It’s hard to deny the social and business applications of Twitter. It was evident at TweetCamp Chicago as I chatted face-to-face with people I have tweeted with for the past several months. No doubt Twitter has gone from a misunderstood social networking tool by some to a powerful tool to engage customers, employees and build solid business contacts.
Ramon DeLeon runs a number of Domino’s Pizza franchises in Chicago and was one of the sponsors for the event. There’s no doubt he is passionate about use of social media to build business.
And there were others at TweetCamp who were just as excited about the impact Twitter is having on various aspects of business. Todd Carpenter is the social media guru at the National Association of Realtors. Carpenter calls himself a social media geek. If you want to get in touch with Todd he would rather you send a direct message (DM) to his Twitter account (www.twitter.com/tcar) instead of the traditional email. Seems appropriate given the write up in the Wall Street Journal about the slow death of email as a communications tool.
One of the sessions at TweetCamp focused on big brands – many companies of which are still asking questions like, ”What is social media?” ”How do I use it?” “Is it a fad?” Companies like Oreo, Gatorade, Oscar Meyer and others have moved past these questions and have embraced this so-called fad as a way of enaging with their customers. As one TweetCamp attendee tweeted during the session, ”listening to and talking to people is never a fad.”
There’s a place for social media in nonprofits too. Just ask Barbara Talisman a Chicago consultant for many nonprofit organizations. She totally believes in the inside-out communication that social media brings to fundraising.
TweetCamp Chicago was a great experience. If there’s a similar one in your community, check it out. It’s always nice to put a face with a Twitter handle. It’s the new way to build your network one tweet at a time!
What about you? Share your social media — Twitter in particular — success stories.
Oh, don’t forget to follow me on Twitter: @CYTaylor.
I’m STILL a Twitter holdout. I just can’t take the plunge yet but I know it’s getting closer.
xo
@Joanna: I admit, I was not an early adopter on Twitter either until I jumped into the deep end of the pool and just started swimming. It has it’s upside, i.e., 140 character limit means I’ve got to be to the point w/ my messages. But after reading the article in the WSJ about how social media tools like Twitter are squeazing out email, it behooves us to learn how to make it work less we fall deep into the communications gap.