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by KELLI FONTENOT

Published in the November/December issue of Candy and Snack Today magazine

The Internet connects suppliers and retailers with millions of consumers every day. Discover how networking sites can gauge shoppers’ attitudes, raise brand awareness and reinforce positive associations with the category.

As candy retailers and suppliers explore sites such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, they are realizing their impact on brand awareness and company credibility.

Social media is definitely sparking consumers, with more than 105 million in the U.S. using these sites. What’s more, two out of three participants in a recent social media marketing industry report noted an increase in web site traffic, subscribers or opt-in lists after investing just six hours per week.

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Asterisq just released Mentionmap, an exciting web app for exploring your Twitter network. Discover which people interact the most and what they’re talking about. It’s also a great way to find relevant people to follow.

The visualization runs right in your browser and displays data from the Twitter API.

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In addition to being highly recommended keynote speakers, both David Nour and Scott Klososky understand that relationships are the foundation of good business. We inquired about almost twenty different speakers when we were vetting keynotes for SM@RT 2010, and only David Nour and Scott Klososky made the effort to speak to us personally over the phone.

We first contacted David via e-mail, and he made himself available the next day to speak to us on the phone. He listened to understand our needs and then described how he could help us with a value chain of activities (e.g. webinar, blogs) that would extend beyond the hour he spends delivering his keynote speech. He blew us away.

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Now, that’s a little different kind of social networking…

Clever though.

What is your impression of networking? On- or off-line, to many meeting professionals, it’s an insincere trade of favors or, at best, an elegant way of using people to get what you want. I actually asked this question of a group of engineers and one attendee near the front of the room asked, “You mean, networking with other people?”

Conversely, what’s your impression of relationships? When talking about relationships, most use characteristics such as trust, depth, and vested interest. So, if relationships have been around since the Ice Ages and we all know what they are, why is it that we’re becoming increasingly disconnected? In many ways, we’re losing our ability to touch people!

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