Recently, I participated in a conference at the University of Southampton – not as a delegate but as a Social Media Helper. The work was neatly captured in a video produced by some of the University’s students, members of SUSUtv.
The team of which I was a part, was charged with stimulating the use of social media amongst attendees – helping people to get new accounts set up and interviewing them about how they use (or don’t use) social media in their professional life. The conference attendees came from across the world and we, along with SUSUtv, were able to interview people between sessions to see how social media was helping them to connect to their peers and share what was happening in parallel sessions. The conference organisers used Twitter extensively to promote the event and, for me, the best thing was the active promotion of the hashtag amongst attendees. It really created a buzz and helped people to understand the power of sharing knowledge using social media at live events.
What does this have to do with professional development, career choices and finding a job you love? Well all of those things come about through effective networking. And networking through social media is an essential part of your professional identity today. Learning how to use social media, like Twitter and LinkedIn, for professional purposes is worth an investment of your time. So how will you do it? If you want to know more, give me a call.
