Changing Places and Platforms and Names

After a long Summer break with feet in the sand and sea (yes, we all need that sometimes), I am coming back to the blog to say that it soon will be moving. I find that with the increase of people in my network accessing from China, the less accessible I am. I have used Google blogger with YouTube as my host for a long time, but alas, I think it is time to move on (at least for business purposes).

At the beginning of Summer, I made the leap, or plunge to go back to Apple. I converted my phone, my laptop, my desktop, my network and even invested in an iPad for development of the forthcoming interactive "book" development. This has left me with a Summer of relearning and discovering the world of Apple and how to do what I need from this platform designed for user-friendliness. My old html coded webpage has to be redesigned and images need tweaking, but I am loving the ability to finally edit my films that I have been accumulating. So there are a lot of good things to come.

With time to reflect, I realized that the majority of my time being dedicated to advisory services and workshops based on the Art of Social Strategy. I need to move away from 2BalanceU as a brand to avoid confusion. So I will be moving my blog and my website shortly (don't worry this will all link over so you need not go looking for it) to one carrying my name.

Oh yes, and lastly (but not least), the demand for my services is greater than my available time, without diminishing the quality. (This is a blessing, thank you, I do appreciate your interest.) There are after all, only so many hours in the day and days in the week. First, I will be bringing in some interns this Fall to train them to run the workshops and help with keeping the research and cases up to date (nothing like stimulating the economy with more work). Plus, I will be collaborating with several organizations and groups to create learning materials that you can be used both online and off in an interactive way.

So as they say, back to work!

Rebranding, repositioning and renaming

It is time again to re-evaluate my own strategic communications.  Too many channels and a changing business require adjustment to the current needs of 2BalanceU.  I am currently writing content for an interactive piece that will support and provide more clarity for my current lecturing, speaking and consulting.

I try to be true to my commitment to Balance (literally, professionally and figuratively).  Therefore managing three blogs, six twitter accounts, 2 companies, two face to face networks and being an ambassador (not to mention mother, wife and friend) and keep healthy in the process, somethings gotta give. Time to practice what I PREACH!  Discover efficiencies, have clarity and be relevant for maximum effectiveness.

Keep an eye out for some new changes.  I hope you will be happy with the improved context, and perhaps a few interesting and entertaining anecdotes while we are at it.

What is “Social” and why do I care?

Driven by the belief that knowledge is power and sharing is powerful, I dedicate my work to creating better understanding of the social tools that enable sharing of knowledge both in organizations and their stakeholders. The global benefit will be a greater use of knowledge resources to stimulate development and more effective and sustainable growth. Social begins with people.

The tools available today from new media to global networks and their events provide us with the ability to have far greater reach and impact with our social interactions. Handled wisely with strategic forethought, each one of us has the power to be a change-maker. With the right social strategy each organization has the power to make the world a better place, while improving their bottom line.

Social tools are not limited to new media or social media. They are the social interactions we have face to face that we support through online interactions. They are the communities we choose to support and participate it. They are the relationships that we develop and nurture over time that define us and the people that we interact with. They are the opportunities to interact with like minded people. When we understand how to use them more wisely.

Conversation Prism by Brian Solis & Jess Thomas

Great graphic for continuing the conversation on social tools:

The Conversation Prism by Brian Solis and Jesse Thomas

Growing Business Through New Media at Global Summit of Women

Growing Business Through New Media for Entrepreneurs

Growing Business Through New Media

View more presentations from Heidi Forbes Öste.

Here are the slides from my presentation at the Global Summit of Women in Beijing last week. The panel was titled Growing your Business through New Media. The other panelists were Bobbi Dangerfield from DELL and Kristina Bouweiri from Reston Limousine.

Social Strategy needed for Economic Recovery

“Honesty, integrity, cooperation, collaboration, partnerships that mutually benefit and respect, public engagement, accountability, transparency, role models, knowledge sharing, perspective.“ These are all words that we are hearing repeatedly in the common theme of the Global Summit of Women in Beijing . From Maud Olofsson, Deputy Prime Minister of Sweden (so glad to see her here as a role model for Swedish women professionals) to Rosie Rios, Treasurer of the United States, to Wang Lili, Senior Executive Vice President, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China in their session on Global Mega-Trends of the Economy to the Leading Corporate Change CEO Forum with Microsoft, Haier, Boeing, Korn Ferry execs all leading the call for action. This is no small talk. It is not whining about problem, it is talking about solutions. They mean business when it comes to making the case for change and how it can happen.

The solutions and themes share something at the root: SOCIAL. I came here not only to speak on Growing Business through New Media, but also to see what women of influence are talking about and to whom. Who are the companies that are investing in making a difference through engagement and CSR? I want to know which companies and organizations realize and walk the talk to the 50+% of their market and 80% of their decision makers on the purchase of their products and services. They come together here to make a difference and it is resounding. As an advisor on social strategy I believe it is critical for companies and organization to get involved in people not just the technology they use and platforms of networking.

This is just the first morning, but I am glad to be here and will be writing more as the event continues. My connection is limited, so I will work with what I have got. Pictures will be posted when I return to Sweden and my beloved unrestricted access and bandwidth. Some things we just take too much for granted. (It will be nice to get back to the balance with men too, a little too much estrogen can be a bit overwhelming.)

written on Day One of the Global Summit of Women in Beijing, but unable to post until now. More to come...