last fall, we’re now throwing Jedis vs. Trekkies into the online arena.

Apple Patch has established twin Amazon wishlists for #TeamStarTrek and #TeamStarWars, where you can purchase iPads, protective cases or Amazon gift cards of any denomination to support your favorite sci-fi franchise in its quest to gear up the Apple Patch crew. Whichever nerd clan delivers the highest dollar-figure of swag by 5pm on April 18 will earn annual bragging rights over their fellow geeks.

But wait, there’s more. From 9am to 5pm on April 18, we’ll be calling in all our LDA brothers and sisters to spread the word about the Apple Patch fundraiser with an all-out social media blitz. We’re counting on everyone to blast out the donation links (and their associated hashtags and smack talk) via Facebook, Google+, Twitter, LinkedIn, e-mail, blogs, carrier pigeons and (shudder) even MySpace to maximize the dorktacular confrontations — and the fundraising, too. Mark your calendars, folks, April 18, 2012 is the altruistic geek’s version of Wolf 359 and/or the Battle of Yavin. Save your sheckels and hone your snark, because were gonna go head-to-head and keyboard-to-touchscreen for a good cause this spring.

A victory party, location TBD, will await the winners. A consolation party (at the same TBD location) and a year of good-natured heckling awaits the losers. April 18 will determine which side you’re on. Get ready.

May the Force be with you. Live long and prosper. Be there or be square.

So how do you get in on it?

The LDA may just have the answer for you on Feb. 15, as we host a panel of local app experts to discuss App-tastic Innovation, the Dos and Don’ts of App Development and Business. It all starts at 6:30pm at Interactive Media Lab, 124 N. First Street. Our panel lineup includes:

• Michelle Jones - Editor-in-chief of Consuming Louisville and driving force behind Louisville’s own Menu and Hours app
• Dave Durand – Head man at local digital dev shop Forest Giant and CEO of online app Keepio
• Matthias Kolehmainen - Director of Software of at Parkvu Mobile

Think you’re ready to dive into app development and commerce? Find out for sure by hearing what this trio of experienced pros has to say.

Seating is limited. Admission is free. Reserve your spot here.

Image via Wikipedia

What’s the difference between an LLC and an S-Corp? What’s a term sheet? How to I get a Tax ID number? How do I buy insurance as a sole proprietor? How do I file taxes if I have a side business and a day job?

It’s questions like these — and a fear of the wrong answers — that keep too many potential Louisville-area entrepreneurs on the bench, rather than building the next world-changing startup. And the LDA is here to fix that.

Join Dan Heffernan, a biz dev expert from Jewish family Career Services, Bobby Ferreri, the executive director of EnterpriseCorp, and Steven D. Kerrick, one of the accountants-in-chief at Mountjoy Chilton Medley for a crash course in basic business incorporation. The startup-centric learn-a-thon goes down Wed. Jan 18 at 6:30 pm at Interactive Media Lab, 124 North First Street, 40202.

Knowledge is power. Learning conquers fear. LDA events get you out of the house. All are good reasons to congregate and educate with your fellow Louisville Digerati. If you’re ready to start your own business — or think you just might someday — you need to be at

this meeting, if only to learn what you don’t know. (You’ll get some actionable answers, too, we promise.)

Admission is free. Wisdom is priceless. Reserve your spot here.

See you on Wednesday.

And you thought the Mayan Apocalypse was your most pressing concern for the coming year. We’ll tackle these topics and more at Predicting The Future of Everything (Well, Mostly Tech) in 2012 — and you can play along.

Join the LDA’s board of directors for a panel Q&A on the predictions for digital in 2012. The (almost) free discussion takes place Wednesday, Dec. 14 from 6:30 to 8:30 pm at Interactive Media Lab, 124 North First Street. Hors d’oeuvres and a cash bar will stimulate the physical, the discussion will stimulate the mental. Got a question to pose for Louisville’s self-styled digital smarty-pantses? We’re ready to field it.

So what does almost free mean? Glad you asked. The LDA is collecting donations for Toys for Tots as part of our annual TweetDrive charity efforts. The price of admission to Predicting The Future of Everything is one new-in-box unwrapped toy, suitable for gift-giving to a child in need.

You can reserve your seat here. See you in the near future.

Not to worry, though. Jason’s Social Optimization presentation deck is available online. Read, download, and pass it on. Hurry, before Facebook changes their interface or Google updates their SEO mechanics again!

Image by KEXINO via Flickr

Google+ just unveiled their answer to Facebook’s business-and-brand-centric Pages called…heh…Google+ Pages. Facebook just got its hand slapped by the FTC for privacy violations, so yet more interface and policy changes are at work over there.  Meanwhile, LinkedIn is still the most business-centric of all social networks, which may be why no one ever talks about it.

So where, and how, should businesses list themselves on the social web? Glad you asked, because the Louisville Digital Association is stepping up to answer on Wednesday, Nov. 16 with How to Optimize Social Profiles for Business, a lecture on best practices delivered by members of the LDA board. We’ll cover how to:

• Use the Facebook page of your business to attract more fans and customers
• Set up a Google+ profile for your business
• Optimize your company’s presence on LinkedIn
• Apply best practices for business profiles for your individual social media profiles as well

The knowledge will be dropped at the DeVry University campus (our sponsors for this event), 10172 Linn Station Road, Suite 300, Louisville, KY 40223. Networking begins at 6:30 p.m. and food from Firehouse Subs will be provided.

Seating is limited (as are the free munchies) so reserve your spot here.

Image by HowardLake via Flickr

Today is the first annual Geeksgiving, a (hopefully) yearly online drive by LDA members to raise awareness of, and donations for, a worthwhile Louisville charity. This year, we’re rallying support for the Home of the Innocents, which provides care and shelter for homeless and medically fragile children in and around Louisville.

To participate in Geeksgiving, we’re asking for exactly two things from every member of the Louisville Digital community:

1. Donate to Home of the Innocents
2. Spread the word about Geeksgiving

Donations

The Home of the Innocents is in desperate need of several critical items, as detailed in this Amazon Wishlist:

http://amzn.com/w/2HRN0XV8F0VO9.

Pick a few items, punch in a credit card, and you’ll have made a world of difference in the lives of Louisville’s most vulnerable children. All donations should be shipped to:

Home of the Innocents
1100 East Market Street
Louisville, KY 40206
502.596.1025

Can’t decide on which of the several items to give? Cash is a perfectly acceptable substitute. Monetary donations can be made here:

https://www.homeoftheinnocents.org/SSLPage.aspx?pid=272.

A bit short on cash? No worries. The Home of the Innocents also welcomes donations in kind of any new or gently-used items from this needs list:

http://www.homeoftheinnocents.org/Page.aspx?pid=274.

Items in bold are most needed, but all donations are graciously welcome.

Spreading the Word

Take the three links above, and blast them to every follower, friend, connection and contact you’ve got in your address book or Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google+ (or even MySpace) profiles. Blog about it. Chat about it. Skype about it. Even call people on this antiquated device called a telephone. Whatever it takes to get the word out that the Home of the Innocents is in need of our assistance. Between noon and 9pm today, there should be no one you know who doesn’t know about Geeksgiving.

 
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The Louisville Digital community is capable of greatness. Today, let’s harness that potential for the greater good.

Let’s all celebrate Geeksgiving.