#ChinwagPsych

Laptop on my knee at the local bar, I intended to write a post about the potentially positive impact social media has on addiction. Perhaps I'd cover how forums, niche networks and even public posts might assist in the recovery and support of those alienated from society.

It’s a topic that fascinates me because it may well be an area in which the online social engine has made a positive impact on life expectancy (or at least longevity). However, on posting my intentions to Facebook, friends immediately steered me to the subject of social media itself as an addictive pastime.

The time is almost upon us for the next monthly instalment of Chinwag Psych: November PsychUp. If you haven't got your ticket, why ever not? Grab one now.

Save the date, Nov 12, Alex Sass, Managing Director, Hyperworld Control and Social Media Consultant, Dynamo PR will be speaking on "The Value of Social Phobia in Digital Marketing". Find out more about Alex here.

Quiet at the back of the class! I need your full attention. Over at Chinwag Towers we take Psychology very seriously and we are looking for innovators, specialists, behavioural experts to speak at our PsychUps and Conference.

If you have something important to say, let us know. We love a good natter.

To make life even easier we have got a super quick form to gather up your interest. Apply to speak here.

Last night we hosted the first Chinwag Psych: PsychUp, which was part of the Festival of Marketing (8-10 Oct). The evening was a great success and Emma from The Blue Ballroom wrote this lovely blog all about it.

The next PsychUp will be hosted on Tuesday 12th November. Tickets sell out fast, so get yours while you can.

As part Social Media Week London, September 26th saw the official launch of Dr. Aaron Balick's book, The Psychodynamics of Social Networking: connected-up instantaneous culture and the self. A full version of his launch speech is available here. What follows is an abridged version:

Facebook launched its initial public offering (IPO) with a great deal of fanfare (as has its continued volatility and recent ascension).  The launch of this book coincides with announcements about the IPO of Twitter, another highly anticipated event.  After more than a decade, social networking is still big news.

Next week Chinwag will be hosting the first Chinwag Psych: PsychUp, Wed 8 Oct (6pm - 9pm). Geared towards marketers, academics and anyone with an interest how businesses can use psychology, neuroscience and behavioural economics to improve.

Following the hugely successful Chinwag Psych earlier this year, this meetup will showcase two leading thinkers in the field, with a few drinks and a chance to chat and network with like-minded people. Did we mention it is completely free to attend?

From the team who brought you Social Media Week London comes another pointed enquiry into the ever shifting topography of SM: Chinwag Psych.

Interested in the psychology behind social and sharing? Fancy peeling back the layers of the online ego to peer at the inner convictions driving behaviour?

How does social media affect (or reflect) the basic ways in which we understand ourselves and others? One question seems to resurface: is the development of “Web 2.0” is changing us in some way, or is it simply a technological development in which the same old psychological traits express themselves differently?

Social media has penetrated into the social and interpersonal lives our connected-up society rapidly and continues to grow. Facebook alone reports that it has more than 800 million active users. Unsubstantiated reports across Twitter inform me that it is fast approaching one billion. There must be something very compelling about social networking.

Missing Chinwag Psych? Fear not - we still have some great content to share with you from our speakers. The day focused on machine learning, neuroscience and psychology and how these disciplines can be successfully applied to business. 

One of the great speakers was William Higham, consumer strategist, futurist, author and founder of the Next Big Thing consultancy. His understanding of the way consumers think helps him to advise businesses all over the world.

Chinwag Psych was a huge success, with a fantastic selection of great speakers sharing insights into how psychology, neuroscience and machine learning can open new avenues for business.

One of the day's speakers, Cat Jones, talks to Chinwag about her presentation.

As many of us online become accustomed to social sharing, it’s no surprise that there are practitioners looking into how it can be exploited.

Chinwag Psych is almost here. Grab a ticket and prepare to learn all sorts of intriguing things about machine learning, psychology and neuroscience in business and beyond.

A formidable list of speakers span academic principles, marketing skills, psychology for teams, behavioural economics and much more. If you’re already signed up, be sure to catch Marina Clement and Dan Bennett of Ogilvy Change.

They will be talking about how Ogilvy Change one a pitch for News International. As a result they completely redesigned the subscription process to attract more customers.

Not long now until the Chinwag Psych event on May 9. If you don’t have your ticket yet you can still grab one here.

Meanwhile, whether you can attend the event or if you’re just interested in a little reading on the topic of psychology, neuroscience and machine learning, here’s our weekly round up to get you thinking.

Happy Birthday to the father of modern neuroscience

Chinwag Psych (@ChinwagPsych) is fast approaching and we have more speakers to introduce you to. 

May 9th is the date and Chancery Lane the place. 

The full day conference is jam packed full of case studies, theory, insight and plenty of practical advice centred around the latest thinking and application of psychology, neuroscience and machine learning.

Dr. David Stillwell is Science Director at Cambridge Personality Research, and will be speaking at Chinwag Psych on May 9th. Concluding his discussion on Neuromarketing, which began with an analysis of EEG, he looks at the alternative...

Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) uses huge, million-dollar magnetic scanners to see your brain without having to cut it open.

Resolution is relatively high – down to the millimetre range. It can also view deep brain regions as easily as areas on the surface. But it’s not without limitations.