Note: This is a re-tooled version of an article I originally published on the Experient e4 blog in July 2010.

Are you struggling with how to best utilize social technology to launch your event? Not sure which social applications are the best fit for your business scenario? Well you are not alone! Over the past couple of years many organizations have begun to introduce some aspect of social technology into their conferences. The problem is many are doing so without an implementation plan.

In the absence of a strategy there are no advance expectations, therefore no context for measuring results. Sadly, Executives, previously enthusiastic about using social technology, quickly abandon the idea claiming it is a waste of time (and therefore money) for their organizations.

A Trip To Nowhere!

Have you ever jumped in your car, with your suitcase, and a friend, and headed off on a vacation to some undetermined destination? While that idea might sound fun, or exciting, it’s not very practical. How do you know when you have arrived? Realistically how do you pack for that kind of trip?

You don’t have any advance notion of what attire will be appropriate, nor the climate you will encounter, or which activities you will do. Sounds silly and pointless doesn’t it? Well, think of this hypothetical vacation as an analogy that can be applied to utilizing technology for events, without an implementation plan.

Social Technology, like a vacation, is a great idea, but without a defined destination, (strategy) the results are blurry, risky, and often disappointing. There are no templates, or universal best practices for incorporating Social tools into a business setting. A “one size fits all” approach certainly does not work. Each organization must engineer a social technology event strategy centered around their desired business outcomes.

Crafting a Winning Social Technology Strategy

While many businesses may be seeking similar business results what makes each situation unique are the influences and personality of the people involved in the process. As customers impact most business outcomes it is critically important for businesses to understand their needs and preferred communication styles. When developing a technology strategy for launching your event you should consider the following questions:

Question One: How do my customers prefer to receive their information?

Do they prefer printed or electronic documentation? If your customers don’t read email or consume online content, then sending them information through those channels will be ineffective. As scary as it sounds there are some people that still opt to receive their information in printed format through the postal service. (AKA snail mail)

If online delivery of information is preferred, should it be automatic or on-demand? Do your customers prefer to receive conference updates automatically by Email, or would they rather control when and where they view their information? Posting information to a blog, or social network and then offering an RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feed subscription to readers is a common approach.

What type of device do they view online content with? Do they use a workstation or laptop, or do they use a mobile device most often, such as a smart phone or an Ipad?  Delivering communications in a format that is user friendly is paramount to successfully making your point.  What may look good on a laptop, or a workstation, might not be decipherable on a mobile device.  Be careful with design!

Question Two: Which Social Networks, if any, do my Customers use? You should have a conference presence in places where your customers socialize online. Investing time to understand their cyber habits will help you to tailor your social technology strategy appropriately.

Do attendees hang out on Facebook? If the answer is yes, creating a conference fan page might be an effective strategy. You can also create a “Facebook Event” announcement that customers can add to their online calendar. Facebook is a wonderful place for people to interact with one another, post pictures, links, videos, and audio files.

Are attendees active Twitter Users? You can create an “official conference Hashtag” for the event. The hashtag serves as a center for attendees to interact and share information with one another. You (or they) can also schedule chat sessions to discuss hot topics of interest. As a customer service hub for posting event information tweets and receiving/responding to questions you should setup an official Event Twitter account.

Are attendees active LinkedIn users? Initiate an Event group page there, where conference news, and collaborative discussions can take place. Session speakers/instructors can initiate pre-event dialogues with attendees to build excitement and anticipation for the event.

Using Social Technology, with a focused strategy, will assist your organization in effectively engaging its conference attendees well in advance of the event. The time invested, by your organization, in learning about its customers online habits, is the “payoff pitch” to a winning event experience, and greater customer loyalty.

Question: What Techniques do you use, with your organization, to heighten awareness during the pre-event phase of your meeting(s)? What components of your implementation strategy would you consider unique, or highly effective? Please share them with us!

I really enjoy the story of King Arthur, and the Knights of the Roundtable. Watching a movie, or reading a story, based upon this legend, always energizes me. Although this story is based upon folklore, it offers a magical view of leadership and strategy.

According to medieval legend King Arthur was an amazing warrior. Smartly, he surrounded himself with incredibly talented knights. Each of these individuals earned his respect, and a seat at the roundtable, by distinguishing themselves in some noble way.  Much of Arthur’s legendary success, as a leader, and Camelot’s stature, as a powerful Kingdom, was attributed to the combined strategic planning efforts of those seated at the Roundtable.

“As its name suggests, it has no head, implying that everyone who sits there has equal status.” — Wikipedia, on the concept of Arthur’s roundtable

Have you ever wondered why you find yourself playing a tactical, or reactive role with your (internal or external) customers?  Are you delivering services in response to direction provided by them, when you could have produced more positive results by leading the way?

Timing Is Everything with Business Communications

These are common business challenges, and they can be inhibitors to your level of success, as an influencer.  As the saying goes, “timing is everything” and, if you are finding yourself in this position frequently, then it may be time to consider adjusting your approach towards business communications.

In this world there are people who are knights (leaders), and there are commoners  (followers).  If you wish to attain knighthood, then you must act proactively.  In the meetings and events business there is a planning cycle, as we all know.  You must get in front of that cycle, if you wish to influence the development of the strategic event plan.

Earn a Seat at the Strategic Event Planning Roundtable

So what’s the solution?  How does one get a seat at the “strategic event roundtable”?  How do you play a strategic role in helping customers make the best decisions regarding their event’s direction?  How do you become their “trusted adviser”?  Here are some thoughts.

Ask for the Seat – first and foremost you must ask for the opportunity to participate in the strategic planning process. In this case “ask and ye shall receive” does not necessarily apply.  You must offer some compelling reasons why your participation will yield a valuable benefit to the process.

Earn Their Trust– Do your homework.  Seek to understand all aspects of the organization’s business objectives for their event.  Talk to key members of the planning committee. Visit the event website to search for any clues that will provide you insight.

Act with Nobility– your actions will speak louder than your words.  Provide strategic advice, and assistance, when the opportunity presents itself.  Demonstrate integrity in all that you do!

Evangelize Your Ideas– If you have a unique perspective, or a cutting-edge idea, that will bring value to the planning process, present it enthusiastically, frequently, and with factual information supporting its value.

The average business person does a reasonably good job of responding to customer requests and requirements.  Individuals that nobly distinguish themselves, as strategic partners, will lead their customers along the path of success, leaving everyone else in the dust.  What will you settle for?

Question:  In your business relationships do you see yourself as a knight, or a commoner?  If you are seated at your customer’s roundtable, what propelled you there?  I look forward to your comments.

This afternoon I came across an interesting blog post, entitled “The Umbrella Man,” written by Chris Brogan.  Chris shares the story of his experience watching a man strategically sell umbrellas to New York city (unprepared) pedestrians  trying to navigate through a rainy Manhattan day.

Some of the pedestrians probably chuckle under their breath, dismissing this umbrella salesman as desperate.  Or, they think sadly, to themselves, that this guy has no job, and no life, therefore he must turn to the streets to earn a living.  They feel sorry for him.  And… then they buy an umbrella from him, either out of pity, or because they’re tired of the rain.  Who’s chuckling now? 

As Mr. Brogan so artfully pointed out, in his blog, this experience is a great example of being entrepreneurial.  You discover a need, you craft a strategy to fulfill that need, and bingo… You’re in business.  You put cash in your pocket.

“That’s the basics of entrepreneurial thinking: find a gap, fill the gap, profit.” — Chris Brogan

It’s quite possible that our umbrella salesman is jobless, or even homeless.  Does it really matter?  The point is he chose to find a creative means to earn a living, instead of feeling sorry for himself.  He found a way to solve his problem (cash flow) by helping other people solve theirs. (a solution to cope with rainy weather)

Sometimes, I think that we, as business people, tend to make things more complicated than they need to be.  Finding business opportunity is not rocket science.  We just need to tune in to what’s going on around us.  Connect the dots, so to speak.  If we have our game on, and our wits about us, its amazing what we can discover.

The next time I am sitting at a stoplight, and a street vendor walks up to my car to sell me something, I’m pretty sure I will look at this interaction through a different lens than I have in the past.  I may not buy anything from this Street entrepreneur, but I will definitely be comparing their sales pitch with that of the umbrella man.

Question:  in your day-to-day interactions have you come across your version of an “umbrella Man”?  What did you learn from the experience?

As a veteran of the meetings and events profession, for more than thirty years, I am no stranger to making mistakes.  I have made more than my fair share of them along the way. (and continue to do so)

Early in my career I naively believed that admitting errors was a sign of weakness.  Fortunately, I eventually looked past my own insecurities.  I realized that part of growing, or becoming a stronger person, is for me to embrace mistakes as a learning opportunity.

As some of you know I am a volunteer co-organizer of the EventCamp National Conference (ECNC) held in Chicago February 11-13, 2011.  One of the trademarks of an EventCamp is it’s experimental nature.  In trying new things our planning team understands the risk, and recognizes there is no growth opportunity without it.  Yet, we also realize there will be mistakes made, along the path towards success.

Turning Event Management Mistakes Into Success

Strong communication within our tightly knit community is critical to EventCamp’s sustained growth.  Our best resource for gauging our event’s success is through conference evaluations.  In asking attendees for their feedback we are:

a) Gathering real intelligence regarding attendees experiences.

b) Building trust and loyalty with attendees by demonstrating we value their input.

While this year’s post conference evaluation results were mostly positive we did receive some criticism regarding a few issues. Our follow up action plan is to utilize what we learned from those constructive comments to tweak next year’s event design.

Three Reasons Why Attendee Feedback is Powerful

So why is attendee feedback so important?  Here are three reasons why I believe it is a powerful force for events:

• It Builds Deeper Relationships — If you care enough about your conference participants to ask for their opinions and they, in return honor that request, by responding with their open and honest feedback, that builds trust across the community.
• Open Dialogue Leads to Collaboration — if you foster a culture of open dialogue then collaboration is more likely to occur, as communication barriers are eliminated.  Creativity flourishes in this environment.
• Diversity of Opinion May Lead to Growth– Sometimes a disagreement, or alternative viewpoints on a particular subject or issue, may lead to a new or “morphed” revelation, or “Ah Hah” moment, resulting in innovation.  This is growth at its finest.

Of course, in order for feedback to serve any useful purpose you must do something with it.  So, it is incumbent upon you to apply what you learn, through the feedback process, with integrity.

Question:  In your experience how have you utilized attendee feedback to grow your event(s)?  What keeps you awake at night as you consider how to improve your event(s)?  Please share your thoughts with us!

A couple of months ago an events industry colleague (I will call him “Jim”) excitedly shared with me, during a lunch appointment, that his organization was finally hitting the social technology trail.

“Mike, we now have a Twitter account, a Facebook fan page, a LinkedIn Group, and we are launching two blogs.” he proudly proclaimed.  “I really think we’ve finally gotten our company on board.”

“Build It, They Will Come?”

With a smile, and a lot of curiosity, I looked Jim squarely in the eye.   “Jim, that is terrific.  Just wondering, what is your company’s social media strategy?”

There was dead silence as Jim looked away for a moment and then he returned my gaze.  “Well, Mike, my manager told me to just sign up for all these accounts and we can figure out a strategy later.  He believes we can build it, and they will come”

Hold on here!  Does this conversation sound familiar to you?  Have you heard a friend or colleague say something like this?  Those dreaded five words “Build It, They Will Come” are a ticket, in my opinion, to a social media disaster.

“One of our biggest problems was that our senior VP friend thought that social media was some panacea that was going to drive hordes of waiting attendees into the arms of the registration site and we were going to break all attendance records simply because we woke up and got a screen name.”  – Keith Johnston, Publisher, Plannerwire

Keith Johnston, quoted above, recently published an excellent article discussing social media failure.  At the heart of that discussion was the common misconception that people see other people’s successes with social media and think that it happened on its own. They don’t plan to succeed.  Amen to that!

No Pain, No Gain

No Pain, No Gain?

The mistaken belief that social media will generate success on its own is akin to a bodybuilder taking a bunch of nutrition supplements and then waiting for his/her muscles to grow.  We all know the old saying “No Pain, No Gain.”  The bodybuilder must work their muscles hard in order to achieve their goals.  To just wait for something to happen, they will see no results.  I am sure you get the point here.

Quite simply it is a grueling process for a business person to successfully utilize social technology effectively.  While the technology itself is mostly free, the human capital investment required to make it successful is not.  Plain and simple, it is hard work.  And … it requires a lot of patience and commitment.

Formula For Success

Business 2.0 isn’t going away.  It’s here to stay, although it will certainly evolve, as with everything else.  Business Professionals need to embrace the technology, roll up their sleeves, and get in the trenches with their customers.  A simple three-part formula is to do the following:

1.  Do the research to learn where (which social networks) their prospects and existing customers prefer to interact.

2.  Develop a sound strategy for building a routine to consistently engage with them in those networks.

3.  Relentlessly execute that strategy.

The “build it and they will come” philosophy is an impotent approach that will inevitably lead to social media disappointment.  Social business, by its very nature demands social actions.  Therefore, savvy business people engaging authentically in dialogue, shared learning, thought leadership and collaboration with their customers, on their social turf, will be tomorrow’s winners.

Question:  Are you engaging yourself consistently with your customers in their realm?  What have been your learning lessons in developing and implementing a social formula for success?  What feedback are you getting from your customers?

Most business people passionate about Social Media are trying to figure out how to help lead their organizations into this realm.   I am one of those people.  How bout you?  I have discovered, over the past several months,  this process is easier said than done.

For me, and perhaps you, the picture is crystal clear.  Our world has changed… markedly.  The great recession did that.  The emergence of Web 2.0 technology certainly was a major factor.  Most importantly we, as consumers and business people, have changed the way we think about interacting with one another.

Customers are clear about their expectations.  They want social business partners that are tech-savvy, collaborative, strategic, and open communicators.  And… the conversation takes place on the Social Web.

A social business is an organization designed consciously around sociality and social tools, as a response to a changed world and the emergence of the social web.  –Wikipedia

In order for a company to effectively transition to a social culture, there must be C-Level executive buy-in.   In many cases that is not happening.  Without top leadership support, it is nearly impossible to deploy an effective social business strategy across an entire enterprise.  Instead it shows up in pockets led by “maverick” or “rogue” social enthusiasts.  Confusion regarding management expectations may eventually lead to abandonment, or  non-interest, in the strategy altogether.

Board Room Vs. The Trenches

It’s fair to say that what happens in a board room is distinctly different than what the rest of us experience in the trenches.  Think about it… upper executives are charged with the responsibility of catering to Boards, Holding companies, and Stockholders.  Their priorities are different than ours.  Even, with the “New Normal” of doing business that hasn’t changed.

Middle Managers, on the other hand, already at least embrace the basics of a business 2.0 culture.  They understand the importance of it, as they stand alongside their team members, interacting with customers every single day.

So what’s the solution?  How do we get everyone on to the same page?  How do we align the demands of owners, stockholders and holding companies with customer expectations.  I have some thoughts on this.

A Social Seat at the Table

What better way to resolve the “disconnect” than to create a C-Level position that will focus on leading a company into the social realm.   Recently I met a guy, Scott Koslosky,  who by all accounts would qualify for a position of this nature.  Interestingly Scott, a former CEO of three start-up companies is no stranger to the boardroom. He is also a social technology guru and frequently speaks at events on the subject.

“Interesting that some of the larger brands are starting to interview for the position of Chief Social Officer. I would love that job!” –Scott Koslosky, Twitter, July 23, 2010

That’s pretty interesting!  In fact, I think it would be pivotal, in most businesses, to establish a position of this nature.  Having a C-Level Executive in place who not only speaks the language of the boardroom, but is savvy and passionate about social business, might just be the medicine needed to propel an effective social business strategy forward, for most organizations.

What do you think?  How is your organization’s social business strategy evolving?  Or is it?  Look forward to hearing from you.

Sometimes it’s the small things in life that make a big difference in shaping our attitudes.  On any given day any number of factors may be influencing our behavior, without our even being aware of it.  Sound familiar to you?

Last weekend (April 30 -May2) I participated in the SOBCon 2010 Conference here in Chicago.  For more information regarding this event please visit the SOBCon Blog, or refer to my May 1st blog article.

I enjoyed many aspects of this conference, but One of my favorite moments was a presentation by Hank Wasiak, entitled “Asset-Based Business Thinking.” (ABT)  Hank is a credible speaker, and the c0-author of the book “Change the Way You See Everything.”

One of Hank’s talking points is “Power is who you are, not what you have.”  He believes small shifts in the way you think make seismic differences in the way you are perceived by others.  Check out the following video which was shot through the lens of children.  It does a wonderful job of demonstrating the value of ABT!

ABT is a choice, not a personality trait.  If you subscribe to this fundamental shift, in thinking, it will enrich your life and those around  you.  Here are some of Hank’s thoughts:

• Create your own “mega moment” map and then focus on following it.
• Believe in something big – Find your mighty cause!  Focus your time and energy in fulfilling it.
• Make desire more important than fear — Let your passion be your guide, driving your actions.
• Your Mentors Matter – Imitate them shamelessly, and often.
• Relating is an attitude and an action — To find common ground with someone, you must see value in doing it and then follow up.
• Have Courageous Conversations — Talk to people, with conviction, about your assets and aspirations.
• Knock someone’s socks off — Impress someone, not with what you say, but what you do.

“In life it’s not whether the glass is half full, or half empty, its what is in the glass. We need to forget perfection and pursue progress.”
– Hank Wasiak

Quoting Wasiak, “Who’s on your Mt. Rushmore?”

Qualities you admire in people most likely you have inside of you.  You just may not have realized it yet.  As Human beings we are drawn to other people with similar value systems.

A great way to end each day is with a reflective ABT bedtime story.  Can you Identify 5 good things that happened to you today?  If you make a habit of doing this consistently, you will go to bed inspired, and you will wake up energized!

Many of us think about what our legacies will be when we depart from this world.  Why not live them now?

Do these thoughts resonate with you?  What special techniques do you use in your routine to get fired up about life?  We would love to hear about them.

Earlier, this past week, I unfortunately injured my left wrist.  Subsequently, the pain has been so intense, for the past several days, that I have not been able to use the keyboard on my computer.

This morning it occurred to me there must be a speech recognition application available, that could facilitate my being productive, while my wrist is healing.  To my delight I discovered Microsoft Office has this functionality built into its software suite.  For more information regarding use of voice recognition with Microsoft office please visit their website clicking here.

After about fifteen minutes of setup work, including synchronization of my voice with the computer, I was up and running with this tool.  I am really quite excited about it because, truth be told, I speak much faster than I type.  In addition I have recently become increasingly concerned about the health of my wrist tendons, as I’ve noticed they are increasingly sensitive to my extensive computer use.

This situation brings to mind a simple truth … that a challenging situation can often lead to an innovative solution. Reality is if you want something bad enough you will find a way to make it happen. A strong spirit combined with an open mind is a daunting force against adversity.  By thinking outside the box I turned a frustrating situation into a winner.

While I am sometimes irritated by challenges that arise I realize it is those “bumps in the road“ that lead to learning experiences. Clearly voice recognition software has been around for quite awhile.  I am guessing many of my readers probably already knew that Microsoft office had this capability.  For me, this “ah hah“ moment was the highlight of my week.

Question – what recent challenging moment has occurred in your life that generated an innovation of some sort? Please tell us about it!

Are you doing business with someone you refer to as a “partner?”  I hear business people use this word in conversation frequently, declaring they are working as partners, or in partnership with one organization or another.  What does the word “partner”mean to you?

I researched, from some online resources, definitions for the meaning of the word “partner.”  Here’s what I learned:

Merriam-Webster’s Online Dictionary defines a partner as “one that shares” and a partnership as “usually involving close cooperation between parties having specified and joint rights and responsibilities.“

Wikipedia defines partner as a “Friend who shares a common interest or participates in achieving a common goal” and a business partnering as “the development of successful, long term, strategic relationships between customers and suppliers, based on achieving best practices and sustainable competitive advantage.“

Alfonso Montuori, Ph.D and Isabella Conti, Ph.D, co-authors of an article entitled “The Meaning of Partnership,” profess that “partnership” has many different meanings.  It refers to relationships with vendors, limited partnerships, business alliances, the emphasis on team work, and a new spirit of seeking out opportunities for collaboration and networking. Partnership is much more than a fashionable new buzzword. It literally calls for a complete shift in the way we view and,above all, create human relationships.

I thought it would be helpful to gather the perspectives of some Events Industry Thought Leaders, on this subject.   I created a Google Wave, for that purpose.  These individuals have varied backgrounds and experience.  Here are their responses:

Cameron Toth (Social Media Educator) likens a partnership to a marriage …

“Now being in a true partnership with someone, on work related income generating opportunities, is a bag of worms best unopened, if you can avoid it.  Not to say that it can not work but they (partnerships) are difficult at best.

Think of a marriage with both spouses fighting over money. There is a reason the US divorce rate is very high, and I am not looking at the statistics, but I believe financial pressures is one of the leading causes … and lets not go into illicit deals behind the other partners back…”

Lara McCulloch-Carter (Regal Tent Co.)  shares her company’s experience with partnership for the upcoming 2010 Winter Olympics…

“As you know the Winter Olympics are taking place in February.  Regal had a few options when deciding how we were going to go after business.  We have significant advantages over many other temporary structure companies in both Canada & the US.

What we don’t have are the relationships and a local presence.  (in Vancouver)   We set out to develop a strategic partnership with another tent company, located in Vancouver. Why I call this a partnership is for a few reasons:

• We each bring value to one another and fill the gaps the other has.
• We set it up so that we equally benefit from the relationship.
• Despite us setting up the partnership specifically for the Olympics, the relationship is long-term.
• We have a great deal of trust and admiration for one another. Trust is such an important element of partnership success. This is made possible by having constant and open dialogue.
• There also has to be an element of elasticity. What we imagined the partnership to look like at the beginning of the process evolved slightly as the process went on. This is very important – a good partnership requires each partner to learn, adapt and evolve from experiences.”

Christina Stallings (Non-profit Medical Society Staff) treads lightly when when referring to the word “partner” in her world…

“From the eyes of someone who works for a non-profit medical society (in a time where increased scrutiny and perception are very important factors), that obtains some funding from pharmaceutical companies, the word “partner” can lead to a negative, and false perception, that the funding company played too large a role in the planning/development process of programs. The word partner is generally avoided, and instead we tend to usually thank the sponsor(s) for their “generous support”.

However, when we receive funding for a campaign that helps patients, and falls under the charitable category, we are more inclined to use the words partner or collaborator. This demonstrates the corporate supporter’s commitment to a good cause and really does not pose any risk for a negative perception. I think the Wikipedia definition is the most appropriate in my industry.”

Jenise Fryatt (Co-Owner of Icon Presentations, an A/V Firm) frames it up this way…

“I use the term “partner” as a verb to describe how I am collaborating with a colleague or other business. I think most of us, if we are honest, can count many instances where we have “partnered” with others to achieve a goal we could not accomplish on our own. We just don’t usually call them partners, although they clearly fit the definitions you cite above. To me “partnering” with someone on a project, implies a mutually beneficial bond and a sense of trust. To me, that’s exciting, compelling and adds an aspect of commitment.”

Samuel J. Smith (Independent Event Professional & Technology Guru) is succinct in his remarks about this topic …

“To me, there are a couple of things that make a supplier-client relationship a partnership:

• The two parties are working together toward a common goal.
• The relationship is collaborative.”

Jessica Levin (President and “Chief Connector” of 7 Degrees Communications) considers “partnerships” to be paramount to doing business with someone …

“I rarely do business with anyone that does not look at our interaction as a potential partnership. In business it is critical to have trust and to have both parties benefiting from the relationship.

True partners understand that you may have to give something up today for the greater good of the relationship. Partnership is often defined when it comes to contract negotiations. Vendors that understand my point of view and the pressures that I am facing and work to help me accomplish my goals stand out from those that are simply looking to maximize revenue. Of course, there must be balance and I recognize and acknowledge that the other party must benefit. If two parties view the interactions as a partnership, they are more likely to work together to find solutions to difficult situations. There is huge value when someone approaches a problem by trying to reach a solution rather than saying “this is the way it is.”

Jeff Hurt (Director, Education & Engagement, Velvet Chainsaw Consulting) has these insights into the concept of “Partnerships” …

“I think “partnerships” is a word that is overused. It is often one of the most misunderstood words in today’s business world.

Ideally a partnership would benefit both parties 50/50. Yet people don’t think in those terms. They think in terms of “how can this partnership help me?”

While that may be a good starting point, it’s a recipe for failure. As soon as the partnership loses value on one side, it falls apart altogether. If your partner isn’t gaining as much as you are, you both lose.

The goal would be to think in terms of “how can this partnership provide as much value to our partner as it does to us?” You need to realize that if the balanced equation tips in either direction, the partnership is going to burn up.

A partnership isn’t a joint press release or an announcement on a blog. It’s a long-lasting, value-exchanging pact that demonstrably grows both companies faster.”

Those are some insightful words of wisdom from this group of professionals.  I think the term “partner” or “partnership” is used a little too casually sometimes.  In my mind’s eye, partnership is  not so much an action as it is a way of thinking.

Arguably, one of the strongest messages of the Holy Bible is the Golden rule… to treat people the way you want to be treated.  I think the principles of partnership closely follow that simple truth.  If everyone were to incorporate that way of thinking into their business communications, strategies  and tactics, our world would be a much happier and productive place!

In this “new normal” for business, building and sustaining relationships is a top priority.  From my vantage point, the philosophy of partnership, as described in this article,  seems to fit logically into that business focus.  What do you think?

Question — What is your perception of the term “partner” or “partnership” and how do you see it playing out in your business activities?  We look forward to reading about your insights on this meaty topic!

Are you a “glass half full” or a “glass half empty” person?   That overused cliché is most likely irritating to some of you.  Reality is this idiomatic expression is a useful litmus test to understand optimism vs. pessimism.  How a person views the world and his/her experiences most certainly drives his/her response to them.

The events of the past 12 months have been astonishing.  Without question our world has endured a recession of epic proportions and the pain of it has been felt everywhere.  I have personally witnessed friends, family and business colleagues lose their jobs, homes and possessions.  I also have made some unexpected changes, for the well-being of myself and my family.  I am sure at some level you have too!

I am an optimist and firmly believe whenever something negative or challenging occurs there is always an opportunity to learn from that experience.  Learning is what makes us better, stronger and smarter.  Ultimately it leads to innovation.

While we have all been nursing our wounds from this recession something else has been transpiring … almost subliminally.  The business world has been transforming, shifting, adjusting to a healthier, more realistic focus.  Emerging from this economic turmoil, is a leaner, more intelligent community.  Organizations can no longer afford the excesses of the past.  Instead they must find more efficient ways to do business while delivering greater value than ever before to their customers.

For as much as the tough economy has awakened the need for greater prudence in business practices, the expanded influence of Social Media has opened the door to building a broader sense of community  It has made the world a much smaller place!

The converging influences of economic stress, technology and a demand for collaboration have propelled us into a “new normal” for doing business.  The impact on the events business is extraordinary, and very exciting.  So what’s changed?

• Web 2.0 Technology — Live webcasts, webinars, Hybrid events, virtual chats, virtual worlds, Blogs, social networks like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn have all opened up new and more affordable channels for delivering meeting content to both new and existing customers.

• Lateral vs. Top-down Business Models –  “Controlling” management models of the past are evolving to more collaborative, open source communities, where customers play a co-creation role in product and service development.  Authoritative, sometimes manipulative management practices will slowly give way to a more communal “crowdsourced” environment.

• Disruptive Innovation – the use of the above-mentioned web 2.0 technology to deliver educational and informational content at a low or no-cost price point to users is knocking the wind out of conventional event pricing models.  Recently my friend and colleague, Jeff Hurt, in his “Midcourse Corrections” Blog wrote the following:

“Associations and conference organizers have depended upon bi-directional, pay for consumption of their content or their conference experience for years. Dissatisfied attendees have started creating their own Unconferences with no or low fees. Suppliers and vendors have started giving away free content through webinars and programs instead of through the association or annual conference.”

Organizations must accept that business will not return to the “status quo” it was before the recession.  In fact they must prepare for more change and become fully engaged in the process.  Businesses stubbornly holding onto the past will either close their doors, or see a major decline in their market share in the coming months.  Those thoughtful enough to embrace and incorporate the “new normal” of doing business will thrive.

So what are my recommendations to you …  Consider the following:

1. Use social media tools as a communications channel for both existing and potential customers.  Also use them to monitor customer satisfaction.
2. Get to know your customers deeply — understand their business completely and invite them to participate in brainstorming regarding development of new or re-developed products and services.
3. Embrace and leverage the network around you.  Whether it is suppliers, customers or peers, tap into their opinions and perceptions.   Doing so will likely improve the quality of your business offerings and strengthen your own understanding of your brand position in the marketplace.  Remember, your network knows more than you do!
4. Don’t be afraid to try new things — don’t let fear of failure prevent you or your organization from testing a new idea.  If you fail, learn from the experience and get back on the horse!

So is your glass half empty or half full?  Are you embracing the changes happening around you?  Most importantly are you taking the lead in guiding your organization forward?  Are you testing out some of  those new ideas emerging from your team?  Finally.. Are you paying strong attention to your customers and listening carefully to their feedback?