Attention 2009 Emerson Exchange (Sept 28-Oct 2) presenters–your presentations are due for review in a mere two weeks (June 26). This fact jolted me more than my typical few cups of coffee this morning.
I huddled with Emerson’s Deb Franke to flesh out our Thriving in Chaos presentation. Given the trying economic times in which most businesses find themselves, it seems this chaos is not abating.
The presentations we’ve given in the past (2007, 2008) have focused more on the social media (a.k.a. Web 2.0) applications and the benefits of their use. This year we want to lift the focus to the results of what you may be trying to accomplish in your work and career, and how these applications can amplify your efforts.
One example is to better establish thought leadership around your expertise. ModelingAndControl.com‘s Greg McMillan wrote about this in his What Have I Learned? – Writing post. He shared:
I would guess 100 or more automation professionals are retiring each year who have published at best an infinitesimally small portion of their expertise for posterity.
It does not require a blog to build thought leadership around your area of expertise. It can be through email lists like ISA’s Technical and Industry Discussion Lists, supplier product sites like our DeltaV LinkedIn and Facebook groups, comments on industry and automation blogs, or aggregated sites you might create such as the Process Safety Room in FriendFeed. In turn, this can lead to articles, mentions in books, podcasts, business press, and others who turn to you for your expertise.
Two short weeks and much thought baking to do–I’d better get going. If you’re also presenting, best of luck in pulling yours together too!