Presentation for the Hub Events on strategic approaches to talking and listening on the Live Web. London 14.10.10
Citation preview
Strategic approaches to listening and talking on the Live
Web
paulcaplan
theInternationale
Whose party is it anyway?
PowerPoint is evil
Outline of the day
10.00 - 11.00: The Live Web the biggest party youve ever been
invited to.
11.00 - 11.15: Coffee
11.15 - 12.15: Managing the out of control. How do you build a
strategy out of things you cant control?
12.15 - 13.15: - Lunch
Outline of the day
13.15 13.30: Building a strategy around listening
13.30 14.30: (Practical) Listening and sharing: using Google
Reader
14.30 15.00: From Listening to talking
15.00 16.00: Embedding that strategy
The Live Web
The times they are a changin
The Web as a library
The Web as the new TV
The Web as a Party
Many corners, many conversations
The breakup
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3qltEtl7H8
Internet is now part of the mix
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-11012356
Internet is now part of our day
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-11012356
Community, trust and authority
Thanks to the internet, I feel part of a virtual community (Source:
Milward Brown)
50%
46%
38%
36%
18-24s
25-49s
49-65s
65+
Community, trust and authority
(Source: Milward Brown)
More statistics:
http://www.delicious.com/theinternationale/statistics
content relationships
PASSION
P is for People
A is for Active
S is for Supply
S is for Smart
I is for Irreverent
O is for Ownership
N is for Niches
Coffee and conversation
Managing the out-of-control
Building a strategy around listening
Whod have thought theyd get it
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkrEbKQX3pg
Whod have thought...
http://blogs.dfid.gov.uk/
http://twitter.com/dfid_ukhttp://www.facebook.com/ukdfid
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dfid/http://blogs.dfid.gov.uk/
Whod have thought... local
http://www.digitalfife.com/
Conversation break
What keywords characterise Strategy 1.0 and Strategy 2.0?
If you were writing a strategy a few years ago, what words/headings
would you have used, and what would you use now?
Building a Live Web strategy
Start as you would at any Party
Whod have thought theyd get it
http://blogs.msdn.com/nadyne/default.aspx
Ushahidi
The Consortium of Pub-Going, Loose and Forward Women
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7880377.stm
Whod have thought... local
http://birminghamnewsroom.com
Listen and then talk...
Insight
What are they saying about me?
What are they saying about my issues?
Engagement
How can I add value?
How can I start/maintain/develop a relationship?
Questions to ask
Why am I listening?
What am I listening for?
How am I listening?
What do I expect to hear?
What will I do with what I hear?
General principles
You are a guest at the Party
You cant listen to everything
Youre after quality not quantity
the Conversation Attractor
Person
Idea
Space
Conversation
the Conversation Attractor
Neednt be most popular
Focus on language
Focus on conversation
Focus on people
Lets get practical
Managing your listening
Just try it... http://addictomatic.com/
Youre finding what Jo Public is finding...
Live Web search engines
What are you searching for?
Brand name
Campaign name
Persons name
Departments name
Issue
What are they writing about?
Your words might not be theirs
Managing that listening
A conversation in-box
A word about RSS feeds
Single sites
Single users
Searches
Can always delete them
Setting alerts/subscriptions
Go to Google Alerts and click New Alert
Type in keyword
Use Advanced Google search
Select:
comprehensive
Feed
as it happens
Chapeaux:
www.aimclearblog.com/2009/03/16/how-to-build-a-reputation-monitoring-dashboard/
Adding to the dashboard
Click RSS logo/Feed
If necessary refresh page in browser
Subscribe usingusing Google. Check Always use Google to subscribe
to feeds and click Subscribe Now
Either: Add to Google Reader
Google Reader
http://www.google.co.uk/reader/
Sort in Folders
Adding other searches
http://search.twitter.com
BoardReader
http://news.google.com
http://www.youtube.com
More search engines:
http://www.delicious.com/theinternationale/conversationaudit
Google reader as a dashboard
Bring listening and collaboration together
Home page
Build into workflow
Collaborate
Sharing and collaborating
Building your listening into your strategy
Sharing what you hear
Email
Favourite
Share
Share with note
Adding value to what you hear
Pass upstairs
Pass downstairs
Annotate
Archive
Tag/Folders
...build into planning
... answer, respond, connect
Whod have thought theyd get it
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ur-asUsQkR4
Whod have thought...
http://data.gov.uk/
Whod have thought... local
http://www.harringayonline.com/
Listening as basis for strategy
Moving on from what you hear
From listening to talking
V is for Voice
I is for i with a small I
S is for Simple
I is for Improvise
O is for Open Source
N is for Narrative
Embedding listening and talking
The Live Web is everyones job
Conversation break
What needs to be put in place to enable listening and conversation
relationships?
Areas to think about:
Job titles and responsibilities
Autonomy
Radical Trust
Live Web policies
Institutional culture
More stories:
http://www.delicious.com/theinternationale/content2bdifferent
http://twitter.com/internationale
A-Z of Live Web
A is for active audience. As Dan Gillmor points out, your audience
is smarter than you. But they are also active. They do not
passively consume, they actively converse.
B is for blogosphere. Blogging and other read/write conversations
are not a new medium, they are a new space where new sorts of
relationships and cultural practices are being forged.
C is for conversation. This new space is not about one-way
munication, its not even about structured co-munication, its about
conversation - an alive, real, open chat.
D is for delivery. The key thing about playing in this space is
making sure you deliver. You cant blag or spin, theyll find you
out. If you promise something, deliver it. If you cant, explain
why.
E is for engage. Meet with. Talk with. Work with. Engaging is about
making your conversations, fun, relevant and real.
F is for FUD culture. The guys behind Naked Conversations use the
business terms fud to refer to the fear, uncertainty and doubt,
that stops development. You want to engage with this new space,
conquer it and tell your boss to conquer it or be left
behind.
A-Z of Live Web
G is for good enough. Dont worry about creating perfection. Blogs
are never finished, they are in process. Go for the good enough,
its more human.
H is for hypermedia. The Live Web is multimedia. Its built on and
through Live Media and linking. Start thinking in terms of
pictures, sounds and words, linked and mashed-up.
I is for is with a small i. Its not YOU its you. The small you. The
you thats one many many. The you that is an individual but not
arrogant.
J is for just in time. The Live Web is about responding to the now,
relating to the moment, adding to the ongoing conversation rather
than waiting for the right moment.
K is for keywords. The key words or tags in your post allow your
story to link to others, be searched, catalogued and related to
other stories. Keywords are the bits that join up the
blogosphere.
L is for linking. Your blog needs others if it is to be written by
an i. Your links show you are in the conversation.
M is for mobile. Reading the Live Web is a mobile experience.
Writing it is rapidly becoming so.
N is for network effect. The Internet is a network, as you increase
the number of points in the network, you increase the number of
connections exponentially. Content is the points and content
relationships are the powerful connections.
A-Z of Live Web
O is for open source. Open source software is developed by
collections of individuals who make their work available for others
to improve and develop. Open source software is often seen as
better written, better supported and more stable than traditional
proprietary software. The Live Web makes possible open source
content.
P is for personal. The Live Web is big but it is also very small.
It is my thoughts, my pictures, my bookmarksbut my personal content
to share and use as the basis for content relationships.
Q is for q&a. The conversations that drive content
relationships are often begun with a question which begs answers,
which lead to more questions which lead and so on. The important
point is that this chain is never finished.
R is for read/write. It is no longer an option to simply read. The
Live Web does not just allow or even encourage response, it demands
it. Just as the state saves all our data within its web of
surveillance so our Web is being built by our reading practices,
our uploading and tagging and our sharing.
S is for social. The blogosphere is a social space. It is where
meetings happen - not in the old idea of a chat room but in the
more potent sense of a content relationship. This social space is
not a replica of the real space it is a technologically enhanced
content space where smart tagging, hypermedia linking and
read/write mash-ups create producer/consumers with different social
and cultural expectations and demands.
A-Z of Live Web
T is for transparent technology. Yes, the Live Web has been made
possible by html, asp, php, ajax, http and countless other geeky
acronyms but technology is becoming increasingly transparent, just
as the mobile phone it is now a part of peoples communications and
relationships. It is now easy to play an active part in the Live
Web without having to understand the engine that drives it.
U is for understand. The conversations across the Live Web demand
understanding and empathy. Unlike the days of the Static Web, it is
no longer possible to send out messages and expect audiences or
demographic samples to absorb them. It is not even just about
targeting, its about engaging with people, talking to them and
understanding them as producer/consumers, as people as fellow
players in the new space.
V is for voice. The Live Web is human. Databases cant play here.
Neither can spinmeisters or salesmen or marketers. All these
shadows without voices are discovered and laughed out of the
conversation. If you want to talk to me, use your own
voice.
A-Z of Live Web
W is for wiki effect. Wikis are open source content spaces where
anyone can add and edit information, cranking up the quality using
the wisdom of crowds. Wikis or the next generation of collaborative
content spaces are the next generation of Live Web tools where
content value is created through the interplay of many.
X is for xml. Extensible Mark-up Language is the standard which
enables Live Web content to be tagged and flow around the new
systems and spaces. You dont need to know how. You just need to
exploit it to the max.
Y is for you. The Live Web space is waiting to be exploited and
played in. Its not the CEOs decision. Its not up to the IT team to
do it. Its up to you. The Live Web is waiting for you not your
organisation.
Z is for zen. Zen is about the present moment. It is about the
simple and basic. Its about the small. Its about not trusting
people who tell you they have a monopoly on the truth. So is the
Live Web.
Civil service code
Principles for participation online
The Civil Service Code applies to your participation online as a
civil servant or when discussing government business. You should
participate in the same way as you would with other media or public
forums such as speaking at conferences.
How the Civil Service Code applies to online participation
Disclose your position as a representative of your department or
agency unless there are exceptional circumstances, such as a
potential threat to personal security. Never give out personal
details like home address and phone numbers.
Always remember that participation online results in your comments
being permanently available and open to being republished in other
media. Stay within the legal framework and be aware that libel,
defamation, copyright and data protection laws apply. This means
that you should not disclose information, make commitments or
engage in activities on behalf of Government unless you are
authorised to do so. This authority may already be delegated or may
be explicitly granted depending on your organisation.
Also be aware that this may attract media interest in you as an
individual, so proceed with care whether you are participating in
an official or a personal capacity. If you have any doubts, take
advice from your line manager.
Civil service code
Be credible
Be accurate, fair, thorough and transparent.
Be consistent
Encourage constructive criticism and deliberation. Be cordial,
honest and professional at all times.
Be responsive
When you gain insight, share it where appropriate.
Be integrated
Wherever possible, align online participation with other offline
communications.
Be a civil servant
Remember that you are an ambassador for your organisation. Wherever
possible, disclose your position as a representative of your
department or agency.
http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/about/resources/participation-online.aspx
Ten books to read
Chris Locke et al :: The Cluetrain Manifesto
Chris Locke :: Gonzo Marketing
Shel Israel and Robert Scoble :: Naked Conversations
Don Tapscott and Anthony Williams :: Wikinomics
Clay Shirky :: Here Comes Everybody
Clay Shirky :: Cognitive Surplus
Charles Leadbetter :: We Think
Jeff Jarvis :: What Would Google Do?
David Weinberger :: Everything is Miscellaneous
Jeff Howe :: Crowdsourcing
PASSION
P is for 'people': The writers, readers and reader/writers out
there are not demographics or market niches, they are not passive
grateful; receivers of your messages. They are people, ordinary
human beings who expect to be treated as such. They have ups and
downs, interests, passions and commitments that become
conversations and relationships. As with all 'people' you earn
their trust and friendship. you have no right to it.
A is for 'active': These people don't sit back and wait for media
and store to come to them. They create their own. They are creative
with their phones. They create on Social Networks and YouTube. They
are creative with language, finding new ways to tell stories and
run their relationships. And they are active with you. They have
active expectations. They expect to be able to ask questions,
contribute and join in and they expect that activity to be welcomed
and enabled.
S is for 'supply': These people are not short of stories and
information. There is an overabundance of material for people to
read and read/write. Some of its official, some not. Some from
established storytellers like the BBC, the EncyclopediaBrittanica
and you, some not. Your information and stories are one among many.
They are fighting for attention and more importantly they are
competing to become conversations and starting points for
relationships. Your information and stories maybe great but they do
not have a God-given right to be at the front.
S is for 'smart': These people are clever. They can get
information, check it, link it and network it. They can use the
power of networks and the wisdom of crowds to connect and build on
ideas and information faster than you can direct form the top. You
know a lot about your subject, issue or business but you don't know
everything. Your customers, clients and stakeholders know stuff too
and they're sharing it.
PASSION
I is for 'irreverent': The culture of the Live Web has no respect.
People do not tug their forelocks and thank you. The great and the
good do not carry weight because of their history or brand. Lawyers
cannot enforce due deference. You can earn respect and your place
but it is not your right.
O is for 'ownership': It is not just the stories that make up the
Live Web that are subject to new ideas of copyright. It is the very
spaces themselves. Stories are enabled to spin around the Live Web
because of 'creative commons' licenses but the spaces they live in
are Commons to. You have not 'let us' publish them. They are
'ours'. You can join us but you cannot own them, our stories or
us.
N is for 'niches': The people are not niches in the old marketing
sense, they are the 'new niches'. They are evolving their own
niches of interest. Some are small, some huge. People can be
members of many at the same time. They can be long-lasting or
short-lived. They cannot be targeted but the people that make them
can be talked with. They cannot be tracked but the conversation
attractors can be found and engaged with.
VISION
V is for Voice: Read: People talk on the Live Web because they want
to. Theyre choosing to be there. Listen to what they say but also
the way they say it. Listen to the conversations as well as the
polemics. Listen to their voices, then you can talk with them.
Write: Youre a human being, talk like one. The Live Web doesnt
welcome spin doctors, PR-meisters or lawyers. Its a place for
conversations between people. People chat. Sometimes in long
sentences with lots of subordinate clauses that carry the reader
along with enthusiasm. Sometimes not. The Live Web is your chance
to meet people and talk and listen like youre bothered. Talk to me.
Im not a demographic or a market niche or a target. Im a
person.
I is for i with a small i: Read: Listen quietly and modestly.
People are talking about your issues. Except theyre not your
issues, theyre theirs. Some people on the Live Web talk without
listening. But most are engaged in conversations between small is.
Be one. Write: You are not the centre of the universe. No-one
trusts anyone who has all the answers: if you meet the Buddha on
the road kill him. Your voice is one among many. Your perspective
is just one way of seeing things. Your ideas are interesting but
theyre not the final word. Earn your right to talk in these spaces
by listening and then join in on the communitys terms. Be willing
to be less arrogant. You have something to add but its not the
whole story.
S is for Simple: Read: Its a party. The biggest party youve ever
been invited to. Relax. Enjoy. People are just people, treat them
like that. Listen politely and attentively to what theyre really
saying. Its simple. Theyre talking about the lives and worlds.
Write: Dont try and be clever. You dont have to be. You can be
yourself and tell it like it really is. You dont have to fill every
gap or silence. Leave some white space. Look for what you can leave
out as well as what you can put in. Keep it clear and direct but be
warned, youre not delivering messages youre engaging in
conversation. Youre just making sure the person youre talking with
can understand you and you can understand
VISION
I is for Improvise: Read: Enjoy the conversation, the way people
bounce ideas off each other, the way they connect. Theyre jammin.
Theyre not selling or telling, theyre chatting, creating something
together, letting it emerge without planning.Write: Dont over-plan.
Let the conversation develop. You call someone responds; they call
you respond. Together you make a conversation and build a
relationship. Sometimes you lead; sometimes you follow. Sometimes
youre quiet. You know your area. Be confident in that and let that
be your foundation while you talk. This is not a solo, its a group
where everyone bounces off everyone else and together build a
unique conversation.
O is for Open Source: Read: Everyones got something to contribute.
This is crowdeffect. Listen to others and work with them and the
conversation. The more voices, the more brains, the more ideals,
the better the quality. Write: You have something real to
contribute. You have But you cant do it on your own. Get others
involved. Work with their knowledge and enthusiasm. Outsource your
communication. Start something off and let others improve it or let
them start it. If you work with others you can achieve far more and
so can they. Dont keep the source code close to your chest, get it
out there where it can develop, grow and improve.
N is for Narrative: Read: Sit back and relax. People are telling
stories. Theyre stories about their lives, their passions and your
issues. Theyre personal and real and so they care about them. If
you want to know what people really think, listen, theyre tell.
Write: Tell your stories. Ground your abstract issues in real
beginnings, middles and ends, characters and plots, pace and
tension. Make them your stories, personal and real. Make them real
and relevant. Find memorable details that paint pictures and let
your listener see and your viewer hear the people, the ideas and
the passion. Enjoy your story, itll sound better.
