I received a note from Andy Sernovitz yesterday, about an exciting new development with the Blog Council, an organization of large business organizations (and not-for-profits like Mayo Clinic and Kaiser Permanente) that are engaged in social media.
Bob Pearson — former vice president of Communities and Conversations at Dell — is joining us as President of the Blog Council. Bob’s experience as one of the first executives to build a full social media function in a global enterprise will add a new level of knowledge and credibility to the team and our industry.
With more than 25 years at three Fortune 500 companies and as one of the pioneers of corporate social media, Bob brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to GasPedal and the Blog Council — and he’s as excited as we are to make our communities a better experience for all of our members.
I think this move is an important signal that social media is going mainstream. Under the duress of Jeff Jarvis’ “Dell Hell,” Bob helped Dell transform itself from a company with a “look, but don’t touch” approach to bloggers to one that actively listens to customers and solicits their ideas. Dell is a different company today because of that experience.
Don’t get me wrong; I’m still a Mac guy. But Dell made important strides under Bob’s leadership, and I believe he’ll champion that same approach in his new role with the Blog Council.
We’re moving beyond the experimental phase in social media. In the near future, a company without a social media strategy will seem seriously antiquated. I’m excited to be part of a group that’s working hard to make sure we do it right, and that we help keep social media in the enterprise from sinking to the level we saw with the email spammers half a generation ago. With Bob’s leadership we’ll continue working to realize the promise of social media, stressing ethics and transparency and proving the benefits of social media done right.
We’re going to have our first Blog Council member call with Bob in his new role on Thursday, and I look forward to what he and Andy have to say about the future direction of the organization, and what that will mean for accelerating adoption of social media in the business world.
Update: The Blog Council’s blog has a post with this announcement and further details.