Thoughts on Net Change Week
Last week was Net Change Week in Toronto, and I had the lucky pleasure of being a Net Change Agent. (I’m the one filling up your Twitter feed with all the live session tweets). I wanted to share some observations that I’ve collected from being a part of Net Change Week. It is all really exciting!
First of all, it’s very clear that there are many not-for-profit organizations that are struggling to find a way to incorporate social media into their marketing / communications plans. I completely understand the resistance and the challenges to getting involved. It can be difficult to find resources where there are none. A fascinating quote I heard yesterday was “Just because they don’t get it, doesn’t mean they’re not interested”.
This is fantastic! I hadn’t really thought of the idea that people aren’t avoiding social media because they think it’s stupid (maybe some are), many are interested and want to participate, but this new world is simply overwhelming. This makes total sense. I’ve been a geek for many years (Hello, Gurl Pages, eWorld.. I’m looking at you)… for those not used to the online space, it can be a scary endeavor.
I’m excited by all the interest in social media that I’ve seen, and all the people so happy to learn more and chat about communicating in the online space. I have to disagree with some I’ve spoken to though; there isn’t one “great” tool to get into or a “must do” in the online space - it should be about what makes sense for your organization, what you’re comfortable putting out there (publicly) and what gets you fired up inside. Passion is key. So get into social media at the pace that works for you - and learn as you go. It’s your organization and your community that you’re building, so you should participate!
This is an exciting time for me, because I know that as more non-profits climb into the social media space and start to understand the magic of the web, the more collaboration and innovation we’ll start to see come out of it. There are leaders in this sector (geeks too!). I’m really pumped to get to the next level of innovation - some really cool stuff is possible.
Go Net Change Week Go!