Today, I had the pleasure of attending Inspire! 2013, a conference on social media, mostly focused around non-profit organizations. If you spend any time in the Twitterverse, you can see some of the comments and useful links by searching the hashtag #inspire13, or going to the link https://twitter.com/search?q=%23inspire13&src=typd
You might ask – what does that have to do with your industry, or your company? The answer is nothing at all, and that’s why it was what I thought an excellent idea to attend.
Often, in strongly defined industries, it’s very easy to become entrapped in an inclusive culture that doesn’t lend any innovation or really fresh ideas in front of industry leaders or management. And that’s a darn shame. When I attend a credit or finance-related conference, there’s value to attending, but not innovative value. When I ‘cross the street’ to meet with other industries, they are more giving of their time, and often have a unique perspective into how obstacles we all face in business that should, and can, be overcome.
So today, I met the Media Relations Manager of the Stratford Festival, the Social Media contact for M & M Meats, a representative to an affiliate company of Symantec, and the Vice President of Vocativ. I was recommended a number of books on business including Mitch Joel’s “Ctrl Alt Delete – Reboot Your Business” by Mitch Joel, learned about dark social media, responsive web design, Starbucks for Business network groups, how to interact with digital natives (or millenials, if you prefer), and about another page and a half of bullet point notes from several speakers and face to face meetings.
I also got to talk a bit about my industry, but the folks at Inspire! 2013 weren’t really interested in that. What they were interested in were some books I had read, some software platforms I recommended that could be used by any industry, and some excellent company culture documents by Hubspot and ValvE.
Most of the things that impress my compatriots, colleagues, competitors and clients in my industry are mostly things I learned how to do things outside my industry. And you can do the same as well. By exploring new communities, by reaching outside of your comfort zones, you can learn something new, and apply it to your business.
In the interests of helping people do that, I’d like to recommend the following network opportunity that has local chapters in most cities, and is an excellent cross-industry group that has excellent information and business opportunities for any professional. This networking group gave me immediate value, was convenient to attend, and has quality speakers that cross industry boundaries.
Social Media Breakfast - http://www.socialmediabreakfast.com/
So, if any one has any questions about dark social media, the ideal image sizes for Facebook company updates, the new book by Mitch Joel I’m going to go and buy tonight, or anything else that doesn’t have to do with credit and collections, I’m interested to hear from you – after all, we both might learn something new from each other. And isn’t that worth a conversation?
Thanks kindly,
Blair DeMarco-Wettlaufer
Kingston Data and Credit
Cambridge, Ontario
226-946-1730
bwettlaufer@kingstondc.com
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