My name is Christopher and I have spent the better part of my life in pursuit of the rarest social circles this planet has to offer.  I have slogged through the densest jungles of Mallamoorana in search of the Bitϑaru, a people who communicate solely through vigorous and vexing movements of their eyes.  Deep within the Arctic Circle I espied the elusive Ťavѩ and watched in rapture for hours as they poked one another with icicles in a befriending ceremony never before seen by outsider eyes.

In my travels I have come across people who communicate with animals, ferns, stars, and even the soil of the earth.  And yet I believe even these most exotic communications pale in comparison to the coming age of digital sociality.  From Minneapolis to Marrakech, Neath to Niigata, people are joining social circles for which the limitations of proximity and the ready availability of icicles no longer apply.

They poke, friend, chat, tweet, and follow.  They get linked in, blogged about, hung up on, and stabbed in the back by level 5 wizards they totally thought were their friends but were, in the end, only using them to get to a stash of magic crystals.  They struggle to decipher texts, determine whether friends are JK or entirely serious.  IYKWIM.  They flounder and accidentally Reply All.  They apologize profusely in wall posts.  And through it all they share ideas, forge friendships, commit facebook faux pas, but forge on.

I have spent my life as an adventurer.  And now I should like to take my adventure from the tundras and highlands to the vast electronic plains, exchange my mud-caked boots for a keyboard.  As a copy O-Tern at Olson I hope to use words and ideas to clear paths connecting people to the things, companies, and people that excite them, much like I once blazed trails through the dense underbrush of Karamanduro and Pikinanuhara.

But before I trade my machete and travel adventure beard for metaphors and alliteration, I offer you these two items of film I have gathered in my travels; the strangest social circles I have ever had the pleasure of observing:

Item 1 -

Each person we encounter has their own Social Circle – a collection of people from all of the places they’ve been and all of the things that they’ve done with their life.

When our Social Circles meet, we expose each other to new ways of seeing the world, and steer one another towards new experiences.  This intersection is where we share all of the things that make us unique – our opinions, passions, desires, and fears.

It’s here that our worlds collide – where new ideas take shape and spread.

I got to thinking, how do you plan a great gathering for a group with so many connections, and yet such great diversity? How do you get the information to the right party people in a way that’s engaging and exciting? How do I think in social circles? I wrote this blog-style guide as a way to process these questions, and as a possible solution for them that involves social media and event design.

1. A Theme That We Can All Get Behind
The first step to planning a great party, that will unite your circles, is to pick a theme.  Look at your target party-goers and come up with a list of common interests for them.  If you want to plan a small get together, a specific theme will draw a specific, yet modest crowd.  A broader theme will draw in friends of all types of social circles. Themes that tend work well for a more diverse crowd can involve currently popular memes or experiences that the whole group might share.  An Awkward Family Photobooth Party or a Twitter Bird Costume Contest would draw on trends and experiences that a larger circle of people are familiar with. For this example, I devised a theme called Springtime for Minnesota.  Here in the Midwest, we all know too well that tease named Spring.  One day you’re in your parka, one day you’re in your shorts, and one day you finally stop caring about the below freezing temperatures and just keep wearing your shorts anyway in an act of defiance.

2. Give Your Party an ID Card
The identity of your party spreads a message to prospective attendees about the theme and the high caliber of gathering you intend to put together. This identity helps you promote your event through a wide range of social media, as well as direct contact with friends and colleagues.  This identity for Springtime for Minnesota visually conveys the theme with a few design elements that can be used in a variety of ways to promote and create day-of decorations.  For this example, I chose specific colors and used them to create a type-set title, an event logo, and a basic background image.

3. The Main Attractions
Before you can tell all of your 645 best friends on Facebook about your upcoming event, you need to take a look at what you can provide for your attendees. Themed (but delicious!) food & drink, activities, and music should be decided upon at this point so you can give your friends an accurate and fabulous representation of they party they will be dying to attend. Think outside of the box for ideas that will really make the party a unique experience without breaking your budget.  Springtime for Minnesota might serve cold salsa with a really spicy kick, or have a hot cocoa and Popsicle bar.  Costume contests are always fun; it gives your party people a way to loosen up and become the creative souls themselves.  I would love to see guests at Springtime for Minnesota show off their best “Confusing Weather” pairings, perhaps donning flip-flops and short-shorts in the same outfit as a ski mask and puffy vest.  Double points for successful executions of Hawaiian prints juxtaposed with snowflakes.  The music can fit the mood or be suggested by each guest in their RSVP to give them an even more personal connection to the event.

4. The Talk of the Town

Promote your party in a variety of methods in order to get a buzz started and to spread the word. Use your event’s identity materials on your favorite social media sites to place the image into your friends’ heads.  Create a Facebook group that talks about all of the great attractions, and plays to the audiences shared experience in the theme you’ve chosen. For Springtime in Minnesota, I can use the background image I created for a twitter background, in conjunction with a twitpic of myself and any co-planners dressed to suit.  Brainstorming good copy for a 140-char promotion is hard, but if you take some time to craft a great line it will certainly pay off.  Depending on how big your event will be, get involved in other media that will bring in a strong crowd. For the Minnesota crowd, sites like vita.mn and mspmag.com would be great places to submit a large scale event, or simply grow your own social circle. In addition to the great benefits of social media, it’s also good to remember the impact of a physical invitation. Consider printing invitations or handouts to personally give to the people in your circles that you run into often enough, perhaps even giving them enough to give to their other social circles.

5. Work It!
Look to the talent in your social circles to help create the decorations, or cater the food.  There’s a good chance you have willing friends in your circles with the skills to pitch in and make it a great party.  Incorporate your theme effectively, and always have a plan B you can count on in case it snows on your parade.  When the party is in full swing, keeping small checklist of things that need to be periodically checked during the party will help you get through the tasks quickly while enjoying the party thoroughly. Try to touch base with all of the guests you invited and offer your thanks.  Make a goal for how many new people you want to connect with; maybe you’ll finally find some friends that will go to that upcoming show at First Avenue with you, or that ComicCon you never thought you’d even admit to loving!  Oh, and whatever you do, don’t forget to dress in the right style or costume for your party!

I think a great party has the potential to make a huge positive impact on a social circle, and have a sort of “Pay it Forward” effect of inspiration. This guide to event design, with social circles in mind, really encompasses how I aspire to interact with my peers. I want to inspire the creative spirit, and find ways to connect with the many different groups I consider myself a part of.  It’s always encouraging to see bridges built when my circles collide, and I think that’s what a great party is all about.

A) I have to like you.
B) You can’t have any biases against Bill Murray.
C) It’s important that you have a great sense of humor.
D) Did I mention I have to like you?
E) You have to be ok with my constant desire to stay connected. And by that I mean, you have to answer my phone calls even when you know I’m just calling to tell you something about what just happened on a particular TV show that you don’t even watch.

If you possess 80% of those qualities, then you might already be in my core social circle. Does my core social circle contain people from different groups? Yes. But let’s get down to bizniz.

Growing up in Cottage Grove, there was always an underlying sense of “everyone knowing everyone.” You could almost do six degrees of separation for anyone in The Grove, and that was with 20,000 people. Even now with 10,000 additional people, it’s still the same. Sounds better than six degrees of Kevin Bacon, right?

But I’m not the head of any social circles, I’m the floater. What is a floater, exactly? Floaters are people who keep close ties to multiple social circles in an effort to know the most. Where did I get my best gossip about the popular people in high school? The social circle of mine which contained more connected gossip lovers. Who did I feel the most comfortable with? My core social circle from high school.

In college, the first time around, I was in a sorority. We only hung out with certain fraternities. All of those were social circles, and social circles within themselves. Not everyone possessed 80% of the traits listed above. At work, I had social circles too. We glared at other people who dare enter our Corner of Darkness in the cube farm, or our “specific lunch table”, therefore making those a bad example of the social circle.

By the way, did you know that 80% is one of the most common averages that people will use when trying to convince people to do something? 80% of people believe that.

Why do I consider myself a floater? Keep in mind that I am a Very Specific Brand of person. You will not find another girl like me anywhere, unless you can find my “twin” that apparently wanders the skyways in downtown St. Paul. Brand Ally Smeed is a hot commmodity, and by not planting my roots in any specific social circle, I get to share my ideas and my brand with everyone. I’m not sure why people want to limit themselves when it comes to knowing others or knowing other brands. It’s ok to reach outside your own social circle to the next one, that’s where the fun lies.

Here is one way that I view the world around me in social circles. Enjoy!

Here is a link to the full PDF-

Social Circles in CMYK

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