From One Character To Another. One Tweet At A Time.

Hoot, Hoot…Tweet, Tweet…

I attended the 140 Character Conference in Boston making a few stops across the country teaching, tweeting and teaming up people who have embrace social media. People are using the 140 characters of Twitter, and other new media platforms to improve the exposure of their business or cause, share an experience, and make new connections.

I had the opportunity to mix and mingle with a few familiar friends and new characters face-to-face, while others tweeted back and forth their insights. Today, the New Twitter hatched with a new interface that incorporates the opportunity to share video and photos. They also collaborated with partners including DailyBooth, deviantART, Etsy, Flickr, Justin.TV, Kickstarter, Kiva, Photozou, Plixi, Twitgoo, TwitPic, TwitVid, USTREAM, Vimeo, yfrog, and YouTube. Say that 10 times fast! The new Twitter will also include information about the author and provide a page that’s much easier to navigate. This will improving the level of engagement and hopefully the adopters of this technology tool. From delivering news to people about what’s going on in the world, or influencing someone else with one tweet at a time.

We the People, For the People
The People Have Spoken

Could this new Twitter launch turn out to be a new form of Facebook, my iGoogle page, or transform altogether social media and make it a community search engine as a place for the people, by the people?

Don’t be shy, say HI! In this new social media revolution, everyone has a voice. Use it! Whether you were once in prison for 27 years and decide to do some good to create Youthturns.org that helps families of prisoners to get back on their feet and find the support with positive influences. Or, if you’re Erik Proulx, who after being laid-off multiple times by ad agencies, decided to pool together people using his contacts and Twitter to interview others that had lost their jobs to discover how to make profit in his new documentary LemonadeMovie.com. These are just two examples of people who have turned around their lives one tweet at a time to make a change, help others, and advise the crowd at the conference that 140 characters is the start to make 140 steps towards a new direction.

Steps To Be A Social Changemaker

• Create a goal and go after it
• Follow, listen, share what others have said and take a stand
• Connect with people next door and far away
• Always make media
• Engage your community
• Ask others for help
• Create a grassroots effort around a cause
• Volunteer

Good Resources to Review:

http://www.nextbillion.net/

http://www.socialedge.org/

http://ashoka.org/

Dropping the Ball: Wanna Play Foursquare?

I’ve heard the talk about it for weeks and finally had to drop the ball to say something about Foursquare. Everyone says it’s the next big thing next to Twitter and Facebook. As technology evolves, so do the applications and the attitudes around them. Am I wrong to believe that there are some people that still have yet to share every detail of their lives on Twitter and appreciate when others write something more meaningful or informative, rather than what one has for breakfast everyday? Or, maybe there are still those that wish to keep their comments private and not promote it in Twitter-ville.

I can see where Foursquare can be a great new tool for marketers and an interesting combination of mobile, social media and creating brand ambassadors to engage users. Yet, there are still some of us that prefer our anonymity and don’t want the world to know where we are all the time even if it’s towards earning discounts, or being recognized as a VIP shopper. Marketers use loyalty cards as a way to provide rewards for repeat business, but the customers are not on a public display every time one makes a purchase. I could see Foursquare being a problem for those that don’t wish to jump in and pass the ball to others promoted on a public stage.

Do we really need to know how many times Jack Smith went to Trader Joe’s twice in one week to buy some groceries, picked up a BigMac sandwich at McDonald’s Monday and on Thursday a vanilla shake, and earned himself the honorable badge of Mayor for the Sports Authority down the street. Wow, he can connect with other people using Foursquare too that have frequent those same spots 10 times this week!

Obviously, this new type of tracking device is sure to be a hit with marketers. The company will use, or sell the data, as a better means to track customers with the right campaign message and offer rewards based on one’s interests and frequency of visits.

We already know the loyalty cards measure our purchases, cookies track our performance online, and now Foursquare is going to track every step. I’m not sure everyone will embrace this concept and it will be interesting to see how it takes off. Perhaps, we have come to a crossroad where technology and social media is becoming more a part of our lifestyle and it’s accepting to most. Yet, there are still those that don’t like the intrusion of their privacy, nor those that wish to hear of the daily activities of others updated all day on their Facebook page. I can hear that popular Police song “Every step you take, every move you make, I’ll be watching you,” now becoming more of a reality each day. I can also hear a lot of people saying no thanks.

Don’t get me wrong, I can see the potential of this platform, but I have a hunch that it will need some adaptations for more adopters to participate. Hmmm, I have my own idea called Hopscotch …coming soon!

You Go Girl! Harvard Celebrates Dynamic Women In Business

Women from across the country attended Harvard’s 19th annual Dynamic Women in Business conference which featured some of the brightest and talented women that have made strides in their professional careers. Sitting side-by-side with others attending the event were people about to graduate, new to a career, women seeking work, or individuals that wanted to hear from some powerful people in business. Both young and old came to learn and network with one another in hopes to secure that next job opportunity, make a new friend, or find a mentor to inspire one to reach for her goals. Top women executives from companies such as Staples, lululemon athletica, Keds (Stride Rite / Collective Brands), Coca- Cola, NBC Universal, Showtime, Time Warner Cable, Estee Lauder, Google, Highland Capital Partners, FedEx, Mavens & Mogels, Communispace, and many more came together in one place to share their experiences in different aspects of business.

Make Your Movement Possible

The event kicked off with Ann Simonds, President of General Mills Baking Products Division, where her comment, “there are learning points in your life and leading points in your life,” rang true to many women throughout different stages of their career development. We all have had transitions in our lives where we take a step back to improve upon our weaknesses, or took the necessary time to research for ourselves what would help us to move forward. Ann shared in her presentation a copy of a check from a few years back for $38.00 her mother contributed to help a women’s professional organization.  Today, Ann stood on the spotlight of the stage before hundreds of impressionable women, as her mother sat in the audience to cheer her daughter as a true leader in business. Not only was that a great story, but the conference was inspirational to many in the audience. It was nice to see women bonding together with a sense of empowerment as they listened to the personal stories of the executives on the panels who offered their solutions for facing the day-to-day business challenges to find success.

Turning Buzz to Biz

Whether you are pitching a product, trying to sell yourself to a prospective buyer/recruiter, or meet someone new, it’s all about creating that buzz, developing your network, and influencing others in hopes for one to see the value you offer. Check out the book Now Discover Your Strengths, by Marcus Buckingham and Donald Clifton. Many women recommended it as a good resource to help define your core strengths and how you can gain results in the workplace.

The various panels of women discussed areas in sales, marketing, entrepreneurship, retail, consulting, finance and more, offered examples to improve your business, your role, but also where all of us can look inside ourselves to put our best foot forward in many situations.

• Make sure to ask for what you want
• Listen
• Focus on the outcome
• Surround yourself with the best talent
• Don’t allow yourself to be put down
• Seek opportunities to prove your strategic direction
• Share the results: Show Don’t Tell
• Build an organization around a strategy
• What brand asset do you have?
• Identify the touch points and keep them engaging to influence the audience or your peers
• Improve the overall experience for the customer making it memorable
• Find a mentor to cheer you on when you are doing something well, and offer advice when you are doing something wrong

So get out there…..YOU GO GIRL!

What are some things that you live by to get ahead? Share your story below and let others know.