Yesterday, I spoke at the Women's Business Council’s Emerging Leaders Program of the Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce on the topic of Online Social Networking - Strategies for Success.  Thanks so much to the Fairfax Chamber for having me.

The talk went super but what made it the most fun for me, and hopefully more valuable for the audience, was my interest in making it be a two-way discussion (as opposed to me being a talking head).

Several things happened as a result:

1. By polling the audience at different points throughout the presentation, I determined what they were most interested in learning the most about.  It allowed me to restructure my talk on the fly to give them greater value.
   
   
2. Opening the floor to the audience’s injection of both questions and comments allowed attendees to share their own experiences.  In addition to sharing ownership of the discussion, we all learned from each other.

What happened yesterday is a living example of what corporate social media is all about.  The only difference is yesterday happened up close and personal while online social media is occurring over the Internet.  Both mediums had the active elements of two-way communication and people learning and sharing with each other.

For interested folks, you can download a copy of the slidedeck here.

Cheers!