MeasurementCamp III: This time it's frameworks

Now on it's third installment, I finally managed to escape the office for a couple of hours to attend Measurement Camp III. Sadly, I was concentrating too much to take much in the way of notes, but various people have promised to write up the information on the Measurement Camp wiki, under pain of Will getting grumpy ;-)

The whole exercise sprung up from a suggestion by Will McInnes at Chinwag Live: Measuring Social Media, and he's been cheerleading the gatherings ever since. Frustratingly, I couldn't make Measurement Camp I (client deadline) or Measurement Camp II (food poisoning), so this time I definitely wanted to make it along.

After a last minute venue change to Masion Berteaux, the old-school patisseries next door to the Coach & Horses, the session got underway with a round of introductions. I arrived late (those of you that know me, will be nodding in an understanding way right now), so roughly half the audience remain a mystery to me.

There were over 20 people there, many of whom had been before. For those thinking about coming along, don't be intimidated, they're a very friendly and incredibly knowledgeable bunch. It included PR types, web agencies, social media specialists, metrics companies, analysts academics, management consultants, me with people traveling from as far as Bristol, Brighton and Southampton to attend.

After all, who is going to take two hours out of their day to talk about measuring social media, if they don't give a monkey's about it? If this is a subject that you're interested in, or is part of your work then I'd recommend coming along for a session.

It was surprising though, that there wasn't a bigger representation from the PR industry. As a group, I would imagine they have most to gain from understanding how they can translate their old skills into this new world and persuade clients its worthwhile. The PR laggards are going to have their lunch eaten by the new breed of social media whippersnappers, if they don't hire them first!

Building on the previous sessions, the group decided to explore the elements of what could become a framework for social media metrics.

I joined a group that de-camped to the tables outside to explore what outcomes a framework should cater for, with some great models around Value and ROI from Alan Patrick, and Branding & Engagement from Helen at Southampton Uni. We discussed how different social media tactics could be utilised and then measured against the outcomes.

As a mob, we reconvened upstairs to work through the elements each group had discussed, to find not only agreement but each group's work segued neatly into each others.

Rather a lot to cover in an hour, but we had a good crack at it. My aim here is to encourage others to come along. For me, it was a great lesson in what a group of people with a common aim can achieve quickly. Most of the room was filled with people who compete with each other for business, but this demonstrates an abject lesson in how an open environment can move things forward.

From a personal perspective, it was great to contribute (usefully, I hope) but I learnt a lot about how others use models to evaluate business objectives, how social media tactics are used and lots of mentions of case studies that I'd not come across before. Even if nothing comes of this series of events, that's some real useful learning right there.

Hopefully the wiki will be updated in the next few days with the results of that meeting. Keep an eye over the next few meetings as it fills out with the output of the 'Camps' as well as benchmarking and case study information.

Two further camps are already in the diary:

• Measurement Camp IV - Wed, 9th July
• Measurement Camp V - Wed, 6th August

Hope to see some of you there.