I had the pleasure to moderate a panel for Omma mobile in October with a nice talented group of experts:

Panelist |   Jeannette Kocsis, SVP Digital Marketing, Harte-Hanks, Inc.
Panelist |   Ujjal Kohli, CEO, Rhythm  Media
Panelist |    Kyle Outlaw, UX lead, Razorfish
Panelist |    Ken Willner, CEO of Zumobi
Panelist |    Jamie Wells, Director, Global Trade Marketing, Microsoft  Mobile Advertising
Moderator |   Rob Gonda, Director of Digital Strategy & Innovation, Sapient

Topic was Mobile Web Vs. Mobile Applications; it was pretty interesting, Ken and Jamie as more vocal and Ujjal with some nice comments for debates. Jamie plugged Microsoft so much that it almost became a game, and I had to get back at him towards the end; he said he wanted to pick up a fight, crowd always loves that.

Please check it out, it’s long, but hopefully you’ll find it useful and entretaining.

Simply put, I’m excited about the potential of mobile marketing and particularly the convergence of social networking and mobile. New capabilities on phones are opening doors to limitless new marketing innovations and, simultaneously, developing countries are having entirely new segments of their population enter the digital world. I spend a lot of time in the day dreaming about how to bring entirely new digital experiences to people, but I think we need to proceed with caution. Marketers, the frequently reckless group of individuals we are, are in danger of screwing it up (again).

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At the recent E3 Expo, Xbox fans eagerly anticipated news around their favorite gaming console. Expected announcements ranged from the unveiling of their new motion-control system to the release of several hot new games including “Halo 3: ODST.” While each of these is a big deal for the gaming community, it was another announcement that might literally result in a “game over” message to the competition and a significant shift in the impact of gaming and in-game marketing.

Move over “Beatles: Rock Band.” Step aside “Max Payne 3.” Look out “Resident Evil 5.” Twitter and Facebook are coming to Xbox. That’s right, on June 1, the people of Xbox 360 announced they are integrating these leading social networks to Xbox Live, the company’s online multiplayer gaming and digital media delivery service.

When pitted against the likes of a motion controlled system, Twitter and Facebook are fighting an uphill battle for buzz. In fact, from what I can see the news that these social networking giants are coming to Xbox has been met with virtual silence. But if you take a few minutes to glance over the official company statements concerning these integrations you will quickly discover why this move is one of pure genius. In fact, I would go so far as to say that Microsoft might have just have just announced what could be the real deathblow to the competition.

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There’s been a common misconception for quite sometime that social networks were only filled with teens and young adults, and although this still applies for some very youth focused networks like Habbo, the reality is social network use is now mainstream.

Inside Facebook ‘s latest data reveals some fascinating details about the Facebook’s user base. For example the number of US users over the age of 35 has double in the last 60 days, women over 55 years of age are the fastest growing demographic in the last 90 days, and the 26-44 year old age group now account for 41% of Facebook’s audience.

Facebook is just one of many social networks undergoing comparable demographic shifts. We’re living in an age where social networking and social media destinations site are big business and are easily as recognizable as major portals of five years ago. The concept of “social functionality” is being built or has already been built into most major sites and this trend will only continue as social networks de-centralize through tools like Facebook Connect.

What does all of this mean for marketers?

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If you’re still not clear on what Twitter is then I suggest you watch this video… Educational, entertaining, and humiliating all the same time – what a combination!