I was at an industry-specific Social Media seminar this morning. As I said in a tweet when I got back to the office, there were no tattoos, no piercings, no Mac’s. Just people from the industry with a sincere desire to figure out what social media means for their industry from a regulatory, compliance and strategic point of view.
The presentations were sober and thorough, and focused just as much on the caveats of Social Media as on the opportunities, in the specific context of the industry. None of the usual buzzwords were thrown about, and there were no group hugs. This is not to say that people were negative, cynical or dismissive of social media; rather, they were realistic, cautious and well aware of the responsibilities they had to their respective employers.
In order for social media to take hold in organizations, more meetings like this will need to occur, focusing on real world, domain-specific opportunities and pitfalls, with practical, actionable outcomes. The attendees of this meeting did not spend $300 to sing Kumbaya.
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