Monday, October 31, 2011

The times they are a changin.

I haven’t abandoned my blog. In fact I’ve been conducting an experiment of sorts in standing back from my social networks and seeing what effect this has on them. I’ve been watching with interest over recent months the significant increase in spam I’ve received on Twitter, the frustrations Facebook has caused many due to an arrogant approach to individual privacy and the confusion with newly emerging platforms like Google Plus competing for its place on the social media stage.

I haven’t lost my passion for this as a business tool, quite the opposite. I am in awe of how fast things are changing and the opportunities expanding networks and improving collaborative tools bring.

The sale of smart phones and tablets has exceeded shipments of desktop and laptop PC’s. Add to this daily time spent in mobile apps surpasses desktop and mobile web consumption and we have even more to consider when we design and develop our customer engagement strategies.

I’m fortunate this week to be speaking at the Hospitality NZ Conference in Christchurch and the E-Tourism Conference in Wellington on the subject of Social Media strategy. This is the third year I've been to the E-Tourism sessions, it'll be interesting to see how things have changed in that time.