What's New in 'Social"

I was on a panel this morning with Mike Lewis and David Armano for Social Media Breakfast NYC titled Business is Social, Now What? (Thanks to Selina McCusker for organizing).  Maybe it is that we are at the end of conference season and I've been hearing a lot about social media, social software, E2.0, and social business lately and I'm a bit jaded (and yes, I've been contributing my fair share to this general conversation). But I struggled with what to say that would really cause the audience to think differently or provide inspiration that hasn't been said before.

What is really new? Over the last year - in terms of concepts - not much actually. We are at a different phase of the market right now. The phase of the market where the rubber hits the road. The phase where people are taking the concepts and applying them, tweaking how they apply them, and figuring out what works for them. Those use cases are not particularly generalizable because every business has its own strategy, culture, imperatives, etc. This phase of the market is full of hard work, not 'new'. Part of the challenge for event organizers is finding companies willing to share their 'experiments' - very few companies are confident that they are doing things right... or they've figured out something that works phenomenally well and consider it a differentiator that they don't particularly care to share.

Are conference and panels still useful?  Yes - they help give us encouragement, spark a slightly different way to think about or communicate an issue or opportunity, and give us critical access to others who are working on the same issues. If you are looking for the next new, new thing though you will probably be disappointed. Good business is about getting the fundamentals of a discipline right - making strategic decisions, creating plans, testing, re-working, negotiating, training, and project management. It's no different in the 'social' space. So dig in, this is not going to be something that passes quickly - and start looking for specific, tactical take-aways that you can get from events, not big A Ha ideas.

Comments

[twitter.com/sirmichael]

Couldn't agree more. Great insights as usual.

Re: conferences and panels, I presented at the Social Consumer conference in NYC last week and it hit me that by the 3rd presentations we weren't really saying anything new. As I was the 4th presenter I found myself having to be really creative about what I'd focus on.

That said, I think there are audiences that aren't in our little Social Media echo chamber. I wonder if that's where the conferences and presentations are providing great value right now. Hospitality industry, anyone?

[MimiMeredith]

Well, I think there is great value in conferences as they provide the fertile ground where relationships truly take root and we know one another beyond avatars.

Ah Has! may have passed in the introduction of social media information. But to sirmichael's point, there are many groups beyond the echo chamber (loved that!) eager for guidance, who need facts to overcome skepticism and who require the skills to make these new channels their own. Within the realm of professional speakers, social media is still a hot topic and many professionals are just learning that they can engage without fear of their time being consumed or their topic being diluted. So carry on my expert friends and thanks for bringing light to the rest of us!

[Rachel Happe]

Michael/Mimi -

Great points and I was not intending to bash conferences or their organizers - conferences perform a really critical function. And certainly, branching out to other types of events is really important as well. My real point was that people's expectations about social media/E2.0 conferences should align with where we are in the market. We moved beyond the new big ideas to the more tactical 'what does that mean for my business'

[Selina]

Hi Rachel,

I think as a speaker and someone who attends nearly an event a week, the echo chamber can seem pretty exhausting.

However, many of the attendees, specifically, those at the SMB where you spoke, are still responding to your panel with positive feedback.

In fact, just this past weekend, someone told me it was the best panel they had been to. I think the conversation was a great exchange and people found that to be very valuable. I think the discussion varies depending on who your audience is and the conversation that ensues drives the value. If new findings are shared, then people respond and the benefit is the knowledge sharing.

Once again, thank you for taking the time to engage SMB NYC.