#140Conf Observations & Relevance to Unified Communications

I'm in the telecommunications industry doing product engineering and development. I attended the 140 Characters, Exploring The State of Now conference in LA last week. It was my first "non-techie" type of conference and for that reason alone it was a very different experience.

You may ask, why would someone like me attend a conference like this? I attended for two reasons; my interest in social media as a new and highly popular mode of communication, and my passion for integrating social media with business communications systems that are in use in businesses today. The second reason comes from my history in VoIP telecommunications and that I'm currently employed by Avaya; a key player in the communications industry. I was invited to be a member of the Tuesday panel that discussed Google Wave and the Future of Communications. Social media is part of that future! Here is a video of the panel seesioin I was part of.

The conference itself was set up in the Kodak theater. It was very well organized by @JeffPulver, @jeffhayzlett and many more staff. Kudos to all involved in running the event. I particularly enjoyed the timekeeper use of the Oscar "music" to keep each session on time.

My main take-away from all the sessions and people I met is that social media is used across all forms of business and all walks and interests in life. I really enjoyed the diversity of the people I met and hearing about what they do compared to technology focused conferences. Social media truly is "the state of now" for news, opinions, reviews, forming and sharing in communities of interest - you name it. I'll repeat what I said on the panel; no it is not a fad and a key challenge is to figure out how to effectively integrate and manage it along with all other forms of communication. There were a few vendors, Avaya included, there discussing products and tools starting to aim at that very challenge.

There were many PR and marketing type firms discussing how businesses need to pay attention to and use social media to promote and monitor their brand, and respond to their customers. The examples were great. Given the state of now, any business that doesn't believe they need to pay attention to the social media revolution is in for a very rude awakening. That includes giving and encouraging their associates to access and use social media! Many other discussions centered around how social media creates and fosters communities of interest of all kinds; celebrities, sports, media shows, moms, illness, homelessness, specific expertise, and all kinds of business branding and customer service examples. Many panelists described how social media is complimenting rather than replacing the other forms of media (radio, TV, news services etc).

There was one very "entertaining" session I feel the need to call out because it struck close to what I write about. The speaker demonstrated, with crowd participation, a radical real time concept: a PHONE call. It's as real time as you can get and yet we seem to be drifting further and further from high touch communications. Food for thought, have we done so almost to the point of rudeness?.

I look at social media, and communications in general, from both the individual and business needs perspective. I call it people-centric communication. Look here for some thoughts on what that could be. How do you feel about social media and it's impact on your communication style and needs? I definitely got some insights into this from my attendance at this conference and the people I connected with.

In summary, this conference focused on people and communities and how social media really fosters connecting. It is supposed to be "social" after all. It's about connecting, helping people and making a difference; not just a new force in running business and "making money". The social media players and tools will change but the "state of now" real time is here to stay. If you are unsure about or considering social media personally or professionally, or if you just want to keep up with it's evolution, I'd check out future 140 conferences by following #140conf.