I had the pleasure of producing the social media experience for Swagg in Los Angeles this past weekend. Swagg gave away tickets to the Atlantic Records BET Awards post-show dinner to Twitter users who used the hashtag #swaggLA. There was also a tweet-up held to give away tickets to the BET Awards and the only way attendees could learn of the location was by following @swaggmobile on Twitter.

Sarah Evans and Necole Bitchie where on deck to host the main event on Sunday evening: The Atlantic Records BET Awards post-show dinner. The social media rockstars interviewed celebrities to inquire about their mobile and technology swagg. I, doublefisted, was tasked with tweeting the event live + sharing photo and audio content with online followers as the event occured. It’s so cool to be behind the scenes and see content come to fruition online. There are so many photos from the event, and I’m sure music and techie fans will love the celeb videos that are to be shared online soon! Check out the video below of my homie @PRsarahevans as she interviews our “Honorary SWAGG Correspondent”, Jermaine Dupri.

I’M SO IMPRESSED with Alicia Keys’ live YouTube performance. Her look. Her sound. Her band. All fabulous! It was such a great use of technology to bring the performance and the cause to those not physically attending. #AmexAlicia, the designated hashtag on Twitter, became a trending topic during the show and by the end of the show was at number 3. Alicia performed a melody of hits from her first debut album, Songs in A Minor, to her latest album, Element of Freedom, that will release on December 15. To be honest, I’m glad she switched it up. I’m not really feeling the first two singles from her album. I just found out today that Try Sleeping With a Broken Heart was her second single – which means I totally missed the first single! Out of the songs that she performed, which I included below, I’m most excited about Love is Blind. For 6 years to have passed, I, along with the millions of other A Keys fans, am anxiously awaiting the Element of Freedom. December 15 everybody! Don’t forget!

Songs that Alicia performed:
Love is Blind
Karma
You Don’t Know My Name
Doesn’t Mean Anything
Wreckless Love
Diary
Distance and Time
If I Ain’t Got You
Superwoman
Try Sleeping with a Broken Heart
Like You’ll Never See Me Again
Falling
No One
Empire State of Mind – and there was a surprise appearance by Jay-Z

I am here to confirm that I have one of the best jobs in the world. I absolutely love what I do! For those of you who do not know, I am a social media strategist and I specialize in blogger outreach and producing content. This Monday I had the pleasure of attending the SCAD Style Etoile Awards Gala to see five fashion luminaries be honored in New York city. My team was on site to execute behind the scenes interviews and live stream the awards in addition to inviting bloggers to cover the event. Honorees included hip hop mogul and designer Russell Simmons, Tony Award-winning Broadway costume designer William Ivey Long, Pulitzer Prize-winning fashion editor Robin Givhan, actress and philanthropist Cornelia Guest, and New York City Planning Director Amanda Burden.

As a musicfan, you can assume that I almost passed out when Russell Simmons came in to be interviewed. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity! This time last year I was finishing my senior year in college, and currently one year later I’m live streaming an event that featured Russell Simmons. I think I’m doing pretty good if you ask me! I uploaded the video of Russell’s interview on YouTube and I wanted to feature the original video on my blog, but the file is too big In the interview, Russell shares his thoughts on the cultivation of creativity as the most important thing in the education process. Also, I think it’s pretty cool that Uncle Russ was extremely interested in what Sherri and I were doing in the room as Sherri was filming the interview on the Flip cam and I was manning the chat room while Twittering.

Russell: I think you need to get on Twitter! Julie’s on Twitter, but I know you could be a leader in the space! If Diddy has almost 275k followers, I KNOW you can have double that! Hit me up at erica.hartfield@gmail.com if you need some assistance in setting up your account!

For everyone else: enjoy the video!

So not only do I love music, but I am a technology junkie! I had the opportunity to assist in organizing the BlackWeb2.0/TheKeyInfluencer mixer before the Blogging While Brown Conference this weekend. The mixer was crazy cool. Go ahead and add sexy in there too! There was a camera there that created streaming live video on the web. The sites where the video was imbedded also included a chat box where individuals at the mixer and those watching online could communicate. This became extremely useful when MC LYTE decided to call in. Yes, MC LYTE! Talking to her previously, I expected her call to be 30 minutes. She gave us a peek inside what we like to call her ‘social media diet’ for TWO hours! Let me begin by saying that she is one of the most down to earth people you will ever meet. One common thing I am finding is that the old school rappers were all about the music unlike these new-age rappers who think they are the freshest thing since sliced bread, yet are label-made. Back to LYTE, she is one artist that gets it! She understands the digital space. Someone in the room questioned her ability in the future to maintain all her network spaces, and she said she maintains them now and will continue to do so. We as fans are missing this artist relationship these days so it’s refreshing to know someone still wants to maintain a tie to their core listeners. I could go on and on, but be on the lookout for LYTE’s upcoming work. She’s currently doing voiceovers for AT&T, Tide, BET (the worst channel ever) and a laundry list of others. She also has an upcoming album scheduled to release as a member of a new group called Almost September. You can find more info. about the group at www.almostseptember.com or listen to full songs at http://www.myspace.com/almostseptember.

Thanks to my friend and mentor James Andrews, my friends and I got to be a part of DJ Jazzy Jeff and crew as he kicked off his weekend stay in Atlanta, Georgia. Last night (Thursday) was dedicated to him DJing at Luckie Lounge. I really didn’t know the extent of his talent from watching the Fresh Prince, but DJ Jazzy Jeff for all of you who don’t know is one of the best DJs out there! I walked in saying that I only wanted to hear Summertime because that is one my favorite songs by Jazzy Jeff and Will. By the time he got on the 1s and 2s, I forgot all about my song request. He let me go in the DJ booth with him: LEGENDARY MOMENT! I know my friends thought I was crazy because they thought I was texting the whole night. Instead, I was keeping a running list of all the songs he was mixing. Some were just beats that got mixed for 8 counts, others were one-line rhymes, altogether = pure genius. Just to give you a sample of the legendary hits that were in rotation include:

Craig Mack – Flava in ya Ear

Arrested Development -  Everyday People

The Fugees – Fu-Gee-La and Killing me Softly

Snoop Dogg – Gin and Juice

Snoop Dogg ft. Dr. Dre – The Next Episode

Kanye West – Gold Digger

The Emotions – Best of My Love

Eric B and Rakim – I Know You Got Soul

Art of Noise – Moments in Love

Justin Timberlake ft. Clipse – Like I Love You

Lil Wayne – A Millie

Al B. Sure! – Off on Your Own Girl

SWV – I’m So Into You

Soul II Soul – Back To Life

Boyz II Men – Motown Philly

He is one to support. Bump downloading. Fans of Jeff need to go BUY his albums! Between his solo efforts and his work with Will, there are at least 15 albums that have been released. I know I’m about to go buy a few to educate myself!