The theme of the Summit was “The New ROI: Return on Influentials”. Executives and managers from top retailers, manufacturers and financial companies came to the new AT&T Conference Center in Austin (on UT’s campus) for 3 days to learn how to build and show the impact of customer voice in their business. See the agenda here.

In the coming weeks we will blog cliff notes from the sessions. But you can also see the stream of Twitter notes here.

I didn’t hear everything (I was running around emceeing the event), but here are some of the biggest takeaways I had:

• Anyone can be an influencer. You can unearth them by facilitating their contribution and amplifying its impact.
• Measurement and marketing impact is easier than most think. Measure the impact of UGC on existing marketing campaigns (examples from Helzberg, Sephora, others)
• Getting C-level buy-in dramatically accelerates the evolution of transforming the business with the voice of customer (ex: Sam Taylor, CEO of Oriental Trading pulled together cross functional team to leverage reviews in supply chain and strategy)
• Brands realize that the voice of the customer is transformational, but are challenged to accelerate organizational change.
• We are all working on a comprehensive way to operationalize and measure all the impacts of social commerce initiatives.
• There’s a big opportunity in merging social content and data with email strategy. Bazaarvoice Social Alerts with JCWhitney had 100% open rate and 50% click through!
• We’re scratching the surface on the database marketing opportunities with influencers. Those who contribute can help identify others who contribute. Some thought leadership discussed with our partner, Merkle.

And we had fun too…

• We were in Austin…so we’ll start there!
• During the sessions, Sunni Brown drew graphic recordings on each session (will post soon).
• Tuesday night we took buses out to the Salt Lick Pavilion (best BBQ in TX, in my opinion) and hosted the Bazaarvoice Bull Ride contest again.
• Leslie from Williams Sonoma took the prize this year (Omare from Geico won last year).
• We had live music from Jeff Hughes and Chaparral
• We played Chicken Shit Bingo (sorry…that’s just what it’s called!)
• Attendees grabbed their beverage from the backs of Beer Donkeys!
• As an unorthodox way to evangelize our message to clients, last year we debuted the video “More than Words”. This year we created two videos, “The Influencer Abduction” and “Freedom! ’09 (Let Their Content Free!)”. Share them with colleagues that need to ‘get’ social commerce!

Abduction of Influencers

Click here to view the embedded video.

Freedom! '09 (Let Their Content Free!)

Click here to view the embedded video.

To give you a Bazaarvoice “inside perspective” on the event…

Last year’s event received a Net Promoter score of 9.3 out of 10. We were excited to get such positive feedback on our first event, but it also meant we had a high bar to jump over. We want to continually improve. We’re tallying the on-site surveys now, and we’ll be sending out an additional email survey, but just based on our experience and comments from clients, we were thrilled with the results. The majority of the event experience was based on the presentations and interaction between clients, as we learn from each other. One of my favorite quotes “the Summit is an amusement park of ideas.” And because so many clients came, our community management, support, implementation, and sales team members were able to put faces to voices. The entire Bazaarvoice team worked on making this successful. It takes a lot of work and requires juggling a lot of details. I want to give special thanks and recognition to the three folks on my team who were the producers of the event: Sarah Loyens, who quarterbacked the invitations and logistics to get folks there; Chris Wellington, our designer who took the event experience to the next level and tied it all together (including the Polaroids in the notebook!); and Amber Quist, who was the overall Producer of the event with RedVelvet Events. And of course, thank you to our partners who added to the content and made the event possible.

Stay tuned for cliffnotes of the content! For those who attended, stay tuned for presentations and conversations posted to the SCS Community.

p.s. If you're in Europe or the UK, register for our Social Commerce Summit London on September 22!

A panel discussion followed, featuring Patti Freeman Evans; Bryan Eisenberg, author of Call to Action, Waiting For Your Cat to Bark, and Always Be Testing; Mike Svatek, VP of Product Strategy for Bazaarvoice; and David Selinger, CEO and founder of richrelevance. The event was co-hosted by Bazaarvoice and richrelevance.

Forty-eight percent of online shoppers plan to reduce their expenditure over the next 12 months. With spending budgets thus lowered, customers are more anxious than ever to validate their purchases, sometimes after utilizing three or more sources. Consumers also make fewer in-store impulse buys and use online resources, such as ratings and reviews, earlier in the purchasing process, Evans said.

Evans challenged her audience to rethink the relationships they currently build with e-Commerce consumers. People return to familiar environments in difficult times, and savvy retailers will recognize their customers' needs to create an atmosphere of trust and value.

Panelist Bryan Eisenberg encouraged companies to use review language gathered from their Web site to re-write their product copy. As he put it, "Do you ‘get’ your customer? Are you speaking the same language?"

If you missed this event, join us for another exclusive briefing by Patti Freeman Evans in San Francisco on March 26, 2009. The event is free, but registration is limited; register today.

The New Rules of Engagement: Make it Relevant
Online Retail: Driving Relevant Experiences

March 26, 2009
9:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
The Palace Hotel
San Francisco, CA

Register now at www.bmmreg.com/Engaged. See you there!

As part of RISE – A Relationship & Information Series for Entrepreneurs, I'll share answers to questions entrepreneurs should consider regarding culture:

• How do you prioritize culture within the company?
• How exactly is it built?
• How can you sustain it as the world around you feels uncertain?
• What role do founders, executives, and managers play?
• How is this different when you are just starting out?

My speech, entitled Establishing the Foundation of a Great Company Culture, is part of this week's RISE series of events, and I'll be speaking this Thursday, March 5, at 2 p.m.

RISE is an annual conference series dedicated to providing a free forum for entrepreneurs to connect and exchange ideas that inspire the entrepreneurial spirit. RISE is a non-profit initiative with no cost to participate allowing entrepreneurs from multiple industries and backgrounds to exchange successful ideas. Unlike traditional conferences, RISE Sessions are limited to 25 participants and take place all over the city in areas where entrepreneurs naturally congregate.

The session, on Thursday, March 5 at 2 p.m., will be hosted here, in the Bazaarvoice office. Registration for this event is free, but act quickly – only a few slots are available. I look forward to seeing you here!

Every attendee I talked to last year said it was the best conference they attended all year. Take a look at the video and see what they mean:

Click here to view the embedded video.

1. I don't know what I don't know.  I want to talk to my peers in the space and pick their brains on what has worked for them – and what hasn't.
2. I want to learn from and network with Bazaarvoice's cutting edge clients
3. Our marketing budget got slashed and we need to learn how to use UGC to market economically and effectively.
4. It's a great opportunity to see how UGC is impacting the bottom line for BV clients.
5. I want to be ahead of Web 2.0.
6. Every element of the Summit is 100% relevant to my business.
7. Our goal is to integrate all our channels and I need to know how to use UGC to do this.
8. We want to lead the pack in social commerce, not fall behind our competitors.
9. Almost everyone has Reviews. What I want to know is, "What's next?"
10. We need to figure out how to make this work for our brand.
11. I need to better understand all the ways to use Bazaarvoice Workbench, alerts and reports.
12. My CMO wants me to figure out how to measure ROI.
13. Austin is a cheap flight.
14. This conference represents 50 percent of my job responsibilities.
15. This conference is half the price of other conferences, and double the relevance.
16. We know how to execute the fundamentals. We don't know where things are headed.
17. I just took over management of Ratings & Reviews and I don't even know what it is.
18. I'd love new and exciting social commerce ideas and inspiration.
19. I will figure out how to reach our influencers and maximize their impact on sales.
20. I want to see what the competition is doing.
21. I will learn more about proving social commerce ROI.
22. I need a smarter/better way to evangelize social commerce within my organization.
23. I want to meet my Community Manager.
24. This is one of those rare conferences where you learn something new.
25. I'm just starting to use UGC, and I'll get to learn the ropes from the best of the best.
26. We need new ways to connect with and engage our community of loyalists.
27. I need to understand why employing UGC is anywhere near as good as pay-for-performance… especially now!
28. I want to know how _________ uses Bazaarvoice.
29. Top executives from top retailers and manufacturers will be in attendance.
30. I can network with the Who's Who in social commerce.
31. I'm a new client who is still implementing the BV solution; I'd like to engage with other customers to learn more about their experience.
32. It's like getting an MBA in social commerce.
33. After meeting with the Bazaarvoice team face to face, I'm sure we can get more out of them!
34. We need to add more cowbell to our marketing strategy.
35. We get to play "Chicken S**t Bingo."  This I've got to see!
36. Finally, a conference I can attend in blue jeans and cowboy boots!
37. I hear Bazaarvoice throws an awesome party!
38. They say it’s an informative party. They’re breaking the laws of physics.
39. I've been meaning to see a beer donkey before I die.
40. BBQ will transform me into a better manager.
41. I can win the mechanical bull contest, and I'll bring you back the reward.
42. This will make me the hero who proves that social marketing works for our company.
43. It's the only conference left.
44. By April, I'll be so sick of snow that I'll need the spring thaw in Texas.
45. Everything is bigger in Texas, so the Summit must be HUGE!
46. Two days; 4 pounds of BBQ; 16 different flavored margaritas; 256 new friends; 65,536 new ways social commerce will advance your business.
47. Ze Frank (www.zefrank.com) is speaking and I look forward to his unpredictability.
48. The voices in my head are using word-of-mouth to tell me to attend. Listen to them.
49. This conference will "complete me."
50. The Summit is on the University of Texas campus. That proves it's educational.

You will hear real world examples from JC Whitney Company, the largest direct marketer of auto parts and accessories. Join Geoffrey Robertson, VP of E-Commerce, JC Whitney, and Sam Decker, CMO, Bazaarvoice, to understand how to measure ROI in the real world.

You will learn:

• Why metrics are important and how to get started
• Which metrics matter most to prove ROI
• How to use ROI to gain buy-in throughout your organization

Webinar:  Prove It: Real-World ROI for Social Commerce
Date:  Wednesday, January 21, 2009

UPDATE – January 22, 2009:

“Prove It: Real-World ROI for Social Commerce” was a terrific, informative webinar. Many thanks to Geoffrey Robertson of JC Whitney and for the many thoughtful questions from the audience.

Request a recording of this webinar today.

The action-packed agenda includes presentations by Emma Jenkins, Head of Interactive Marketing at Procter & Gamble UK, Ian Jindal, Editor in Chief of Internet Retailing, and Jessica Greenwood, Deputy Editor of Contagious Magazine.  Also catch sessions on increasing community participation, measuring the impact of social commerce, and the Bazaarvoice product roadmap hosted by our very own Bazaarvoice executive team.  View the full agenda.

With a day full of magic, educational sessions, research findings, industry networking, and ice-cold fun at ABSOLUT ICEBAR, Bazaarvoice Social Commerce Summit London is sure to be the only event to mix Social with Results.  So get your parkas and magic wands ready – we’re Revealing the Secrets of Social Commerce…in London!

Here is a 1.5 minute video showing some highlights from our U.S. Social Commerce Summit (with a Texas-theme).

Click here to view the embedded video.

One of the nation’s hottest up-and-coming bands, the Band of Heathens, will be providing their authentic Austin brand of Country, Blues, and Soul music at the Bazaarvoice Social Commerce Summit, in May.  In 2007, the Band of Heathens was named Best New Band at the Austin Music Awards, no small feat for a band in the Live Music Capital of the World.  When you see them live, you will see why.  The Band of Heathens’ music brings to mind timeless acts like Little Feat, the Rolling Stones, Otis Redding, and the Band, with lots of 3 part harmony and foot stomping soul.

This year finds the Band of Heathens everywhere from brief appearances in Barack Obama Superbowl Commercials to touring across the country from the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, to Mountain Stage in West Virginia, to the CMA Music Festival in Nashville, and back home for the Austin City Limits Festival.  We are excited to have them at the Bazaarvoice Social Commerce Summit just one week after the release of their new self titled studio album.  Tune in to XM Radio channel 12 (X-Country) to hear the Band of Heathens regularly.

Also…there will be a special, exclusive surprise from the Band of Heathens and Bazaarvoice for everyone attending this year's summit!

Recent politico, native Texan, and internet sensation Chuck Norris has agreed to hold a special workshop on Anti-Social Commerce as part of the first annual Bazaarvoice Social Commerce Summit.

As many of you know, Mr. Norris has become a towering figure across the landscape of online user-generated content.  Mr. Norris’ fans have eschewed the modest information provided in his autobiography and official website.  Instead, they have harnessed the power of UGC to provide a richer, more authentic account of his life.  The most celebrated of these accomplishments include the following:

• "Chuck Norris can divide by zero."
• "Chuck Norris does not sleep.  He waits."
• "Chuck Norris’ tears cure cancer.  Too bad he has never cried."

Over the years, Mr. Norris has conducted an enormous amount of industry research in the nascent field of Anti-Social Commerce.  His research has focused specifically on the impact of roundhouse kicks to the face on consumer shopping behavior.  In a A/B split test, he reported that conversion increases with customer reviews present jumped by as much as 100%, while customers influenced by the threat of a flying front kick converted as high as 500%! Email click through rates would jump 250% with the presence of a 100 pixel tall bearded Texas Ranger. Average Order Value jumped 200% when personalization engines included the threat of being repeatedly punched and/or kicked in the face.

Amidst all the hype about Anti-Social Commerce, early adopters are intensely focused on finding ways to measure ROI.  We hope you will join Mr. Norris for this workshop to learn how division by zero can boost the profitability of your Anti-Social Commerce campaigns.  In addition, Mr. Norris will provide strategies and recommendations on how you can:

• Identify and energize your brand advocates.
• Increase conversion and average order value.
• Defend yourself against an army of ninjas.

After the conclusion of the workshop, Mr. Norris will be around to sign autographs and will have a special booth open to give out free twisted knuckle punches to convince senior managers to buy-in to his new Anti-Social Commerce strategies.

Click here to visit our Social Commerce Site.  If you are faint under the sheer sight of Mr. Norris, or may fear you will fall unconscious to a roundhouse kick to the jaw, ask for smelling salts under "special needs." And click here if you have any other questions about this announcement.