E L S U A ~ A KM Blog Thinking Outside The Inbox by Luis Suarez

What the … Is Social Media Anyway?

I love it when all of a sudden, and through one of my various social networks, someone comes along and shares one of those links to rich media that you know you are going to enjoy, not just from digesting its content, but also from the perspective of acknowledging you will be reusing it at some point in time in upcoming presentations you may do on the topics you feel rather passionate about, specially in the area of social software adoption. "What the HELL is social media" is one of those videos …

If yesterday I blogged about how important both people and passion are for a successful adoption of social networking for business, both inside and outside of the firewall, today I thought I would share with you folks a link to a YouTube video that, if anything, permeates some of that very same passion from all over the place! indeed, go and watch "What the HELL is social media". If you are into social computing, you will enjoy it; if you are not, it may convince you this time around…

It’s a little bit over 2 minute YouTube video that explains, quite visually, 10 main different reasons why knowledge workers should be paying attention, and care!, about social media, social software, or whatever other related term. Yes, I realise there are differences between all of them, but the main key concepts would still remain the same.

And those key concepts are the ones mentioned throughout the video clip itself. Created by Kama Glover and Tim Fogg (And compiled and edited by Peter Kerwood) it will be one of those videos that I am sure you will be using rather extensively from here onwards in those upcoming workshops, where you could sneak in a couple of minutes of visuals right before you start your events and get people on the right track from the very first moments. And jazzed up quite a bit in the process, too! I know I will, even if I don’t agree with statements like this one: "[On Facebook] It has won the social networking war". Well, maybe it’s still a little bit too early to say, don’t you think?

Here is the embedded video so you can hit PLAY and starting going through it. Then let me know through the comments if it would, indeed, be one of those videos you would reuse for an upcoming presentation on 2.0 that you may be working on already … or not. I would be curious to know what you thought about it and whether it’d help get some of those 2.0 messages across…

Tags: Enterprise 2.0, Social Software, Social Networking, Social Computing, Social Media, Collaboration, Communities, Learning, Knowledge Sharing, KM, Knowledge Management, Remote Collaboration, Innovation, Networking, Social Networks, Conversations, Dialogue, Communication, Connections, Relationships, Productivity, Customers, Clients, Kama Glover, Tim Fogg, Peter Kerwood, Facebook

When This All Gets Cool, It’s All about The People and Your Passion

After a couple of rather hectic days at work, I guess it’s time again to update my blog over here sharing with you folks a couple of thoughts that have been lingering around in my mind lately and which, more and more by the day, have continued to demonstrate what, to me, is the whole thing around Social Computing, Social Software, Social Media, Enterprise 2.0, Social Networking, Web 2.0 or whatever other "expression" you would want to use: it’s all about the people; and it’s all about passion, your passion!

Yes, I know most of you would be able to differentiate between one and the other, if I would ask you to go ahead and define them all; however, two of the key characteristics that will define them all would those ones I have just shared above on all about the people and passion.

And this is not the first time I blog on this very same topic; when most folks are talking about how social computing / networking is all about a new wave of social tools on the Internet that would help us become more productive while sharing our knowledge across and collaborating with our peers, I keep thinking that we should probably not make the same mistakes we have done over the decades in trying to justify such kind of movements as technology / tools based, because they aren’t. They are all about the people behind them, and tools are just that: tools. Enablers. And that’s where it all ends for them.

And that’s when it gets really fascinating and exciting for us all! Did you have a look into my good friend’s, Chris Brogan‘s, blog post titled "When This All Gets Cool"? If you haven’t, I would strongly suggest you take a look, because he has put together one of those articles that would surely resonate with you all quite a bit and won’t left you indifferent. Yes! It is that good!

Chris shares on that blog post pretty much basically what I have said above on where the real focus should well be all along, as more and more businesses are starting to explore various different efforts on social software adoption, both inside and outside of the corporate firewall: not on the technology, nor on the tools, but on where we could get the most out of the whole experience. To quote him:

"Social media are a bunch of tools. They let us see things a bit differently. They empowered new ways of working together. But they’re just the tools. When this all gets cool is when we start really turning this stuff on our own passion projects, on our bigger goals, on what COULD happen."

What he has managed to do with that blog post is to inspire tremendously a whole bunch of folks into doing (Or continuing to do…) things 2.0 related in a completely different way: i.e. making a difference! So if you did enjoy some of the brilliant suggestions he made on what other things we could do with social software tools (Other than thinking they are the primary focus), I would suggest as well you take a look into the extended commentary where plenty of folks have been chiming in and sharing plenty of golden nuggets of what passion for what they do would mean to them and, most importantly, how they are attempting to make a difference in how they interact with things! Just brilliant!

Yes, it’s all about the people! It’s all about the passion your let permeate through every single part of your body, and brain!, wanting to share it across with others. And make it contagious! That’s exactly how I felt yesterday when I did go through one of the suggestions Chris offered in his post: "Give your local school teachers or library a free class on how to use the tools for their projects".

Ok, it wasn’t my school, but rather ESCOEX International Business School in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria; it wasn’t a talk with the school’s teachers, either (Nor the library!), but instead it was a rather energising two hour event with a bunch of amazingly talented group of youngsters wanting to make a difference and surely preparing for themselves the way to do just that!

I bet when they saw me coming into the classroom, they were expecting to hear about this strange guy who telecommutes, has got his bosses thousands of kilometers away, works for a rather, perhaps too large, corporation making trouble for living "A World Without Email" and just probably wants to tell his story and go back home. Funny enough I had other plans for the session … and for them…

I didn’t use a single set of slides! In fact, I didn’t bring with me any gadget whatsoever other than my mobile phone, which I didn’t even use at all during the entire time; they were probably thinking they were going to learn some things from me on what it is all about using social software tools in a business environment. Yet, I was the one who had an opportunity to learn so much from them all that I am still digesting most of the incredibly cool things that we discussed during the entire session.

I am working already on a follow up blog post where I can share some of those various different insights with you folks. If you would want to take a peek, ahead of time, into some of the stuff we discussed during the session I would highly recommend you have a look into today’s blog post that my good friend Víctor Ruiz put together under the title "Luis Suárez (IBM) y su lucha contra el correo-e" (Yes, it’s in Spanish!).

In it he details, very nicely!, a good chunk of what we discussed and comes to conclude whether I live in a parallel universe, or a different world altogether, since it looks like things within local businesses are going rather slow at the moment, and perhaps for the next few years still, with regards to their own adoption of these social tools to try to keep making a difference.

Yet, there I was! With all of my passion for the topic, focusing on the people, on their conversations, on each and everyone of the students knowing we may not be that far off from that reality I seem to be living in. I won’t be disclosing further details on what I mean by that (In an upcoming blog post you will see what I mean…), but one thing that I can certainly share with you all, and which resonated with Chris Brogan’s blog post I originally mentioned above, is that "To me, the cool stuff has very much yet to happen. We can do SO much more".

And yesterday I witnessed, and experienced!, the sheer talent behind those younger generations who surely are passionate about what they do, and who certainly want to make a difference in this world. They may let them do it; they may not, but one thing that surely came out from yesterday’s event at ESCOEX International Business School is that they are going to try it damn hard and I am surely going to help them succeed! Will you?

Will your passion help them make a difference at whatever they truly believe in? Not sure about you, but they certainly have mine! For a long while …

Tags: Enterprise 2.0, Social Software, Social Networking, Social Computing, Social Media, Collaboration, Communities, Learning, Knowledge Sharing, KM, Knowledge Management, Remote Collaboration, Innovation, Networking, Social Networks, Conversations, Dialogue, Communication, Connections, Relationships, email, Productivity, Re-purposing Email, No-Email, Challenge Your Inbox, Progress Reports, Thinking Outside the Inbox, Information Overload, A World Without Email, The People, Passion, Passionate, Tools, Enablers, Web 2.0, Chris Brogan, Escoex, International Business School, Gran Canaria, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Victor Ruiz, Making a Difference, Things That Matter

Jamie Oliver’s TED Prize Wish: Teach Every Child about Food

Oh, and talking about inspirational videos one gets exposed to every now and then. Here I am back again with another one; slightly longer (Nearly 22 minutes), but one of those that will not leave you indifferent. Forever! Of course, it had to be one of TED‘s videos; one that will surely make you think about it twice next time you go and grab a bite! I am sure plenty of you folks out there have seen it already and have been WOWed just as much as the rest of us, to put it mildly!

However, if you haven’t, I am going to keep this blog post rather short, so you can go and have a look into "Jamie Oliver’s TED Prize Wish: Teach Every Child about Food" and enjoy 20 minutes, approx., of pure genius, joy and inspiration! Whether you are well built or slim, whether young or old, whether you care or whether you don’t, this is one of those incredibly thought-provoking videos that will surely make you change and / or adapt some of the food habits you may have gotten used to over the course of the years and those from those around you.

And all of that coming from someone like me,  who keeps struggling to find the right balance, specially when travelling abroad and being away from home for a few days, but who, after watching the video clip, clearly sees the light at the end of the tunnel and is already on a mission to take on board some of the helpful tips shared throughout the video clip by Jamie. And, believe me, it’s worth it. Very much so!

Thus without much further ado, here is a little bit of homework for you for over the weekend, in case you may not be able to watch it in the next few minutes. Go and click on PLAY, sit back, relax, and enjoy one of those TED presentations that will help change your life forever. For good! For better!

Tags: TED, Videos, Inspiration, Inspiring, Life, Health, Healthy Habits, Habits, Fit, Fitness, Food, Jamie Oliver, Travel, Travelling, Making a Difference, Things That Matter, Break the Habit, WOW Factor