Back from Blogging4Business

Back from Blogging4Business full day conference in London which has been a very nice success, congratulations to the organizers, Matthew and Bernhard !
Again, it has been a great opportunity to meet and connect with many people there, about 170 people attended the conference, only few have been blogging in real time, probably due to the fact that the hotel has not been able to provide any wifi access in good conditions (in a budget sens....).
The official blogger hired for the event can be read here, more is available on Technorati of course, some have been taking pictures of the event also, have a look on Flickr.
We were two PR pros invited as speaker at the conference, nice to meet you by the way Antony... ;o)

I've been surprised to see several time during the conference people still talking about "controlling information"... I've been reacting in real time but would like to confirm my position on this: I don't believe we can still pretend to have the same kind of "control on information" we (=whoever we are) used to have in the past, we definitely have to be prepared to loose this control as soon as we are entering the blogosphere or as soon as someone is beginning to blog about your industry/brand. The rules of the game are changing, while everyone becomes a media, everyone is able to express his views on your company, whenever he is right or not, which isn't the question here. People are talking about you, that's all. Your choice is then about deciding to participate in the conversation or let them talk about you without you...

This is the issue.

Technorati Tags: blogging4business

Comments

[jbp]

There can be more "violent" reactions from those people who want to control... I'll be able to tell you in details when you are back in France.

[Antony Mayfield]

Good to meet you too, Guilluame. And i agree completely regarding control - getting over the illusion of controlling communication (when it has always essentially been a dialogue) is one of the biggest challenges for organisations.

Admitting you can't control but only engage and influence is not only about facing up to reality (it was always the case, it is just amplified and more apparent now) but also being properly effective. What social media does is call out "controlling the message" as the "Emperor's New Clothes". About time too.