Friday, October 16, 2009 Likeminded in Milwaukee
This morning, Bader Rutter brought our local social media relationships into “real life.” As with any blind date, we did what any modern gal would do — we brought a friend.
Your fearless social media mavens Colleen Grams and I headed to Milwaukee’s East Side for coffee at Rochambo where we met with other professionals for a lively discussion. Likemind is exactly what it sounds like — a group of like-minded people having coffee and talking. There are 35 Likemind groups in cities across the United States as well as groups in Europe, South America, Asia and Australia.
In today’s Milwaukee’s Likemind session, we discussed how to best navigate the increasingly tricky waters of personal versus professional social media. Some highlights:
- The featured speaker, Phil Gerbyshak, shared his experience balancing his day job in technology with his career as an author and blogger.
- Of course, Jeff Larche, gave us all some great advice and examples of how it can all work together for one, honest experience. He recommended Penelope Trunk’s blog for good and over-the-top examples in one place.
- Jamey Shiels’ own blog is a great experiment in personal/professional balance where you can read about how and why he moved to Wordpress, another topic we discussed over coffee today.
What was it like to meet our online friends offline? We found that the people we follow virtually actually look and sound exactly the same in real life — any good brand should aim for that type of consistency.
Reader Comments (2)
Thanks for joining us today at LikeMind. The discussion on how to manage your personal and professional brands separately or together was very interesting. It's something I struggle with in my role. When you live and breath your career it's almost impossible to draw a hard line between the two, especially online.
I'd have to agree with Jamey. As I mentioned last Friday at Likemind, we're all grappling with how much of our lives to disclose. Absolutely no one can accurately predict what life online will be like in even three years. It's all an exciting adventure.