Over the next two weeks, Portland’s school district will install filtering software on laptops issued to high school students, in order to block access to pornography, social networking sites and video streaming sites when the laptops are at home.

The district will install filtering software made by Sophos, an Internet security company based in Boston. The software will be downloaded automatically when students boot up their computers at school. Only when students get home will they discover that their lives have changed in a big way.

No longer will they have access to social networking sites like Facebook and video-streaming sites like Hulu and YouTube. Also blocked will be forums and news groups, games, dating sites, gambling sites and chat rooms. - The Portland Press Herald

This will prove to be the wrong approach. It is incredible how a School District can make this kind of decision. It is further evidence that migrating from old ways of thinking in business and education will take considerable effort and visionary thinking.  Today learning can be reinforced online.

As a business marketing to other businesses, you already know that it’s critical to embrace and optimize your social media efforts for all the ways it can extend your reach. But how do you turn social interactions into actionable leads, and more important, revenue? Can you really measure ROI, and if so, how? How do you learn and leverage best practices in a perpetually changing environment?

Next week we’re offering an opportunity to virtually meet Jeffrey Cohen, Social Strategist at Radian6 and Kipp Bodnar, Indound Marketing Manager at Hubspot during our webcast:  B2B Social Media – Become a Marketing Superstar. Jeffrey and Kipp are co-authors of The B2B Social Media Book: Become a Marketing Superstar by Generating Leads with Blogging, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Email, and More, and the co-founders of SocialMediaB2B.com. These established thought leaders will share their insights on B2B social media, offer case studies and answer questions relevant to your business.

B2B Social Media – Become a Marketing Superstar
Wednesday, April 25, 10 to 11am PT
Free
Register today

Our answer is clearly culture! We agree with Leslie Bradshaw at Jess3 (and we’re big fans). Is it really a choice though?  Paying appropriate attention to strategy and planning is part of an adaptive culture. We think that the modern social, digital business has an iterative process for regularly re-examining its own culture.

Organizations must transform their culture in order to become collaborative social businesses.  It’s no longer a debate that culture and values are the winning components of the business of tomorrow.  Technology is leading us in terms of what we must do with our workflow and behavior but it is not the central component. Technology tool selection happens after a proper strategy and roadmap are formed or the road to change and adoption are difficult or doomed.   Further, public image and brand value are now at the mercy of your organization’s character, responsibility and “humanness.”

Papa John’s Pizza recently experienced the brand damage that can be caused by one single tweet. That tweet of a photographed receipt containing an ethnic slur spread to millions of people in days. The digital social web has connected us. Social media marketing and digital PR efforts pale next to today’s real-time magnification of behavior no matter where or when it takes place.

Marissa Levin, Founder and CEO of Information Experts, Inc., and author of the recently released ”My Company ROCKS!” Eight Secrets to a Growth-Driven Culture That Keeps Employees Happy & Engaged,” identified eight cultural strategies that her book expands upon:

1. Commitment to a Non-Toxic Environment
2. Commitment to Fun
3. Safety Outside the Comfort Zone
4. Employee Input
5. Join for one position, stay for another
6. Continuous Learning
7. Responsible Flexibility and Work-Life Integration
8. Employee Empowerment & Accountability

Did you get to participate in the live session of Moving the Needle. Using Social Media to Advance Your Business by Jason Falls? We’ve uploaded the video and the slide deck and opened the comments for discussion.

In this webcast you will learn about:

• Developing a strategic plan for social media
• Case studies of businesses using social media for business purposes
• Tying the “conversation” with the “conversion”

Guest Post by workplace learning, performance, and communication expert Halelly Azulay, President of TalentGrow and author of  Employee Development on a Shoestring. 

Photo by arvindgrover via Flickr

What is Social Learning?

Social learning, or Learning 2.0, is a general name given to multiple collaborative online tools for sharing knowledge, building relationships, and interacting with content and with other members of the online community. These tools allow learners to learn independently, more quickly, and more efficiently, and to be more productive and effective as a result. Most of the content in these systems is user generated and user rated for interest, relevance, and helpfulness. The tools most commonly used by organizations for social learning purposes are wikis and social networking tools such as discussion boards, blogs, video uploading platforms, and podcasting.

Today’s socially enabled web is changing customer service and support. In fact, it is the very thing that has so many in Public Relations and Marketing scratching their heads. Service and support are the result of a medium (social media and social networking technology) that is bidirectional. Customers are not just in control of the message, they are expecting you to listen and act upon what you hear.

Have you heard Jason speak or seen him online?  Social Media Marketing is talked about a lot – not often with this kind of value, fun or authentic, candid style.  Lets just say he’s our kind of guy, but we’re a biased bunch and have no shame when it comes to kissing up to our favorite Forbes Magazines’ Top 50 Power Influencers in Social Media.

Our apologies to respected friends and thought leaders we love who also made the list like, Scott Monty, Amber Naslund, Pam Moore, Lori Ruff, Jeff Bullas, Steve Farnsworth and Ann Handley*

Five reasons that you need to be on Jason’s Falls’ webcast, “Moving the Needle: Using Social Media to Advance Your Business,” tomorrow:

1. You will learn how to move from “conversation,” to “conversion.”

2. You will learn how to protect your reputation.

3. You will learn how to build community. 

4. You will learn how to enhance your brand and build awareness.

5. It’s free and will be way more fun and educational than whatever you had planned.

*More kissing up

Work should be fun.  That means a lot of things  - like caring about your work, being more engaged and being more productive. You can accomplish some of this by working on things you love and enjoy (making work less work?). You can accomplish it by communicating in less frustrating ways and making it easier to find information that matters. You can also accomplish it by laughing more and not taking everything so seriously.

My great friend Jim Pelley travels around the globe as a keynote speaker and expert on laughter in the workplace. He talks about using humor to embrace risk, manage change, provide better customer service and more.  You can do great work and be productive without feeling like you want the day to be over so you can move on to something more fun.

So today, if you’re stressed and feeling the pressure of deadlines and commitments. Just say, “Chicken pot, chicken pot, chicken pot pie!”

Have a laugh today and everyday!

Share something that makes you laugh at work!  Do you have permission for work to be fun?  Please share your experience with us!