As IBM IMPACT comes to a close, there was a lot to learn and I certainly left with an expanded viewpoint on SOA, Cloud Computing and, most interesting to me, the application of social media tools to build your personal brand and expand your network.
It was Twitter-mania as people were pounding away at their laptops and blackberries, sometimes just a few feet away from their intended message target. Larger screens were used to display all Twitter traffic related to IMPACT (#ibmimpact). Bloggers were treated as IT gods, given press passes and special access to learn more about what IBM had planned for release.
So what might seem to be overkill, actually made for a very interesting event. The attendees, and not IBM, became the true focus of this conference.
Two sessions stood out for me: First was Jeremiah Owyang (@jowyang) fromForrester Research. If you follow Jeremiah on Twitter or on his blog, there are always great take-aways! In his research, what Jeremiah was able to uncover was that social media tools were going well beyond the personal use aspects and are already very embedded in our corporate marketing culture. More and more marketing dollars are being taken away from traditional marketing projects and being put into building an on-line brand. And this trend is just going to continue to the point where we, as consumers, become a 'community of buyers' who can be represented or sold to on the open market.
The other session was hosted by Sandy Carter, IBM's VP SOA & Websphere Strategy. Sandy discussed the importance of personal branding, using social media to build trust and creating an emotional connection with your intended audience. Overall, a wonderful session. Sandy touched on a subject that I have blogged about and presented on many times in the past; your ability to network and take advantage of the network of others is the key to creating success in your personal and professional life.. plus it is a lot of fun!
IBM IMPACT was a big success in my book. Many connections were made to expand my own network, the network of others and I learned quite a bit about how to leverage social media tools to advance one's personal brand. See you next year!
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