EuroBlog has come and gone. And it is the gone that I am thinking about... Three packed days, old friends and new faces, some fascinating presentations and many stimulating conversations. As expected, almost every element of the Brussels Symposium highlighted sharp contrasts between the perspectives and objectives of the participants; naturally, there was a split between practitioners and academics, but also clear distinctions in culture, notably but not only between USA and Europe and a sometimes barely supressed tension between those who thought they understood social media and those they thought don't.
Personally, there were times I felt my position was in the centre of the debate, a fertile ground where several conceptions overlap; that along with a handful of other people, I grasped the implications of social media for public rerlations and could therefore accommodate the aspirations of theory whilst being alive to the realities of practice.
Then, maybe five minutes later, I was feeling terribly lonely and confused; am I the only person who thinks like I do? How can I disagree to a more or less significant extent with almost everyone here (not least some of my closest colleagues)?
In the event, I spent quite a lot of the Symposium is the 'lonely and disorientated' frame.
Being there, I was convinced that the important thing was to make sure EuroBlog isn't 'gone'.
Practically, that means setting up a EuroBlog wiki (please help!). But it is more about trying to collate, assimilate and order the information and ideas in a way that helps participants, real and virtual, to do something constructive with the blizzard of ideas Brussels generated.
For some, including Neville Hobson, the real action was on Twitter. For others, the true worth of the Symposium would only be measured by academic papers that might take months, even years, to emerge. Lack of timeliness, combined with a dearth of diverse and meaningful case studies, were valid criticisms of the academic approach.
But I also fear that the debate that moves this quickly has only limited value. The most effective contributors will be those who assimilate ideas in relatively focused areas and go on to produce widely accessible outputs.
I wonder how any of them there will be....?
After months of planning, it is hard to believe that the EuroBlog2008 Symposium begins on Thursday! We have just posted the final programme on the EuroBlog site and it looks pretty impressive!
Personally, I am very much looking forward to (and very nervous about!) giving a presentation with Steve Rubel, David Weinberger and Neville Hobson. I am looking at PR and social media, five years back, five years on, trying to assess the changes, and trying to predict what we will be saying at EuroBlog2013!
The speed of change has been quite phenomenal. As ever, Constantin's New PR Wiki has been an invaluable resource, and it has been truly fascinating to see how our thinking has moved forward.
I have suggested to Steve and Neville that neither of them could have begun to predict the extent to which what we now call social media would have on their working lives. Any thoughts Mediations readers have would be most appreciated!
Like any good academic, my response to the "What comes next?" question, and the "What does it all mean?" question will be unequivocal - we need to do more research! Feel free to make add your own speculations, and to mention points I might make to Steve, David and Neville.
If you haven't booked already, we still have a few places left - but be quick!!!! If you can't make it to Brussels, thanks to Philippe Borremans and his team at Blackline, you can watch live conferece footage here...
Following on from Stuttgart and Ghent, I am delighted to be part of the programme commitee for Euprera's EuroBlog2008 Spring Symposium, which will be held in Brussels in March. The three-day event, Social media and the future of PR: New ideas, new research, new business, will bring together researchers and practitoners to explore the possibilities and realities of what I am still prepared to call the New PR.
By identifying and presenting examples of best practice, empirical investigation and new concepts for modelling and understanding the rapid changes in relationship management, EuroBlog 2008 will shape the agenda for social media discussion.
Papers are invited which address these questions:
• How can academic research lead and support the ways in which practitioners embrace social media?
• How should academics approach teaching social media (both in terms of course content and pedagogy)?
• What are the societal implications of social media (democracy, accountability, privacy)?
We are also inviting contributions that will inspire new thinking on the four key themes.
• Five years on: Has the New PR delivered on its promises?
• Five years ahead: What will the future look like?
• Social networking: Personal privacy and the public sphere.
• Changing our minds?: Value exchange and the psychology of social networks.
• For full details please visit www.euroblog2008.org
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