Social media at Sections Congress

SC2011 will integrate social media into all aspects of the conference not because it is trendy or cool, but to learn about its benefits and how it can be applied. It will be an immersive learning experience with the goal of using social media to capture and share what was learned. Social media is a collection of tools to not only publicize events, but more importantly to engage members and industry to understand their needs and determine how those needs can be met.

Social media at SC2011 will be a rapid prototyping of social media to connect, discover, collaborate, and extend their knowledge of tools and resources to engage and meet the needs of members and industry. Examples of possible outcomes include:

• Self-identifying and self-organizing groups forming to follow up on ideas, proposals, etc.
• A member driven initiative to integrate and extend the use of social media at all levels of the IEEE.
• Members helping members by sharing experiences, what worked, how they did something,  solving common problems, etc.
• Ideas (hopefully shared) on how to use social media in sections or to foster collaboration between sections.

Outcomes will be determined by attendees, not the social media organizers at SC2011.

Social media at SC2011 will not be used to impress, but to engage and listen to attendees It will consist of a blog (this one), a Twitter hashtag, #ieeeSecCong, a Facebook page, and QR codes. QR code uses will be known shortly. There might be a phone app for SC2011 and a few other goodies to help attendees and enhance the conference experience, but they will be peripheral to social media at SC2011. Don't get me wrong, they will be part of the social media experience at SC2011, but they are 3rd party apps most sections won't be able to afford. Of course, we should learn from them.

For social media at SC2011 to be the envisioned learning lab, SC2011 must promote social media to attendees as soon as possible. They will direct how it is used and what the outcomes will be.