10 things I learnt at Eurocomm 2011

Eurocomm2011_eventbrite

  1. “In the (old) analogue world, everything was private until we made it public. In the (new) digital world, everything is public until we turn it off.” Mark Comerford, Digital Media Guru, citing the example of old times private diary writing vs. broadcast blogging.

2. “The network is replacing the individual as the basic unit of communications.  Thanks to  mobile technology we are constantly in contact with our network and info is trans-sent from network to network. If you can’t enrich the life of the network with your message, you can’t access it.”  Mark Comerford, Digital Media Guru 

 

     3.  “Mobile telephony reaches where social media doesn’t yet.” Silvia Cambié, author of 'International Communications Strategies,' talking about tools such as Speak to Tweet and Bambooza, used during the Jan. 25th revolution in Egypt and during the Arab Spring to communicate despite the government disruption of the network.

 

      4.“Facebook and Twitter still don’t reach the rural areas in Egypt, but can be instrumental   in recruiting advocates who can still physically reach these areas and spread the message orally.“ Ashraf Amin, Chief Editor, Al Ahram Newspaper (Egypt) 

 

     5. “Content is king. But context is empress. The contextualization of the information is really crucial.” Mark Comerford, Digital Media Guru, illustrating this by saying that the bowel status of his far away family members is important to him, but might be irrelevant to network members on his twitter feed! 

 

    6. ”The difference between the “likes” and the “love” in social Media is the engagement factor”. Aurelie Valtat, Online Communications Manager, Eurocontrol.  

 

      7. “Communicating on Social media brings a blurring between the personal, functional/professional and institutional roles.” Aurelie Valtat, Online Communications Manager, Eurocontrol.  Communicators need to be ready to assume this psychologically and adapt to this new change.

 

    8. “Beautiful narratives that don't match reality are dangerous. Must be clear of what you cannot do; better than un-kept promises.” Florian Westphal, International Committee of the Red Cross’ Deputy Director of Communication and Information Management.

 

    9. “Transparency and protecting your sources are not mutually exclusive, common sense and contextual understanding can go a long way.” Mark Comerford's tweet of Florian Westphal, International Committee of the Red Cross’ Deputy Director of Communication and Information Management. 

 

    10. “ROI is the financial value of changed audience behavior vs. cost of communication” Angela Sinickas, Sinickas Communications.