We had a fantastic evening last night at the MIT Enterprise Forum dinner on social software / social networking. I was the lead volunteer, and am really glad that it went so well, but also glad it is over!
Highlights for me were in meeting and getting to know Konstantin Guericke, co-founder of LinkedIn - bright, articulate and interesting, as well as our other panelists, Liz Lawley (smart! -- with strong opinions about usability) got the debate going - and Bill Bryant, of Mophone, a new mobile technology company. Veteran news man Mike Flynn, president and publisher of the Puget Sound Business Journal was a very good moderator, keeping all on track, and asking important questions.
What was great in doing this project was talking to people like Craig Newmark of Craigslist, Malcolm Gladwell, Esther Dyson, and people from Jobster, Friendster, Classmates, and others.
Social computing - social networking and social capital all tie into selling in ways that are obvious (referral marketing) and in ways we can't even see yet. Since about 75% of my business is done through referral, I am studying and working to learn more about social software trends and tools. I'll write more about this after hearing Malcolm Gladwell speak at Learning 2005 next week.