The Value in Live Tweeting A Keynote Address of Alan Weiss
A fascinating woman approached me in Vancouver prior to my keynote to ask if she could micro-blog. I said “Of course,” as if I knew what the heck she was talking about. I asked her to write a guest column about what she was doing and why. In my role as King of Social Media, I’m happy to present it here, and I thank Terry for writing it.
The Value in Live Tweeting A Keynote Address of Alan Weiss
By Terry Rachwalski, World of Consulting
For me, micro-blogging is just another communication medium. The difference is that unlike an article, blog or book, it forces the communicator to be concise—140 characters to send a thought demands a paucity of in-depth analysis. Micro-blog posts are more like a stream of consciousness, unfiltered and without the careful wariness of re-writes and editing. The communication is “in the moment.”
Is micro-blogging for everything we need or want to say? No. Some concepts need more substance for thorough communication, but micro-blogging has its place in the spectrum of options available to us.
When I started my micro-blogging account, I asked myself what I wanted to communicate. The form and structure of my consulting assignments are not based on the cult of “me.” The brand is not me personally, yet every assignment I have had came from a word-of-mouth referral. So what could I add to conversation and still be authentically who I am: kind of serious, kind of quirky, but definite about courses of action?
I decided to add value. I decided I didn’t want to spam with a link in every communication I send and I didn’t want to natter on about what a cute dog I have (though that is undoubtedly, true).
To add value, I decided to give snippets of information on consulting, the consulting life and how to consult, with the occasion personal, consumer rant built in—because that’s me.
The theme of Consulting Conference 2010 in Vancouver, BC was about charting a course to value. So I decided that what better value could I offer my followers than to tweet during the keynote speech by Alan Weiss? I asked Alan for permission which he graciously gave, informed my followers, and started tweeting.
Are the tweets anything special? Well, it depends on your point of view. but there are some nuggets of wisdom that are exactly what micro-blogging is all about—concise and pointed statements. The trending favourite was:
“Stop being a jellyfish who floats with the tide, be a shark + control your own destiny #cconf #yvr”
with the follow up pos:
“OK, Alan says be a tuna if you don’t want to be a shark #consultant. You get the picture #cconf #yvr”
Apparently, my followers agreed that there was value there. I added about 100 followers over the course of the conference and keep building my posse of consultants.
You can find the live micro-blog on Alan Weiss’s speech by searching the hashmarks #cconf #yvr #CeMC on twitter under my account @consultingmania
© Terry Rachwalski 2010. All rights reserved.
