The Power of Social Media Engagement: The Journey One Tweet Took Me

It all began with a Tweet 

Learn how just one tweet impacted my life. It all started in January of 2010.  I was preparing to attend my first National Speaker’s Association event – the February 2010 winter conference.  As I read through the speaker line up I got more and more excited. Beyond the speaker’s themselves, I was especially excited to see so many workshops on social media – right up my alley!

I was like a little girl filled with excitement about going to my first NSA event, meeting new people and learning more about one of my favorite topics – social media.  In my excitement, I began some pre-event tweeting. To my surprise, one of the event speakers reached out to me via a tweet to introduce herself. As I recall, it was a humorous quip about attending her workshop, which was on Second Life, a virtual world technology. It was a very interesting and fun workshop.

How social media developed a friendship

When I got back home from the event, I wanted to know more about Second Life and how I might weave this fascinating technology into my training. I reached out to this very special woman (more about the mystery woman in a moment) and attended her online training on Second Life, which she was offering free.

I was asked to present to my local ASTD (American Society for Training and Development) chapter on something different and cutting edge. I suggested virtual worlds; so I contacted this special woman that I first met via Twitter and asked if she would like to co-present with me about Second Life. Keep in mind that I am in Birmingham, AL and she is in Colorado. This was not a paying event and my new special friend volunteered her time to help me co-present this fun and educational event to my local ASTD.  She came to us virtually from Colorado via Second Life and in the form of an avatar!

There are reasons behind what I am sharing with you. First and foremost, it is to spotlight a very special woman and second, help you understand the power of technology and the importance of genuine engagement.

This friendship has continued to grow through the aid of technology. We would later connect on Facebook, hold brainstorming sessions via Skype and recently Google+ Hangouts.

It’s reveal time and a closing story of how this woman helped me in 2011. 

Who is this mystery woman and why is she so special?

Below are a few hints to see if you can guess this mystery person and then I will reveal her identity and give you a closing personal story of how this woman used social media to aid me during a personal time in my life.

Here are the hints…

• Owns her own technology company
• Has an online talk show
• A book author
• A member of the NSA
• She loves shoes!

Gina Schreck

Gina Schreck is the co-founder and Digital Immigration Officer of SynapseConnecting and Synapse 3Di, a technology and social engagement company. She is an international speaker, author of several books including Getting Geeky with Twitter. Gina also hosts the popular and fun tech shows, GETTIN’ GEEKY, and SCHRECK TECK.

How Gina used social media to extend a helping hand to me

As I close this article, I want to share one final and personal story.

Life in 2011 has been an emotional year; my husband’s parents passed within months of each other.  I took time from work to help my husband through a difficult journey in life. Doing so meant that I could not post as many educational tips on my Facebook page as I usually would – time simply would not allow. I wanted my readers (followers) to continue to receive quality tips to help their business. I couldn’t just let my Facebook page sit without quality posts; so I reached out to Gina and asked if she would guest post some tips on days I had to be away. She graciously accepted but requested that I add her as an Admin to my Facebook page. What that really meant was that Gina did not want to take credit for the posts. She is a giver without an agenda.

I couldn’t let Gina’s great posts go without credit so I billed my mystery poster as the Masked Crusader and I later revealed her on my MOSTraining Facebook page. Oh and let’s not forget that Gina runs a company too, which means she has limited time but that didn’t stop her from helping me.

This friendship developed from a tweet and a response – Gina reached out to engage!

Thanks to the power of technology there are no geographic boundaries.

The moral of the story

Social media is a powerful channel that connects people to people.  Engage and be genuine. As you go forward in your business in 2012 and beyond, please remember that social media is about engaging with people. Put people first, provide quality content and the rest will take care of itself.

Gina Schreck, you are an indeed an outstanding woman and I am so grateful you reached out to me on Twitter.