Event: TAG Enterprise 2.0 - Selling Social Media Within Your Organization

This morning I was getting ready to leave for my first TAG (Technology Association of Georgia) meeting and my car wouldn't start. So I yelled at my husband to come help me because I was going to be late and there were specific people at the meeting who I wanted to introduce myself to. I caught him just before he jumped in the shower and so he came running down in his towel and showed me how to jumpstart my car. Thankfully I was still a few minutes early for my meeting so I was able to network a bit. I took a picture of the speakers (it's very close because I like to sit in the front row) - from left to right, Sherry Heyl with Concept Hub, Jeannie Ericson with PBA's Lens on Atlanta, and Andrew Wilson with the ACVB. Not pictured on the panel were Sue Klumpp with nuBridges and Lisa Aloisio with Brandware.

The content of the meeting was very good. The topic was "Selling Social Media Within Your Organization." Personally, I run into a lot of resistance when I encourage people to implement a social media component to a meeting or conference, so I was eager to hear what the panelists had to say. And I was surprised to find that my friend Sherry Heyl was moderating the panel as she is chair of this group and I didn't know that. Here are my top takeaways:

-what companies need to know nowadays is that you can't control the conversation. It's happening, like it or not.

-social media has turned into a sexy buzzword, which it is not. It is business as normal and should be treated so accordingly.

-time management should be a non-issue if you are using social media to fit with company strategies and objectives.

-to introduce social media to your organization, you need to justify either the cost-savings or explain how it will bring new business and drive leads.

-know who are your customers and how can you connect.

-introducing social media in your organization: you have to do it to prove it, but there is a huge risk associated with that and a lot of resistance. Be careful.

An objective I encounter pretty frequently is that no one is sure which department should spearhead the effort. My brilliant idea is that a committee should be created, comprised of one member to represent each department in IT, Marketing, Communications, and Sales. Although someone does need to do the initial work to begin encouraging a social media program, it definitely needs to be a very collaborative, engaged, and controlled process with parameters. Overall, great meeting!