Archive for June, 2007

A recent online survey by the Recruitment Employment Confederation (REC) confirms what some people feared was true. Employers check up on potential employees before they hire them - and there’s no easier way then via the internet. You google people you know, don’t you? The ones you’ve just met or are about to meet; your friends and associates; your lost love? So it figures that employers do, too.

The survey shows that 86 per cent of the 298 recruitment consultants questioned think candidates should think twice before putting certain information on the Internet for fear of it affecting their chances of employment. The REC press release on their site reports:

Tom Hadley, the REC’s Director of External Affairs commented: “As more employers take interview shortcuts and rely on Internet searches to filter out unsuitable candidates, it’s vital that job seekers take their Internet footprint seriously and keep in mind that it could affect their job prospects.

Before posting any personal details on the Internet, candidates need to think twice about how an employer might perceive them.”

This is of particular concern for the “millenials” - the 75 million young people born between 1977 and 1998 who are the main participants in social network sites like MySpace and Facebook where they let it all hang out, sharing their views, thoughts, mis-adventures and much more - often in casual, coarse or uninhibited language as well as photos and videos that might be fun and crazy in that context but shocking and inappropriate in a career context.

On the other hand 51 per cent of the recruiters thought that recruitment agencies may find themselves with fewer candidates to place as social networking online becomes the new way for people to find jobs. Think of the professional online networks like LinkedIn (for business people and professionals) or MyRagan (for business communicators).

While it is worth noting these concerns and thinking before you blog or video yourself or post a photo of yourself in horseplay, bear in mind that we are in a time of change - and fast change at that. At one time, Richard Branson was a maverick because - shock, horror - he didn’t believe in wearing a tie to a business meeting. These days, among the old guard, there are new businesses with new work/ life values - think of Innocent smoothies, Google, Yahoo! , any tech startup and indeed, Virgin. Perhaps as the millenials grow up and rise to positions of power within companies and businesses, they won’t be so concerned about the shenanigans of other millenials documented online. They will be the ones recruiting each other via social networks and maybe their criteria might include “Proven drive and energy - please link to your MySpace video showing wild partying and to the software application you designed the morning after”….

As it is, a recent Twitter job ad for an Operations Engineer included this line: “Must have: excellent triage skills, mild manner, rockstar inside (ready to rise to any occasion), strong interest in Twitter.” (my emphasis).

Personally, the one finding from the report I found the most disturbing was this one: “71 per cent said something written in the ‘other interests’ section of a CV has put employers off taking candidates through to the interview stage”. What?! There was a time when you needed to put something in that section to show that you were a well-rounded person. Now, it looks like some companies want only one-dimensional entitities, rather like robots who will work and work and work and nothing more. Having interests outside of your job is not only healthy but also contributes to factors that make you do your job better - like motivation (quality time with your family brings you bouncing into work the next day), creativity (working on a complex hobby can stimulate ideas for complex problems at work), diverse and transferrable skills (volunteering on a committee brings team building skills to your job), people skills (having friends helps you get on well with co-workers and customers), networking (that person you meet at playing cricket could bring in some work for your company) and the list goes on …

What do you think? Do you let it all hang out online? Or have you never taken the step to blog because of exactly these worries? Add a comment or email me and share your thoughts.

Photo: thanks to Xamonich from flickr.com

NOTE: ZenGuide is updated Mondays and Thursdays

Some recent conversations I’ve had with executives and professioals has got me thinking: what’s in a name?

For many companies and businesses who have a natural affinity with innovation and early adaptation of new technology, a business blog is something they have embraced with enthusiasm. They see it as a great way to keep in touch with their clients and customers and to showcase their expertise. However, for other businesses still wondering if communicating online with their stakeholders in this way is something for them, the notion of a blog comes with a bundle of negative pre-conceptions - it’s for teenagers and loud-mouthed mavericks, it’s not a proper platform for serious business communications, it’s about trivial things like what I had for breakfast this morning.

Many busy professionals and senior-level executives have said to me that they don’t have time to read blogs. They aren’t interested in what someone had for breakfast. (What is it about things people have for breakfast that’s become this catch-phrase for blogging?) They’ve got too many emails to get through. What possible business value is there in spending their limited time reading a stranger’s blog?

When working with some clients, I’ve recommended that it may be an idea to re-think this interactive online thing that they are implementing. It’s just a tool that allows you to upload information quickly and easily in reverse date order - you can sort the information into categories and link to other information. What about defining it by what content or information you’re putting on it? If it’s a place where you are offering additional resources to your clients eg you are sharing your expertise for free online; or you are pointing them to other resources they can find on the web; or you are putting up your materials from a conference or workshop - why not refer to it as a Resource Centre? Or what about focusing on the objective of why you want this social media tool - is it to stimulate discussion and engage your stakeholders in conversation? Well, what about calling it a Discussion Space or Conversation Corner?

This simple re-thinking of what the tool is has opened up for my clients a whole range of possibilities which have excited them about the blog platform - a complete transformation from their previous scepticism and uncertainty. For the one setting up a Resource Centre, the creative juices started to flow and they brainstormed a long list of information, resources and articles they could post on their site. For the one creating a Discussion Space, they began to look for contributors to write articles with different views around one theme so that readers might be prompted to add to the discussion via the discussion responses facility (ie comments).

And for those coming to read or participate in such spaces, they are immediately entering an added value space that offers Resources and Discussion, rather than a potentially time-wasting personal diary thing called a blog.

For me, I enjoy reading blogs or discussion spaces or newsletter or whatever you call them, especially blogs by:

• industry experts eg high-profile marketing guru Seth Godin (whose blog is on The Times’ list of top 50 business blogs),

• trend watchers/ news breakers eg TechCrunch and Mashable

• writing and book lovers eg Bibliobibuli

• colleagues eg X-Culture by Silvia Cambie

• friends eg massage therapist Melanie Crowe

• other Asians/ Orientals eg British Born Chinese

I generally steer away from blogs by journalists and reporters like those on the Guardian or the BBC - though I do sometimes find it useful to go to those blogs as well. My reasoning is that I read or hear these paid writers’/ commentators’ views anyway via the news and traditional media channels. The joy of blogs is to hear the voices and encounter the thoughts of those who don’t necessarily already have a grand outlet like the premier news channels for sharing what they have to say. I like the democracy and clamour of the ordinary individual adding to the discussion. I keep them all on my blog aggregator and pick and choose a few to dip into over lunch or when I feel like being stimulated.

Which blogs / resources/ newsletters/ whatever do you like? Add a comment and share your favourite with me!

Photo: thanks to raisinsawdust on flickr.com

NOTE: ZenGuide is updated Mondays and Thursdays

This is a cross-post from my cross-culture blog, Fusion View

Fusion View is being featured on the BBC Radio 5 programme Pods & Blogs on Monday 25 June night (actually 02am on Tuesday 26 June) when it will go out over the airwaves to around half a million AM listeners and half a million FM listeners. The programme will also be available online for ONE WEEK on their website but unfortunately not as a podcast so if you’d like to catch it, you need to go to the site and listen during this coming week. (The Fusion View piece is at around 30 mins into the show, after the news and sport.)

I met Chris Vallance, the presenter, for lunch a few weeks ago at Hayes Galleria by London Bridge and we had a wide-ranging discussion about blogs, podcasts, the Chinese in the UK, cross-cultural issues, globalisation, Malaysian bloggers and much more. It was great to get his perspective as a blogs and pods watcher as well as sharing mine with him as a blogger and podcaster.

He only pulled out his recording equipment after lunch and we wandered around trying to find a quiet corner for him to record the interview. We ended up standing in an alleyway, not far from a white van where a couple of builders were having their sarnies and thermos of tea. Having had a good old chat over lunch, the moment Chris thrust his fancy microphone towards me, I went completely blank and started stammering and dithering - we had to start again several times before I hit my stride and could even say anything sensible about who I was and what Fusion View is all about! I’ve interviewed a number of people on my podcasts and I have to say, it’s utterly different being on the other end of the mike - I have even greater respect now for my Fusion View interviewees in that they never had to do any re-takes and just started chatting with confidence and panache.

The interview was only 10 minutes and we ended up focusing on my novels rather more than on Fusion View. After we finished, I realised I hadn’t had a chance to talk about the various themes of my blog such as:

# Fusion Stories - personal stories of people who live cross-cultural lives eg a Welsh-Iranian student, a South African living in Germany, a Caucasian-American who writes fiction in Mandarin.
# How switching between my “two voices“, speaking “proper” English and heavily accented Malaysian-English, affects my personality and identity
# Podcast interviews with Lucy Luck, a literary agent and Terry Bailey, a lecturer in screenwriting
# Curious Legacies - Recipes and other legacies from people who have influenced my life eg my first boyfriend’s recipe for Hairdryer Duck and my grandmother’s recipe for Soy Sauce Chicken.
# Legacy Blogging: stories from my family eg a recording from 1976 of my late grandfather telling the story of the “first ancestor” from China and my father’s Memories of Malaya during the Japanese occupation.

Chris also wanted me to explain to the world the equipment I use to do my podcasts. I had described it to him over lunch and he thought it was worthwhile for other potential podcasters to know that the equipment didn’t have to be too fancy or expensive - although I have to say, I was rather impressed by his equipment: the professional big flash drive; the robust noise-cancelling microphone and all those buttons. In the end, they didn’t use that bit of the interview in the piece they broadcast but anyway, here’s a picture of my home-made podcasting gear.

That’s a wooden kitchen roll holder and slotted into it is an old leather mobile phone case. The digital recorder sits snugly in the leather case. Ideally, I sit at a table with my interviewee with the equipment sort of in the middle on the table between us. I point the recorder at them when they speak. When it’s my turn to speak, I swivel it towards me by turning the base gently, ask my question and then swivel it back to them. The advantage is that my arm doesn’t get tired holding the recorder up and it also sits a sufficient distance away from our mouths to avoid explosive “PPPs” and “TTTs”. I’m tickled that Chris, the professional BBC journalist, has given it his seal of approval!

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The variety and fun of Fusion View would not have been possible without all the people who contributed to it through writing guest pieces, agreeing to be interviewed, adding comments or emailing me in response to posts - and also all those offline who sparked ideas for posts through our conversations over coffee and dinner. So thanks to everyone who has been part of the Fusion View community is some way or other!

Continuing the Conversation from the Social Media round table I chaired in Slovenia….

One of the business communicators at our discussion was working with a company who had developed and implemented an internal social network for their research and development teams to innovate new products through facilitating sharing of ideas and communications between the individuals and teams. But not many of these staff were using this tool. My colleague wanted to know how to increase staff take-up of the tool.

The Kevin Costner movie, Field of Dreams, brought us the visionary saying: “if you build it, they will come”. That may have worked in the movie and it may work for some business ventures. In most cases, we all have to be somewhat more pragmatic in adding a few more steps into the process after we present the world with our exciting new baseball pitch or mall or product - or social media tool. And one of those crucial steps is communicating with the people who are ultimately going to use or benefit from that product or tool

So in our discussion, we explored what processes the company had used to encourage the teams to integrate this social network tool into their research and development work. What were they already doing to share ideas and communicate with each other? What activities (eg team and individual meetings, face to face workshops etc) where they involved in as part of their innovation of new products? How were aware were they of the benefits of the tool and how it could increase their communication efficiency?

My colleague came away from this session with a concrete plan to implement training sessions for the relevant teams at her client company so that they could learn the benefits of the tool and how to use it in their work.

A key message here, I think, is to view social media tools as just that: tools. And as with any tools, people need to be trained to use them and also, understand how they can help improve or facilitate the relevant processes.

Photo: thanks to soundtrackcollector.com

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NOTE: ZenGuide is updated Mondays and Thursdays

Continuing the Conversation from the social media discussions in Slovenia….

One of our round table participants held that one of the core values of blogging is its openness for everyone to take part, to add their comments, to disagree or disagree, to share ideas. That gives blogging and social media its vibrancy and energy and it is through open conversations without centralised control that fresh ideas emerge, freedom is embraced and exercised and democratic principles are lived out in the flesh.

Is there a place for private blogs or private networks? Can an online space that is public and open to all in some situations restrict one’s freedom to express oneself fully and truly? Some possibilities come to mind:

• a forum where bloggers who have experienced cyberharrassment might want to share and support each other.

• a business network where financially sensitive information needs to be discussed

• a network where business leaders may wish to network freely with each other - be able to disagree, argue, debate etc without what they discuss being open to misinterpretation to those not within their industry

I’m sure you can think of other examples as well.

It can be very valuable for victims of trauma to speak openly about their experiences without feeling judged or put down by others. Public spaces on the web can be uncivil and unruly, jostling spaces, just like any street or the subway in rush hour. A safe space for such discussions would need to be private.

Similarly, with any other matter that is sensitive whether financial, personal or in business, private networks may be the only way that social media can be used effectively.

Debate, discussion, disagreement and argument in are all part of the process of negotiation or coming to a decision or consensus in the Western democracies. Sometimes there are disagreements between people on the same team or same Board or the same committee while they work out their ideas and before they come to a firm conclusion. It may be that where social media is used to facilitate this process, it needs to be private between the relevant people so as not to have the process hampered by those who are not meant to be involved in that process. It also may not be appropriate for these people who are playing on the same team to be seen by their stakeholders in the process of the disagreement if that is going to be misinterpreted as a problem in the leadership and cause unnecessary instability within the corporation or their market - when in fact it is merely a process of interrogating an issue that will ultimately be resolved.

I find this issue a challenging and very interesting one. I agree whole-heartedly with my colleague who upholds the value of openness and lack of controls on the blogosphere as a whole. And yet, I find that there are circumstances when in fact you can only have openness within a ring-fenced “safe” area.

What do you think?

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Photo: thanks to Aaron Jacobs on flickr.com

Note: ZenGuide is updated Mondays and Thursdays

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Here is a great example of really useful user-generated content. Hotspotr is a directory of WiFi Cafes and Hotspots around the world. All it does is provide an interactive map - it’s up to the likes of you and me to create the directory.

There’s no sign up or login. You just click on Add a Cafe and follow the simple steps to add the name and location of the cafe that has WiFi. There’s also additonal information you can include eg if it’s free, what kind of food is served and any other remarks. You can rate the cafe and indicate whether it’s a good place for working or just surfing.

Typically, US cities predominate but there are a range of international locations. You can navigate via the map but for some reason the map does not show ALL the cities in the listings - for international locations, it’s better to go via the link See All Cities and then click on International Cities.

The people adding locations to Hotspotr aren’t getting paid for what they do. The reward is in taking part and helping to build a useful knowledge base. I added a hotspot in London in that spirit and it only took a couple of minutes. This site is like a wiki (an online encyclopaedia whose content is created and added to by its users) but really easy to use and has the added dimension of the visual map. When my entry was processed, the map zoomed into its exact location, showing the street it was on and local landmarks. It was cool!

How might you add user participation to your website by tapping into the knowledge and community spirit of your stakeholders in a similar way? User-generated content based on participants making videos and the like run the risk of pooling a lot of inappropriate material, some of which may be damaging to your brand. But a knowledge or data focused project that is easy and fun to take part in like a directory of some kind could bring a more satisfying result.

Photo: thanks to nextnature.net

NOTE: ZenGuide is updated Mondays and Thursdays

I have uploaded my photos of my trip to Slovenia for the IABC Leadership Institute on a new ZenGuide Flickr account. The collection of photos shows the speakers at the conference as well as some of the delegates and some snaps of the gorgeous capital city Ljubljana.

Ljubljana is perfectly set along the banks of a small meandering river, with cobbled streets and baroque (?) architecture that reminded me of Austria. There were cafes and restaurants spilling out into the streets and people strolling and cycling at a leisurely pace. The Slovenian Tourist Board describes their country as the place where Germanic efficiency and order meets the Mediterranean good life and Ljubljana definitely seems to fit that description.

To see the photos, go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/zenguide/tags/iabcslovenia/ or click on the photo below.

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Note: ZenGuide is updated Mondays and Thursdays

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clipped from www.weblo.com Weblo Properties offer you the exciting opportunity of owning absolutely any property that exists in the real world - well, a cyber copy of it, that is! Buy and sell cities, states, airports, historical places, buildings, even your home. But you have to be the first to get it on Weblo! Own cities and states and you’ll become the Mayor or Governor, you might even become the President of your country. Get paid for advertising revenues generated from your properties.

=>> California is sold for $53,000

=>> The White House is going for £10m.

=>> At the time of writing, England is up for grabs.

=>> There’s an auction section as well just to crank things up to a fever pitch…

If you do go and buy anything at Weblo, do come back and let me know and I’ll feature your property on ZenGuide.

We had a great discussion at the round table discussions on Social Mediathat I chaired at the IABC European Leadership Institute last week. For the next couple of weeks, I’ll be blogging about some of the issues we talked about and asking for your thoughts on it - whether you came along to the round table discussion or not, I think these issues are relevant for communicators and businesses generally. I hope you’ll add a comment or email me to share your views and experiences.

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Thirty Million Blogs and One Lifetime

How to avoid information overload

One question we grappled with at the Social Media round table discussions was: there are so many blogs out there and busy business people and professionals have only a finite time to spend surfing the web, how can we keep track of them all?

Well, we can’t. It’s impossible to even expect that we can keep up with the estimated thirty million blogs that populate the blogosphere.

But we can keep up with some of the blogs that interest or intrigue or inform or amuse or entertain us. A business leader I know enjoys political blogs so he follows UK Member of Parliament Boris Johnson’s blog and the satirical by “Guy Fawkes’”. I follow the blogs of Malaysian writers (eg Lydia Teh and Sharon Bakar) as well as marketing blogs and new media blogs and a range of others. I don’t read them all every day but have them in my Google Reader blog aggregator and dip into different ones as the fancy takes me.

Some of the benefits of following blogs for me are:

• learning tips and information straight from an expert’s mouth eg how else could I pick up useful gems from Seth Godin, the marketing guru, from the comfort of my own home?For businesses and professionals, it goes without saying that diverse ways to increase your learning, knowledge and skills has long-term business benefits.

• picking up news some time before it is picked up by the traditional press eg I learnt about Twitter long before it hit the news; I was following the Kathy Sierra death threats story at least a week before it came on the news. Having early knowledge of what’s going to hot can help add to one’s competitive edge.

• being entertained and challenged and having my horizons broadened by videos, stories, writings etc that would never make it into the traditional media eg great YouTube videos; Asian community blogs ; “flash fiction” writing. New, fresh ideas beyond what everyone else is receiving can spark creativity and contribute to new ideas within one’s own business.

So, find the blogs that are helpful to you or that you enjoy and follow those.

How to get noticed in the crowd

For those businesses and professionals who have blogs, the question then is how can you get your blog noticed in the melee of so many competing voices?

It is unlikely that you will have the whole world coming to your blog. You don’t necessarily want or need the whole world to come to your blog. Once your accept that, I think the key to drawing an audience and getting noticed in the clamour of thirty million blogs is simple:

* Know your audience.

Who are the people you want to connect with? If your target audience is a global audience of teenagers, you’re going to create different content and have a different marketing strategy from a situation where your target audience is insurance brokers or accountants or lawyers. Think about who you want coming to your site eg Your clients. Your stakeholders. Focus on their needs and interests. If what you offer is relevant to them, they will come back for more.

* Create great content.

Write well. Make a visit to your blog an enjoyable or informative experience. Offer an incentive to come back eg prize draws (”become a subscriber and get the chance to win XXX”), a cliffhanger (”to be continued next week….”), trailers (”next week, I’ll be interviewing Brad Pitt….”). Break up serious content with personal interest or lifestyle stories.

* Pimp your site

Make your blog site visually distinct and a delight to behold. I don’t mean add so many bells and whistles and colours so that it takes ages to load or is really difficult to read because there are so many distractions on it. I mean show that your care about your readers’ visiting experience by making it user-friendly to navigate and a memorable visual experience - just as you would take care to present your brand or logo beautifully or maintain a striking and comfortable office for your clients to visit. I explore all this in more detail in my post “Are You Worth It?”

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Photo: thanks to pacifica-group.com

Note: ZenGuide is updated on Mondays and Thursdays.

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In association with Silvia Cambie, Director of Chanda Communications, we are jointly publishing a hard copy newsletter, New Media Culture, which we will be giving out at conferences and workshops. We have just brought out Issue 1, which we circulated at the IABC Leadership Institute in Slovenia last week.

The pdf version of the first issue of New Media Culture and also subsequent issues will also be available online - click on the tab for Events & Resources at the top of the ZenGuide site.

You can also download a copy by clicking on the title below.

New Media Culture Issue 1: Why Blog? - the practical benefits of blogging ; Trading Secrets for Dialogue - the case for engaging in social media

Please feel free to circulate copies to anyone else who may find it interesting.

Note: ZenGuide is updated on Mondays and Thursdays.

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