I was at a meeting this morning in Boston with a new client, The Strategy Group.
When the discussion turned to twitter, they asked the same questions that I asked before I started using it. Why would I care if Chris Brogan was getting on a train or what he ate for lunch?
I brought up the twitter main screen and told them we were going to ask my followers a question.
We decided on this:
I'm at a meeting with twitter skeptics... If you've got a sec, could you say hi and maybe point to twitter success stories?Then we went over to twitter search and watched the responses pour in.
It was impressive, and exciting to see the power of the community in real time.
Here's a copy and paste of the responses that we saw, in reverse chronological order:
pwgruman: @stevegarfield can you share some of the stories folks sent you re: twitter skeptics?I told them that no matter where I go, I feel like I've always got my community with me.
susankitchens: Aaawww, idn't dat tweet? Searched Twitter for @stevegarfield: http://tinyurl.com/6akfpb (expand). he asked, "why's twitter cool?" read and be glad.
sblackburn: @stevegarfield Hi Steve -- twitter is great and a must use tool for connecting
clarkityclark: @stevegarfield Just curious. How many responses did you get? Thanks!
AugeoBenefits: @stevegarfield hey steve and everyone he's chatting with, here's a good one. Check out @comcastcares blog. www.timetobefrank.com
OrganicaDeluxe: @stevegarfield Found media leads thru twitter 4 new co. Organica Deluxe. @kabster728 @ WSJ recently wrote great article explaining twitter
vonwolffe: @stevegarfield Guten tag ... @rocketboom 4100+ followers, @kevinrose 70,000+ followers, @socialmediaclub 13,000 followers
geechee_girl: @stevegarfield any time :)
clarkityclark: @stevegarfield From Wired Magazine: Activists use Twitter to Manage Anti-War Protesters. http://tinyurl.com/2tyj5n (expand)
Michael_Hoffman: @stevegarfield Did you tell them about Tweetsgiving?
howardlindzon: @stevegarfield ping me with any questions about @stocktwits happy to help explain
hrheingold: @stevegarfield http://bit.ly/bWlH (expand) Crowdsourcing ideas about libraries in 2009: a Twitter story by @bryanalexander
mmpartee: @stevegarfield Hello twitter skeptics. Good place to start: Pistachio - http://twurl.nl/ih6h4p (expand)
GuidoS: @stevegarfield hi
howefitz: @stevegarfield Hi! Tweeting's helped me connect to people I'm interested in for advice/support. http://howefitz.com/blog/?p=47
clarkityclark: RT @stevegarfield I'm at a meeting with twitter skeptics. If you've got a sec, could you say hi and maybe point to twitter success stories?
dnsf: @stevegarfield http://tinyurl.com/4w9dmo (expand)
huffpost: @stevegarfield I'm skeptical of journalists who find diffidence toward social media a winning strategy. Do they have any success stories ...
jayrosen_nyu: @stevegarfield I'm skeptical of journalists who find diffidence toward social media a winning strategy. Do they have any success stories?
troutscout: @stevegarfield Howdy to you and the skeptics.
clarkityclark: @stevegarfield: @arunshanbhag was written about in the NYtimes re: the role of twitter during the attacks in India http://tinyurl.com/5bfx35 (expand)
ldlow: @stevegarfield Hi! Zappos is my fave SS http://is.gd/aHQr (expand)
johnwilpers: @stevegarfield Need any more, Steve?
johnbaloney: @stevegarfield remind the skeptics that when I go to your twitter page I see everything you posted while I wasn't looking at twitter
eric_guerin: @stevegarfield Hey Steve - I've used Twitter for the past 1½ years & have received several work projects from the relationships I've built
mattceni: @stevegarfield - we helped @alleyesonjenny . if there's anything i can do for you (FedEx wise), please let me know.
MHJohnston: @stevegarfield When immediate isn't fast enough. Twitter allows me to track the zeitgeist of NOW not an hour ago.
stales: @stevegarfield Twitter success story: Thanks for @amandamooney, Friday's $5 Twitter challenge $3,423 from 98 donors for my Foundation.
Genevangelist: @stevegarfield @stocktwits is a huge success in the financial arena & uses $ for stock symbol tags - try the Firefox ext - it's so cool
jtrentadams: @stevegarfield Twitter is a great way for a number of groups quickly and easily keeping each other on top of distributed conversations.
AllEyesOnJenny: @stevegarfield recently I got help/answers after an annoying issue with FedEx (people RT'd my problem & I got contacted by Media Relations!)
mjcarrasquillo: @stevegarfield Hello Steve, without twitter, I would miss live events and slices of life that all of my great twitter followers are posting.
karyhead: @stevegarfield I got a job and moved to NYC because of asking for job leads on twitter.
caff: @stevegarfield - comcast cares: http://tinyurl.com/5gfbbm (expand)
AllEyesOnJenny: @stevegarfield my Jetblue flight way delayed out of Boston, no one in the terminal could help me so I twittered @jetblue and got an answer!
janeporricelli: @stevegarfield Hi! And http://tinyurl.com/5venx4 (expand)
BrotherMagneto: @stevegarfield My favourite is UK-based @lastminute_com who use Twitter to run promotions, but also for 1:1 engagement, listening and ?s.
dcSportsGuy: @stevegarfield good morni Steve! Here's a real life example from the American Cancer Society ... hope this helps! http://hex.io/2np
adrums: @stevegarfield (more) Lee (Stranahan) & I first learned of the Universal Studios fires on twitter one Sunday AM (right in our own backyard)
geechee_girl: @stevegarfield raising money for @stales foundation and @tweetsgiving, finding me writing and consulting clients, meeting people in person
manifest_mag: @stevegarfield Hi Twitter skeptics... That's ok guys, it took my 6 months to understand how twitter could be at all useful.
motivationmama: @stevegarfield thanks for the follow back!
jmeserve: @stevegarfield got a great podcast out of a twitter exchange with @jtrentadams - http://is.gd/a37x (expand)
adrums: @stevegarfield Hey Steve- I'd say the best part about twitter is that I'm turned on to links almost daily that save me either time or money
jeffhibbard: @stevegarfield Most of my favorite blogs I read came from tweets or recommendations from twitterers :)
johnwilpers: @stevegarfield Or the LA fires: LAT reporters were twittering on the current status of the fire AT THAT MOMENT ("the fire has crossed...")
RyanDeschamps: @stevegarfield and you could look at #tweetsgiving . They raised $10,000 in 2 days for a school in Tanzania. Lots of business potential.
briandigital: @stevegarfield we at @UIE use Twitter for business as well as pleasure. We track how attendees are enjoying our conferences, in real time.
mainelife: @stevegarfield Hi Steve. Twitter was very effective in reporting on the violence in Kenya earlier this year.
johnherman: @stevegarfield I've made a bunch of valuable creative and business contacts through Twitter. Several job offers too.
jeffhibbard: @stevegarfield Hi Steve! Twitter is how I found out about YOU! How can you not love that? !
cksthree: @stevegarfield hi to all your twitter skeptics. twitter success stories... hmm. I can usually get questions answered quickly by asking here
GregoryLent: @stevegarfield ha, here is one .. @davidcushman put a piece of my art on the cover of his book, we only met here in the twitterverse
johnwilpers: @stevegarfield How about the RNC? Alternative papers were twittering & got tweets about a disturbance MSM papers did not. Beat'em badly!
RyanDeschamps: @stevegarfield I have found a local network for the library that I could not catch via blogging. They force me to learn their needs.
JustinKownacki: @stevegarfield Hi Steve. By "success stories," do you mean the way Twitter was used in Mumbai? Or any of the health-based donation drives?
jesseluna: @stevegarfield Hi, Twitter is a great way to point interested people to Web site resources, ...almost instantly! ~Macom mgr for tech co.
missleah26: @stevegarfield Hi to the skeptics! For company success stories, check out @zappos, @starbucks, @wholefoods, @jetblue, & @dunkindonuts!
StevenWillis: @stevegarfield take a look at MarkMayhew, using twitter to coordinate his efforts around huricane relief. Started in NOLA, now in TX.
MichaelTurk: @stevegarfield Hi! Take a look at @ComcastCares. Frank Eliason at Comcast has done huge things for their customer service reputation
RyanDeschamps: @stevegarfield Hey Twitter skeptics. Twitter looks different to the people inside than it does from the outside.
teensygreen: @stevegarfield Hi there! I'm a freelance copywriter who has landed two gigs through people I've met on Twitter! Try it, you'll like it!
DaveTitle: @stevegarfield Don't be skeptics, folks. Twitter is not a game-changer per se but ignoring or shunning it closes you off to possibility
lisajohnson: @stevegarfield Hi Steve! I brought in a new line of clothing through twitter to my biz and I've gotten 3 new clients & 2 writing gigs!
Thanks to everyone who participated.
Want more?
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