I had the privilege of sitting on a panel with my fellow Social Media Club of Chicago board members, Jeff Willinger, Barbara Rozgonyi, Amy Ravit Korin andTim McDonald, as part of Social Media Week called Taste of Social Media Served up SMC Style. What was most fun was the smart, engaging audience. We got great questions!

There’s definitely an evolution happening. A year ago I would still get the question “What is Twitter?” Now, the savvy audience members asked about goals, metrics, and time management.

Here’s a quick summary of some of the highlights:

Making time for all the social media messaging and measurement was a big theme. We discussed the pros and cons of scheduling tweets. Most of us agree there is a time and place for it, but you need to maintain control over what messages you send out.

Tools make things easier. We discussed many tools, and I’m sure I didn’t catch all of them. Hootsuite, Summify, lists, searches and LinkedIn groups were all mentioned as tools to help with social media management.

Protect your real life. Social media is part of your life, not your whole life. Create boundaries and understand that most people won’t mind if you don’t tweet or update your status for a few hours, a day, or even a few days!

Numbers don’t matter that much.  Yes, we talked about followers and Klout, but mostly we talked about real influence. We discussed how important it is to just keep discussing what’s important to you, to engage with people in genuine ways and to keep working.

All of us are perpetual students. We are learning new tools each day, we are experimenting, we are reading.

It was truly an honor to be on the panel and hear my fellow board members share their wisdom.

If you have notes or feedback from the session, of course I’d welcome a comment here!

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