~Contributed by Karen Lee, SAS Communications Director~
Open. In one word, that is how I would describe the communication environment at SAS Global Forum. Wide open. This is an amazing time for communication.
For a long time, the only way attendees could find out what was happening at SAS Global Forum (or SUGI, for us old-timers!), was through a paper newsletter handed out each morning.
But everything began to change in 2007. That was the year we adopted the new name “SAS Global Forum.” The name wasn’t the only first. It was the first time we had a blog from the conference to give a look at what was happening from the perspective of people directly involved – people presenting papers, working the demo hall and pulling everything together behind the scenes.
It’s hard to believe that was only four years ago. The technology we use to communicate has advanced exponentially in its ease of use and in its popularity. If you have something to say, you can choose from a huge range of channels to say it. And if you don’t say it, someone else is going to. Messages go viral and become wildly widespread in a matter of seconds.
We’re taking advantage of so many of the possibilities this year at SAS Global Forum. Just look at this list:
- SAS Global Forum blog.
- Twitter – with the hashtag #SASGF11 streaming live on the amazing SocialSphere onsite in Las Vegas. You’ve heard of “theatre in the round.” Now we have “communication in the round!”
- The SAS Global Forum Facebook page and the new SAS Software Facebook page.
- SAS Global Forum's LinkedIn group.
- YouTube.
- Mobile apps for iPhone and iPad.
- Live webcasts from the conference available on the SAS Global Forum website.
And, of course, media coverage.
So what are you waiting for? Keep the communication wide open if you’re at the conference by getting right in the middle of things and Tweeting, liking and following all of the social media sources out there. And if you’re not there, there is so much information coming so fast it will keep you on the edge of your seat as if you were there LIVE in Vegas!
So get connected and stay connected! The possibilities are endless.
