NLabNetworks 1 of 5

1 Opening

David Asch, DVC at DMU, asked about how social networking affects the “credence rules” of a purchase and particular to the purchase of services and experiences.

My question: Can we monitor our reputation in different communities? Can we revolutionize our industry landscape through our relationships with our communites (aided and abetted by IT).

2 Social Networking for Small Businesses

Steve Clayton of Microsoft UK is talking about building relationships with customers (some my wording and some his)

to develop empathy and avoid the cold-blunt sell
to increase word-of-mouth recommendations from people we trust (including blogs)
to capitalize on serendipity when trust and interest create a tipping point and an advert goes viral (complete with 1000 consumer mashups)

Does your website convey your personality? Does it connect? Does it allow a two-way conversation?

The internet has allowed the long tail to take part. The challenge in the long tail is to get your voice out. The advantage of being in a niche, is that you can have a clear voice and a conversation about your product.

How do you have people connect to you to get up the list on Google search - have a conversation.

Contact details!
Update weekly not monthly (use a blog?)
Story of “English Cut Savile Row” - a suit was swapped for a blog about fabric, tayloring, cloth and the minutiae of suits - things took off after a year - Thomas doesn’t try to sell you a suit.

How can big businesses created trusted relationships?

Microsoft Outlook manager is contactable via his blog

And he is talking up “commoncraft” - they do incredibly cool videos!

3 Are Online Social Networks the New Cities”

Roland Harwood of NESTA (Roland - think I called him something else last time - sorry) says 700 people registered for a breakout session on this title at a NESTA meeting. He works on virtual clusters through NESTA.

Thesis: social networks are beginning to fulfill some of the functions of cities.

The essence of cities:

In cars you are isolated, in cities and pavements you have serendipity. Cities themselves can be serendipitous with neighborhoods of like-minded people emerging on their own.

Social networks are more interesting to do with people you don’t know well (the people outside your 100 person tribe), the ‘weak ties’, the periphery. They allow us to build relationships before we meet them. They allow us to build trust.

Cities have ‘organizational memory’ - example of the textile are of Venice.

Diversity drives innovation. Leicester is a diverse city. We need to create space to cross fertilize ideas.

My question: To what extent is it important to understand the “purpose” of a community or network (wicked questions and boundaries - see Wirearchy of yesterday).

June 19, 2008 | Filed Under Jo Jordan