Been traveling this week, spreading the gospel of social media to the uninitiated. It has been fascinating because for the first time I am not just crossing the lines of standard business practice with clients or employees, but crossing cultural and geographic lines as well. Is it true that Swiss businesspeople do not, for the most part, consume online video? Is it true that even with IT trade publications closing shop around Europe that IT industry media reps do not look to bloggers yet as key influencers?
These are harsh generalizations and I have yet to find firm answers, but I will say that in the US (where I have had the most experience in these matters) we seem to pay more attention to blogging, podcasting and social networking platforms and the communities and people within.
So what are you readers in Europe experiencing? Where are your hot-spots of awareness and activity coming from? Are there any large organizations you know of outside of IBM where the community at large has a voice and is offered a platform for expression and community building? Any big companies where the employees have been offered the chance to help shape and change the corporations culture through social media?
I admire Sun Micro for opening up their product site to client and public comments. This is brave and forward-thinking. Are they doing this internally as well? I believe that IBM has enabled the possibility of a massive cultural change through social initiatives and am witnessing some serious impact already over the past few years. This energizes all of those I speak with and certainly makes everyone taking advantage of these spaces feel empowered and more connected. We now find conversations faster, answers faster, find experts faster, but most importantly we create relationships with more of a human touch.
