Every chance that I get to attend a professional development conference, I take, especially when there is a conference in my hometown. I was fortunate enough to attend a local PRSA social media development conference a year ago here in Springfield. Prior to this conference I was familiar with social media and its workings, what I was not familiar with was its networking power. As the conference went on it was more and more apparent why social media is such a dominant force in the networking game. As each guest speaker took their turn explaining what social media was and how to use it, one speaker stood out from the rest. This speaker was not just describing what social media was or how to use it, he was educating the audience on how they can engage and network with people from all across the world. I took much away from this speaker because of how relevant his topic was to me at this time. I knew that if I wanted to truly apply what he taught us I would have to introduce myself to him personally. After our introduction we exchanged our online handles, and following Ben Smith and Social: IRL would quickly become a regimen in my daily social media consumption.
After the conference I didn’t waste anytime getting further acquainted with Ben and his business Social: In Real Life. After a few months of sharing content and talking with Ben via social media outlets Ben sent me a personal message on twitter asking if I would work with him on an event he was bringing to Springfield called Social: IRL Sarah Evans Social Marketing and Public Relations Boot Camp. Sarah a well renowned social media enthusiast was coming to Springfield to educate the community about social media, and I had the opportunity to attend and work with Ben and Sarah.
In the months that followed, Ben would ask again for me to attend and work a Social: IRL event this time in Kansas City. I wasted no time confirming with Ben, and I was off to Kansas City for yet another Social: IRL event. This event featured well-known author and social media enthusiast Jeremiah Owyang, the event was titled Social Business Summit and Strategy Workshop. This was not just your run of the mill social media workshop; this was a regional workshop for the large to small business owners. The attendees ranged from those with their own boutique to the executive officers of Garmin and AMC Theaters. After a full day of networking with professionals and exchanging contact information, my network was rapidly becoming more than just a “follow” or a “like.” I was was sharing content through social media and in real life which was establishing my own credibility.
Through my experiences I have learned that if you want to be heard you have to be transparent with your audience. If you invite them and share meaningful content that readily applies to them and their organization then they will eventually listen and engage with your content. I have enjoyed extending my network and working with Ben and Social: IRL and I strongly recommend everyone who uses social media to follow them or your own influential enthusiast.
