Using social media to build strong professional relationships

Mike McCurry

Mike McCurry, the author of the popular blog McCurry’s Corner and a long-time event planning industry professional and technology advocate, gives us some insight on the value of building professional relationships online.

Don’t believe social media can forge strong professional relationships?

Experienced event industry pro Mike McCurry began experimenting with Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook just before the recession and quickly realized the remarkable kinds of connections that social technology can make possible when used in a genuine way. With no background in web development and after some initial experimentation with tools and platforms to see which was best for his needs, he built a blog of his own and began managing and growing more professional relationships online. The engagement on his blog and hashtag conversations on Twitter quickly turned into phone conversations, and the community grew offline.

He met Liz Strauss on Twitter, who is a founder of the Successful Online Business Conference (SOBCon). “After we were introduced online, I called her and attended SOBCon. The celebrities I met there, and the technology and events at SOBCon made it an amazing experience.”

There he met Steve Farber, an outstanding author and public speaker on leadership, JJ French, a manager and guitarist for Twisted Sister, Hank Wasiake of Asset-Based Thinking and a host of others, all initiated through Twitter and culminating in face-to-face engagement.

Mike has since hired Hank and Steve to speak at events with Experient and PCMA, invited Liz Strauss to speak at  Eventcamp and Hank to appear on Kiki L’Italien’s Social Media Sweet Spot web show on Friday. Kiki and Mike are now close friends and she’s attended Eventcamps too, a event series which Mike co-founded.

“We might have met at a conference or something, but online engagement has created more opportunities,” Mike says, “which also reach offline. It’s an incredibly fertile place to get new ideas and build amazing relationships. Many friends I’ve met online are friends for life, relationships that wouldn’t have been possible otherwise.”

Mike’s story is special because of how much he’s done with the same technology we all have available to us. While it’s true that there are many weak connections online, that’s because there are so many more connections than there were before, and we can only give care and attention to so many. To cement the connections that are mutually beneficial, it’s important to eventually meet offline and conduct business. These acts require trust and an open mind, which people are often afraid to display online. Mike McCurry knew that to break into new territory, you have to not just see the potential of the path, but to follow it into the jungle.

You can find out more by checking out Mike’s blog and Twitter account, and by following the #eventprofs hashtag on Twitter!