I am heading down to the MSP Social Media Breakfast. Funny how a breakfast with a bunch of bacon requires two days of travel, but it’s totally worth it! I love connecting with my geeky friends in the Twin Cities. I have some other appointments too as well as shopping time set aside. So while I’m connecting with my ‘local friends’ (ok, that’s relative! they live 4.5 hrs away) here is some reading for you.

Brewster’s Law of Online Communities by Ryan Graves where he says

In summary, don’t run from the vocal minority that Brewster’s Law of Online Community highlights. Embrace the voices for or against your organization. The cliche that there is no bad press is definitely true. Engagement, transparency, and honest communication will transform any voice about your company into a net gain.

High Level Reasons for an Internal Community – Getting Started with enterprise social networking I loved this article because it has so many good ideas in it. And it’s not the same ole, same ole. My favorite idea from the article is, "Control and micromanagement, it turns out, is very expensive, and trusting people is a lot cheaper." The slide deck has some engaging photos to go with it. We are in an age of knowledge workers. Here are some of my favorite ideas:

  • From managing ‘content’ to supporting knowledge flows
  • Most important content is people
  • Have a grown up ‘risk’ conversation

A very comprehensive interview about Online Community Management from New Zealand (I think the video is great!)

A comprehensive overview of the Fiskateers community

5 Tips for Successful Blog Optimization offers some excellent ideas for growing your blog

I’m a strong believer in volunteering for projects. The more that you can learn & become indispensable the more job security that you’ll have. Why not help with social media ventures?!  Can Social Media Work Protect your Job?

Jon Burg has a great list of 10 Rules for Effective Corporate Blogging