Best of the Backchannel: The Real-Time Organization

Summaries of the key points from each session, as captured by TWTRCON DC 09 attendee tweets on October 22. (With RTs and #twtrcon’s removed.)

The Real-Time Organization: How Twitter is transforming organizational cultures and structures—and the legal, regulatory and policy issues that need to be addressed.

• Nigel Dessau, Senior Vice President & Chief Marketing Officer, AMD (@nigeldessau)
• John Shea, Public Information Officer for New Media, FEMA (@femainfocus)
• Ambre Morley, Associate Director of Product Communications, Novo Nordisk (@racewithinsulin)
• Capt. Chris Sukach, Chief, Emerging Technology, Air Force Public Affairs Agency (@csukach)
• Moderator: David Armano, Senior Partner, Dachis Group (@armano)

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@cariegrls: if ur just posting customer testimonials or selective comments, that’s not social. that’s integrated mktg thats been done for years

@hollisthomases: Pharma is frustrated by gov’t regulations without any guidance on what they CAN do.

@hollisthomases: In pharma, Regulatory/Legal don’t even know about SM. Introduce them to the platforms so they can work to find out how.

@floridagirlindc: Never take a no from someone who doesn’t have the power to say yes. @nigeldessau quote

@aslesinski: Twitter is like hosting a call-in talk show except you’re not limited to 3 call-in lines (@csukach)

@tracytran: Capt Chris Sukach: Acts as a moderator for discussion going on Twitter

@rpesce: Govt/Corporate in sync here. John Shea @femainfocus says twitter allows the public to interact w/ government the way they want to.

@rohitbhargava: Link to the official Air Force Blog Commenting Strategy that @armano mentioned on stage at #twtrcon: http://ping.fm/AuVRo

@amberportercox: @femainfocus has a decentralized approach to social media #twtrcon [integrated it into what marketing/communications are already doing]

@garlin: Gov’t must modernize guidelines to make social media really work in regulated industries -@ambremorley

@amberportercox: @Armano made a great point about the military being ripe for this = plan+adapt model of social media #twtrcon

@moniquew:  FDA to hold meetings in next weeks on issuing soc media guidelines

@brightmatrix: Challenges of social media engagement: lack of resources, no guidelines or examples in your business line (@AmbreMorley at #twtrcon)

@tracytran:  The law needs to catch up on the speed of social media and need to understand how it can be beneficial to the org.

@hetavs: @Armano: “social media by its nature does get people working together (collaboration) but you need someone at the top driving”

@brightmatrix: Precisely: “[social media} technology is leaps and bounds ahead of any policy” (@csukach at #twtrcon) – but policymaking cannot be slow

@jfirestone: Very nice to see companies endorsing internal training to help ppl cope with Soc. Media It’s absolutely required.

@sbosm: @csukach on Air Force #socialmedia guide http://ow.ly/vWYG “Be aware of operational security. Everybody has access to these tools.”

@floridagirlindc: Think you’re company can’t do it… the Air Force and FEMA can…

@MiddleOfMayhem: Tell a branded, ongoing and engaging story. And the story never ends. It’s like The Lord of the Rings of social networking.

@debbieweil: @femainfocus (John Shea): Love us or hate us, there are a lot of Facebook groups about FEMA (many not official)

@articulategeek: Real-Time Org panelists: your employees are already using social media so start engaging.

@MilitaryTweets: GREAT insights from @csukach of @usairforce on #twtrcon panel ~ why is failure the elephant in the room? It’s how we succeed!

@judywriter: “If you’re not failing, you’re not trying!”  @csukach –Hear this from nearly all successful people.

@starfocus: I think the only time you fail is when you miss the opportunity to learn from your efforts.

@tracytran: Facebook Groups are mostly user-generated for these organizations, showing that these people care about the org

@tracytran: John Shea of @femainfocus: We don’t have many failures at FEMA. [laughter from crowd]

@brightmatrix: FEMA tried to engage folks spreading misinformation & found they were pushing agenda, not conversing; learned what audience wanted

@MtkgCords: Real time feed back gives you great insights, especially on how to communicate to your audience

@varaba: @Armano Love this : Businesses moving at the speed of real time

@jpeepz: The state of the Web makes it a necessity for companies and orgs to adapt and communicate on a continuous basis

@aslesinski: A-M-E-N #2. Automating doesn’t work well in social media space. Social media suggests being social.

@tracytran: Great thoughtful question: If Twitter existed during Hurricane Katrina in 2005, what would happen?

@rpesce: Real-time organization. FEMA’s @femainfocus: Twitter from Superdome post-Katrina would have been great communication tool.

@cuennie: on reaching an international audience: “there are no boundaries for social media” – what you say can reach anyone @ambremorley

@MilitaryTweets:  Twitter isn’t just a way to get info out, it’s a way to get crucial info in from the public. Crisis mgmt from @femainfocus