Everyone looks for those epic stories about how social media enables the unbelievable to become believable, but what story do you have to share that really qualifies for such a feat? It's tough, in this day and age, to do something that tops a previous, more notable social media story. It's really about the big ticket item more than it is anything else, isn't it? I mean, who cares about the simple things.
Free media turns everyone into a voice, capable of saying, sharing and showing anything they want. As long as there is someone on the other side waiting to consume. But what about a story that talks about human connection, the ones that require and encourage basic senses of curiosity, bringing unknown people together, at least those who have the will to do something out of the box?
Try this tale on for size. It's a little anecdotal story about how a man with a BIG JOB, went out on a limb because he had no other choice. Doug MacDonald (@doug_cdn), responsible for Partnership Management at the Qtel Group, took on the challenge of assembling Qtel Group's 1st Social Media Summit. A first of its kind conference, #QG2012 was geared to bring together global leaders, including global giants @facebook and @google, Qtel Group's global family of companies such as @Indosatmania (see complete list below), existing and potential partners such as @TheOnlineProj (see complete list below), each represented by individuals with stories of success and failure. Then, there was Doug, who shared his own humanly perceptive take on social media - one that professes, "we're all snowboarders", the reference to which is left solely for those who 'get it'.
With just 48 hours before kicking off #QG2012, his first social media summit for Qtel Group, one of the GCC's biggest and most notable telecommunication giants, Doug found himself in a pickle; one of the most anticipated speakers at the summit had to drop out last minute. Equipped only with the sole intention of pulling off a major social media conference, Doug had a tall order of assembling 2 days of intense, back-to-back social media success stories beyond borders. What he didn't anticipate is that he would inadvertently end up creating a success story as a result of his own predicament.
Aimed at bringing together insights on the social media pulse, #QG2012's focus was primarily on emerging markets such as the Middle East, South and Southeast Asia. With one spot left, Doug tweeted to Catriona Oldershaw (@CatrionaTweets) in an attempt to get an equally strong global name to attend and speak at the summit. Catriona, who heads @Synthesio's UK operation, not only responded to the tweet, but within a few hours was on the phone with Doug, sharing the excitement about this event and @Synthesio's explicit interest in participating. The only issue they both faced was that the event was in less than 24 hours from the time Doug reached out to her (screenshot below) and if anyone can relate, getting a long-haul flight out of London on such short notice isn't always easy.
Nevertheless, moments after their call, Catriona assigned the task to her social media superstar, Barry Furby (@barryfurby), who had less than a blink of an eye to pack, get a ticket, prepare a presentation and fly from London to Doha, in time to attend #QG2012.
And this is the story of Doug's #epicwin and how twitter really does work for those who really want it to. A big shout out to @Synthesio, believers of social media, who acted without fear. That's the power of social!
The rest is twistory.
Qtel Group companies presenting at #QG2012:
@QtelQatar @witribePK @WataniyaTelecom @WMpalestine @wataniya @nawras_oman
Super companies presenting at #QG2012:
@qatarairways @QNBGroup @Netizency @MeltwaterBuzz @Synthesio @LithiumTech
@facebook @google @TheOnlineProj @umwwtweets
Zohare is a tri-lingual communications professional, with a Bachelors in life, now living and earning in Qatar. He still tweets as @JJBaybee