Francine Pickering taking her Smart Women's network solely social ends up ...in conversation ep07

In January I received an email newsletter notice from Francine's Smart Women Network 

Welcome to the new, streamlined, Smart Women

Smart Women has been away for a while, taking a break. Now we're back with a regular flow of news and events to help your business. The old web site has gone now so you can keep in touch with us in any of three ways:

      *  The Smart Women blog 
      *  Smart Women on Facebook
      *  Smart Women on Twitter
 

And, of course, the best news will be scooped up in these newsletters.
We hope you'll appreciate the new approach but if Smart Women is no longer for you, feel free to unsubscribe from these emails. We'll be sorry to see you go but understand the world moves on.

I've been in a dialogue with Francine for a couple of years now about the shifting sands of social media and this step towards a solely social presence on the web moving away from traditional web presence interests me.

Last year I'd read and bookmarked an article on BNET titled "Is It Time to Shut Down Your Network?" It reflects on how the U.S. State Department announced that it was shutting down www.America.gov, the website launched to provide cultural and policy content to the world. Turning instead to an entirely social media oriented footprint. I was amazed at the how brands can benefit from social spaces. If you are going to spend time encouraging community its seems a good starting point to be where you know you have a receptive audience.

With this in mind I invited Clarity-in-Communication's Francine Pickering to tell me about why she was exploring this route.

SHOW NOTES

• Introductions and providing groundwork
• Bit about Francines background
• Smart Women Network
• The offline networking event for women in business developed to include a website and online directory, now SmartWomen network is solely social - Facebook, Twitter and Blog
• Where is your market? Be where your customers are.
• Sandwich Board marketing mentality.
• Encorperating the social web component as an offering to your marketing business.
• Confidence to 'Go Social'

Latest Project

• UK Business Barometer website
• UKBB on Twitter @UKBB_UoN
• UKBB Facebook page

 

 

Social Media and the Stagemanager - GO #smaconf

At 2.30 pm (the time this post is set to publish) I'm delivering a talk and extended Q&A as a first step towards developing a programme of personal development workshops for stagemanagers working in the theatre industry to take advantage of the social media tools emerging and evolving.

Here are the slided. If you are a Stagemanager please complete the survey and help with my research. Add your comments using the #smaconf hashtag in Twitter.

Social Media and the Stage Manager

View more presentations from PCM creative media.

"Standing By" for the very first Stage Management Association conference.

I became a member of the SMA in 1995 it's 'Blue List' led to many offers of work during my time as a stagemanager. I also served on the board for a couple of years. 'Paying it forward' to acknowledge influence and 'paying it back' to nourish the future have always been important to me. It's one of the reason's why I blog. When I received an email announcing the idea of holding the first conference for stagemanagers I immediately contacted Barbara, SMA's executive director to offer a social media focused session with the stage manager at its core. With all the web platforms, tools and services I have discovered since my final stagemanagement job I wanted an opportunity to share my finding.

I was delighted to be invited to present at this very first UK and possibly the World's first conference for Stage managers. It's an opportunity to create a programme of digital web skills workshops conceived from the opinions and feedback from the unprecedented coming together of some of the best live event organisers this country has.

Stagemanagers are super high functioning organisers. If there is a more efficient way to perform a task or set of tasks a stagemanager will find it. Social Media for Stagemanagers is not about efficiency or time saving although that can be a consequence, its about distribution and more effective collaboration. Social Media provides channels of communication previously unimagined. But they take time to makes and they take time to implement. That is the hurdle.

I know what I want to share. I have been asking around amongst working stagemanagers in my network and reaching out across Twitter, how social media is impacting the industry and especially how it is impacting their jobs directly in the production arena in all areas. The results of the survey I have running, the conversations I'm having and the talk with extended Q&A I'll be delivering at the conference are to inform the development of a series of workshops, seminars or training classes to provide professional development opportunities to working stagemanagers and most importantly SMA members.

I'd like to thank Grahame Reid @parcanboy, Sharon Calcutt @shadaca, Paul Green @paulgreenld and all the anonymous participants in the PCM Stage Management survey - You and Social Media

The hashtag for following the conversation in Twitter is #smaconf. Not yet on Twitter? you can watch the conversation on Tweetizen.

Conference programme for February 12th 2012.