Confessions of an eBiz Junkie

Social Connects Companies... To Themselves

One of the things I love most about being part of the social revolution is the unexpected 'ah-ha' moments that surface almost daily. I had one such moment this week, and wanted to share the observation.

Given the command and control structure that remains prominent in the traditional web, there are inherent checks and balances in place to ensure consistent messaging and positioning. In that model, a centralized web team is usually organizationally agnostic, with their focus being on providing a consistent experience to visitors of a traditional .COM site, as example.

As we know very well, social flips that model upside down, providing a direct path from subject matter expert to audience. In effect, it can remove all of the checks and balances that the more traditional model provided.

A Tour of Social City at EMC World

So I'm off to the Big Apple to represent EMC and pick up our first-place award for engagement marketing in BtoB Online's 2011 Social Media awards. The campaign that took the award was a rather large launch (internally known as 'Mega Launch') back in January.

As I sit here staring at the inevitable flight delay board, I reflect on our ongoing evolution in the social realm. One thing that's consistent - When we want to have an impact in Social, we go BIG.

To that end, and with EMC World 2011 now in the rear-view mirror, I thought I'd give you an inside look into our social presence at EMC World - 'Social City'.

Social City was designed to put all of our social engagement points front and center for attendees of the event. Be it EMC's Facebook presence, our EMC Community Network, our roster of industry bloggers - There's a point of engagement for everyone.

It was also designed to help drive EMC World discussions far beyond the physical confines of the event. As you'll see - Social City helped us extend the conversations to hundreds of thousands more via digital channels.

So - See for yourself. Here's your very own tour of Social City - including the now infamous Bloggers Lounge - at EMC World by yours truly. I suspect you'll see what I mean... We like to go BIG with Social.

 

 

EMC World 2011 - The Bloggers Lounge is Back, Baby!

Where does the time go? Seems like just yesterday we were hanging backstage with The Counting Crows, getting jacked up on free espressos, and chatting about the wonders of all things Social...

Well, it's THAT time again.

What happens when big data meets cloud? Does whatever happens in Vegas really stay in Vegas? Does Len Devanna actually have a caffeine threshold?

There's one way to find out.. Join us in Las Vegas in May for EMC World 2011!

Bloggers who have attended in the past will likely attest to one thing.. The EMC World Bloggers Lounge is the place to be during the event. Always a good crowd, a steady stream of EMC thought-leaders to chat with, and no shortage of good fun...

The Bloggers Lounge is open to any attendee of EMC World who's also a blogger. It's that simple.

Sign up below and we'll see you soon in Vegas! Here's the list of bloggers so far... Already a great crowd.

 

 

Opportunity - Manager of EMC's Social Brand

Social Media is, among other things, a catalyst for transformation. On the surface, it represents the move from a uni-directional to a bi-directional web. Now everyone has a voice.

Down a layer, it provides an incredible opportunity to break down traditional barriers and establish meaningful relationships with your customers and other audiences.

But with the rapid expansion of the social universe, it's important to keep a keen eye on your social brand. Via social - are you making it easier for your audience to engage with you, or more difficult? Are you listening and engaging, or just talking? Are your social voices consistent and unified, or all over the map?

There's a new and really cool opportunity here at EMC - Manager of EMC's Social Brand. It's a newly defined role, but I suspect one that will become commonplace in the years ahead.

Click through for the description. This opportunity should be posted up on EMC.com next week, and I'll update this post with specific job code, etc;.

Update - The opportunity is now posted on EMC.com. Head on over to the Careers section - search the openings for Req 71206BR.

Perspectives on Social Media Policies

Shortly before the holidays, I'd spent some time with Upsana Gupta, contributing editor at BankInfoSecurity.com, chatting about EMC's journey in Social Media. While we talked about the journey in general, we spent considerable time talking about the fundamental notion of crowd-sourcing, and how it's been instrumental to our success.

Based on her discussions with myself and industry peers, Upsana published a piece entitled "How to Write a Social Media Policy". It's a good read and provides a broad range of perspectives on the topic.

As is indicated in the article, there is in no way a 'one size fits all' approach to governing Social Media. What works for one industry or culture may or may not work elsewhere.

Regardless of the approach, however, I firmly believe that inclusion and education are key components for success.

We're actually in process of completely retooling our own social policies and supporting education materials, and I look forward to sharing progress with you in the coming weeks... There's some fun stuff in the pipeline that I think you're all going to like. :)

Top Ten Signs Your Social Journey May Be Stalled...

 The title says it all... If any of these resonate, you may need a dose of high-octane fuel to get things back on track...

1. Determing the best response to a less than flattering tweet involves several meetings, a small army of people, and several unwiedly Powerpoint decks
2. Your Social Media hiring plan consists largely of 'moderators' and 'content approvers'
3. You insist that people sign an NDA before posting to your Facebook wall
4. Before replying to a post on your internal community, you check the company org chart to ensure the person you're replying to can't fire you
5. You think 'VOC' means 'voice of the company'
6. No matter how hard you try, you simply cannot get your arms around the saying  "We have two ears and one mouth for a reason"
7. Your brands Twitter page is protected
8. You're wondering how to convert all of your direct mail templates into 140 characters
9. Your Social Media team reports into your Office of Risk & Compliance
10. Your last blog post was over two weeks ago!

Got more? Let's hear them in the comments...

Social in the Enterprise - Convincing the Curmudgeons

I enjoyed a trip to BlogWorld Expo last week, and was honored to sit on a panel of industry-leaders to discuss the impacts of Social Media in the enterprise. Having participated in several such discussions this year, I continue to be stunned by the number of folks still in the 'convincing' or 'selling' mode.

Perhaps I'm just taking our evolution for granted - But I really struggle to understand how the debate persists. Especially with such compelling data around enterprise adoption so readily available.

Given the number of questions around overcoming this particular hurdle, I thought I'd share a few tips and tricks we used along our way. Not that there was ever resistance to the evolution at EMC, but there's always a crowd that needs help understanding the opportunities at hand...

 

See You at JiveWorld 2010?

There's nothing I enjoy more than sharing some of the lessons learned during our journey to become a truly socially enabled company. In fact, I've learned SO MUCH from the larger community over the years that it seems only fair to return the favor. After all, we're in this together, and are collectively building the communications model of tomorrow... Cool stuff.

I'll have a chance to share a bit about our journey next week at JiveWorld 2010 here in San Francisco. The speaking roster is packed with some of the best in the biz - it's sure to be an information-packed event.

Unfortunately, it looks like the conference itself is sold out. That's not to suggest you can't directly benefit from the great content coming from the show... Simply follow along via hashtag #JW10.

Will you be there? I'd love to connect. Drop a note in the comments or ping me via @LenDevanna on Twitter... Hopefully we'll see you there!

The EMC Community Network - What can we do for YOU?

Ahhh, the voice of the customer. Is it at the center of your business? It should be. Your audience likely has far better perspective on what they want than you do...

Along these lines, the team behind our EMC Community Network is conducting a brief survey to determine what's working and what we can do to make things even better... Not the survey type? No problem - they've raided the prize closet to keep things interesting.

What? Haven't been to the ECN yet? If you have anything to do with EMC, there's most likely something there for you. Head on over and explore the world of EMC communities today!

A Social Journey Meme - Year Two at EMC

Our corporate evolution in the past three years is nothing short of staggering. The way we work, collaborate and communicate at EMC today is dramatically different than it was just a few short years ago.

Polly Pearson is doing a bit to document the phases of our journey. As she notes, everyone's at a different point in the spectrum of readiness with regards to embracing the E2.0 movement. Having seen first-hand how our company has benefited from this transformation, I'm of the firm belief that it's a question of when, not if, every company embraces this new way of conducting business.

I'll rewind the clock and pick up the discussion in 2007. As Chuck notes in the comments of Polly's post, there were a few 'social' offerings in place in 2006. Mostly discussion forums and virtually all public facing. While each valuable in their own right, these things were largely disconnected from one other and not part of an over-arching strategy.

If, as Polly suggests, there was 'something in the air' in 2006, then 2007 would see us lay the foundational strategy that would ultimately guide us through the journey ahead.