At the July 20 Buzz2010 breakfast on social media risk, we’ll hear from Alex Levit. I think we’ve mentioned before that Alex has written a number of books (and a nationally syndicated column) on workplace issues. And at the breakfast, she’ll talk about the risks we’re all confronting in relation to workplace issues–productivity and the balance between personal and professional, for example. I’ve been spending some time perusing her blog, and I found a number of interesting posts that relate to the classic issues social media evangelists have when trying to sell our ideas across the organization. Here’s one…
Answer: Create a win/win situation (as Alex explains from her work with Stephen Covey). In thinking about how this post and the concept relates to social media and risk, it all made sense…nothing blocks progress faster than fears about the risks of social media. And yet, if you can help the person or people who are blocking social media progress see the opportunity as it applies specifically to them–while at the same time addressing the risks that need addressing–you’re going to get a lot further, a lot faster.
No problem, right? I’d love to hear some stories from folks on both sides of this equation. Feel free to comment about your own experiences, and come to Buzz2010 with stories in mind.
So now, even if you can’t be at the Buzz2010 breakfasts in person, you can still get the content. And actually, I’m thinking the rebroadcasts will be a great thing to watch and discuss with your entire social media team. You will have access to the recordings and materials after the rebroadcast, so you can watch it (or parts of it) again and again. Read more about what’s included.
Does this rebroadcast model work for you? Will you watch it on your own or with your team? Will you take part in real-time or asynchronously? Tell us what you think…
Time to look ahead to the next Buzz2010 breakfast on July 20–Managing Risk with Mark Story, Wendy Harman, and Alex Levit. The challenge with creating an education event about managing risk is that each and every association is facing different types and levels of risk, depending on their industry, their members, and the types of social media they are engaging in. And yet, still this is a topic on everyone’s mind, and for association leaders, taking the steps to mitigate risk and alleviate fear–both internally and externally–is a critical component to social media success.
So as we hear from Mark, Wendy, and Alex next month, we’ll hear about the specific risks they’ve tackled. Our three panelists are not lawyers or risk managers–though I hope to have some savvy lawyers and risk managers in the room. They will not be able to give you specific legal advice. But what they can do is tell you how they went about building consensus and overcoming the fear that social media inevitably stirs. That’s the real golden nugget here–this idea that yes, there is a path to greater openness and acceptance of new media, so long as we’re willing to walk it one step at a time and bring our colleagues along on the journey. That means identifying problem areas, working with the legal team, HR, and executive management (among others) to work through them, and finding the right balance of risk and reward.
Enough of my rambling. What about the risks?
Compliance/Legal Risk Mark Story from the SEC has some really fascinating perspective on using new media in industries with strict regulatory environments. He’s also got some great experience with Investor.gov, creating a space for watching and sharing (the foundation of the engagement pyramid as Charlene Li explained) that is well within the comfort zone of the SEC. (By the way, Mark is also an adjunct professor of public relations at the University of Maryland, so he knows all about communications risk, too.)
Communications/Brand Management Risk
As social media manager for the American Red Cross, Wendy Harman has faced down some serious crisis situations, with her organization at the center of the response effort. She’s also tackled the ARC efforts to coordinate social media efforts across their nearly 700 chapters, in an effort to unify brand and voice. She’s got some fascinating stories to tell about risks they’ve faced–both foreseen and unforeseen–on the communications and brand management front.
Workforce Risks Bestselling author Alex Levit has written five books and a nationally syndicated column on workplace issues–especially focusing on career success and GenY. She understands the internal issues that a lot of associations are concerned with–especially the balance between personal and professional personas, and productivity in the age of Facebook. As an example, just yesterday, I spoke with an association concerned about members having access to staff photos on Facebook. Alex has it covered.
The format of the breakfast will be a fairly informal discussion with the panelists, followed by some serious audience interaction–we want you to walk away with an action plan for tackling the risk issues that have been holding your organization back. That’s the goal. Let’s make it happen.
One Buzz2010 breakfast down, two more to go. What did you think of the session with Charlene Li? Give us your feedback in the comments–don’t worry. If you have something you’d like us to fix for next time, give it to us straight. We can take it. And if you have something glowing and wonderful to say, we can take that, too.
In the meantime, here is the slide deck from Charlene’s presentation. Consider it your easter egg for taking the time to tell us what you think.
Thanks to these rockstars who will be capturing tomorrow’s Buzz2010 breakfast experience for those folks who will be following at a distance. If you plan to cover parts of the event, or follow from afar, keep an eye on these guys on Twitter, and follow the #Buzz2010 hashtag. Also, we’ll have a big announcement tomorrow for peeps who want the content but can’t get to DC to attend. Hint: the word “rebroadcast” may or may not be involved.
In the final post from Ben Whitford’s interview series with Charlene Li, she says, “There’s a difference between leadership–inspiring people toward a common goal–and authority, which is the right to make decisions based on a title.” Thinking on that statement brings up a lot of questions for those of us who are leading from the middle–the managers, directors, and even some VPs who do not hold the ultimate authority in regards to the culture of openness inside our organizations.
What do you see as the difference between leadership and authority? Does leadership beget authority, or the other way around? What happens when a great leader lacks authority? What happens when someone in authority lacks leadership skills? Just a few questions to get your juices flowing for Wednesday. See you at Clydes bright and early!
Wendy Harman, the social media manager at the American Red Cross, will be speaking at the July 18 Buzz2010 breakfast about managing social media risk. She will also be on hand this coming Wednesday, when Groundswell author, Charlene Li talks about her new book, Open Leadership. Here’s the thing…Wendy is a prominent success story in Charlene’s book.
Part of Wendy’s job is helping the nearly 700 locally supported American Red Cross chapters use social media in a way that strengthens the entire brand. She has a number of tools up her sleeve for this, and I can’t wait to hear her discuss some of her strategies on July 18. In the meantime, I thought I’d share her Social Media Handbook Toolkit as a model and sample that is especially useful for those of us coordinating chapters and components.
We get a lot of questions about the ROI of social media. When you invest time, resources, and money into something, you want to know that it was worthwhile. That’s why Olivier Blanchard will be speaking at the August 18 Buzz2010 breakfast. We’ve heard a lot of people talking about social media ROI without any real answers. Somehow, when Olivier talks about it, it all makes sense. Here is one of Olivier’s slide deckson ROI. We post them here as a preview to get you thinking. What questions do you have? What are your frustrations? Do you know that the work you’re doing is having the intended impact?
This month’s breakfast is happening during a really exciting week of great events. Digital Capital Week (#DCWeek) starts in DC (yep…the initials are on purpose) on Friday and runs through next week. Buzz2010 is on the DCWeek schedule, along with a bunch of other great events. If your schedule keeps you away from Buzz2010, you can still get in a lot of great learning from some fancy experts.
Also next week, the ASAE Marketing & Membership Conference is happening in DC on Monday and Tuesday. It’s sold out, which is both awesome and a bummer. Maddie and I will both be there presenting, along with a bunch of great folks from the association community. I’m especially looking forward to hearing from Baked In author, John Winsor on Tuesday. If you’re planning to be there, we hope you’ll stick around to see Charlene with us the next morning.
With just 8 days left before Groundswell author, Charlene Li speaks about Open Leadership at the first Buzz2010 breakfast, we wanted to take a timeout to thank TerpSys for supporting the program as sponsors. Maddie Grant and I had the privilege of meeting up with a group of web and application developers from TerpSys up at their Rockville, MD headquarters. They asked us to come in just to talk about our favorite topic: how associations are using the internet, and especially social media. We were really impressed by the mix of expertise and curiosity that seems to be built into the culture over there.
You’ll learn more about what TerSys does when you come to breakfast next Wednesday. In the meantime, please do register in advance, if you haven’t already. The June 16 date is beginning to fill up and we want to make sure everyone has a seat at the party.
So we’ve been hinting at it for a couple weeks, and now we’ve finalized the details. 
Thanks to these rockstars who will be capturing 
