You’ve heard of someone putting a stake in the sand, but with the Global Summit on Social Responsibility, Susan Sarfati and her team have buried an artificial reef off the coast of the association community that will not only stem…
Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Media (AKA Jujitsu Manual for Managers)
by Charlene Li, Josh Bernoff (Hardcover – May 5, 2008)
My rating: 4.5 rubber band balls
What is the groundswell? A social trend in which people use technologies to get the things they need from each other, rather than from traditional institutions like corporations (or associations like ours.) Some of the association community is already being impacted by the groundswell…it’s only a matter of time before all of us will be impacted.
What Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff have done is important. It’s a well-written framework for understanding, tapping and ultimately transforming yourself and your organization through the groundswell. At times funny, at times heart-wrenching (in a business book?), Groundswell also provides thoughtful analysis of audience behaviors and ROI.
For anyone new to social media, part one on understanding the groundswell is the best primer I’ve come across. You get the three critical pieces of the puzzle in three easy chapters…
From this foundation, Li and Bernoff outline different strategies for tapping into the groundswell—listening, talking, energizing, supporting and embracing—using case studies and stories from groundswell participants. If you’re into social media, many of these case studies will be familiar. Still, the framework that Li and Bernoff provide is useful in gleaning a deeper understanding of the forces at work.
The Achilles heal? Like pretty much every other book on this subject, Groundswell focuses exclusively on corporate participation in social media. In the association world, our motivations and ultimate strategy will have some pronounced differences. But again, this book provides the framework to start (or re-start) a dialogue around social media for any association. Hear Jeff De Cagna’s podcast interview of Charlene Li–they touch on some of the association-specific issues. There’s also a great comment from my friend Frank Fortin, communications director at the Massachusetts Medical Society.
What do you think? How is approaching social media different for an association than for a corporation?
@maddiegrant could it be socialmedia folks get an earlier rise (on average) than most others? I know I do and I also love breakfast. #
@jamienotter @maddiegrant seems like the weekend to have the parents in town? Great minds must think alike. #
@maddiegrant I am with you sometimes less is more. Then again, I get along really well with mine so it is never a problem. #
Working with a colleague (hi Nichole) on naming one of our new initiatives. #
@maddiegrant. I hear you! I discovered the [read more]
Was glad to find this post from Mickie Rops about the frustration of trying to find a date for a conference call by multiple email messages …. She suggests using a program named meetingwizard.com. Wouldn’t it make it so much easier for scheduling committees and conference calls to have everyone go one place and record their availability options? It’s free and (thank God) doesn’t do those annoying Microsoft Office formatted reminders — but does do reminders.
I just finished rescheduling an arbitration hearing involving the schedules of multiple parties, witnesses, attorneys and hearing panel members. I wonder if this type of program could work for hearing schedules too?
If you need to take a break, or just reset your brain, check out Twistori. The site streams the latest Twitter posts with the words “love,” “hate,” “think,” “believe,” “feel,” and “wish.” In each stream you’ll find thoughts deep and shallow, but always interesting in the way they juxtapose. For example, here’s what I caught […]
How about your chapter?
For the last two days I’ve been attending ASAE & The Center’s Global Summit on Social Responsibility.
(ASAE = American Society of Association Executives)
Yesterday 800+ association executives and stakeholders participated live with face-to-face conversations, satellite offices around the world and virtual participants to explore what the association industry can and should do about […]
At the Global Summit on Social Responsibility, we have been reflecting on the nature of associations and the capacities of the collective. In one discussion, someone reminded us that at the very heart of every profession is a promise to…
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