Online ‘social experiment' pays off
4 November 08What do you do if you are about to go to a city on the other side of the world for a business event where you know nobody and have never been before? Network online prior to departure of course!
Yvette Adams of The Creative Collective will depart for New York on Thursday 13 November to compete at the international women's awards, The Stevie Awards where she is a finalist in the Best Asian Entrepreneur category.
Although she travelled for seven years in over 40 countries prior to settling on the Sunshine Coast at the end of 2004 with her partner Steven Leavy and then 10 month old son Rio, she has never made it to the East Coast of America. Due to work commitments and the logistics of travelling with a young family (Rio is now 4 years and her youngest Matisse, just 21 months), Adams made the tough decision to go it alone, but ever thinking ahead, decided to perform a little social experiment by placing postings on various social networking websites such as Facebook, Linkedin.com and others to see just how powerful a tool they could be.
“Within days I received in excess of 40 responses from people I have a close and recent personal or professional relationship with, plus those I had literally not spoken to in over 10 years, all keen to share their tips, tricks and insights into how to make the most of my time there. Whilst some were of a ‘take the subway to this place, it's really cool' type of thing, others were offers of formal business introductions to some really excellent contacts,” says Adams.
Just one offer has resulted in her being a ‘guest of honour' at the New Zealand Trade and Enterprises Annual Networking function which will take place within hours of her getting off the plane in New York.
“I used to be fairly heavily involved in the New Zealand expat community in London and I know from those days the incredible contacts and opportunities that can arise from events like this. So I have fore-warned them that I may be somewhat dishevelled from a long flight but that I'll certainly be there - I feel the opportunity is too good to pass up and with my time there so limited I want to make the most of every moment!”
Adams also has meetings lined up with a brand consultant, an advertising agency, and others relevant to her field in the hope of in forming trans-Pacfici strategic alliances. With the recent economic developments including fluctuations in the exchange rates, she is hoping to pick up further American or international clients (she currently works with several) interested in contracting creatives in Australia at a lesser price than they would pay for local talent.
“The international clients work very well for us – we start working on things when they go to bed and by the time they're back at their desks, the job is there waiting for them. They also seem to really appreciate the objectivity we can offer them coming at it with a fresh pair of eyes from over here,” she says.
For further information on social media tactics see The Creative Collective's blog, http://creativecollectivethoughts.com/ which features a growing range of articles and podcasts on topics related to marketing and the internet.