Tough Talk for Tender Causes – Redeux

So, as I mentioned earlier, I moderated a panel today about non profits getting involved in social media. The panel was great, and once I got over my initial nerves, and remembered to actually speak slowly, (I’m a fast talker normally, and when you put that through a microphone, it gets all mumbly), and enunciate.

We had several fantastic questions from the crowd – which, we had more of than previous panels and presentations, including one rather aggressive one that asked whether or not those of us who participate in social media aren’t just narcissistic, self absorbed jerks.  I have to admit, the panel was rather surprised about the question itself, as was I, but I wanted to hear what others thought of this aggression. I don’t know what happened during the panel that made this person decide we were all narcissistic, but whatever. It may have been my “shameless self-promotion plug” about BuzzNetworker, which I labeled as such.

I think that this is not only an amazingly timely topic for Board of Trade members, and one that definitely needs revisiting in the near future. So many people had questions, people were asking about how to sell social media, and the need to spend time doing it, to traditional CEOs and management. Several of the questions that came up were things that I’ve covered here in the past. I frequently forget that I’m officially an early adopter of social media tools, and that others are still starting to blog.

If you’re just starting out in social media, there’s a few things to consider when you enter into social media:

Be transparent and authentic: Be you and talk about your actual world. Grow your relationships. Social media is all about relationships.

We spent a lot of time talking about transparancy and authenticity. You’ve got to be you on social sites, otherwise you lose all credibility.

I got a ton of ideas from the Board of Trade event and plan on blogging those thoughts, coming soon…..