“We are not seats or eyeballs or end users or consumers. We are human beings and our reach exceeds your grasp.”
These words first burst from the pages of The Cluetrain Manifesto back in 1999.
Talk about 'slow burn'! The theories espoused by the authors of Cluetrain are scarily relevant in today's networked age where anyone with an iPhone and a few idle minutes has the potential to make life difficult for any company or organisation.
The advent of the social web has sparked a fundamental transformation in the way people communicate, connect and collaborate; in turn is having a profound effect on the way marketing and communications professionals go about their business.
On Wednesday, August 18, I will be leading a discussion with the Queensland Chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators around the topic 'Communicating in a Hyper-Connected World'.The questions we will be posing to communication professionals include:
- How well are you navigating the new media landscape?
- What are the broader implications you face as a communications professional?
- Is your organisation sufficiently equipped to communicate with a networked marketplace?
Indeed, author David Meerman Scott believes the era of broadcast mass media is merely an aberration - "...the Web has brought communications back full circle to where we were 60 years ago".
Right now there is a growing disconnect between brands that insist on pushing out their pre-packaged messages ad nauseum and consumers who simply aren't listening, or more over, are being influenced like never before by their peers.
At the IABC QLD event we'll look at some of the (intertwining) major themes and trends that are emerging:
- The rise and rise of the micro multimedia star.
- The explosion of niche communities of interest.
- The breakdown of public trust in the 'big end of town'.
- The growing call for openness and authenticity on the part of big brands particularly.
- The public rage against, and disinterest in, over-hype and spin.
- The escalating power (and speed) of peer-to-peer recommendation.
- The growing disconnect between companies that 'get' the new communications landscape - and those that clearly have no idea.
- The influence of social media on traditional journalism (indeed, the changing face of the media generally).
- The emergence (and implications) of the 'five-minute news cycle'.
This facilitated discussion promises to be lively. If you're a professional communicator based in Brisbane, this is one event that should be in your diary!
Let's start the conversation here, right now!
I'd love to hear your thoughts on how the PR and marketing communications profession in Australia is dealing with the ever-changing new media landscape.
Event details are as follows:
WHEN:
Wednesday, August 18, 2010 from 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM
WHERE:
Forrestfield Room. QR National Conference Centre
Level 1, 305 Edward Street
(next to Central Station and opposite Mincom)
Brisbane (see map below)
BOOKINGS - click here for IABC QLD's Eventbrite page
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