Recently at the National Workers' Compensation and Disability Conference in Las Vegas I had the opportunity to participate in an after hours reception that was hopefully entertaining and informative. The exclusive event, sponsored by ISG, featured John Plotkin, Joe Paduda and me discussing the impact of social media on the workplace. The panel was moderated by ISG CEO, Bob Reardon.
The event, called Social Media: SAFE & Uncensored, was videotaped. That video has been published and is now available. You may watch it here.
Experienced readers of the Cluttered Desk know that John Plotkin was a central figure regularly featured here last year after his abrupt and improper termination as CEO of SAIF Corporation in Oregon. The saga surrounding Plotkin and the hundreds of SAIF employees who fought for his return will someday be the topic of business school case studies, but today it serves as one of the dramatic lessons of the power of social media affecting corporate operations and strategy. Social media – including blogs, Facebook and more, played a huge role in how that story ultimately played out. I enjoyed this reception, and the opportunity to talk about what we learned in that process.
Social Media has forever changed our industry. It has altered the communication paradigm, and that requires executives and their companies today to think and act differently than in the past. The relative availability of information via social media platforms is a game changer. The workers' compensation industry, as the Plotkin saga demonstrated, is not immune from the rules of this new game.
Again, you may view the 45 minute panel session here.