ResearchGoddess

These spotlights are opportunities for you to get to know some individuals who were recommended to me for the article I recently wrote for Mashable, 4 Essential Traits for Social Media Success in Your Career. The purpose of my project, detailed here, is to profile some social media professionals to keep an eye on in the coming year.

Spotlight:

What Brian had to say about Venessa: “Venessa is a philosopher and a futurist, exploring the advanced art and science of human connections and conversations and bringing observations and revelations from the edge to the center. ”

Venessa earned a BA in Psychology from Miami University of Ohio, and currently she is pursuing an MA in Media Studies through the New School, a progressive university located in NYC. Back in 2006, a friend asked if she wanted to be involved in a social media start-up company he was planning to launch. At the time Venessa had never even heard the phrase “social media” before, but was eager to explore a new direction. She spent the next year just learning the basics of how technological developments were affecting the way we communicate and understand the world. Since then, she hasn’t been able to stop. Each new evolution of the social web is allowing unexpected behaviors to emerge that are challenging the norms of how our society operates. Venessa believes it’s only going to get more disruptive as time goes by.

What interests Venessa about social media: How we can better access and use information, and how we might leverage the power of social networks. Unfortunately, the internet is rife with marketing and spam, and the noise is growing exponentially. Venessa believes we need systems that will help us quickly cut through the crap to get to the credible, quality content. Then we need to know what to do with the information. She has been experimenting a lot on Twitter and is finding that by building a network of knowledgeable people in her interest area, she is being exposed to information and ideas that she wouldn’t have been able to find from a quick Google search. As a result, there’s a really interesting informal learning process that’s being recognized there. Venessa has noticed a lot of people taking advantage of it in order to stay on top of what’s going on in their industries and to exchange ideas with peers around the world. She believes it’s going to become clear that businesses that aren’t integrating social media into the culture of their organization are going to be at a disadvantage against the competition. And not just because it isolates them from the opportunity to interact with their customers, but also because they’re going to have a less educated workforce.

With that in mind, she also thinks there’s a tremendous opportunity now for people to do things on a scale that has just never been possible before, from facilitating innovation in businesses to sparking movements that will lead to true social change. She had the opportunity to share some thoughts on this recently on Nokia’s IdeasProject website.

Where Venessa sees social media going in the future: Venessa says, “It’s easy to get caught up in the tools themselves and forget about what it is that the tools enable. Social media is just a means of communication. People are interested in sharing knowledge and information, in making life easier, and in having fun and being happy.” She thinks we will see some of the following stem from these interests:

• The mobile phone will play an increasingly important role as the medium for connecting online because of its portability and reduced cost in comparison to purchasing a desktop computer.  We’ll also see more tools emerge that will enhance the mobile experience, from augmented reality apps like Layar to portable credit card payment systems like Square to location-based services.
• We begin to embrace a new oral culture. Venessa thinks social media has established a new type of communication, and businesses and individuals are still figuring out how to use it effectively. But people have always enjoyed a narrative, so we’ll begin to see approaches to business that move more along the lines of storytelling and visualization. It’s not enough to sell a product or service anymore. People want to see messages that are visually appealing and understandable, like infographics, and they want ideas packaged into stories, whose foundations are built on values instead of material things.
• Tools will be built that make tasks feel more like fun and games. There’s a site called thefuntheory.com that has some really neat videos embracing this concept. Same with Foursquare – why would you want to constantly be updating your location for anyone to see? Because you can earn badges and become Mayor of the local cafe, of course! Whether for educational purposes or on the job, Venessa believes that there are going to be interesting social media tools developed that give us incentives to complete tasks because they feel more like games than work.
• Better tools for search. As mentioned earlier, information streams are already polluted with noise, and there isn’t enough time or attention to be given to filtering it. Tools will be developed that do a better job of catching spam and enabling us to find the kind of content we want.

Connect with Venessa on:

• LinkedIn
• Twitter
• Blog

Tags: brian solis, career, nokia, pay it forward, venessa miemis

These spotlights are opportunities for you to get to know some individuals who were recommended to me for the article I recently wrote for Mashable, 4 Essential Traits for Social Media Success in Your Career. The purpose of my project, detailed here, is to profile some social media professionals to keep an eye on in the coming year.

Spotlight:

What Jason had to say about Kipp: “Kipp is super smart and has a real grasp of social media. He’s got a year or two of experience under his belt working with real brands and real clients, too, unlike a lot of folks in that younger age group who set up a Twitter account for their dad’s car lot and call themselves ‘experts.’ He has an interest and a passion for B2B social media which automatically sets him a part from a lot of people. Kipp brings a pure enthusiasm coupled with a traditional PR agency/firm training to the table. He’ll be working with major brands for a long time and will cultivate quite a following as a result.”

Kipp earned a B.S. in Journalism with an emphasis in Public Relations from Marshall University. He recently (like last week!) took a marketing position with HubSpot in the Boston area to assist in making the HubSpot Blog the best Internet marketing blog on the web. Prior to that, he was Social Media Marketing Manager at Howard Merrell & Partners, a full service marketing and advertising firm in Raleigh, NC. During his career Kipp has successfully developed and implemented social media campaigns and plans for clients in business-to-business and business-to-consumer industries. In addition to his work at the agency, he is the publisher of SocialMediaB2B.com, a multi-author blog dedicated to providing examples and thought leadership for B2B companies planning to incorporate social media into their marketing strategy. Kipp also blogs on technology and social media at his personal blog DigitalCapitalism.com. As if he doesn’t already have enough on his plate with these things, until recently Kipp helped organize local Raleigh-area events including Triangle Social Media Club, tweetups, barcamps, Ignite Raleigh, and other events that focus on technology and social media.

What Kipp loves about social media: He went to college to learn PR and took a job out of school working in public relations. Three to four years ago, he began noticing the beginnings of the social web influence on public relations. This opened his eyes to the bigger opportunity, and he started to spend a lot of time learning how it would tie into everything. Overall, Kipp believes this is the best time ever to be a communicator. He says there is so much opportunity and possibility, and there is no excuse to not be well-informed. It’s our responsibility and obligation to create systems for ourselves to keep informed. More people will continue to do this into 2010.

Where Kipp sees social media going in the future: As a guy who has spent a significant part of his career working with B2B clients, Kipp feels that B2B is going to continue to be a hot topic in the future of social media; he thinks there will be a big rise in B2B adoption. 2009 was when everyone talked about ROI, and 2010 will be the year will people will figure it out. Kipp also thinks that mobile is going to get bigger and that there will be many more opportunities for location-based social media technologies. Real-time & implications on search are really going to play out in 2010, and Kipp believes there will be hardcore battling amongst search engines for the most up-to-date information.

Connect with Kipp on:

• LinkedIn
• Twitter
• Blog

Tags: brand, career, jason falls, kipp bodnar, pay it forward, PR

A large chunk of my time right now with AT&T is spent doing proactive research for our Campus Recruiting efforts. I look for student profiles in a number of places, and some of the most important things I look for are good GPA, good experience working with groups of people, and some form of leadership, whether it be in athletics, clubs, or an after-school job. These are traits we look for in our future leaders. We put our Development Program participants through training in many areas, including ones that may not be directly related to their ultimate job function, as well as all levels of work within their career track. Why? Because to be an effective manager, you’ve got to pay your dues.

So often, I read student profiles who list amongst their objectives when coming out of college, “To find a management position…” While I applaud your moxie, there are certain steps one must take first in order to reach management, and this includes earning some experience. I’m sorry to say this, but you can’t come straight out of college and land a management position for your first job – not unless:

1. You’re going to work for the same company you’ve been working for throughout school, or
2. You gained corporate experience prior to earning your degree (in most cases, this applies to graduate degrees)

I’ve written about this in the past. You can’t just start off at the top unless you’re going to start your own company, and that’s a whole different ball of wax. Career paths have fairly well-defined start points and those typically aren’t halfway down the trail. I’m certainly not trying to kill your dream here. I’m simply asking you to be realistic about your expectations of yourself (and your future employer!) upon graduating. And if you think about it, starting off with an entry-level position, which is what typically happens, will help you to be a better manager in the long run.

Learning the various levels within a company firsthand helps you to understand how things work. When you start from the bottom and work your way up, you gain understanding along the way of how various departments and levels of the organization operate. This firsthand learning is valuable and earns you wisdom about the inner workings of a company that cannot be gained in other ways.

Managers need to be good leaders, but you don’t have to be a manager in order to be a leader! Leadership experience can be earned at all levels in your career, including entry-level. Leadership is shown through taking the initiative to learn about new products/processes, asking to participate in projects outside of your normal job duties, helping and encouraging your co-workers, and taking an overall proactive approach to your career. These things can all be done as soon as you enter the workforce and will help you to be a better manager when the time comes. Managing well should include leading, guiding, encouraging, and mentoring. If you’ve no experience in these areas, then you’re not ready to be a manager.

Don’t rush the natural progression – this is your opportunity to enjoy the journey! When we were little kids, we whined and complained to our parents about how we wanted to hurry up and be a grown-up, and our parents almost always told us to be patient and enjoy being a kid because they knew we were building solid foundations for our adulthood during these years. Same goes with your career – don’t speed through the foundational times because they will provide a more solid ground for you to stand on for your future. Pay your dues, earn your experience, and you’ll have a more fulfilling and successful career in the long run.

Tags: career, career path, graduation

These spotlights are opportunities for you to get to know some individuals who were recommended to me for the article I recently wrote for Mashable, 4 Essential Traits for Social Media Success in Your Career. The purpose of my project, detailed here, is to profile some social media professionals to keep an eye on in the coming year.

Spotlight:

What David had to say about Kaitlyn: “…she’s making a great deal of headway at Ogilvy with clients and also training their global employee base.”

When Kaityn was in college, ’social media’ as we know it didn’t exist.  Social networking was all about Friendster, YouTube didn’t exist, and Napster was the latest craze. Kaitlyn graduated from Wellesley College with a degree in International Relations – not exactly what you’d expect for someone who would eventually enter the social media world. But like many others, she accidentally stumbled into it.  Kaitlyn had moved from Boston to DC, and her boss connected her with a few of his local contacts.  One was a boutique word-of-mouth marketing shop – and after a few months there she was totally hooked.  After a few years, major agencies were starting their own in-house social media teams and so she took a great opportunity with Ogilvy’s 360 Digital Influence Group.  She says that her default work mode is a pace that many find frenetic – so social media really suits her well.  It’s constantly changing, and you have to keep up to stay competitive.  Kaitlyn says that she really digs being on the bleeding edge – and social media is something she loves both professionally and personally because of the way it’s redefined communication between people.

Why Kaitlyn believes David recommended her: Kaitlyn jokes that it was probably because of her rock star social media karaoke skills that have been on display at bars from Austin to Chicago to multiple ports on the Eastern seaboard. (Kaitlyn, I love karaoke too, and should we ever find ourselves at the same event, I’d love to challenge you to a sing-off… hehe) Yet in all seriousness, the tweet ups/meet ups that she frequents have allowed her to take her professional passion offline and geek out with people who have similar interests as she.  At the end of the day it’s always about who you really know – and she feels fortunate to become true friends with a great group of people whom she respects, and it would appear they respect her back.

What Kaitlyn loves about social media: During the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, Kaitlyn got to work with Lenovo, an Ogilvy client, on the Voices of the Olympic Games campaign.  She says one of the few things she loves more than social media is the Olympics and working on this project, where 100 athletes from 25 countries were given laptops and their blogs and multimedia content were aggregated throughout the Games, allowed her to blend the two. When reflecting on the experience, she said it was a real thrill to travel to Beijing and be one of the first people to execute an Olympic social media effort. This campaign really let her cut her teeth on executing a successful global campaign.

Where Kaitlyn sees social media going in the future: Kaitlyn specifically noted that she believes Facebook will become a ’social web outpost’. Facebook functionality has gotten to a place where brands can skillfully use the platform as a hub for all their social activities. Look for brands to really start knocking their Facebook presences out of the park in 2010. She also believes we will see enterprise change – many major corporations are ready to to adopt a social brand framework and re-think the way they approach marketing, communications, CRM and more.  She says we are starting to get beyond the pilot programs and social media ‘experiments’, though there are of course still a huge number of companies still looking for these types of programs to unlock budgets and prove effectiveness.

Connect with Kaitlyn on:

• LinkedIn
• Twitter
• Blog

Tags: brand, career, david armano, kaitlyn wilkins, pay it forward

As T-Pain would say – “Never thought I’d be on a boat….” – except that I never thought I’d be on a list. Especially considering how much I really don’t care for lists. I find it ironic that I am now on one.

However, I am humbled and honored to be considered a Top 25 Most Influential Online Recruiter, based on John Sumser’s latest post. I’m actually a researcher, though my colleague Chris Hoyt keeps telling me that there’s more recruiter in me than I’d like to admit (I’ll never admit it!). As such, I guess there’s no denying certain aspects of oneself, so thanks for including me in this list, John!

So while I go grab my flippy-floppies and have some santana champ, I encourage you to check out the others who made the list. Oh, and look at T-Pain On A Boat, just because it’s a hilarious video (send the kids out of the room though because the lyrics are rough!)

Tags: I'm on a boat, lists, most influential, t-pain, video