Andy Smith
Author of The Dragonfly Effect
Experienced tech marketer Andy Smith is a Principal of Vonavona Ventures, where he advises and bootstraps technical and social ventures with guidance in marketing, customer strategy and operations. With his wife, Smith is the co-author of the breakthrough social media book, The Dragonfly Effect. Named for the only insect able to move in any direction when its four wings are working in concert, The Dragonfly Effect reveals how everyday people achieve unprecedented results through harnessing the incredible power of social media. Smith speaks on social technology, engineering virality, and brand building, with a focus on applying technology to address real problems.
Experienced tech marketer Andy Smith is a Principal of Vonavona Ventures, where he advises and bootstraps technical and social ventures with guidance in marketing, customer strategy and operations. Over the past 20 years, Smith has served as an executive in the high tech industry leading teams at Dolby Labs, BIGWORDS, LiquidWit, Intel, Analysis Group, Polaroid, Integral Inc., and PriceWaterhouseCoopers.
With his wife Jennifer Aaker, Smith is the co-author of the breakthrough social media book, The Dragonfly Effect. Named for the only insect able to move in any direction when its four wings are working in concert, The Dragonfly Effect reveals how everyday people achieve unprecedented results through harnessing the incredible power of social media. While there are many books teaching the mechanics of Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube to compete in business, The Dragonfly Effect is the first to show how to tap social media and psychological insights to achieve a single, concrete goal – whether that is finding an almost impossible bone marrow match for a friend, raising millions for cancer research, or electing the current president of the United States.
As a guest lecturer at Stanford's Graduate School of Business, Smith speaks about social technology, engineering virality, and brand building, with a focus on applying technology to address real problems. He is a contributor to GOOD Magazine, where he writes about businesses issues that embrace and integrate a social mission. Smith has also spoken at the 140 Characters Conference, Social Media Breakfast, World 50, Marketing Week, TechCoire and Interbrand, and he is on the boards of 140 Proof, ProFounder, LIF Brands, EveryWun, and One Family One Meal.
A permanent transplant to the Bay Area from New Jersey, Smith has studied in The Parthenon, lived in a converted South African prison, and befriended a regiment of Windsor Castle's Scots Guards. He's a gardener, gadgeteer, serious tech geek, and also the creator of "The No Cookie Diet" which he's still on two years later. Once bumped from a flight that tragically crashed, Smith has since learned to accept travel mishaps, and most everything else, with equanimity.
Smith earned his MBA at UCLA's Anderson School and holds an Economics degree from Pomona College.
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1. Harnessing Social Media to Build Brands
Many talks discuss mechanics of using Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube to compete in business. But few dive into the psychological insights that explain which social media strategies work and which don't. In this session, we'll pull back the curtain and help you understand the subtle and nuanced elements of social media success. We'll discuss the science of social persuasion, the strategies and tactics used by companies and causes that have successfully harnessed social media toward a specific goal, and we'll explore:
• How the impact of a goal - when connected to happiness and meaning - can serve to create a resource that is often untapped.
• How the power of human-centered design and rapid prototyping can be used to fuel branded initiatives and experiences.
• How any individual can achieve unprecedented results - whether finding an almost impossible bone marrow match for a friend, building a brand inside-out, or electing the current President of the United States.
• How to develop an effective roadmap for infectious action. -
2. How To Employ The Dragonfly Effect to Create an Effective Social Program
You want to get something meaningful done, but you don't know where to start, and your current plan is a blank page. What you need is a playbook that takes you step by step through the process. From designing a clear, focused goal to how you grab the attention of your audience, how you then make them care and finally how you multiply your effort by getting them to take up their effort as if it was their own – leveraging their social networks on your behalf – the Dragonfly Effect strategy will help you surpass initial expectations for social media success.
You don't need to be a social media expert to make this happen. The Dragonfly Effect, quick effective and powerful ways to use social media to drive social change, describes a framework for action and highlights the approaches and results achieved by a score of individuals and organizations.
This talk will:
• Outline the four wings of The Dragonfly Effect Model: Focus, Grab Attention, Engage and Take Action.
• Highlight case studies of recent efforts employing social media to drive social change including Kiva, Starbucks, DonorsChoose.org, Charity: Water and Nike.
• Show the role that Design Thinking plays in defining and managing an effective effort.
• Help participants better understand the opportunities presented to them by the rise of the social web.
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Andy's approach to how organizations can successfully leverage social media was great. The content he delivered at our annual Summit was informative, engaging, and thought provoking. Not only is Andy a great speaker with a lot of interesting insights to share, but he was also a gracious and engaging individual to work with - one who went above and beyond to spend time with our delegates during and after the event, helping with follow up questions and discussions.
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September 2010The Dragonfly Effect: Quick, Effective, and Powerful Ways To Use Social Media to Drive Social Change
Many books teach the mechanics of using Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube to compete in business. But no book addresses how to harness the incredible power of social media to make a difference. The Dragonfly Effect shows you how to tap social media and consumer psychological insights to achieve a single, concrete goal. Named for the only insect that is able to move in any direction when its four wings are working in concert, this book that you don't need money or power to inspire seismic change.
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