1. How to organize a flash mob

We’ve all seen the viral videos of choreographed flash mobs on Youtube (Central Station Antwerp, Liverpool, Samsung).  When I saw these, my initial reaction was “THAT IS SO COOL.”

After I calmed down a bit, I started to think about how the choreographers could have possibly organized their mobs.  Most of these types of flash mobs are backed by large marketing firms with big budgets for some kind of a commercial.  However, with the power of social media, anyone with a video camera and a social network can organize a flash mob.  In just 4 days, I got 30-40 people to be part of my dance and learn two minutes of simple choreography.

2. How to effectively market a performance using social media

I’ve written about 5 Ways Facebook Can Help Promote Your Event, and this performance let me put those methods into practice.  With three nights of performances, over 330 people viewed the dance piece.  By collaborating with other dancers in the flash mob, I was able to harness the power of their networks as well as my own.

3. How to manage a group of performers and collaborators to create a final product

Part of social media strategy is creating interactive campaigns in order to reach a specific goal.  In a sense, that is exactly what I have been doing these past few months.  I worked with a team of six dancers and two visual collaborators to deliver a message to hundreds of viewers.  We thought about what was relevant to our audience, put together a final product (or dance) that addressed those ideas, and delivered it to them.

4. How social media can be used to enhance messages

Social media is that thing right now that everyone uses but most people don’t really think about.  We take it for granted that we can effectively stalk people we haven’t spoken to in four years or chat with someone online while sitting three feet away from them in real life.  Making something viral is about capitalizing on something that no one has noticed or paid much attention to yet everyone knows is true.

To do this, I had discussions with my dancers about some of the things we all do on Facebook that are actually pretty bizarre (unfriending someone?).  We then incorporated those things with both live movement and visual projection into the dance.

5. How individuals use Facebook

In order to prepare for this dance, we researched how individuals use Facebook and how Facebook profiles grow.  I had each of my dancers start from scratch, create a brand new profile, and spend ten minutes a day on it.  We collected information on how they were using the site, who they were interacting with, and what kinds of observations they made.  This rich source of information helped us shape the dance so that it was both accessible and engaging to a wide range of audience members.  I think the best compliment I received was from one of my professors who only said, “I’m totally going to friend you when I get home.”  Awesome.