Angie Swartz, MC Hammer and Bob Fine

media strategy.  Just before his presentation, MC Hammer tweeted that he always gets ready for a performance or presentation by listening to the following song.  He did, in fact, have his headset on.

SOCIALIZE by MC HAMMER by MCHAMMER

MC Hammer started off talking about himself as a young adult walking seven miles to Oakland Stadium filled with 60,000 fans. He was already an entrepreneur who wanted to sell to them.

“I wish I had Facebook’s problem today. 250 million people! Man, I’d figure out something to sell them!”

MC Hammer gets it.  He’s a self professed Twitter Addict, a lover of business and an entrepreneur at heart. Music, although a very big part, is just one part of who he is today.  He and his family starred in an A&E reality TV series last summer, appropriately titled, Hammertime.

MC understands that social media is all about the conversation  and  transparency (well, as transparent as you can be when you’ve been a megastar).  He understands fundamentally that

• The consumer wants something different today.
• The days of push marketing are dyeing.
• Marketing has changed forever.
• There is no longer room for the middle man in profit margins.
• His industry, music, is a fragile one and that he’s walking a tight rope by changing his own distribution channels.  He sees that change is necessary to survive but also notes that he’s part of change that will impact many of his friends in the industry that may not yet be as forward thinking as he is.  He’s in a difficult position (my words, not his).

Hammer was asked how he has time to keep up with all the intimate interaction with his fans and followers.

“My home is wired with TV’s and Monitors everywhere that allow me to catch tweets and updates out of the corner of his eye.”

“I have an iPhone in one pocket and a G1 in the other”

“I use all the tools but I can’t talk brands because then I’m in endorsement mode but I use it all.”

He obviously lives, eats and sleeps social media and social media strategy.

Hammer is a VERY smart business man.  He illustrated his brilliance via many instances during his talk but I’ll site one: the iPhone Bump Application.  He tweeted the application out the day before Gravity Summit, talked about it during his presentation, demonstrated it at the afterparty exchanging his contact information with anyone who wanted.

“I’m not even an investor in the Bump App but make no mistakes, in the spirit of full disclosure, I will be.”

Hammer’s a brilliant guy.  Through Tweets, I learned he’s an investor in horse racing and that he made connections to talk to folks he met at the Gravity Summit Tweetup about some venture funding for deals. It would be so entertaining to get a glimpse into all of the joint ventures of MC Hammer…now that would be a TV show I’d watch!

Hammer was very generous with his time taking photos with anyone who asked during the day and he even attended the after party, Gravity Summit Tweetup.  (He drank Soda, I can vouch, I offered to buy him a drink but he asked for soda and that’s what he was drinking all night.)

But let’s be clear on why Hammer was at the Tweetup.  This is another example of how Hammer understands social media.  Yes, I believe he truly is the Real Deal and is a genuinely nice guy.  But he’s also demonstrating here that he’s a smart business man who understand social media strategy. There were over 100 people at the tweetup who are social media enthusiasts who tweet, blog, tweetphoto and facebook the heck out of everything they can get there hands on.  Hammer is no dummy

MC Hammer, my invitation stands, you can come on Twitter Talk Radio or Boost Your Business Radio anytime!

Just Tweet me @aaswartz!  I’ll be happy to spread your word.

And if you’re interested in a great social media seminar, check out Gravity Summit New York City on November 16.

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On July 15, CNN iReporter Chris Morrow visited the Cool Twitter Conference at Croces in San Diego where I was speaking. (The conference was terrific. Read Marketing Melodie’s Live Blogging coverage for more info.)

Reporter Chris Morrow came to ask a few of the Speakers their thoughts about what the future holds for Twitter.  Watch the report above and see what you think.

Now that you’ve watched the video and heard from us, what do YOU think the future will hold for Twitter?

• Will Twitter live to be older than the average age of most social networks of 5 years? (Twitter is 3 years old now)
• Will Twitter Win a Nobel Peace Prize? (You can vote Here)
• Will Twitter be Man of the Year as suggested by Bob Rice?

Leave your comments below and tell us your thoughts around these options and many others! And keep your eyes open, Chris’ video just might end up on your TV on CNN.

I’ll be interviewing Chris Morrow about her career as a freelance journalist and her use of twitter on Boost Your Business Radio with my Cohost Rieva Lesonsky on July 29 at 11am PST.  Come listen–her daily travels are fascinating! How many people do you know who interview people while traveling in a private helicopter?

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