I’m a social media evangelist. There, I said it. Thant wasn’t too hard, I think I will keep going with this label as it describes me to a T. I’ve just watch Clay Shirky, a NYU professor and noted author (on the social and economic effects of Internet technologies) talk about how social media has changed everything about the world. His artful and entertaining 15 minute TED talk has got me stirred.

The Internet used to be a one way vehicle, usually controlled by experts, now it’s many to many where people can by by pass censors and publish their view of the world. He uses the earth quake in China as an example, but given the historic political upheaval occurring in Iran, that country could also be used as a great example that exemplifies his points.

What I especially liked in this talk was his reference to social media as being the primary vehicle for convening and supporting groups (both on & off line). In York Region, there is a lot of interest and emerging plans for local networks and alliances such as the United Way of York Region, the York Region Alliance to End Homelessness, and the Linking Georgina group to convene groups around important community matters.

In York Region there is much convening work ahead as we address social disparities, our fragile support systems and the disconnections experienced by so many individuals and organizations. So I invite you to tap into a bit of social media evangelism take a few minutes out of your busy day and listen to Clay Shirky.

Brent Learning Community, networks convening, groups, networks, socialmedia

The world of marketing is changing click by click. Organizations and businesses that continue with slick (and often not so slick) ad campaigns to convince consumers that their product is the best are finding out their customers are looking elsewhere. A video that illustrates how consumers are “not buying the slick add messages has received a lot of attention.

Read more…

Brent Business, Research, networks marketing, sales, socialmedia

I am very impressed with the design and thinking that lay behind this video. I think it’s a great example of using social media to present a story that pushes people to rethink very complex social problems related to power, culture and gender that affects people around the world. The potential for viewers to contribute through financial donations or other forms of contributions is significantly increased after viewing the video. It’s a powerful example of using social media (pictures & text) to communicate effectively and simply to mass audiences. The Girl Effect web site tells and even more detailed story of the changes that can be achieved if resources where put in the hands of girls rather than men.

Brent Education, Presentation, politics girl_effect, poverty, socialmedia

Jane Hart has a marvelous consultancy called Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies. She has great ideas for showcasing social media tools and I will surely pick over them carefully. Her Slideshare below is one of the organizational issues in my area and how social media can address those issues.

Brent Presentation, Services slideshare, socialmedia

This wiki is one of the most comprehensive site for understanding, learning and applying social media in your work and learning environments.

Brent Presentation, Services socialmedia, socialmedia web 2.0 slideshare, wiki

[slideshare id=370608&doc=svi-toronto-building-a-community-1209053137875748-8&w=425]

This post comes from last summer’s Social Tech Training sponsored by MaRS, the Web of Change and Communicopia. The post is quoted from the Communicopia blog of Jason Mogus. I think he captures the excitement, learning and long term implications of this training very well. I took part in the social training and I know the learning that I took from this experience will be with me for many years to come.

Last week we convened Canada’s first ever intensive web training event for theGroup view of the STT social change sector. Called the Social Tech Training, the event was a collaboration between Web of Change, a series of events owned by the community but managed by Communicopia, and the social innovation group at MaRS, a new player in the Canadian social entrepreneurship scene.

The event was fantastic – a sold out crowd of 65 participants from across North America learned from nearly 30 of the best trainers, facilitators, and strategists in the growing “web 2 for social change” field. We had 3 days of presentations, sharing, leadership development, and fun in hot sunny Toronto.

It was great to see this snapshot of how organizations use the web to support their work, what’s effective and what’s not. Key learnings for me were:

* everyone across the sector is struggling with the same issues in taking their sites and organizations to the next level
* no one quite knows what to call this new field, and few of us know what skills are required to be successful in it
* what we’re doing is definitely not technology or HTML publishing! The closest thing we can call it is “engagement” work
* very few people (even the “experts”) feel they know everything they need to be successful at their online work. This is due to the broad range of functions we provide (variously fundraising, communications, group facilitation, and technical skills) and all the tech choices out there
* a lot of orgs still need basic groundwork online before they can jump to the next level with high impact Web 2 tools
* the resistance a lot of implementers are seeing when they do try and create social media tools, has nothing to do with the technology, or even the way they are implementing it. Bigger cultural issues are at play

STT Group at work

I’ve been noticing this for a while. The senior people (executives) control the culture of organizations, and they ask the younger staff to keep them on top of the latest innovations in the web. Yet actually taking advantage of these innovations requires a sometimes significant change in that very culture before they can have a hope of working in the web world!

Here’s why: many organizations’ operating models and underlying theories of change are based on a paradigm of control, centralization, and a “we know what to do and we’ll get it done ourselves” approach. This creates barriers to connection with those outside of their organizations. There are many reasons why this is and many reasons why this approach has worked well, however the complexity of the issues of our times, the number of people who are “waking up” and looking for more meaningful involvement in change, and other larger cultural trends towards open systems and transparency, are causing great shifts that are worth paying attention to. And the web teams inside orgs are among the first to notice.

The models that produce breakthrough success on the web reflect web culture – open systems, decentralization, conversations, storytelling, and a chance for people to offer meaningful participation. Orgs with the most incredible stories of success online (like some of our keynote speakers: Avaaz.org , Step it Up / 350.0rg, Nothing But Nets) were created in this new, open, people-driven paradigm.

Most traditional organizations are not geared up – operationally or emotionally – to maximize this new approach. It’s becoming clear that orgs who:

* try to control their audiences
* centralize all communications flow through traditional “message controllers”
* limit the empowerment of front line staff to engage with and respond to the outside world
* and don’t have a learning mind or appetite for experimentation (and failure, this stuff is hard!)

will never fully realize the transformative benefits the web can offer.

The web – and by extension the web staff – are the ears of organizations, they are the membrane that communicates out but also receives feedback – in real time – from the larger systems we all exist within.

Brent Services, purpose onlinelearning, socialmedia, tech

We live in a world where the social Internet brings unheralded opportunities to grow and develop as a lifelong learner and as a productive employee or entrepreneur. Social media tools are simple, meaningful and necessary in the work we do with others.

My consultancy’s purpose is to introduce social media tools, showcase their benefits and support their use by practitioners and organizations who recognize the value of social media for bringing positive change to people, organizations, networks and community. My services center on supporting and using appropriate social media tools with organizations and individuals so that communities are strengthened, learning is enhanced, networks are stronger and workers are engaging their clients with the most effective tools possible.

Brent purpose about, purpose, socialmedia

What a sweet little story that explains the new reality of marketing. It’s all over baby blue…

Brent Uncategorized conversation, social media/tech, socialmedia