Category Archives: Social Media

LinkedIn Endorsements – a Social Media step too far?

Peter Smith - January 30, 2013 2:30 PM | Categories: Social Media

Virtually all readers I suspect are familiar with LinkedIn and the vast majority are probably users, posting their cv details, looking up other people they come into contact with, maybe looking for jobs or joining in discussion groups and similar. I love the ability to check out someone I’m going to meet for the first time, and get a sense of their background, maybe even find some common ground, and hopefully see a picture so I can recognise them across a crowded reception area – or bar. Recently, a new facility appeared on the site. You can endorse people you [...]

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More on Twitter and worthwhile procurement Tweeters..

Peter Smith - October 6, 2011 12:35 PM | Categories: Social Media

Thanks for the comments on our piece last week on Twitter. You suggested some more Tweeters who are worth following – here they are. I inexplicably missed Katherine Caughran, @psbdelegation, who I follow and enjoy, and who Tweets personally as well as linking to her daily on-line “newspaper”  where she picks up interesting stories from a range of websites (including this one). Stephen Ashcroft (@Farrington1978) suggested her as well, and also says “@tcummins at IACCM is a consistently interesting read”. (Tim Cummins is an all-round impressive guy actually). Jenna said,  “@EdwardLJackson is another great one to check out. He publishes [...]

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Unconferences – the future of business events? (Part 2)

Alex Ranson - July 8, 2011 5:36 AM | Categories: Social Media

I explained yesterday why so many conferences and events don’t work – today I’ll expand on the concept of the “Unconference”. Unconferences take everything you thought you knew about conferences and turn it on its head. 1) The object of an unconference is not to make money. They are cheap to organise and even cheaper to attend. The most I’ve ever paid to attend one is £5. Many are free.  There are no money-spinning exhibition halls. There may be a few sponsors to help pay for the room hire, but they keep a low profile: definitely no overt selling or [...]

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Unconferences – the future of business events? (Part 1)

Alex Ranson - July 7, 2011 9:29 AM | Categories: Social Media

Alex Ranson is our regular correspondent covering social media and all things new or innovative. This week she’s explaining all about the “Unconference” which, I must admit, was a new one on me.  Could we see procurement events going this way? The next CIPS, Procurement Leaders or ProcureCon event perhaps? Read Alex’s views today and tomorrow and see what you think. (The Editor) How many years of your life have you wasted … on boring, mostly useless away-days, conferences and management team retreats? Be honest. Over the years I’ve been to a fair few. Whether it’s a concrete Hilton in [...]

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Faddish CEOs and hulahooping apps: how procurement can dodge common social media bullets

Alex Ranson - March 1, 2011 7:00 AM | Categories: Social Media

Here’s another thought-provoking post from Alex Ranson, our social media expert. You can contact her at alex@beaglethinking.com and follow Twitter @beaglethoughts … BAM!   A BA Highlife magazine lands on your keyboard.  You eye it warily…it’s rather dog-eared and you don’t even want to think about whose sticky, germ-ridden in flight fingers have handled it for the whole month of February…. “I was reading about this social media stuff on the plane back from Belarus/Brussels/Bogota,” says your Highlife-lobbing CEO over her shoulder, as she heads into her office in a whirl of Burberry trench coat and cabin baggage. “ Tweeting.  Yammering.  [...]

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It’s a revolution, Jim, but not as we know it; social media makes a difference

Alex Ranson - February 16, 2011 7:30 AM | Categories: Social Media

(We’re delighted to feature another guest post from Alex Ranson, our social media expert. You can contact her at alex@beaglethinking.com and follow her on Twitter @beaglethoughts ) It’s a revolution, Jim, but not as we know it. Last Friday evening,  I was at the gym, half watching CNN’s coverage of the Mubarak resignation, when a local pundit came on air tearfully to thank Mark Zuckerberg – founder of Facebook – for making the Egyptian revolution happen. Other than our emotional Egyptian pundit, perhaps, no one else is arguing that social media was the cause of the deep public dissatisfaction in [...]

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Social media – it’s here and it ain’t going anywhere

Alex Ranson - February 9, 2011 7:00 AM | Categories: Social Media

We’re delighted to feature the first in a series of posts from Alex Ranson.  Alex (that’s the female Alex by the way) is one of the few people in the world with the combination of an MBA, a season ticket at Villa Park, working experience in Procurement and as a Social Media strategist!  Thanks Alex….the Editor The man seated next to me, whose eyes were already wandering towards the buffet table even though the social media training session had only been in progress for six minutes, could contain himself no longer: “No disrespect, but I work in PROCUREMENT!  I don’t [...]

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