SocMed 2011 London, the recent social media tech event organized by TechMeetups, proved to be a great success for everyone involved. As was the case with its New York counterpart, the London event saw startups, social media educators and digital marketers come together to discuss the ways in which social media is rapidly transforming the tech business world.

The event opened with a discussion as to whether there are now too many social networks. The general consensus amongst the speakers leading the discussion was that there should actually be more!

The three main speakers were Peter McCormack, CEO and founder of Bantr.tv, the social network for real football fans (@bantrtv), social media consultant Christine Beardsell and Fred Caballero of Channelship Web Agency. They each took it in turns to put forward compelling arguments for why the changing face of the tech world should be supported by more social networks—especially niche ones, as opposed to generic, mainstream ones like Facebook and Twitter.

Peter made the point that saying there are too many social networks is like saying they’re too many pubs—just as you don’t have to go into every pub, you don’t have to sign up for every social network. Christine talked about her belief that having more of a variety of social network elements in business is going to be increasingly important as customers continue to expect all brands to have a social aspect. And Fred was probably speaking for a lot of people at the event when he said of social media, “keep it coming!”

Interestingly, by the end of the discussion the speakers’ persuasive rhetoric had helped some of the attendees change their mind from thinking there were too many social networks to agreeing there are not enough!

Following the discussion were two fascinating presentations from fresh, exciting startups that are using social media to make waves. Stuart Gardner of social media technology company Comufy (@comufy) was first up with an interesting insight into email marketing. He talked about where it’s come from, where it is today and what startups need to know to successfully take it into tomorrow.

Peter was next, rounding off his busy night’s work with a presentation in which he explained how he launched Bantr and why. He candidly revealed the lessons he learned from starting a business, what’s worked for Bantr in its two year existence and the company’s monetization strategies.

So as you see, the first ever social media-specific event organized by TechMeetups was a triumph and we look forward to running many more events like this, in both London and New York. See you at the next one!