Content Summary: Andy Smith, former VP of Marketing at Dolby Labs, discusses the principles outlined in the book he has co-authored with Jennifer Aaker, The Dragonfly Effect: Quick, Effective and Powerful Ways to use Social Media to Drive Social Change. Smith spoke at the Social Media Breakfast SF East Bay in Walnut Creek, California, on July 29, 2010.

About The Dragonfly Effect

Named for the only insect that is 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.

Featuring dynamic, original case studies of global organizations like the Gap, Starbucks, Kiva, Nike, eBay, Facebook, as well as start-ups like Groupon and COOKPAD, The Dragonfly Effect demonstrates how to achieve both social good and customer loyalty by leveraging the power of design thinking with practical strategies.

The Dragonfly Effect proves that you don’t need money or power to inspire seismic change.

A special thanks to Sallie Goetsch for supplying the recording

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About Andy Smith

An economist and tech marketer by training, 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, he 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.

As a guest lecturer at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business, Andy speaks on 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 on businesses that embrace and integrate a social mission. He has also spoken at World 50, Marketing Week, Intel, TechCore and Interbrand, and 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, Andy has studied in The Parthenon, lived in a converted South African prison, and counts a regiment of Windsor Castle’s Scots Guards among his drinking buddies.

Andy earned his MBA at UCLA’s Anderson School and holds an Economics degree from Pomona College.

Follow Andy on Twitter: @kabbenbock

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(Cross-posted from For Immediate Release, Shel’s and my podcast blog.)