ResearchGoddess

I think Holiday Inn Express started their “Stay Smart” campaign back in 1998. (please correct me if I’m wrong) The “I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express” commercials they’ve put out are cute and they make us chuckle to think that these people become immediate experts at their tasks because they spent one night in a certain hotel chain. This one’s got to be my favorite:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlCLuIwuVgQ&feature=related]

This is funny, until this kind of mentality crosses over into use of social media. Lots of folks think that attending a webinar automatically certifies them with “social media expert” status. Umm… not quite It takes a little more than attending one webinar or one conference to “get it”. Don’t think that automatically qualifies you to start producing your own training material. You have to live it, experience it, interact with others in it, and most importantly, FAIL at it.

Consider doctors – they’re going to go through hundreds and hundreds of practice procedures in medical school and mess up (sometimes fatally) along the way. But this is the only way they’ll learn how NOT to do things right, and thus become good at their craft. Why should this be any different?

Don’t assume that by taking a webinar here and there that you all of a sudden know what you’re doing. It takes time and effort, trial and error, and learning from making mistakes to be truly excellent.

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