As I type this I am in flight, returning home from a conference with risk managment and human resource professionals from all over the country. I always leave these meetings with renewed energy for what I do for a living.
I am particularly jazzed today after hearing a great presentation on social media and how it is impacting business. Succinctly stated, if your company isn't embracing this technology be prepared to eat your competition's dust. That said, I'm struck by the dichotomy that we all face today. I can engage the world via the PC in my lap. Heck, right now I'm 32,000 feet above the earth, and this blog will post before I land in Dallas! Through social media I can engage the world; I can interact with interesting people from all walks of life. And that is really cool.
But you know what I did this week? I spent three days face-to-face with people who do what I do. We shared ideas, we renewed friendships, we traded laughs, we enjoyed a few glasses of wine... Social media interaction is here to stay and I think that's great. I embrace it and I enjoy it. But nothing replaces the impact of personal human interaction. And for that I am eternally grateful.
I hear you Jeff! Social media gives us all the opportunity to get instant updates and information. However, non-cyber interactions, i.e. telephone calls, actual face-to-face conversations, etc., can convey so much more than you can get in a cyber message. It is very difficult to interpret voice inflections and meaning by reading typed messages. While I embrace, and actually rely on, the impact the cyber world has had in my life, there is nothing that beats that personal, non-cyber interaction.
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