The Yin and Yang of Social Media was the theme of my luncheon keynote presentation at the 2012 Receptive Services Association of America Summit Conference held February 7, 2012 at the Hyatt Regency New Orleans. Many thanks go to Best Western International for their sponsorship of the event.
For most, few topics are as confusing as social media, so I decided to incorporate an even more baffling subject – Taoist metaphysics…
Receptive Operators are the organizations responsible for bridging the gap between tour operators located throughout the world and the travel suppliers and destination management organizations serving as hosts to international travelers visiting the United States.
With the renewed focus on inbound tourism by the Obama Administration and the United States Travel & Tourism Brand USA initiative, receptive operators in the US can expect to be increasingly busy over the coming years.
Below is a copy of the presentation. It may be downloaded by selecting the Slideshare link.
It occurred to me that many complementary forces are at play in social media, and like Yin and Yang, one force cannot exist without being described in relation to its opposing force.
Since I was speaking in the home of New Orleans Voodoo, it seemed appropriate to discuss social media given the impassioned hyperbole professed by self-proclaimed “Experts, Gurus, Ninjas and/or Jedi” of social media as a panacea for virtually anything and the serious social scientists struggling to statistically prove causation.
The result was somewhat a good news & bad news story, with the moral being:
- A primary focus should be on business objectives and operational excellence
- To succeed at social media, management resources must subscribe to the Golden Rule
- There are simply too many social media platforms and channels to manage, so participation must be be highly prioritized
Several hat tips are due to Edelman, Altimeter Group & Brian Solis for some great stats and content to help frame the issues.