Last month, a great idea kicked off – get some real discussion going on how to turn the concept of the social media press release into something more tangible.

Chris Heuer has been driving the initiative forward and has opened up the Social Media Club as the focal point for discussion and action.

He says that the goal is to build a community that is truly of, by, and for the people it serves – people from all walks of life who care about, benefit from and create social media:

The question is how do we make this well intentioned idealism real? The answer is first we need to turn the lights on. Then we start talking about our vision. We see who shows up. We listen. We embrace the ideas that are aligned with our values. We adapt our plans according to the needs and wishes of the community. We build a truly democratic process that encourages participation by respecting the value and contributions of every individual. We believe that smart, passionate leaders will emerge and step up to the challenge. They will be the ones who make Social Media Club a reality – all we have done is gather the firewood and and hand over the match.

Part of turning the lights on and gathering the firewood is the first podcast which my FIR co-host Shel Holtz produced yesterday (you can listen to it here right now).

We’re making that podcast available via FIR. If you’d like to subscribe to future editions, sign up at the FIR site.

[Technorati: hRelease, socialmediaclub]