Become an indispensible networker

Last week I facilitated three workshops about how and why to implement social media in organizations. I was invited by the European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI) to this Metropolib conference because they were looking for a digital native who could sparkle interest among Heads of Libraries from several global development research institutes.

I can tell you enough about how I facilitated the workshops, because while the topic was about tools and technologies I did not use any of these. I even did not open a laptop. However, in this post I want to focus on the for me most important element from the workshop.

Tagging

I focused on how we could become an indispensable networker by using social media tools. As a result, I did not explain the technological issues, but I explained more about the social issues of social media.

What are the social issues we need to think about when we become a part of a network? Nobody’s is sharing their information and knowledge because you are asking for it; it needs to happen on a voluntarily basis. In order to simultaneously share information and knowledge in a network you need to have trust within the network. How do you get this trust? Within my workshop I envisaged on tagging: tagging your messages, but also tagging your social media profiles. Tagging is important because all these bits/tags are being used to filter the information overload within the social media tools. Do you really think all of your 50, 100 or 200 followers on Twitter are reading your messages? Your followers already have a substantial information flow of Twitter messages when they follow 50 people, so how can your message get through to people who might be interested in it?

First of all, you should have a level of trust. Therefore, creating trust should be a compentence and a benevolence in an organization. However, having the trust in a network takes a long time, but losing the trust can be realized easily. Therefore, it is far more important to show people how they should become a part of a network (how to become the indispensable networker) rather than to tell them more about technologies and tools. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't focus on technology at all. In my eyes organizations should concentrate on tagging. By tagging your twitter account with, for example, your own picture, it becomes relatively easy for your followers to filter your messages out of the information overload. But they will only do this, when they trust YOU!


Call for papers: The 5th International Conference on Innovation and Management (ICIM2008)

ICIM2008 will highlight current thinking and future trends in management of innovation, knowledge economy and emerging business models. Representatives from a large number of countries will attend the event. The conference format includes plenary and parallel sessions with both academic and practitioner presentations. In addition, the conference will provide networking opportunities together with a taste of local culture.

Main Topics:

• Key (converging) technologies in the 21st century (nano-, bio-, ICT technology)
• Technological innovation, product innovation and industrial innovation
• Regional innovation systems, clusters and industrial networks
• Organizational innovation
• Managing collaborative innovation
• Financing and commercializing innovation
• Innovation in services, logistics and supply-chain management
• Intellectual property and knowledge management
• Human resource management issues in innovation
• Innovation and management issues within multinational corporations
• Innovation for low-income markets and social innovation
• Innovation for sustainable development

Call for Papers: Organizational Learning, Knowledge and Capabilities, April 2009, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

The 2009 OLKC conference is the fourth in an annual series which unites the OLK and OKLC communities. In building on the achievements of these previous events, OLKC is the leading international conference for researchers in the fields of organizational knowledge and learning. The conference is international in scope and inclusive of the wide range of intellectual perspectives, which have helped to make the field of organizational knowledge and learning one of the most vibrant areas for contemporary research and debate. The 2009 OLKC conference therefore welcomes theoretical, empirical and combined theoretical & empirical contributions. The OLKC 2009 conference will be conducted by the VU University Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Deadlines

• Submission deadline of 800 word abstract: 15 October 2008

• Authors will be advised on their papers status: December 2008

• Full papers of 5,000 to 7,000 words due: 15 March 2009