I’ve now been using Twitter for eighteen months. One of the reasons I got hooked on it was that I had some early business success with it, connecting with some key people I wouldn’t have otherwise had the opportunity to connect with. It has a different decorum than LinkedIn, and I like that I can engage with people informally on a whole host of topics, and have fun doing it.
I would like the broader HR community to see all the benefits of Twitter. For most however, seeing is believing. For this reason, I am initiating The Engagement Project.
The concept is simple. For a period of about ten days, starting today, I am going to engage with others on Twitter as much as I can. I am going to stop simply spinning through my feed and most-followed hashtags, and reach out to people I follow. I am going to use the hashtag #TEPHR whenever I am interacting with HR folks. I want to look at broad topics relevant to HR folks, from job search to solving complex labour relations issues. I will retweet things I find interesting, and mention “regulars” I follow more closely. I will attempt to spend the majority of my time tweeting during the day, with my heaviest day being Monday, October 24th.
No project is complete without goals, so here are some goals I intend to achieve:
- Reach 5000 tweets by October 28th (currently at just over 4500). Focus in on sending engaging tweets rather than just messages. Ask questions wherever possible.
- Engage in at least 15 different hashtags discussions.
- Find and share all the dailies. Highlight all the great HR blogs out there.
- Find 300 new HR pros to follow.
- Increase my followers who are HR Pros by at least 300.
- Increase interest in The EO List and increase membership in its networking group.
- Post at least 2 blogs about newfound knowledge or experiences.
- Get to know better at least 20 new people who will become LinkedIn connections (I’m not a LION so this is a lot of growth for me).
- Have as much fun as humanly possible and show my enthusiasm.
To all the people I regularly connect with on Twitter, my request is HELP ME OUT! It is no fun to tweet with no responses, so please share this project with others in hope that we can create a more significant HR community.
To all the people who are Twitter naysayers, following this project may be a great way to connect with others and explore the value of Twitter. You can easily connect, briefly if you wish, by looking to see who is posting to #TEPHR.
I look forward to seeing you on the wires.
We’ve discussed this briefly in the past, Bonni, but there must be a way to get the Detroit and Windsor HR pros together. Let’s talk about this when you are done with the Twitter project. Your project is a great idea!