The world is a-twittering these days it seems… And I admit — I’m a twaddict !

Personally, I’ve found Twitter to be indispensable, not just for coordinating, chatting, and live-tweeting at conferences, but also as a general research tool and a way to stay connected with the latest news, related links, conference/meeting updates, web resources, etc.

I’ve also been thinking a lot lately about how to apply and adapt a microsharing application like Twitter within the enterprise environment (specifically, Pharma) and how it could potentially be used as a corporate tool beyond social connectivity.

So if you’re like me and also interested in the enterprise aspect of Twitter (and similar tools), a great place to start is by reading the excellent whitepaper by Pistachio — which compares 19 enterprise Twitter-like apps — and also check out her reading list.

In addition, O’Reilly is also hosting a webcast on Thursday (NOV 13th, 2008) on:

Here are the details (you’ll need to register to attend)…

Twitter–the messaging service that lets you send instant, short updates to people around the world–is fast becoming a mainstream communication tool. Hundreds of brands and thousands of companies use it to connect with customers and co-workers, and new micro-messaging services are springing up every week to meet specific corporate needs.

Join the revolution with this webcast, which will show you how to use Twitter and other micro-messaging services at work. It will cover the the benefits and challenges of this exciting new medium, along with best practices and potential pitfalls you can avoid.

Date: Thursday, Nov. 13 at 10am PDT (18:00 GMT)
Cost: Free
Duration: Approx. 60 minutes
Meeting link: http://oreilly.com/go/businesstwitter
Questions? Please send email to webcast@oreilly.com

About Sarah Milstein
Sarah Milstein, a consultant on Web 2.0 and editorial strategies, and an MBA candidate at the Haas School of Business at UCBerkeley, was previously the Chief Publishing Evangelist for O’Reilly Media. Prior to that, Sarah was O’Reilly’s Managing Editor, Senior Editor, and Editor, leading the development of the Missing Manuals, a best-selling series of computer books for non-geeks. She’s also written for the series, co-authoring Google: The Missing Manual (1st ed 2004; 2nd ed 2006). Before joining O’Reilly in 2003, Sarah was a freelance writer and editor, and a regular contributor to The New York Times. She was also a program founder for Just Food, a local-food-and-farms non-profit, and co-founder of Two Tomatoes Records, a label that distributes and promotes the work of children’s musician Laurie Berkner.

The issue of convincing upper management seems to be a BIG issue here at the EyeForPharma eCommunications and Online Marketing Summit – lots of questions from audience about this.

Coincidentally, just last week, I spoke at Digital Pharma 2008 about making a business case for social media in pharma and how to get buy-in. As part of my “opening argument”, I presented the construct that the issues we face in pharma are actually (mostly) shared among all corporate/ enterprise organizations and the only unique hurdle is really the regulatory and legal issues that the industry is held to.

So, as I am still cleaning up the slides from my talk (issues with some images I used) before I post them here on the blog, I thought I would point you to a post by Laura Finton (aka Pistachio — a fellow Bostonian) who brings up some really good ideas for how to get buy-in from upper management in general. Not pharma specific, but don’t forget — most of these issues we share with other enterprises and also, it’s always good to look outside to bring ideas in.

You can read the post on the Pistachio Blog, but here are some highlights:

It’s time to start teaching others how to “fish” and derive value using social media. Social media can create value throughout the enterprise in many different practice areas…

Step off your enthusiasm about how “cool” all this stuff is and cut straight to the value. Speak their language and address their needs and pains. Demonstrate how core business processes and challenges can be done better…

Get laser focused on management’s existing business problems and pains. Apply the tools and opportunities you know about to the priorities they know they already have…

Don’t forget folks, this stuff can be really SCARY. That’s okay. Encourage them to take a flexible stance, to start dipping their toes in, and to remain learning-focused whether or not they are ready to jump in whole hog. Some of my social media agency colleagues may disagree with this, but I think it’s okay for a company to engage in an extended listening period, where they dive deep into social media listening without necessarily responding.