Unless you are reading this in an RSS reader you noticed it. Our web presence has gone through a whole lot of change. I+A started as an idea in the sandbox, fueled by the curiosity of entrepreneurship and a hunch that the way people do business was about to change.
We are no longer in the sandbox and I+A built a web presence that better represents who we are as a company. Moving forward here are some of the things we are focusing on…
Improving the “noise to signal” ratio for our clients - You can’t go very far without hearing someone talk about social media. We would like to assist in showing people the value that the power of social media can bring to your company in the real world using tactics that are actionable and effective.
Education - There has been an overwhelming push for people to join social networks. Twitter gets more mainstream with each passing hour but more needs to be done to show the value of these resources, especially for businesses. Blog posts, seminars, videos, one on one teaching…we are developing effective ways to show the average technology user the intricacies of the social space.
More rich media - We are looking forward to creating more original video content. Rich media allows to people to connect with you on another level, it is also a great way to show off creativity.
Creating new relationships - If I+A went DOA as I wrote this and we never made a cent from it going forward I would still feel nothing but joy to have been a part of it. The relationships built from being involved in this industry and community have been great experiences. Amazingly smart people from so many industries and walks of life taught me a lot about life and business. We as a company want to keep making those connections in the area.
Before we get to the wrap up be sure to check out an Ideas and Angles exclusive interview mentioned on Entrepeneur.com. Nice to see another example of local companies being a part of the national discussion.
Friday morning showed us a Kansas City Social Media Club breakfast with a lot of new and interesting faces. We had a great turnout and discussion. The main topic of the morning was similar to our most recent blog post about the pressures and obstacle’s social media faces as it gets more mainstream in its reach.
Tara had a great response to the article. Pushing against some of my doomsday like predictions she said (paraphrasing) that if you build up a good reputation for customer service online a blunder might not be such a death blow but if dealt with the right way it can be excused by the community for what it is…a simple mistake. As long as it is an honest one.
There is a lot of good things being put out by SMCKC’ers right now…
- The Life In The Tubes crew has a great new video featuring Sam. Geekvolution’s robot front man. Showing off their high end graphic intensive social networking platform. I have been lucky enough to see Geekvolution grow since Bar Camp KC and look forward to more news of Ryan Flannagan’s hard work.
- Lisa continues her 40 day blogging series talking about the people that helped instill something very important to her. Making business personal. She thanks and talks about different people and their impacts on her life and the way she goes about it. Really inspirational set of posts from a very inspirational person.
- Jenn told us about all the good work the Social Lites are doing and explained that there is a lot changing behind the scenes to be released. Our sister company continues to impress.
- Whitney Matthews represented Spiral 16 and talked about their collaborative project with PBS at SxSW coming up. Looking forward to seeing what comes of this.
Those are just a few of the things people brought to the table that morning. We are so lucky to be associated with a group of people so passionate about what we do. Keep making things happen. We believe in the opportunities in Kansas City and the abilities for ideas that are made here to change the world.
Image courtesy of Whitney Mathews
Social media is maturing. This is a great thing! You see Twitter showing up on TV and in conversations of people who are not very tech savvy. Everywhere you turn people and companies are connecting and conversing.
Ideas and Angles has been involved in countless events and projects in Kansas City promoting, using, or discussing the merits of social media for business use. Through the Kansas City Social Media Club we have met a lot of great people who share our vision of companies communicating in new ways to their customers. People that are drawn to this kind of thing come from very different backgrounds and career fields but all share a passion for learning. The social media community is filled with people who enjoy sharing the knowledge they come to the table with to help others. When all the boats get raised everyone benefits.
What is going to happen when there are more sharks in the water? Right now the social media universe (especially Twitter) is a lot like the town in the movie Pleasantville. Everyone gets along and is encouraging. Most the people involved share the same passions of technology, innovation, ideas, and sharing knowledge. Sure there are some troubles here and there but not enough to effect the average discourse in most Twitter communities.
We are in this quaint gated community right now but what happens when the masses bring a different kind of mentality?
Agents of social media will be tested and attacked. We are creating a world where the integrity of a company is being represented by people working in a fashion that can be risky and involves a lot of trust. For social media to work a brand’s representative needs to be able to communicate and react instantly. This means no time for for double checking and approval by the head honchos. One single slip up can be a big deal. It only has to happen once. I think social media practitioners need to prepare to be targeted. If you can get a single person representing a company to “flip out” in the social web it can be seen by all and a company could look very foolish very fast. Even things that seem simple and harmless can be blown out of proportion and drug out for the whole internet community as we saw with the recent FedEx\Memphis debacle. People that test social media agents have nothing to lose.
The biggest challenge the social media community will face is their ability to reach out and provide quality engagement to users who are seeking it while understanding their involvement in certain conversations or communities will not suit any of their goals.
If the social media community doesn’t go out and show its worth the leashes will be pulled and the effectiveness of customer engaging strategies will die.
Here are some things to remember for the people in the trenches representing yourself or your company.
- Know what you are talking about because your users will.
- Everything you say will be out there forever in some form. There is no delete button in the social web.
- Being right is not always the most important thing. If you get into a discussion or argument with someone who has no idea what they are talking about and finally prove them wrong after a long back and forth? You were still wrong. No matter how right you were. Nobody wants to see a company lowering themselves to pissing matches online.
- Help the people who want to be helped. Some people are dedicated to being unhappy and nothing you can do will ever change that. Try and help people who need it while filtering out people who only like to hear themselves complain.
We don’t want to scare anyone away from the great things new media has to offer but as time goes on our big goal of appealing to the masses is going to bring new obstacles. Go forth and do wonderful things with the trust your companies have in you.
What obstacles do you see looking ahead for the social media community?
What advice do you have?
