I’m very excited to be joining an inspiring line-up at Web Directions South in a few weeks’ time, presenting on the topic of Creating platforms for social innovation:
People are redefining the relationship they have with the organisations they interact with, empowered by social technologies. They are seeking:
- Human-ness: as organisations have grown in size and become more and more depersonalised, people are wanting more human interactions and personal response;
- Trust: from greenwashing to the GFC, the market’s trust has been eroded — people are looking for organisations to say what they mean and mean what they say;
- Co-creation: people are taking a more active role in developing the products and services that they use. And if they don’t find what they’re looking for, they will often create it themselves;
- Responsibility: people want to engage with organisations that are genuinely addressing the complex issues of sustainability and wellbeing.
Building a brand, service or product offering that resonates in this new “economy of meaning” requires a rethinking of an organisation’s relationship to the “market” — their customers, stakeholders and the environment.
In this presentation we will examine how innovative organisations are using social technologies and design methods to create multi-dimensional value — both for the organisational and community — and will explore the themes that underpin the examples with a view to applying them in your context.
Regular readers will note that the session is focused on a number of themes that I’ve been exploring here lately, so I’m really looking forward to connecting with other folks at the conference around these concepts.