Now We Are 3!

Three years ago I hit the ‘Publish‘ button for the first time on this blog.

145 posts later (ok, so I’m not that prolific) I’ve had a lot of fun and learning, and a little angst too. I look back at some of my old posts and think about how I would write them very differently now, but then I also think some of them are better than some more recent stuff.

I came across this post on why we blog from the now (sadly) defunct My Hell is Other People and was struck by all the reasons people gave for their blogging. I wonder if any would express it differently now, nearly two years later…no doubt some blogs have moved on from hobby to gain more of a business or branding purpose.

My most read blog by far is this one from early 2011 when I was blogging as part of a job hunt. I think its popularity is less to do with the quality of writing and more as a result of the first 6 words in the title being a heavily searched phrase! Barely a day goes by when a few Googlers haven’t visited TRecs through that search…hope they aren’t too disappointed. (For more on the searches that lead to a blog read Doug Shaw’s recent post).

My least read blog is this one from June 2010 on how the interview process you create can send the wrong signals to potential new hires. I felt quite strongly about it so will admit to being disappointed that it didn’t get a wider reach…maybe I’ll re-write it as a rant, as rants always seem to do better!

Most of us blog about our opinions on different things, giving our take on business, or life, as we see it and are happy to debate, either IRL or through the comment sections, but I rarely see anyone post an ‘I’ve changed my mind‘ or ‘I see it differently now’ piece.

Maybe we haven’t needed to, but I was struck by this honest blog from Tory leaning political commentator Tim Montgomerie – recently voted political columnist of the year – on 3 big things he’s got wrong since he started blogging and commenting. OK he is a political blogger who follows an agenda, and has influence over the thinking of people who are passionate about his party, but I still found it a refreshing change.

No grand theme or statement to end this post…but if you have a minute do share your most and least read blogs, and any views you’ve held and blogged about, and which you have since changed…

Success Secrets of Social Media

One of the things I love most about the new social landscape is how there constantly seem to be new ways to meet and connect, and present and share our varied learnings and experiences.

Last Wednesday I was lucky enough to attend the first evening of a new event – a social media open mic night. Now I have ruminated once or twice on whether blogging is the new rock n roll – was this to be proof that social media is the new stand-up comedy?

Not quite! What I experienced was a great concept and one that enabled networking, insight and a lot of fun.

Hosted by Radian6 and Salesforce, the Social Success #micup night gave the opportunity for 5 social media practitioners to each take the microphone for 5 minutes to share their social media success secret – with precious few slides and a clock counting down the 5 minutes behind them.

The fearless five were not chosen at random, but had been crowd sourced through Twitter, so their presence on the stage was not a surprise, and this led to a relaxed and engaging session. More storytelling amongst friends than a full presentation…though the crowd were ready and willing to heckle!

One presenter – Doug Kessler – has already summed up the five presentations in this excellent blog…I recommend you read it. I’ll just give you my take on the 5 Success Secrets:

Serendipity…you never know where a single random tweet will lead. In the case of Gabrielle Peters it led to NASA, the Mars Mission and a meeting with Will.i.am.
Agape…unconditional love is the key to community building. And great content needs to inform, inspire, educate or entertain – and preferably all 4!
It isn’t all about the big networks and big communities…a platform like Path can help you build tiny groups of like-minded people
Be social and engage creatively…it isn’t about shoving your message down your audience’s throats if you are a big brand
Be unique and stick to your beliefs…it’s crowded and you don’t get much airtime so make sure you stand out and don’t lose faith if at first it doesn’t work

The evening moved on to drinks and chat, and quite a relaxed networking vibe.

The social success micup was a huge success…there’s another one planned for November and I recommend you sign up when as soon as its announced.

Not quite rock n roll, nor stand-up comedy…more of a fun cocktail bar and lounge evening, with new friends and interesting discussions.

Blogging and Learning at #CIPD11

Last week I was at the CIPD Conference in Manchester with an access all areas press pass, a presentation on social media monitoring to deliver and an open mind ready to absorb new ideas. Most of the conferences/unconferences that I attend these days are recruitment oriented ones, with the talking points centred on how the staffing sector can make the most of new technologies, so I was hoping for a new angle, a chance to see things differently.

This was my first visit to CIPD for many years – not since the print media were rewarding their recruitment/HR advertisers with copious amounts of alcohol anyway! (Yes younger readers, once upon a time they did! They even had casino themed parties!)

It was great to be part of the blogging team – kudos to everyone at CIPD who have embraced social media, and with it the many ways that an event, its spirit and learnings, can now be bought to those who can’t make it and those who do but can’t be everywhere at once!

I suppose I was wearing two blogging hats. Firstly the day job one – for my key takeaways and learning points on Trust and Future Work you should follow the Jobsite Insider blog – and the other hat was for here.

So what impressed me?

Firstly, the appetite for social media. Not just the fact that there were people there who were tweeting and blogging as the event unfolded, but the enthusiastic participation in the Twitterversity sessions, the attendance for sessions involving new technology platforms, and the interest shown in the presentation that I delivered. During my two days there (how I wish I could have stretched to the three) I had many approaches to chat about social media…how companies could use it, what guidelines to put in place and how to leverage the potential reach and opportunities for internal communications. Continue reading “Blogging and Learning at #CIPD11” →