Image: Dan Taylor

Today Chris Brogan from Cross Tech Media and Radian6 hosted a cross platform webinar and Twitter event focused on how companies can, and are, using social media. 

At 11 am Pacific, 2pm Eastern 500 people logged onto the webinar and simultaneously engaged in conversations on Twitter about what they were seeing on the webinar. (Kind of like teenagers who watch Idol and text ten friends to discuss the show while they watch.) And due to the demand it was rebroadcast at 4 pm Eastern.

It worked well, despite a few hiccups in the beginning.  I could hear the audio, but the screen was black for a few minutes.  Then all went well after that. It certainly has raised the profile of Radian6, Chris and CrossTech Media and the people who were interviewed for the series. 

In the first section people answered the question why is social media game changing? 

There were many good answers, but one that caught my attention: when you are in a conversation with your customers and stakeholders you have a platform to give your point of view.  An instance was cited where a company was in a tussle with a competitor and because they had a blog and an active readership, they could reach their audience fast.

My answer to this question is:

Social Media is game changing because for the last 100 years PR and marketing has been done the same way. We controlled the message and how it would be delivered. 

Now people have the power of voice.

Instead of feeling like we are on the receiving end of messages, we can be a part of a conversation we can control. This completely changes the game for both parties - consumers and companies.  It is as big a change as was the industrial revolution.

Social media is ultimately going to shift the way companies do business.

Dell is one good example. They hit the wall, got burned, made mistakes and learned from it all.  Now they are considered one of the front runners in the use of social media.

What should your company be doing? Be willing to listen. Establish where they're talking about you and what they're saying. What, if any, are the issues that need attention. 

Let people know that you're listening and taking note of what they say.  

Another Twebinar is scheduled for July and one in August.