Fork In The Road Blog

Events: Technology. Design. Strategy.

It Takes a (Virtual) Village to Build an Industry

A very interesting discussion in the “Virtual Events and Meeting Technology” group on LinkedIn was recently derailed. The initial question posed by the group administrator was, “Will Virtual Events Ever Really Take Off?” For those of us invested in this topic—vendors, event organizers, journalists and passionate observers—this question is the key to unlocking the resources and momentum necessary to move beyond mere discussion to widespread understanding. It is the kind of question that begs responses from any and all whether they have a horse in the race or a comfortable seat in the stands. Instead, some of the most important voices were admonished or excluded.

After several weeks of contributions to the discussion from mostly vendors, it was revealed that Michael Doyle, the founder of the Virtual Edge Institute (VEI)—a prominent voice in this fledgling industry—has been intentionally excluded from the group. The announcement took the focus off of what was a fantastic dialogue onto who should or should not be allowed into the discussion.

The group owner clearly stated his reasoning for excluding Mr. Doyle in a recent post: “Since VEI is financially supported by vendors, I consider content produced by them to be a form of advertising. There have been of couple of past members who were tied to VEI and only posted links back to VEI. Not in line with my goals for the group. So my question has always been this, if I approve Michael does this forum become just another exposure point for his agenda?”

The group owner’s position on admitting Michael Doyle or excluding persons affiliated with VEI is self-defeating. If, as he admits, live event producers have not yet embraced the virtual models, who is available to participate in the discussion if not vendors and thought leaders like Doyle? At least Doyle has street cred for having moved the needle on a class of technology that is helping to bring our old school industry into alignment with the rest of the business world.

I can well appreciate the group owner’s interest in protecting the integrity of the discussion. I will be the first to admit that the cacophony of advertising and digital stimulation eating my brain cells has my cognitive shield on red alert. Yet, with an industry in its infancy, there have to be exceptions made in the interests of the community at large. If, in exchange for valuable contributions, the community has to accept the bias, motivations, and sometimes “commercial” references (in the opinions of some) that come along with them, isn’t that a fair exchange?

There is an important place for moderation in a group. Ad hominem attacks and blatant commercialism without any added value to the discussion does not advance the cause and a third party presence to normalize the discussion is very helpful. But, if we have learned anything by choosing to have our discussions on public social media platforms such as LinkedIn, it’s that the community takes care of itself—they either voice their opinions loudly (recent developments in the political/public space prove that point unequivocally) or they move on to forums where the discussion is more fruitful and open.

There is a responsibility on the part of the group owner as well as the group participants to move the discussion forward. Using one’s affiliation or the behaviors of those seen as sympathizers to his or her cause as a reason for exclusion seems a little short sighted. That said. The onus is also on the participants of a group to check the commercialism at the door, lest they be “wailed upon” by the community or the moderator and to apply the same openness to their own groups, discussions and endeavors elsewhere as a sign of their genuine intention to contribute to the greater goal of the community. Should we be drawing lines in the sand before there is actually a beach?

 

 

 

 

 

Social Media, Team Building, Executives and Strategies for Business Facilitators

Anne Thornley-Brown of Toronto-based Executive Oasis International and LinkedIn group “Event Planning & Management – the 1st Group for Event Planners” fame, shared with me how she integrated social media into a team building event during an executive retreat in Egypt for the Saudi Arabian office of a global pharmaceutical company. Her experience is a primer for all business and meeting facilitators.

Her program called Visexecutaries: Seizing Opportunities in our Shifting Corporate Landscape, “looks at how organizations can fine tune their corporate, sales and marketing strategies and tactics in the face of emerging trends,” says Thornley-Brown. Although the client did not request that the program include social media elements, “it’s impossible to discuss marketing and sales without integrating the huge impact of social media,” she says, and initially took the initiative to add social media elements to the program.

The pharmaceutical company client was in the process of merging with GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Saudi Arabia. Thornley-Brown saw her social media exercises as a way to bring the two teams of sales executives together in preparation for the merger. She has executed team building programs in Egypt, Malaysia and the U.S.

Before the meeting, all participants were invited to join LinkedIn and register for the team building program. The event organizer posted detailed information about the program and registration materials on LinkedIn. One of the two companies subsequently requested that Thornley-Brown prepare an additional exercise specifically addressing the use of social media. The exercise that she developed included the following:

Thornley-Brown sent invitations for all participants to join LinkedIn, add her to their network and begin adding their own contacts. She set up a LinkedIn group, invited participants to join and used the group to disseminate news articles and information on how to prepare for the team building program.

Building on the LinkedIn success, Thornley-Brown asked participants to register on Twitter, follow her and each other. She used Twitter for “quick bursts of information, reminders and to let participants know that there was new information in the LinkedIn group,” she explains. As part of the Visexecutaries program, she divided them up into teams, asked them to choose a team name, colors and a dress code for their project and then encouraged them to use LinkedIn and Twitter to communicate ahead of time.

During the retreat she held a one hour information session on LinkedIn and Twitter, showing participants some additional features and an example of the work that one of the attendees had done building his LinkedIn network and customizing it for their industry.

Since the meeting, the LinkedIn group has continued to grow. They share videos, articles and discussion relating to the retreat. Thornley-Brown has invited meeting alumni to the group and encouraged them to network. She has also started a blog to focus on some of the topics from the team building exercise and uses LinkedIn email to notify group members when a new blog post is available.

The Takeaway:

In introducing a new form of communication and collaboration such as social networking platforms to the team building scenario, Anne Thornley-Brown facilitated the learning by joining the LinkedIn group and Twitter herself and monitoring the “uptake” of retreat participants. Rather than sending attendees an email or a pdf on how to use LinkedIn and Twitter, she helped them onboard and learn how to use the tools first hand. Her experience demonstrated how team building facilitators can interact with a group, before, during and after the meeting. Thornley-Brown also considered the meeting objectives in her social media strategy. A merger between two previous competitors was the perfect setting for the collaborative and non-confrontational platforms of LinkedIn and Twitter. Her post-retreat blog is a brilliant way to keep the conversation going from the meeting and build a larger audience for her team building practice.

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