What would you ask if you moderated a panel addressing Social Networking & Web 2.0: What you need to know to use this medium to separate your company from the pack?
That is precisely the challenge that I and the panelist experts face on May 22, when we stand before an audience of management consultants to answer the questions and doubts deep within their minds. Along with panel members Scott Monty, Consigliere for crayon, LLC; Laura Fitton, Founder & President, Pistachio Consulting Inc.; and Aaron Strout, VP New Media, Mzinga; we have to meet or exceed the wants and needs of the attendees.
Our fist step is to understand who they are. Most of the attendees will be members of the Institute of Management Consultants, New England Chapter. Members are made up of professional management consultants, who come from a wide variety of disciplines. Their primary work is to provide strategic management consulting services to c-level executives, often Presidents and CEOs. Most are not in my field of expertise nor that of many of you. In other words, they are not marketing, advertising, PR or communications consultants.
Many will have no or very little knowledge of social media (Web 2.0), and many are reluctant to adapt it for themselves or recommend it to their clients. They are, in many instances, bottom-line thinkers and advisers who, to a great extent, seek practical, affordable and either cost-cutting or revenue-enhancing strategies/solutions for themselves and their clients. Many won't be moved by our passion (evangelism) for social media, and some will push back if they perceive that our message is "you have to engage with social media."
They first and foremost want solid reasons for adapting social media and, yes, they want to understand social media's ROI. And, of course, they will want to leave with a better understanding of the "why" and the "what" of social media, the strategies (including measurable goals and objectives), as well as the "how", the tactics of social media (the tools and what each tool brings to the table).
Remember the thesis: What you need to know to use this medium to separate your company from the pack.
If you were the moderator, what questions would you ask the panel? If you were on the panel, what would you share with the attendees in your opening and closing statements? And, lastly, how should we prepare for the potential questions that will be thrown at us?
This is an opportunity for our conversation community to educate in a way that resonates with skeptics and with those who have not adapted to or adopted social media as a way to enhance their image, their communications, their customer conversations or their business or to connect with people.
