Tale of the Tweets
What will they say about what you said?
Last week I had the opportunity to make a short presentation at the Social Media 301 Conference, presented by Fresh Consulting on the Microsoft campus in Redmond, Washington. The speakers chosen for this event were outstanding and the buzz from attendees seemed to appreciate the higher level of content that was emphasized. I continue to position myself as a student among thought leaders in this rapidly evolving space, and once again I had several moments of inspiration that I expect will give our company an edge as we continue to mature our efforts in social media and engagement.
This weekend I had another "aha moment" that pertained to my presentation. While I was reviewing the tweet stream via the hash tag for the event (#sm301), I discovered that some of what was being tweeted most, were elements of my presentation that were either referred to in passing or were secondary points of emphasis.
Lesson learned: It's not what you say that matters, it's what your audience hears. Just as is the case in social media, the content that is most relevant, timely, and authentic will be the content that is discussed, shared and acted upon. Listen to your audience, fans, and customers. What they are saying about what you said just might surprise you.
Here's a sampling of the tweets that I found to be concentrated around a half-dozen specific themes.
Social 301 tweeters say...
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Jun. 13, 2011 Thanks for sharing the slides - and the post-presentation synopsis of what your audience heard (or, at least, was tweeting about).
The insights and experiences you shared remind me of related words of wisdom by Kathy Sierra, who has long championed the cause of creating passionate users, and articulated this in a recent interview with Conversation Agent, Valeria Maltoni:
"It does not matter how awesome your product is or your presentation or your post. Your awesome thing matters ONLY to the extent that it serves the user's ability to be a little more awesome."
(the interview can be found here: http://www.conversationagent.com/2011/03/creating-passionate-users-with-kathy-sierra.html)
I hadn't really thought about insurance customers as users (in the context that Kathy often talks and writes about, which is typically about users of software), but your presentation has shifted my perspective, and I'm thinking a little different now.
Jun. 6, 2011 Love the tweet synopsis. What a great idea for a summary!
Jun. 6, 2011 Thanks for your great preso and post-preso Tweet mashup!
Jun. 6, 2011 A pleasure to hear you speak and meet in person, Rod. Your presentation was impossible to forget. I look forward to seeing you again soon and hope to stay in touch.
Sincerely,
Liza Sperling
@lizasperling
Seesmic
Jun. 6, 2011 Thanks for sharing Rod. Great resources!