Being Social Media Ready

As mentioned in my previous post, Facebook and other social media tools have been receiving some pretty bad (old) media attention lately, especially in relation to the loss of productivity of workers.

To a certain extent, I agree that this can be a issue with some people, but I think those people would find other ways to be unproductive if they weren't using Facebook. I'm sure they were just as unproductive before Facebook entered their lives.

The other day I came across this post by social media and networking expert (and PodCamp co-founder) Chris Brogan, which puts the issue of social media and productivity into perspective I think. Chris asserts that nowadays, if you "want to be considered for something, or if you want greatness to find you, or if you want to be part of all this great, amazing stuff going on", you need to be ready. Here are 5 ways in which Chris advises people to be ready:

1. Make it easy for people to contact you.
2. Make it easy for people to understand what value you bring
3. Be there. It’s easier for people to include you.
4. Be EVERYWHERE. Use social media tools.
5. Have something to bring to the picnic.

I think this is great advice. It makes the claim that people are wasting their time using social media tools all the more ridiculous don't you think? Is it actually possible to really "be ready" these days without using social media tools on a regular basis? It really opens up a world of opportunities that would not exist without these tools.

I'm beginning to hear stories of people connecting through facebook for work and business purposes, as well as for play. Social media tools such as Facebook are becoming part of the way people make additional work connections. Connections are being made with people in regional offices, partner companies, with potential clients, with previous colleagues and even with potential recruits.

I myself have been able to take advantage of work opportunities secured through LinkedIn, and I've made numerous new work connections through Facebook and Twitter. I've even made contact with people working in US offices through a new work Ning network. I would not have made many of these new connections without the aid of social networking tools.

Post Sydney Tweetup Thoughts

The first Sydney Twitter Meetup was held last Wednesday at Pier 26 Bar. Thanks to Cathy Edwards from the Telstra Chief Technology Office for co-organising the Sydney event with me. She had organised a couple of tweetups in Melbourne previously, so it was good to have her encouragement to help this one happen.

It was a good turnout of about 30 people at Pier 26, and I think the Sydney twitterati had a good time. We also had a few people from out of town which was great. Jared Madden and Adam Purcell, who are organising the first PodCamp Australia attended, and Dave King from St Edmonds Lab in Melbourne came along as well. Thanks to those guys for making the effort.

From my point of view, it was really great to finally meet some of my local Twitter friends in the flesh. I also met some people who weren't yet my Twitter friends but are now. I had fun contacting people through Twitter and Facebook beforehand to encourage them to attend. It was all an interesting social media experiment, which seemed to work out pretty well.

If I had one negative comment to make, it would be that there weren't enough women there. As I've mentioned before, this seems to be a fairly common occurrence in interactive, especially on the development and creative sides, and in senior roles. Personally, I really would like to see that change. I wouldn't like to see that continue into this new area of social media either, should it develop into a growth industry in itself (which it already seems to be).

A big thanks to Happener for sponsoring the drinks on the night, and to Nick Hodge from Microsoft for supplying a copy of Windows Vista for the 'best tweet on the night' prize.

Thanks to Tim Buesing and Dave King from Netx and St Edmonds Lab at Netx for recording and podcasting a few interviews on the night. The interviews can be found on the St Edmonds Lab blog here.

Quite a few photos were also taken. In true social media style, a lot of them (including mine) can be found on flickr, here

The Sydney Meetup Is On

CathyE and I have taken it upon ourselves to organise a Sydney Twitter Meetup. Cathy has already been involved in organising a couple of them in Melbourne. Those Melbourne people are on the ball!

I'm not sure how it will go, but my attitude is - let's just do it and see what happens! It should be a good chance for like minded people to get together face-to-face. Nobody really knows where this whole social media phenomenon is going, but it's clear that something really interesting is happening all over the place - Twittering, podcasting, PodCamps, meetups, social networking sites, blogging, virtual worlds. Let's just run with it and see where it leads, as long as it's fun! It's a whole new interactive world we are building, so let's get together and support each other.

If you will be in Sydney on the Wednesday 25 July and are interested in coming along , follow our twitters to get the details as they come to hand. Feel free to direct message me via Twitter or send me an email about the event as well.

http://twitter.com/jjprojects
http://twitter.com/CathyE

PodCamp Is Coming To Australia

...but which city will host the first PodCamp Australia?

Jared Madden and Adam Purcell have taken it upon themselves to bring the PodCamp concept to Australia. The first PodCamp was held in Boston only last year, so this is still a very new concept. Jared and Adam have launched a stake your interest website, so go ahead and cast your vote for your favoured host city. At the time of writing, Perth was well in the lead as the post popular place to host the event. I voted for Sydney.

On a side note, I've noticed on Twitter that people have been having a few problems with their confirmation emails ending up in spam folders. This happened to me as well, so when you register, watch out for that. The subject line is "Welcome to the podcamp notification service".

Please note, Podcamp is not just for podcasters, it's also for podcast listeners, bloggers, marketing professionals, and anyone interested or curious about New Media. See you there, it should be a lot of fun.