Last week was jammed with learning opportunities. I tuned into a webinar on Social Media called Social Media Optimization Is the New SEO with Brian Solis, attended a networking group, a networking coffee, and my first Joomla User Group meeting. I listened to Ernesto Burden, VP of Digital Marketing at The Nashua Telegraph, present a Social Media Boot Camp, and attended my second Social Media Breakfast NH at Dartmouth College , this time focusing on the topic of Social Media and Community Organization. I wrapped up my busy week with one of my favorite Friday activities, The Nashua Jelly, where I talked to Dave Seah about his healthy skepticism of marketing, and its frequent transformation into manipulation. I ALWAYS learn something at the Jelly!
I must admit that I felt a bit overwhelmed by the end of the week. My ‘little gray cells‘ had more of a workout than usual. It will take some time to digest all of the information that came in through audio and visual channels. Still, if I had to summarize what I learned last week, it would be this – Social Media is about conversation, about forming relationships, and about learning from others.
Social Media should inspire, intrigue, challenge, and make you react. For me, it does all of these things. The reason I’m investing my time in it though, is for the endless opportunities to learn new things. Once in a great while, I learn something that leads me to make a purchase, but that is pretty rare. Most of the time I’m learning about local events, good food, and sharing ideas with interesting people. That’s what draws me to Social Media. Not sales and marketing, not manipulation, but good stories and good people.
I’d love to hear from you on the reasons you participate in Social Media. What do you get out of it? What compels you to invest your time?
Tags: challenge, education, linkedin, networking, Social Media
