Cross-Pollinating Associations and Social Media

As Triangle Tweetup, our local gathering of Twitter fans, was getting started last night, I noticed a series of great points coming out of the social media discussion at IABC Toronto at the same time. Surrounded by over a hundred energetic Twitter users, I wondered how associations like IABC, AMA, PRSA, CIPR, and CPRS—forgive me for not knowing all of them around the world—could tap into the energy of local social media communities. Once the initial culture shock wore off, I think they would find huge benefits from a total immersion experience.

I promise this won't become one of those overdone "Twitter's so cool!" posts, but let me point out what happened within the span of, oh, 30 seconds last night:

• The quick presentations at Triangle Tweetup started (good stuff).

• I got a direct message (DM) through Twitter about a possible speaking opportunity (very good stuff).

• I started seeing very good points being made in a panel discussion 700 miles away (#iabcto). Sorry I couldn't be there, but the distance... (and there was a tweetup I needed to attend).

So Twitter was serving me well, and the networking was great, but I was surrounded by a crowd of people who don't need to be convinced about social media. Meanwhile, so many marketers and communicators still seem to need Social Media 101.

Hmmm...
For the association folks whose members want (need) to learn their way around social media: What would happen if...

• your association sponsored a gathering of the local social media crowd and promoted the (free) event to your membership?

• your association teamed up with the social media crowd for a cobranded event?

• your chapter leaders explored the local social media scene to discover local speakers for meetings?

• your members figured out how much they can learn when they discover tweetups, Social Media Club, or Social Media Breakfast?
  

Companies are cutting back on travel, so it's a great time to make the most of local resources. Putting chapters together with local experts and enthusiasts would be great chemistry.

The only question is, can old-school marketers and communicators handle the unfiltered social media experience? We don't want any heads to explode.