I’m Trying to Give Away $100 and No One Will Take It
I feel like such the Social Media middle man. Check this out… I was giving a keynote speech to 100 executives who belong to an association. The topic was similar to my upcoming topic at the IABC 2009 Conference, which is New Frontiers in Media Training, which will include Social Media Training — blending Media Training skills with Social Media realities.
I asked if anyone in the room could tell me what I am doing?
I started getting answers such as, “you are giving a speech.”
It was just one more indicator of the generational and cultural gap between the techno savvy Web 2.0 crowd and leaders who don’t have a clue about what is going on in the Social Media world.
I’m guessing every one of you reading this blog knows how to find out what I am doing? Some of you are going there right now to find out.
I told the executives to think beyond what they see in front of them to understand what I am doing. I told them that people around the world could tell me what I was doing without even being here. They were befuddled.
So I asked if any of them had ever heard of Twitter? A few responded yes. I asked if any of them had a Twitter account? None did. I asked if any of them had a Facebook account? A few hands went up. I asked how many had ever watched a video on YouTube? A few more hands went up this time. I asked how many had ever posted a video to YouTube? Only one person had.
I asked how many in the audience thought I was speaking a foreign language when I used terms such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. Finally, most raised their hands amid loud laughter.
The lesson here is we have much to teach our executives when it comes to Social Media. Social Media is the new ambush, capable of catching an executive doing something stupid. Social Media is more dangerous than the old style 60 Minutes TV interviews on CBS News in the United States.
I hope you’ll join me in San Francisco at the IABC Conference so we can explore this topic together.
Please post your comments below…
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