Announcing 1st Online Seminar with Alan Moore: thriving commercially in Social Media and the Networked Society (March 1)

On March 1, 2010, I am starting with what I think is becoming an increasingly viable opportunity on the Net: online seminars, conferences, workshops, meetings and training sessions. I have done a few similar things (for various clients) in the past, using all kinds of platforms, and I believe the time is right to take the next steps, on my own turf, and… yes, indeed, even charge a few $ for it. You've had the Free / Feels Like Free, you've seen the Freemiums… so: I am wondering if you are ready for this idea.

If you have met me in 'meatspace' or are otherwise 'connected with me', or have been a reader of this blog for a while, you'll know that I have been publishing free slideshows, blog posts (and full-length feeds), PDFs, videos and essays for over 7 years.

Now I would like to investigate if maybe the next level above and beyond all that free content (and maybe to complement my 50+ paid speaking gigs and on-location think-tanks per year) could be to charge a small amount of money to make myself and some select colleagues available to a limited number of people that won't have to travel 1000s of miles to 'be there', using a fully interactive, online platform that allows for screen-sharing, chat, video and audio. After a lot of research I decided to try the DimDim web conferencing platform because of its ease of use and great features; in addition, I was dismayed by the fact that you apparently can't even sign up for Cisco's Webex service, online if you live outside the U.S.; to top that off, so far no-one has even bothered to get back to me via their contact form. Another time, then.

For this first session (and hopefully regularly) I am delighted to be joined by Alan Moore, Author (Communities Dominate Brands, with Tomi Ahonen), Blogger and fellow Keynote Speaker, for our very first no-entirely-free online seminar on March 1, 2010, at 1pm EST (NY) / 10 am PST (California), 6pm GMT (London), 7pm CET (Berlin) etc (you can figure out the timezones from here;).

"Alan Moore is the founder of the Engagement Communication Consultancy SMLXL. He is the author of several books including, Communities Dominate
Brands: Business and Marketing Challenges for the 21st Century. He is recognized as a great distiller of complex arguments
into their most salient points, who can take concepts from many sources
and find the previously hidden relationship between them. He is currently working on his next project: No Straight Lines: An advanced living course for the networked society. As a well known writer, thinker and public speaker Alan has addressed, radio, television, and conference audiences globally. Reviews of his books and his articles have been published in many respected magazines, journals and newspapers…"

I have worked with Alan several times and he just totally rocks; it will be a real treat to have him co-present on this seminar. Alan and me will both present for about 30 minutes followed by a discussion with the participants (which, for now, are capped at 100).

We will charge $50 USD per person for this 90-minute event. If this experiment works out we will be offering more online seminars, together, individually, and with other great presenters from our various networks, as well. So go ahead… make our day!

Thriving commercially in social media and the networked society: An interactive seminar with Gerd Leonhard and Alan Moore (sign up page on Eventbrite)

The terms social media and social networking are terms we frequently fling around, and think about every single day, accompanied by the word “digital”. The digitalness of our world has been picked over in minute detail. One cannot deny that it is, networked digital communication tools that has brought significant social, cultural and commercial disruptive change to all our lives.

We are in a period of transition, our world of business, media, and communications is evolving from the straight-lines of an industrial era to the more complex and networked world that mimics nature. Any transitory process brings with it complications. In this instance, for many people and organizations they feel they are outsiders, struggling to make sense of a seemingly anarchic world. They become concussed observers to this new world that surrounds them. The problem is that this interactive networked world isn’t about vertical silos, traditional notions of product and service creation, mass-production and mass media and marketing. It is about the massive flows of people, who are connecting, collaborating, organizing and creating in a manner that has nothing to do with a linear approach too much at all.

For over 150 years our economies, culture and society have been shaped by a straight-line logic producing considerable economic success. However, in the dawn of the Networked-Society, a straight-line logic of stuff done and creating wealth becomes a barrier to progress. Why? Because, the change wrought by the networked- society is structural – challenging how markets and organizations have co-evolved over the last 150 years.

So, as we de-couple from the ‘Straight Lines’ of our industrialised world – which framed all aspects of our lives – we do need a new logic to understand this new one. It must be a logic which provides a framework for how we relate to each other, how we communicate, how we create more effective and flexible organisations and how we create wealth. Because we are still faced with the same challenges: how do we find our customers, how do we make our customers sticky, how can we increase trade with our customers and serve those customers whilst at the same time, reducing the cost to serve?

Regardless of whether you are in retailing, the automotive industry, FMCG, music etc., this seminar can help you understand how to commercially thrive in the networked society. This interactive seminar is based upon our combined and extensive experience of working with many companies in helping them make the transition from a linear mass media model to a networked one. We will provide via case histories, practical guidance of how to thrive commercially in the networked society.