It started with a cup of tea

It all started with a cup of tea at the Sydney Opera House. Sort of.

I have been working in marketing and project management in the Performing Art and non-profit sector for over ten years. I finished my studies before internet was seen as an effective marketing tool and nobody had pronounced the words "social media marketing". And I haven't even turned 40 yet! I have changed country and professional networks twice. In 2005 I moved from Sweden to France, and in 2009 I moved to Sydney, Australia. So now, after some time of maternity leave I will have to start thinking about my professional life again. Can there anything interesting out there for me? In Sydney, Australia…

I had an interview for a position at the Sydney Opera House. The interview was quite bizarre. After a while we started talking about social media and that's when it got even more bizarre, but it was me being bizarre... They asked me if I knew anything about social media. I think that I am like many (European) people in my age when it comes to social media, so I said that yes, I know social media pretty well. Then they asked if I had a Facebook account and I said yes. They asked me if I could mention a campaign that I had found good and interesting on Facebook… Blank. I could just think about all of those “this and that person invites you to this and that group or event”. Then they asked me if I had a Twitter account and I answered “No, Twitter is not really my cup of tea”….

It is not easy to leave your professional networks behind and be like an unwritten page on the job market. There are, in fact, a lot of things that are difficult when you are looking for a job in a new country without your network. Especially in the performing arts sector! It is, however, relatively easy to avoid saying that Twitter is not “your cup of tea” in 2010 in a sector that is trying hard to position itself in social media.

In fact Twitter has to be your cup of tea in 2010 and this traumatic Opera House experience really made me think. The truth is that I don’t know social media “pretty well”. I haven’t been very interested in social media in terms of marketing, because I have never seen any campaigns that have inspired or impressed me and because of those last years as a project manager followed by maternity leave I haven't been forced to dig into it. The truth is that I don’t understand the excellence of Twitter and to me Facebook seems just like a sophisticated email system. I haven't seen social media used as intelligent marketing tools in my sector. And it ought to bloom in the arts and non profit sector! Art and non profit should be the peak sector for social media because it is cheap, creative and collaborative.

I have probably thought that I could surf beside the social media wave, by knowing it pretty well, not having to dive into it. Well, surfing on the side is not really my thing and pretty well is not good enough. I have decided to start The Social Media Project and give social media a fair chance. I will read, learn and analyze and I am going to be really, really good at it. From now on social media is my cup of tea.