There has been no shortage of conversation about online networking in the last year. Communities such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter are a fantastic resource to all - But what are the true business benefits of Social networking?
‘Social networking sites are great to catch-up with old friends, share photographs, music and links but in this climate does the executive community have time for this?’ Asked Spencer Green CEO of MeettheBoss.com - the business networking service. ’’Credit isn’t the only casualty of the crunch: time is another scarce resource for executives, they need immediate value when online’’ and reports show he is right with 200,000 executives world-wide flooding to his business site for answers since its re-launch on May 11th 2009.
US executives are leading the way with nearly 100,000 new active members from companies such as Wal-mart, GE, Procter and Gamble, Citi and Shell signing up. “The influx of new US business members could be associated to the Economic downturn or just simply because the American executive is more innate to the new technology, either way they have embraced the site and are reaching out to the world through MeettheBoss.com’’ – Harlan Davis – Director - MeettheBoss.com
The website has also expanded into key vertical channels such as Telecoms, Pharmaceuticals, Oil and Gas and Utilities. Each industry channel is limited to 20,000 users and provides specific content and contacts related to the user, such walled communities provide each executive an exclusive platform to share ideas and communicate with peers from around the world securely and privately.
If you are a key executive not related directly to the aforementioned channels, you are invited to the horizontal network of business management where you can pick up leadership lessons and business learning from executives like Manfred Fitzgerald, Director of Brand & Design at Lamborghini, Vinton Cerf – Chief Evangelist at Google and Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos . New industry channels will be create on request of the users, the next month will see manufacturing and retail launch.
‘Meet the boss is a new, modern, convenient networking and information platform. I tried to use MeettheBoss on a daily basis, for networking and information research. Meettheboss TV is not only interesting but also enjoyable.’ Detlaf Guenther – CISO – Volkwagen.
‘The site is professional and easy to navigate. Good to see the outside perspective for every executive’ Dragan Majetic - Vice-President Strategic Marketing -Merz Pharmaceuticals.
The sites features include free video conferencing and roundtable functionality, instant messaging, email, calendar, a fully searchable whitepaper module, and most importantly, ‘smartwords’ – an intelligent spine around which the whole site sits.“MeettheBoss.com was built on an ever-expanding database of keywords, dedicated to specific industries,” explains Harlan. “A very cool new central console ‘feeds’ each member specific content, people, and broadcasts based on their activity across the site – from the weather, to industry blogs, contacts, and even news from their favorite newspapers. ‘Smartwords’ means you get everything in one place unique to you, quickly and easily. And if you want to connect with a network of your peers/colleagues at the same time, or join in a live peer-led discussion group, well, you can do that too. It’s the ultimate aggregator”
It seems like sites such as MeettheBoss are the future of Web 2.0. - Well 200,000 executives seem to agree
Questions
Why are executives rushing to join online communities?
What is the true business value of online networking?
Is mere contact building enough? Or will sites have to be more innovative to maintain interest?
And if so, what next?
Will face-to-face contact ever be replaced?
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