A social media thank you (with a cool project)

No really, seriously. In the old days a researcher like me would sit at a desk, read reports, conduct market surveys, make some calls,  flip though telephone books full of conferences and events, and check real phonebooks and directories for companies and contact persons. I still have them. The books that contain all doctors who might be interested in bidding for a conference with us.

Then for years I googled the world, subscribed to databases that gave the extra edge and used my own data for the necessary link to my venue. Oh and made some calls. Still at the same desk, by the way.

Until social media. The search for knowledge became a personal conversation, the sharing of information an international chat, and making friends just a Hangout away.. really. I do not make “some” calls anymore. I am in a continuous conversation. Wow. And this conversation inspires, challenges, surprises and irritates me. Great. Keeps me on edge. Gives a new angle to data. And opens up new ways of collaboration. Lots of them.

Example:  the other week I co-organized a Google Hangout brainstorm with and joined by an international group of event professionals, all contributing to research questions and sharing insights that we all can use.

Isn’t that something – a  shared project that combined great conversations with a test of Google Hangouts for use in hybrid events. We reported results the same day via YouTube, but the whole experience gave me energy to last much longer . I’ll be writing some short posts on the outcomes, by the way. Giving it back to the collective, and hopefully leading to new conversations.  Which I will be having at my desk, by the way. Not everything changed. Just a lot.

Curious about the brainstorm? Ruud Janssen, Babs Nijdam and Gerrit Heijkoop were the initial collaborators, and we were joined by 27 event professionals, most of them on line. Check the results out here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=feIIUTcCiQg

What’s next? I don't know but love to find out :-)