FreshNetworks Blog

Social Media Week in London saw a great set of events, thinking and presentations for all things social media. One of my favourite presentations from the week came from an event I wasn’t able to attend: Steve Bridger‘s keynote from the Media140 Third Sector and the Real-time Web event.

Steve’s presentation is based on his experience of working with charities and not-for-profits and highlights the importance of the internal change that must take place in any organisation if they are to make the most of using social media:

1. Social media is disruptive to an organisation. It changes the way you do things, whether you intend it to or not. We see this a lot with organisations we work with at FreshNetworks. Marketing communities often produce customer service queries or ideas; research communities often result in word of mouth about the brand. Customers are not siloed in how they think about your brand or organisation and they way you interact with them in social media cannot be siloed either.
2. Social media is about relationships. It is not about technology but about what you do with it and how you interact with people online.

These observations are as true for corporates as they are for not-for-profits. Social media is not a silo because it is about relationships. It is about how you engage and interact with people on an ongoing basis.

Steve’s full presentation is below and is our Required Reading this week. You can also hear Steve talk at the FreshNetworks Breakfast Briefing on Thursday 18th February: Strengthen your membership strategy with social media.

For those of you who don’t already know, this week is Social Media Week. A week of social media conferences, meetups and events taking place in multiple cities around the world, including New York City, Berlin, London, San Francisco, Toronto and Sao Paulo.

The aim of social media week is to advance the use and understanding of social media in the corporate, public and not-for-profit sectors. So to do our bit for the cause we’re holding “Doughnuts for Drupal” – a free, informal breakfast discussion about using Drupal as a social media platform.

If you’re a Drupal programmer, developer or blogger (or a “Drupalite” as we like to say) then pop along and join in the Drupal fun. Free coffee and doughnuts will be served from 8.30am on Friday 5th February at our offices in High Holborn, London.

Charlie Osmond, our MD, will give a quick introduction to the session at 9.00am followed by an open discussion about  Drupal.  James Andre and Marcus Deglos, our very own “Drupalites”, will also be on hand to answer questions.

The gathering is also the unofficial launch of the London Drupal Hub. With several Drupalites on board already, we have the basis for a hub of Drupal activity, knowledge sharing and best practice right here in our central London offices.

To register your interest, or for more information about the meetup please email jo.stratmann@freshnetworks.com or call us on 0207 692 4376.

Address: Kingsbourne House, 229 High Holborn, London, WC1V 7DA