234897 Resource 187691 21 21 1245127444252 1245127986883 Controlled Case Study: Facebook, Reunions, and the Value of Information

Information is an asset; knowledge is the new capital.

I just read the Time article <a title="How Facebook Is Affecting School Reunions | Time" href="http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1904565,00.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">How Facebook Is Affecting School Reunions</a>, and I was reminded, once again, of the value of information.  Way back in 2003, I wrote a blog post on <a title="Agile Content | Into the MyST" href="http://myst-technology.com/public/item/5675" target="_blank">agile content</a> that began: <blockquote> <img title="keyboard" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline; margin: 0px 0px 5px 15px; border-left: 0px; border-bottom: 0px" height="98" alt="keyboard" src="http://faseidl.com/docs/keyboard_3.jpg" width="146" align="right" border="0">"Information has become a key asset—if not the key asset—in most organizations.  Just about every company is really in the information business.  Let that sink in for a minute."</blockquote> The next month, in <a title="Thanks for the (Corporate) Memories | Into the MyST" href="http://myst-technology.com/public/item/7238" target="_blank">Thanks for the (Corporate) Memories</a>, I noted how a Harvard Business School publication had nicely reinforced this idea by stating: <blockquote> "Knowledge is the new capital, but it's worthless unless it's accessible, communicated, and enhanced."</blockquote> Fast forward to 2009. Today's Time article quotes Andrew Shaindlin, executive director of the Caltech Alumni Association on the effect of Facebook playing an increasingly significant role in planning reunions: <blockquote> "It's going to affect donations," says Shaindlin. "We've lost our monopoly over the data on how to communicate with schoolmates. We need to step back and figure out how to remain relevant, because there may be some point three or five or seven years from now when we're going to hold a reunion and almost nobody is going to sign up." (emphasis mine)</blockquote> So, Caltech's Alumni Association is not really so much in the organizing-reunion business as it is in the information-about-who-goes-to-reunions business.  The business value of organizing reunions is not actually to have reunions, or even to make money organizing reunions.  The real business value is ensuring that the alumni association maintain detailed knowledge of schoolmates from whom donations can be solicited. [Note: there is one upside to all this; Facebook is proving disruptive to <a title="Consumer complaints about Classmates.com" href="http://www.consumeraffairs.com/dating_services/classmates.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">classmates.com</a>.  Thanks to Facebook connectivity among my own schoolmates, I have been able to completely purge my identity from classmates.com.  And for that, my inbox thanks me.] [Note 2: When finding the link for classmates.com complaints at <a title="Consumer Affairs | Knowledge is Power" href="http://consumeraffairs.com" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">consumeraffairs.com</a>, I noticed their tagline is "knowledge is power."  Nice tie-in.] 10 application/xml false Facebook knowledge capture social media disruptive technology MySmartChannels/6 (mailto:info@myst-technology.com; MyST Blogsite MetaWeblog API 6.00.0110) 127.0.0.1 127.0.0.1 aseidl 205.145.142.200 false true false false true 188081 false false true false false false true 234919 Resource 188081 173239 21 1245171433292 1245172535769 Controlled RE: Case Study: Facebook, Reunions, and the Value of Information

Slight clarification

Good observations. And thanks for mentioning my quote. Except the author of the TIME article missed my point, which was that social sites like Facebook make people more likely to attend a reunion, not less. Your own points that we're in the information business) are right on. However, "the real business value" of reunions for schools is not just that we can find alumni and ask for money. It's also that we can help alumni find each other and connect in productive, relevant ways that are important to them. We still may not be able to do that for much longer, but relevance to alumni needs seems to me to be very important. 10 application/xml false Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 7.0; Windows NT 5.1; GTB6; .NET CLR 1.1.4322; .NET CLR 2.0.50727; .NET CLR 3.0.4506.2152; .NET CLR 3.5.30729) 127.0.0.1 127.0.0.1 aseidl 68.40.167.222 false true false false true 234924 Resource 188081 21 21 1245174320257 1245175010236 Controlled RE: Case Study: Facebook, Reunions, and the Value of Information

Thanks for the clarifications.

Andy: thanks for taking the time to make those clarifications.  So, on the first point, it seems Facebook is a double-edged sword--on the one hand it increases reunion participation but on the other hand it cuts into your control of the communication process.  On the second point, I can see that there are values beyond only soliciting donations.  Successfull almuni also reflect positively back on Caltech at many levels so there is value in helping to facilitate that. 10 application/xml false Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 7.0; Windows NT 5.1; GTB6; .NET CLR 1.1.4322; .NET CLR 2.0.50727; .NET CLR 3.0.4506.2152; .NET CLR 3.5.30729) 127.0.0.1 127.0.0.1 aseidl 68.40.167.222 false true false false true 187691 blog blogsite/FASeidl/web