A Pastor Goes to smAlbany…

No, it is not the start to a lame joke, but I served as a panelist at smAlbany.  smAlbany is a yearly small business gathering put on by Liberteks.com.  This year was the 5th Annual smAlbany Small Business Expo.  smAlbany focuses on the technology aspect of networking, business, and career development.  I quickly discovered that smAlbany is a pejorative term for Albany, NY – “small-bany”  The urban dictionary even has an entry for it.

So how did a pastor end up on a panel for a business expo?  Good question.  In addition to my blog here, I also blog for the Times Union Newspaper as their protestant religion blogger.  Michael Huber, the online content manger, thought it would be a great idea to have me as a panelist on the subject of, “Local Social Media and Your Customers.”  In addition to myself, the panel consisted of

• Vic Christopher, Assistant General Manager, Tri-City ValleyCats
• Merci Miglino, Speaker, trainer, and author
• Sonja Stark, Videographer and owner of PilotGirl Productions
• Lissa DAquanni, Adjunct Professor and small business owner

As you can see, it is a very eclectic mix of people and professions.  I would say the seminar was well attended and provided people loads of information on social media. Alright, enough with the background.  You are probably thinking, “What did they talk about?”

It was amazing to be on the panel and in be in the room with business owners, bloggers, reporters, job seekers, and social networking junkies.  I joked about being on a panel of business people and even pondered why I was there.  The discussion began with some general thoughts about social meeting and its benefits. I gave a general perspective from that of a non-profit organization.  Our “customers” (I use that term very loosely) are congregation members and the community. As a church, we seek to reach out to people through our website, my blogs, email, Facebook, and twitter.

Things quickly got interesting.  For some strange reason, we got on the topic of the kids homeowner in Delmar that got in trouble during a ding-dong-ditch prank.  The conversation also revolved around a situation that occurred on the Times Union blogs site about the matter.  I could not believe we were talking about this incident.  To me, it was a small town news story.  Surely, there are bigger stories out there.  The viral power of the story is what made it news.

There was a question and answer time and the panelists commented on the nature of community, communication, reaching out to people, and social networking.  I saw the conversation revolving around how social media/networking are tools.  I stated that the reason why young people connect online is because they want to be a part of something.  We all desire to be a part of something greater than ourselves.  Social networking is just a tool to connect.  That translates into business.  You want to get your name and product out there and online social media is a way to do that.

By the way, if you ever get the change to meet Vic Christopher, the Assistant General Manager of the Tri-City ValleyCats, do it.  Vic is a dynamic personality and is good at what he does.  He is a businessman without being a businessman.  His knack for story telling and connecting to people is something that the everyone in the room experienced.

As we went through the conversation about blogging and posting information online, I brought the issue of ethics.  For some reason, that really resounded with people.  A few people came up to me afterwords and thanked me for talking about ethics.  Someone commented about it on Twitter. Just like journalists, bloggers have a responsibility of giving credible and accurate information.   Sure, amateur blogging is not journalism, but all bloggers must adhere to the same standards. The ethical aspect of online blogging is something that everyone thinks is a good idea but is often not discussed.  We even talked  about the national story of Shirley Sherrod losing her job because “journalist” Andrew Breitbart posted an out of context video video of her.

I was able to give a few closing comments concerning the nature of social media and networking.  I remarked that Twitter, Facebook, and other social media sites use the model of “followers” and “following.”  Twitter is the clearest example of this.  Everyone’s profile is track by how many people are following you and how many people you are following.  I cautioned the audience on this concept because it lends to a mentality of following a leader.  Leaders are great.  I’m one, but the key is that I lead people to Christ.  I do not want people to “follow” me blindly.  The concept of a “following” is tricky.  We can get pretty deep into our own narcissism thinking that we are the greatest thing since Justin Bieber.

As someone who has a degree in Communication/Public Relations, I felt that I could add something useful.  In addition, my perspective of being a Pastor who blogs, tweets, and facebooks (a verb now), I felt that my general perspective of my experiences and beliefs added to the mix of professionals on the panel.

I would like to thank Michael Huber of the Times Union for giving me this wonderful opportunity.  Thank you for everyone who attended and thank you to the talented panelists.