Cultural Resolution

Today (well, by now it’s yesterday, but I’m still awake) at the 2009 IABC Annual General Meeting, I gave my final speech as 2008-09 Chair of IABC.  It’s been an amazing year, a great World Conference, and an emotional day.  Here is the script from my remarks, which I intentionally tried to keep light to avoid crying (which almost worked):

I really believe that everything you encounter in life, every person you meet, every experience or challenge, is given to you by the universe as an opportunity – that you either have something to learn or something to teach, or both.

So as my year as chair of IABC draws to a close, I’ve been reflecting on the lessons.  I’m going to steal from our 2009 IABC EXCEL Award winner’s Top 10 List idea, and share my top 10 lessons from the past year.

10.   Authentic communication is the new requirement, a paradigm shift has already happened, and most companies and communicators haven’t made the shift.  I learned this from my participation in social media, and it’s why I’ve become passionate about pulling other communicators along with me on my journey.  You can’t understand this from the outside, and you can’t afford to wait until your company is ready, and then hire in the expertise.  I’m really proud of how IABC has moved into a leadership role in this area, and how our use of social media is enhancing and expanding the wonderful sense of community that has always been a part of IABC.

9.  Double-check when you’re tweeting a direct message that includes your mobile phone number – especially if you’ve got 20,000 followers.

8.  If your brand tag line is BE HEARD, you have to learn to listen, and to be willing to hear things you don’t like. 

7.  That said, there is a difference between BEING HEARD and BEING OBEYED.

6.  Look very closely at any travel itinerary put together by Adrian Cropley – He forgets to schedule time for sleep.

5.  Todd Hattori is a tough act to follow – especially from a fashion sense.  Seriously, though, Todd has been a wonderful mentor and partner, and he’s been a dedicated leader, serving on the international executive board for the many years.  Please join me in thanking him for all he has given to IABC.

4.  Asia Pacific is REALLY big. Every place you need to go is a very long flight away from everyplace else there.

3.  Texas is also really big, and it is not a good idea to schedule 3 events in 3 different chapters in one day – and even worse idea to make me drive there (wrong side of the road, plus I’m a bad driver to begin with).

2.  It is way more fun to stay with IABC members than in hotels.  I’ve gotten to know Wilma Mathews’ cat Shadow, I’ve made cookies with Alice Brink, I’ve had a girlie slumber party with the Queensland chapter’s board after we spent a day developing their chapter’s first strategic plan. 

1.  IABC is about the people.  It’s our members that make this association what it is.   So thank you all for what you do for IABC, and for the opportunity to learn from you over the past year.

With just under six weeks to go until the IABC World Conference kicks off in San Francisco, some people may still be trying to convince their bosses to find the budget, or looking at their own bank balance to see if they can swing it.  As someone who hasn’t missed a conference in many years, and paid for most of them out of my own pocket, I know that I’ve always gotten enough value to more than pay for the cost of attending. So I thought I’d share some of the ways you can make the conference pay for itself:

1.  Get material for a year’s worth of in-house professional development sessions for your whole team.  Go through the conference program in advance and select sessions that meet your department’s training needs.  Attend the sessions, take copious notes, download the slides, and then share what you’ve learned with members of your team in a series of free in-house sessions.

2.  Gain knowledge you’d otherwise have to pay a consultant for.   A day or two of consulting time would more than cover your conference costs.  So what expertise does your company need that you could gain by attending?  Never written a crisis communication plan? There are at least a half-dozen sessions that would help you build that expertise. Need to develop a social media strategy for your organization, and know how to sell it to your executive team? You could walk away from this conference with not only the knowledge, but also personal contacts with top experts.

3.  Research best practices.  With 1500 communicators from all over the world attending, you have some of the best minds in our industry, representing many of the top companies.  With a notepad or tape recorder and a list of questions, you could easily conduct research to find out how others have solved problems you’re facing.  In fact, why not offer to do this for another department and get them to help fund your trip from their research budget? Wouldn’t your HR directer like to know how Sony, IBM and Cisco improve productivity via internal communication programs?

4.   Expand your global network & knowledge.  Is your company trying to do business in China and encountering barriers? Looking for market intelligence in India? Or finding its internal culture isn’t consistent outside its home country?  You can learn from experts in cross-cultural communication, and meet professionals leading communication for top companies around the globe.  As anyone doing business across borders knows, in most parts of the world, it takes personal relationships to create business opportunities.

5.  Find a new job.  If you’re between positions at the moment, this might be the best investment you could ever make in yourself.  Not only because of the incredible networking opportunity, but also because you’ll come away energized and full of confidence, something that job-hunting tends to beat out of you.  Forget sitting at home sending out hundreds of resumes or answering classified ads, the best jobs are usually found through networking.  And I know for a fact that there are always a few headhunters in attendance (smart people, since they know that IABC conferences attract top talent).  Here’s a personal offer of support:  if you’re job hunting and attending this year’s conference, let me know in advance and I’ll help with introductions.

I could go on, but the truth is, for me it’s usually one small thing –one kernel of an idea sparked by surrounding myself with so many great minds — that ends up making me leave the conference sure that it’s more than paid for itself.   That’s why I’ve always found a way to get there, whether it meant sharing a room with three other people (actually, that year was really fun), or scrimping on something else for the next six months.  There aren’t that many things in my life that have consistently returned so much value for money, but I wouldn’t miss an IABC conference.

It’s January, and the gyms are all full of people who made New Year’s Resolutions to get fit.  Business and professional association meetings are also packed with people who made resolutions to start networking more, even if they’re not exactly sure what that means.

Business cards, we know it involves exchanging business cards (though we often don’t do anything with them once we have them). And going to events. So we go to an event, and stand about feeling awkward because we don’t know anyone, or find the one person we do know and spend the whole time with them.  But after doing the event thing a couple of times, and not seeing any benefit, like the January crowd at the gym, we lose interest in networking.

But just as getting and staying fit requires a change in lifestyle, so building a powerful network is about changing the way you view networking.  Here are a few thoughts for getting started:

• Start with your existing network.  Not to discourage anyone from attending a networking event, but you probably already know plenty of people that you haven’t taken the time to develop into solid contacts, haven’t build a real relationship with.  Have you gotten to know them well enough to know how you can help them, who you can introduce them to, what resources they might need?  Try going through those old business cards and doing some of the follow-up you never got around to. Get in touch with the people you haven’t talked to or seen in months, just to catch up.
• Be a matchmaker.  When you meet someone new (or are catching up with and old contact), always be thinking who else in your network they should get to know.  Put people together. Think of your network not as a wheel with you at the hub and spokes linking you to individual contacts, but an intricate web of connections that cross-connect and all link back to you.
• Look for opportunities to benefit your network.  Even though I’m not in the market for a job, I always cultivate relationships with recruiters I meet.  They know I have an extensive network of communication professionals, and that I’ll always take the time to help them find good candidates.  People in my network benefit by hearing about great opportunities. I benefit because over the years I’ve helped dozens of my friends and contacts get jobs (or at least get in the door, they did the rest). Those are the kinds of favours that come back to you.
• Become known as a resource-finder.  I love it when people come to me with the question that begins “Do you know anyone who….”  Need a lawyer, dentist, graphic designer, freelance writer? I probably either know one or know someone who knows someone, and by providing the referral, I’m strengthening my network.  By the way, having a vast network of resources can be incredibly valuable to your employer, too, because it makes you a miracle worker, able to accomplish things others can’t.  Become known as the go-to person to find any resource.

If you’re a networking newbie, there are plenty of techniques and skills you can use to help you feel more comfortable and be more organized with your networking (if you’re interested, you can download my Power Networking Tips here), but the real power of your network comes from making a long-term investment in helping other people succeed.  Remember, the most powerful network is the one that owes you favours.

Granted, when I get really into something I tend to be a bit of an overachiever, but my progress with Twitter seems amazingly fast.  It’s only been seven weeks since I considered myself a Twitter Newbie and posted my tips for fellow Newbies.  A week later, when I was up to 800 followers, and felt like I’d reached a new level, I promoted myself to Dilettante (a lovely word that means amateur), and posted my Stage Two tips.  The snowball has continued rolling (you can really see it here), my follow/following numbers are both over 3000 now, and it seems time for a promotion (though I’m having a really hard time coming up with a title for this stage), and to share more tips and learnings. 

First, I should say that nothing I say here should be taken as “rules” for Twitter, it’s all just based on my personal opinions, preferences, and what I want out of Twitter.  As someone pointed out last night, the beauty of Twitter is that you can use it in any way you choose.

General Thoughts About Following and Followers

• It’s all about the conversation.  I’m not interested in just being broadcast to or marketed at.  At this stage in my Twitter development, I’m no longer following the gurus (except for the few who actually follow me back).  That’s not to say I don’t admire them and think they have lots of great information to share, but I can go to their blogs or subscribe to their newsletters for that. Or even just drop in directly to their Twitter page. 
• Follow liberally. There’s no risk to following. It’s not a commitment, not a statement of friendship or an endorsement. Think of it as if you’re at a big networking event, working your way through the crowded room. Following someone is like stopping to listen to or join in a conversation. You may be drawn by what they’re saying, or who they’re talking to, or by something random that catches your attention.  And you can just as easily walk away (by unfollowing) if the person turns out to be boring or creepy or just not of interest to you. 
• Clear out the non-mutuals regularly.  In a tweetstream last night, I used the word “culling” and someone said that sounded really harsh, but since Twitter imposes a limit to the number of people you can follow, if you’re trying to grow your mutual connections, you do have to be pretty ruthless in cutting out those who aren’t engaging with you.  But again, it’s not a big deal. You can always follow them again later, and next time they might follow back.
• Don’t forget to follow back.  At the Newbie stage, I tried one of the auto-follow-back applications.  But I found myself spending a lot of time unfollowing spammers, so I stopped using it.  Now, I’m finding it difficult to keep up with checking out new followers and following back, so I’m considering it again. 

Who I Follow

• Real people. My general policy (with a few exceptions) is that I don’t follow companies or logos or anonymous Twitterers.  I look for a real first and last name, a location, a bio that tells me something about who they are, and a photo. 
• People in my profession. In my case, this is strategic, because of my role as IABC Chair. I want to keep growing my contacts within the communication profession, both IABC members and non. I want to know who the big thinkers are.  I want to know what issues are hot.  I want them to see that IABC is on Twitter.  So if you’re a PR or comms professional, I want to follow you.
• People who make me laugh.  Just today, when I clicked on a new follower’s page, the first tweet there made me laugh out loud. I followed back immediately (BTW, it was @dayvision, and the tweet said: A computer beat me at chess once. But it was no match for me at kickboxing.)
• People who make me think.
• Or share a common interest.  It’s funny, these don’t show up in bios usually, but come as a result of dipping into the tweetstream and following someone else’ conversation.  Or they find me in a similar way.  These are the frivolous tweets, like what’s for dinner, or when I live-tweeted Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and people were singing along.
• PR/Communication students.  I am really happy to help them begin to put their social networking savvy to use in a business networking context, and of course, I want to help lure them towards IABC for the future.
• Journalists.  I started following several just to see how journalists were using Twitter. What I found was that they’re often my favourite tweeple.  Funny, smart, and laid-back.  I think many of them are wary of PR people who might try to pitch them via Twitter.  But since I don’t do pitching these days, they can relax with me.  And sometimes they come to me when they’re looking for a source, and I can quickly find them one from my real-world network.
• Anyone who engages with me.  If I get an @reply from someone, I usually click on their ID (which in Tweetdeck pulls up their bio and recent tweets in a side column), and if they meet my other criteria, I’ll usually click the follow button.
• People in other professions or geographic markets.  I just thought of this today, but my new goal is to follow lots of doctors and lawyers and other professionals, so that if I ever need advice, I’ll have a resource.  And I want to make sure I have contacts in key markets around the world, in case I’m ever stranded in an airport or need a local resource, I’ll have someone to turn to. 

Who I Probably Won’t Follow Back

• No photo or avatar.  And I have to say that I’m not especially fond of cartoony avatars, so it might depend on my mood.  I do try to give newbies the benefit of the doubt, for awhile.
• Following 2000, Followers 12.  Anyone who has hit the 2000 initial follower limit with almost no followers and updates is a soon-to-be spammer, trying to build their numbers quickly through auto-follow-backs.  They’re the reason Twitter has the limits.
• People without a bio.  Or whose bio tells me they’re not the kind of people I want to follow (terms like MLM, wealth-builder, etc. are big red flags to me).
• Scary or sexy photos.  When I was still using auto-follow-back, I was getting lots of gorgeous, shirtless young men. Too distracting in the tweetstream.

Who Gets Un-followed

• Spammers of any kind. They’re usually easy to spot, but a few masquerade as real people (see above) and then send nothing but links to their website.
• Bleeping tweeters. I don’t mind swearing in real life, and do a fair amount myself at times, but it really turns me off on Twitter.
• Mean or angry tweeters.  I’m ok with debate and criticism, but I don’t like mean people.  Twitter is positive for me, I don’t want to follow those who are always negative.

 How I Manage It All

• TweetDeck is the best!  I simply couldn’t do any of this if the only way to use Twitter was through Twitter.com.  It’s a free application that you can download and have up and running in minutes. But frankly, I would pay for it if I had to — it’s that good. TweetDeck makes managing it all really easy, because everything is viewable in columns, without having to go back and forth between pages.  You can organize the columns to suit yourself, but here’s how I do it:
  • All Friends – This column shows the tweets of all 3000+ people I follow, I dip into it for a few minutes a few times of day, whenever I’ve got a few minutes and am looking for conversation or news. But otherwise, I ignore it. It’s not an inbox with a need to catch up. It’s a live conversation.  Back to the analogy of the networking event, trying to read all the tweets here would be like trying to get a transcript of every conversation going on in the room — on a 24-hour basis.  I love dipping it at certain times of day. For me, early morning means my Aussie friends like @jenfrahm are still online (because it’s evening there), then the UK tweeps come in, and I see friends like @jangles. Towards noon the US east coast wakes up, right on through until it’s bedtime for me and I can see my Hawaiian buddies, like @pbarton2.  Weekends it’s a completely different crowd and different vibe.
  • Direct Messages – This column is for private messages from people I’m following. It does get a lot of those annoying auto-messages saying “thanks for the follow” (by the way, I don’t think it’s necessary to acknowledge a new follower, and wish people would stop doing it), but it’s still easy to skim quickly, and I usually only get a handful of real DMs a day, so it doesn’t take much time to manage this column.
  • Replies (or @s) – This column is where the action is, because it picks up all replies to me, tweets that mention me, and retweets.  So this is where the conversation is.  But even with 3000 followers, this is generally easy to keep up with, and is only as active as I am.  If I’m tweeting, there’s lots of activity here.  If I go silent for several hours or sign off for the night, when I come back, there might be two or three tweets to answer.  So again, it’s really manageable.  I only spend time on Twitter when I want to.  If I feel like a conversation, with such a large base I can always find one. But if I don’t, they’ll get by just fine without me.
  • Search – I keep at least one search column active all the time, and use others when I’m looking for something specific.  The TweetDeck search column can serve as a real-time keyword monitor. So you can do one on your company name, a hot topic, or in my case, I like seeing every time someone mentions IABC in a tweet.  That allows me to welcome new members, see what’s going on around the world, and monitor for feedback or issues that need attention. 
  • Groups – I haven’t used the TweetDeck Groups function extensively yet, but Paul Barton promises a blog post soon to share his techniques for organizing his friends with it.

 Final Thoughts

• If I’m not following you and you want me to, just send me an @ and tell me.   
• I’m still learning here, which is why I enjoy it so much.  All the above is based on where I am at the moment.  It’s not right or wrong, and I may change my mind about it all by next week.  If so, I’ll let you know.
• Don’t be intimidated by Twitter. If I can go from Newbie to whatever I am now in just seven weeks, anyone can. I’m not techy or especially cutting-edge.  The only thing hard about it really is the clunky Twitter.com interface, and lack of instruction for Newbies.  But once you get going, it gets very easy.  If you need help, just tweet me.

Whether you have made the leap into social media yet or not, if you’re an IABC member (or especially a leader at any level), you should take a quick look at the IABC conversations happening on Twitter.  Follow this link, which is just a Twitter keyword search on IABC: http://search.twitter.com/search?q=iabc , and scroll through a few pages. You’ll see everything from leaders to students, promoting local IABC events, sharing info, networking. And that’s just the posts that actually mention IABC, not all the activity by IABC members.  We’re rockin’ on Twitter!

Maybe it’s because I put down in writing last week the things I’d learned about Twitter, but this week I began to feel less like a newbie, and more like a… well, not a pro, certainly, but more competent, more knowledgable.  I reached 500 followers last weekend, and that seemed like a tipping point.  So I changed my description on my Twitter profile from newbie to dilettante (because that sounds so much better than amateur, even though they mean the same thing). 

I also realised that I had begun to use Twitter differently.  As a newbie, most of my posts were one-way; statements answering the “what are you doing” question.  Sometimes that would spark an exchange, but often not.  But more recently, many of my tweets were responses to others, including both people I know, and those I don’t.  It had begun to feel like the conversation that all the social media gurus talk about.  It was another ah-hah moment for me — I “get” Twitter on a new level, and it’s even better.  And that made me hungry to take it up another notch.  I’ve been in a learning and growth mode all week, listening, reading, connecting like crazy.  So I thought I’d share what I’ve learned, in case there are other newbies who feel ready for the next stage:

• First, a caveat: Don’t try this too soon.  There’s nothing wrong with being a newbie, it’s a necessary stage, and if you try to make the leap too early, you’ll either be overwhelmed or turn people off.  But if you’ve been actively twittering for a few months and have a couple hundred followers or more, you might be ready.

Gradually Expand Your View

• As a Newbie, you follow people you know or have something in common with (like IABC Members on Twitter), social media gurus, etc.  Gradually that list expands, but Newbies need to keep the list somewhat limited in order to be able to keep up and be able to learn from those they’re following.  At the next stage, you’re more able to scan and zoom in on things, so you’re ready to expand your view.  You need to find interesting people to follow.  Here are a few ways that have worked for me:
  • I started with what I call tweet-surfing, clicking through on names of people mentioned in @replies from people I follow, especially those I admire (like @shel and @jangles). Reading their profiles and recent tweets, if they looked good I clicked follow.
  • Next I began to pick up the pace, actually going to the Following lists of some of my most-admired Twitterers, and following some of the people they follow. 
  • Then I saw a tweet about a new tool called Mr. Tweet, and followed the link.  When you follow Mr. Tweet, it provides a customized list of people you might be interested in following, and it makes it easy. [Note: I don't recommend clicking on their Follow buttons, which then requires you to provide your Twitter password. Instead, click on the person's Twitter ID, which will open their Twitter page, and you can follow as usual.]
  • At this point, I had added almost 500 people to my Following list, which I would have thought would be overwhelming, but instead, it was leading to some great conversations.  So when I came across an article called “How to Become a Twitter Rock Star, Sort of” which mentioned a way to automate the process, I tried it.  Here’s a YouTube video that explains it better than I can.
  • The result of all this is that I’m now following more than 1600 people, and many of them are now following me back, which brings me to my next topic…

Build Your Following

• Lots of articles I’ve read, mostly by social media marketing types, focus on this first, as if the whole point of social networking is to have large numbers of people following you.  I’ve found that these are the kind of people I avoid on Twitter.  Once they have you as a follower, all you see is tweets marketing their latest e-book.  Don’t be like them.
• The easiest way to increase the number of people following you is to follow others.  Most people will follow you back, either because they use an auto-follow tool (which I don’t recommend), or because when they click on your profile, they think you might be interesting.  That’s why it’s so important to have real info in your profile, and your photo.  My new rule is I don’t follow-back anyone who is anonymous, or with whom I can’t see any commonalities.
• The other reason people will follow you is if you’re providing value.  While tweets that answer the “what are you doing” question are fine –and help people get to know you as a person — if that’s all you’re doing, it’s probably not going to get you a huge following.  But if you’re connecting people, sharing information, answering questions, re-tweeting messages and participating in conversations, then you’re creating value.  That is like a magnet.  That is why people like Shel Holtz, ABC, and Neville Hobson, ABC, have more than 2000 followers.  I wanna be like them when I grow up.

The Right Tools Make it Easier

• I really don’t think I’d be able to manage all this if I were accessing Twitter via the Twitter.com website.  It’s just too clunky.  I highly recommend Tweetdeck. Set it up in a 4-column format, with all tweets in the first column, DMs (private messages to you) in the second, replies in the third, and you can use the 4th column as a keyword search. I set mine so that I see all tweets (by anyone, not just those I follow) that mention IABC. I’ve found great people that way, and also get to see what’s going on with IABC chapters around the world.  You could also use that column to monitor mentions of your company.  The other thing I really like about Tweetdeck is that you can click on any @ID within any tweet, and it opens up a new column with that person’s profile, recent tweets, and a box to click follow. 

So that’s what I’ve learned this week.  I’m up to more than 800 followers, and I hope I’m providing value to them.  I know the people I’m following are providing value to me.

I’m still relatively new to Twitter, at least compared to the A-listers with thousands of followers. But I’m getting the hang of it, and finding real value the more I participate in it.  That said, I was initially a sceptic. I said more than once, “I don’t really get Twitter, what’s the point?” And now that I do get it, I still hear those same words from other communicators.  Here’s the thing: you can’t really get Twitter from the outside.  In fact, it takes a real leap of faith.  You have to jump in, fully participate, before it gives you anything back.  And that’s hard for most of us.  We feel lost, a bit stupid for not knowing the “rules.”  

So I thought it might help to share some of the things I’ve learned in the last few months, a few Twitter tips to help fellow newbies get more comfortable with Twitter more quickly.  Most of this I’ve picked up by observation, following links in other peoples tweets, reading blogs and articles.  Some of it is just personal opinion.  Please join in and add your tips, or links to other resources.

Twitter Tips for Newbies

Getting Started:

• Set up your Twitter account at http://twitter.com.
• Add your photo right away (under Settings). The best ones are close-up of your face, since the displayed pic is tiny. Don’t worry about quality of photo, one taken with your phone’s camera is fine. Or crop your face from a holiday pic. You can always update this later, but don’t leave the default graphic even for a day. I’m not a big fan of avatars or other cutesy stuff here.  
• Add your one-line bio (include IABC in it so fellow members can find you), and link to your blog or website or Facebook or LinkedIn page.
• Don’t tick the box that says “Protect my updates.” That just means other people won’t be able to follow you or see your tweets unless you grant permission, which pretty much defeats the whole purpose of being there. 
• You can access Twitter directly at http://twitter.com, but there are several free applications that make Twitter much better, easier to view, more intuitive to use.  My favourite is Tweetdeck, and I highly recommend you download it and use it right from the start.
• You can also access Twitter via your web-enabled mobile phone, and again, there are apps that make it better. I use Twitterific and Twinkle on my iPhone. (For non-web phones, it’s possible to set up your account so it works via SMS, but I haven’t done it, so can’t offer any tips.)

Joining In:

• Twitter makes the most sense when you are following people you already know or have something in common with (at least in the beginning, later you’ll expand to new contacts).  You can find a list of IABC members on Twitter at http://twitter.x.iabc.com. 
• To follow someone, click through to their profile page and click on the Follow button.  You can always un-follow later if you want to.
• When you follow someone, most of the time they’ll click to your profile and blog to see who you are (which is why the photo & bio mentioned above are important), and usually will follow you back, so you’ve got the beginnings of a Twitter relationship.
• You initial goal is about learning the ropes and building a few relationships, so don’t worry about gaining big numbers of followers right away. Friends and fellow IABC members will be more supportive of your initial fumbling, and will be patient answering newbie questions.  Don’t go for quantity until your tweets are adding value.
• Once you’re getting the hang of things and want to start building more of a following, the easiest way to gain followers is to follow others.  As mentioned above, lots of people will follow you back, either manually or automatically.  Remember, though, if they find your tweets annoying or worthless (to them), they’ll unfollow just as quickly.

Messages:

• Messages on Twitter are called Tweets. They’re limited to 140 characters. While that means you have to get creative to get your message across, most people (at least the ones I follow) don’t use the same kind of over-abbreviation more typical in SMS text messages.
• Any time you reference someone, be sure to use their @twittername (like: @Barb_G). That way the message shows up for them as a reply, so they’re more likely to see it.  It also makes the link clickable, so that others reading it can click through to their profile.  When you reply to someone’s tweet, it automatically includes their @name.
• If you want to send a private message to someone (known as Direct Message, or DM), instead of @, place a D followed by a space before their twittername (like: D Barb_G), then type the message.  (If you use TweetDeck, it’s even easier.)
• Don’t be all business.  Twitter is not an advertising medium, it’s a networking medium. People are connecting with other people, and that means that letting a bit of your own personality shine through is a good thing.  Just like at an IABC meeting, you’ll talk to people about serious business topics, and also about frivolous personal topics.  The personal stuff – the things that help build rapport – facilitates bonding and builds relationships.

Cross-Pollinate:

• If you have an eXchange site or other blog, you can set up a TwitterFeed so that every time you do a blog post, the headline and link show up in your Twitterstream.  This can drive traffic to your blog, and is a great way of sharing useful content and building a following.
• You can also set up a widget on your blog that displays your latest tweets (if you’re reading this post on my eXchange site, you can see this in the right-hand column).
• If you have a Facebook page, you can set it up so that your Twitter updates populate your status updates there.  Half the work, twice the presence.

There’s much more I could add, but I don’t think you’ll need it.  Once you get started, you’ll easily learn the same way I did (and still do).  Take the leap, join the growing ranks of IABC members on Twitter and expand your network in ways you’ve never imagined.

My IABC Asia/Pacific tour is off to a great start, kicked off with a lunch meeting with IABC Hong Kong. It was an intimate group, which allowed for lots of interaction and good discussion. Our primary topic was “mapping your career path” and since participants ranged from entry level to senior, it perfectly illustrated how IABC can help communication professionals at every phase.

We ended the session with a Be Heard discussion — a chance for them to share concerns, feedback, and tell me what they want from IABC.

I asked if the global economic crisis is being felt here. A resounding yes. Worries about budget cuts, layoffs, hiring freezes, etc. But interestingly , a number of companies are putting out calming messages, letting both internal and external audiences know that they’re ok. I’d love to hear more, so anyone who is either doing this or has received this kind of message, please share.

Very special thanks to IABC Hong Kong Chapter President, Dana Peterson, Director of Sales & Marketing for International Cosmetic Suppliers Ltd, for coordinating my visit (while nursing a 2-week old stray kitten and managing a major event).

I’m used to being prepared, being in control, knowing what comes next, where I’m supposed to be.  If I have a meeting scheduled, I’m usually early for it.  And when I travel, I usually book and confirm everything myself, and do online check-in 24 hours in advance.  It’s partly a function of my personality,  but it’s also cultural to a great extent.  Many parts of the world simply aren’t as agenda-focused as the US and UK.  And I recognize that my way isn’t the right way, it’s just what is comfortable for me.

So now, a day before I leave on a 3-week trip, over which I have almost no control, I’m consciously trying to get over myself, go with the flow, make a leap of faith and trust that it will all be fine.  A total of 15 flights have been booked for me by a travel agent, and I haven’t been able to confirm them online.  I’ll be arriving in 12 cities (in 7 countries), and in some destinations, I don’t yet know where I’m going, what time meetings start, what I’ll be speaking about, or where I will sleep.  What I do know — and this is the reason I can make the leap — is that there are IABC members in every destination, and they will take care of me.  And I know it will be an amazing experience.  A distinctly different cultural experience (actually, several different cultures).  I want to embrace those differences.  I want to learn from them.  I want to get outside my comfort zone. 

So I guess I’m off to a good start. 

Anyway, here’s the run-down of where I’m going. 

• Sun, Oct 19: Overnight flight from London to Hong Kong
• Mon, Oct 20: Arrive Hong Kong 5:50pm
• Tue, Oct 21: Speak at IABC Hong Kong Chapter event, overnight flight to Sydney
• Wed, Oct 22: Speak at IABC New South Wales Chapter event
• Thu, Oct 23: early flight to Canberra, informal member networking event in evening
• Fri, Oct 24: early flight to Brisbane, speak at IABC Queensland Chapter event
• Sat, Oct 25: leader development with Queensland board members
• Sun, Oct 26: flight to Melbourne
• Mon, Oct 27: Speak at IABC Victoria chapter event, board training in evening
• Tue, Oct 28: flight to Wellington, New Zealand
• Wed, Oct 29: Speak at IABC Wellington event, plus board development & media interview
• Thu, Oct 30: flight to Christchurch, member event and leader development
• Sat, Nov 1: flight to Aukland, on to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
• Sun, Nov 2: dinner with chapter leaders
• Mon, Nov 3: Speak at University, Lead a 1/2-day workshop for IABC Malaysia chapter
• Tue, Nov 4: flight to Singapore, meeting with members-at-large
• Wed, Nov 5: flight to Bangkok, meeting with members, flight to Phuket
• Thu, Nov 6: Speak to Phuket PR Network event, flight to Bangkok, overnight layover
• Fri, Nov 7: flight to Manila, speak to business leaders, speak at IABC Philippines Quill Awards ceremony
• Sat, Nov 8: flight to Hong Kong, overnight flight to London
• Sun, Nov 9: arrive London 5am (and go straight home to bed!)

I just added up the total flying time, and it’s a staggering 69 hours (can that really be right?)!  And I have to do the whole trip limited to one suitcase weighing no more than 20 kgs (which is about what I would normally take on a 3-day trip).  Getting WAY outside my comfort zone now.

I’ll blog and tweet along the way as much as I can, and try to share what I learn and introduce you to members I meet along the way.  Wish me luck and on-time flights!

Last stop on my 18-day Western US tour is Denver, and the IABC Southern Region Conference kicked off yesterday afternoon with my new favourite IABC speaker, networking guru Karen Susman, who got everybody charged up. 

Next was a unique and fun opening reception, which featured Wii games, an oxygen bar and the chance to get your photo taken on a virtual ski slope.

The energy here is great, and I’m looking forward to the sessions today, and the Dine-around tonight.