Music + Social Business = Love

Everyone says, “I love music” but I REALLY love music. I own more than 2k CDs, and last year I saw exactly 88 live performances.

Part of my obsession stems from years of watching Austin City Limits on PBS. I still remember the first time I set foot in the original studio as a student at The University of Texas and my first show there-Corrine Bailey Ray.

As you can image, I was  thrilled when the social media club asked me to participate on a Social Business Panel on the ACL Stage! I was joined by all-star performers:

• Kat Mandelstein at IBM
• Will Staney of VMware (which recently acquired Socialcast)
• Jean-Claude Monney of Microsoft
• and the CREATOR of the Social Business Council, Susan Scrupski

Even though I love evangelizing the new way to work, this particular event had me a bit nervous for the following reasons:

1. Austin has the biggest SMC behind San Francisco.

2. I would be on the same stage where Willie Nelson got his start. I couldn’t mess this up!

3. The panel was filled with some of my closest professional contacts, yet we all work for competitive solutions.

But when I walked into that studio, all of my anxiety went away.  I saw the lights from the fake, out-dated, Austin skyline and realized this was an amazing opportunity for a music-lover like me to talk about the thing I’m most passionate about – social business.

After I got the first question, “What is Social Business?” I settled into my chair and had a blast.  Not only was I extremely proud of the way I represented the company that I’ve loved since 2007, but I learned from my fellow panelists, got to network with innovators, and helped people just starting off on the amazing social business journey.

Thanks, Social Media Club Austin for an awesome event!  You can watch a recording of the panel here. (It starts about 10 minutes into the recording).