A Bigger Voice

Social Media is For Lawyers, Too

I was interviewed for an article in the Illinois Bar Journal, a magazine distributed by the Illinois State Bar Association. The topic? How attorneys can use social media to build their businesses. The writer did a great job at pulling together many sources to explain LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. While this was written for an audience of lawyers, the advice applies to anyone wanting to learn more about using social media for networking. This type of article--helping non-techies understand how to use technology to achieve their goals--is indicative of how mainstream social media has become.

A bonus: Our very own Simon Young is quoted from one of his blog postings here, for the article.

One part of the article specifically quotes a Twitter user as saying that the search feature on Twitter is more useful than Google--because the information is not only findable but updated in real time with real users. Users that you may then want to connect with and folllow. Think about it. People looking for specific information-- whether it's the details of a court case or where to meet for to show support for the Iranian people or tips on managing a chronic disease--can now find not only the information they want, but the source of the information, someone who is likely to be a kindred spirit. That's what we have today, at the flick of a few fingers on a keyboard. Amazing isn't it?

Photo by NOIZE Photography

Iran and Social Media

The power of technology to create a groundswell was shown in Iran this last week. People all over the world are seeing and hearing and reading what's going on with the protests over the recent elections and the response by the theocratic government. 

One voice can start a community. Communities create stunning results. It's even more startling when it's a world community, from a top columnist for a US paper to the anonymous voice of an Iranian woman. Two voices on Iran:

Peggy Noonan's column, Whose Side Are We On? You Have to Ask?, points out:

"Twittering and YouTubing made the story take hold and take off. But did the technology create the rebellion? No, it encouraged what was there."

She goes on to say,

"Revolutions are revolutions and rebellions are rebellions; they don't work unless the people are for it. In Iran, Twitter reported and encouraged. But the conviction must be there to be encouraged."

Wisdom entrepreneurs take note. Noonan is saying that the technology is a tool that amplifies. But the voice must be there first, with conviction, and I would say, commitment.

The other voice is a simple but powerful one, one that tells the story with minimal words and photos. It paints a stark portrait that only those who are there can fully comprehend.

Note that this YouTube video was created on Friday, June 19, less than a day ago. This morning, at about 9:30am Mountain Time, when I first saw the video, it had 300+ views. I found it from a friend on Facebook who had posted the link (thanks, @kareanderson!) Now, several hours later, as I'm posting this, the video has over 1700 views. That's how fast we can connect now.  When there is so much at stake, when we are compelled by history in the making, the ties between us are created with mind-boggling speed.

The following question has never been more important or pertinent:

What will you do with your voice?

Photos by .faramarz

Creaky Joints

One of the joys of this work is connecting with spirited individuals--people who are actively working on a cause that helps others and loving every minute of it. Next month, I'm giving a talk at the Juvenile Arthritis (JA) 2009 National Conference. The title of my talk is "Finding Your Voice." My goal is to inspire audience members to see themselves as "experts" in their own life, whether they are afflicted with JA or the parent of a child with JA. Finding your voice starts with recognizing that you have something to give to others and that usually comes from reflecting on your life and what you've learned from it.

In researching who already is doing this in the JA world, I came across a wonderful online community, called Creaky Joints. The site was started by Seth Ginsberg, when he was still an adolescent. Seth is now 27 years old and the online community has grown to 32,000 members. He works on Creaky Joints full-time and in his words, "Creaky Joints has become much bigger than me."  He talked about how Creaky Joints had become a model for other groups oriented around living with a disease. Seth also is passionate about influencing policy makers on bigger issues that impact the JA community and beyond--like health care reform. With Creaky Joints representing 32,000 voices, Seth clearly understands working both bottom-up and top-down.

I'm struck by how Seth has taken his experience of someone living with JA and turned that into the fuel for a vibrant community. His blog serves as one person's diary of what it's like to live with the disease and navigate daily life, in a way that most of us take for granted, but which resonates with his audience. 

I connected with Seth recently and found out that he's attending the JA conference, for the first time in many years. I've invited him to be interviewed, as part of my presentation at the JA conference. I'm excited that by telling his story, on stage, he'll inspire others to find their voice, and/or to join his community.

Seth has also agreed to be interviewed for this blog. Stay tuned!

PS. For those of you in Houston, I'm trying to arrange a meetup/tweetup while I'm there. If you are interested in being included, please email me, carol [at] abiggervoice.com.

The Stunning Result of 10+ Years of Work

My friend, Dave, sent me this video of land that was recently designated for public use in Traverse City, Michigan. It's a pristine piece of property on a peninsula jutting into the Grand Traverse Bay, that includes meadow and virgin forests and the remnants of a long-forgotten orchard. Dave and many others worked for over a decade to take the property from private ownership to public caretaking. Last November, with a ballot initiative that passed, the fruits of their labors were realized.

When I was in Traverse City last September, Dave and I walked parts of this property. It's lovely. I enjoyed seeing from the video what it looks like at other times of the year. BTW--Dave tells me that the music to the video is original and was composed by a fellow community member and music instructor at the reknowned Interlochen Arts Academy.  Another mark of community is the giving of one's gifts to the larger cause that the community embraces.



I've never asked Dave point-blank why he worked for so long on this project. I'm sure there were times when his enthusiasm waned and his frustration level rose like a childhood fever. My guess is that even he wouldn't be able to fully articulate why he hung in there for so long.

When passion takes hold, I am smart to follow and see where it leads me. Logic becomes secondary to what my heart tells me is important. In the end, I know of no other way to respond, in a way that keeps me congruent and in alignment with my deepest beliefs--about what is right or who I am. I'm guessing that Dave feels the same way.

Evangelists and Community-Building

How do you support evangelists, when you don't believe in evangelism?

A friend of mine, who is passionate about bringing the human spirit into business (something near and dear to my heart), cringed when I talked about how he could support his evangelists--people who believe in his ideas and want to help spread them.

His reaction? "Carol, I'm the anti-thesis of evangelism. I'm not about the super mega church. I'm the guy trying to shut the doors and telling them to go home."

My friend has the baggage of evangelism in the context of formal religions. He's a former monk.

Evangelists, in the context of A Bigger Voice, are those 1,000 True Fans, the ones who naturally resonate with your wisdom and ideas, and want to help spread it to others. They don't do it to build the mega church. They do it because it feels right to them, independent of the outcome. Evangelists form the core of your community. They are the 20% that contribute 80% of the ideas to shape what you've started. In the process, you might just create a mega church. But it's not your mega church. It's their mega church.

In the Networking Naturally Program that I just finished up, my evangelists are the people who showed up on a call to brainstorm improvements for the program, the ones who took the time to fill out and return a self-assessment of their networking skills both before and after the program, and the individuals who thought enough to provide comments on the participant-only blog. These are the people who are delighted to write a testimonial about their experience and who are pleased when they can contribute in areas where they have talent and expertise. The more that I reach out to my evangelists on networking naturally, the more I get excited. I can feel the momentum building. 

How am I supporting my evangelists?

• I try to connect with each person, one-on-one, whether it's with a phone call or an exchange of comments on a blog.
• I get to know each person as a unique individual, not just as someone who resonates with my cause.
• I ask each how I can support him/her.
• I provide each with material so that he/she can more easily share our common passion. In this particular case, I'm providing a set of slides that illustrate the 14 "Principles of Networking Naturally."

What are you doing to support your evangelists? How is it helping to build your community?

Photo by dheuer