Page 8 - March 2009
How social networking
is changing our business
by Sharon B. Drechsler, RRP
S
ocial networking is rapidly changing the Whichever services you decide to utilize, efficient “…sharing our knowledge will make our industry
timeshare resort business by consumers, news and effective site management requires a plan and strong, united and consistent as we all strive to
media and the public exchanging information attention to detail. As Gene Kim, co-founder and serve our owners and guests.”
about travel and vacation destinations. It also is chief technology officer of Tripwire, Inc., observes in
beginning to change the way professionals within a whitepaper on better management, “IT Service Can this new networking tool produce results
the industry connect and communicate. The poten- Management: Metrics That Matter,” (http://edge. similar to that which is achieved by standing around
tial exists for you, as an individual, and for your networkworld.com), change in business is inevitable. a tray of appetizers, clutching your gin and tonic
company to benefit by wisely planning and applying But change that creates unplanned work leads to a and making small talk? Obviously, it can be less and
a well-thought-out networking strategy. downward spiral that saps resources and time, it can be more. In the “less” column, your associates
leading to lower morale and less productivity. Our cannot gaze into your baby-blues and get a sense of
There are timeshare-oriented groups in Linked In, world is being changed by this phenomenon of your advanced intelligence and innate integrity. On
Facebook, Twitter and other, wide-sweeping net- social networking. How well we manage the change the plus side, others get a chance to review your bio
working services. Our publisher, The Trades, oper- will directly impact the amount of unplanned work, or profile and perform research about you without
ates a lively community networking service, www. and hence, productivity we experience. feeling pressured.
askmando.com, for resort managers. Another
network specific to timeshare professionals is being Our recommendation at the corporate level is that Witness a recent success story: An entrepreneur in
launched this month by Executive Quest, led by companies assign the study of social networking to Canada, Richard H., who is looking for a way to
pioneer Keith Trowbridge. a team member who can organize the information promote a product to yacht owners, marinas and
and provide the team with a digestible report to dive companies wants to find the perfect PR indi-
Mankind learning to manage fire, tame domestic help you manage the change. You need to be vidual for their niche device. Before deciding what
animals, invent motorized machinery, harness updated on a regular basis, as well, since things are companies to contact, Richard reviews the profiles
electricity, capture data onto microchips and bounce changing so rapidly. Ideally, a brief training program of prospective candidates. And prior to asking for a
signals off satellites has changed the way people or set of instructions will be produced to encourage proposal, he can initiate a dialogue through which
think and act. And, now, the creation of the World all personnel who utilize social networking to follow both parties become familiar and more comfortable
Wide Web promises to make another, significant company protocol when describing their organiza- with one another.
change in the way people think, work and behave. tion. Team members are encouraged to use the
same description of the company, to provide Mark Gibbs continues, “A telling attribute of
It’s clear we’ve arrived at a precipice, beyond which consistency in branding. whether social networking will have benefit for you
extends the gaping, mysterious miasma that is and your organization is how your organization
worldwide connectivity. You know it’s there; you When you’re planning your goals for how to utilize handles telephones and e-mail. Consider e-mail --
know you have to jump in. However, proceed with a service, Linked In executive Mark Gibbs says, “Are when your customers call, the quality of how you
caution. This is a nascent and still-evolving science. you distributing news about your organization, engage with them, for example, whether or not you
Furthermore, each networking service has its own pitching products and or services, looking for rely on automatic voice response systems and
rules, language and etiquette. If you want to play feedback on what you do, all of the above, or whether (as many companies do) you do your best
on their space, you’ll need to familiarize yourself something else?.... A word of advice here: If you to keep callers away from real people, speaks
with their rules to avoid earning an unfavorable look at social networking as a purely advertising volumes about your willingness and ability to be
reputation. The impression others receive about you channel it is most likely not going to work well – ad- engaged in a dialog with them.”
or your company from your social networking profile vertising is primarily outbound and you’re trying to
is much like a first impression earned at the begin- engage those people who are interested in your Ouch! How many times have you reached a real
ning of a relationship: It’s pretty indelible. So, please organization, simply selling to them won’t cut it.” person on your last few business calls to a particular
be careful. If you try to make your first statement in company? If the answer is “rarely,” or worse,
this environment a walking commercial, what do Gibbs goes on to suggest that you put some focus “never,” you can apply that same unwillingness to
you think you’re going to look like to others? Let me into engaging your company’s message so that the engage one-on-one by the more traditional meth-
put it this way….Would you walk into an ARDA bigger picture of what your company does can be ods, to the social networking environment. Compa-
Convention cocktail reception and immediately start driven home. “Social networking is still very new nies and individuals who like people and who like to
tossing around your, or your company’s, list of territory and to not experiment and look for oppor- communicate will be the most likely to find this a
benefits? If that’s your idea of how to succeed at tunity is a big mistake,” he adds. “But an even medium in which they excel. Those who avoid
sales, God bless you. But networking means build- bigger one is to experiment naively and without personal contact like the cibola virus are likely to
ing personal relationships, first, before asking for commitment. find this an undesirable platform for increasing
business. business.
On a personal level, every individual would be wise
The business world has not yet made its final to create a profile for themselves on the more There appears to be more interest in social net-
decision as to which vehicle will be the dominant businesslike ‘at-large’ databases, such as Linked In, working than ever before. So if you haven’t jumped
“Google” among providers, but so far, Linked In Plaxo, Twitter – Level Ten and Facebook (which is in yet, it’s not too late to give it a try. Here are some
looks to be a contender with 30 million members. beginning to be seen as fifty percent socially resources to help you get started:
Even Linked In’s own user’s manual admits, “The oriented). www.askMANDO.com
headlong race towards social networking continues www.networkworld.com
at its insane pace and what’s interesting about David Kerr, management director for Resort Trades, www.linkedin.com
much of this - dare I say, lemming-like rush - is that has a Palapa on www.askmando.com. One of his www.twitter.com
many of the participants have little or no idea what posts strikes us as a balanced approach at social
they are rushing towards or why.” networking. In it, he introduces himself and, with a
minimal number of words, states his objectives and
Then, again, there’s Twitter. Keith Trowbridge uses what he hopes to gain from his spot on the commu-
Twitter like some people use Kleenex. It can be nity’s “marketplace square.” Perhaps our own
addicting watching how the corporate thought of a personal acquaintance with Kerr colors our
community can morph – each individual’s thought perception, but when he says, “The Trades
Contributing Editor for Resort
being sharpened by another – into an amalgama- Publishing Company gives me this wonderful
tion that becomes a brand new, independent idea. ability to help champion our industry,” we
Trades Sharon Drechsler, RRP,
The New York Times says Twitter is “one of the know he means this genuinely. He seems to
is a registered resort profes-
fastest-growing phenomena on the Internet.” TIME have a good grasp on the more positive
sional with the American Resort
Magazine comments that it’s becoming the next purposes of the application. He adds,
Development Association,
“killer app.“killer app.”
Washington, DC and is owner/
operator of the public relations
and marketing firm Drechsler
Communications. Visit
www.drechslercommunications.
com or contact her at sharon@
drechslercommunications.com or (602) 370-2003.
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