About Social Now
I am Ana Neves. I’m an experienced knowledge management consultant and owner of Knowman. Year after year, I have been carefully crafting and perfecting Social Now to keep it as valuable, relevant and surprising as when it was launched in 2012.
In this page I will proudly present the wise people who have been advising and encouraging me along the way.
Have a look at the design details which will leave you much better prepared to help your organisation tackle its business challenges.
FORMAT . CASES . ADVISERS
FREQUENTLY USED EXCUSES (NOT) TO REGISTER
The Details
Engaging Storytelling
Talks offer practical ideas to improve work at Cablinc, a fictitious company very similar to your own. Some are presented as “day-in-the-life” narratives.
A lovely city
When the conference ends there is an amazing city to visit: walk up to the castle, try the cable car, take the train to the beach, soak up the Portuguese sun.
Debate & Networking
There is plenty of time to debate and network with all the clever people attending. Be careful: sun, wine and great food may be in close proximity.
Hero Stories
Organisations recount a typical day at work so that you hear of actual practices of improved communication, collaboration and knowledge sharing.
Tools in Action
You have to see it to believe it! That is why you will get to see exactly what enterprise social tools look like and how people use them at work.
Sales pitch free
Tool vendors are here to inspire with better work processes, not to sell. Participants can flag vendors who start going into sales pitch mode. Two flags and they are out.
Inspiring Keynotes
Benchmark and stay ahead. Feel the pulse of the present and get a good sense of the future: it will guide your strategy and keep you ahead of the competition.
A Peer Assist
Peers from real organisations offer advice to Cablinc based on their experience of implementing and launching new intranets and internal platforms.
Experienced Panel
The panel challenges the vendors, asking them the tough questions which highlight the key aspects to consider when choosing an enterprise social technology.
How To Tutorials
Get simple, practical tips to get the most out of Microsoft Teams, Yammer, Workplace from Meta, Mural and other similar applications.
Hands On Sessions
Experience different workshop dynamics as ways of revealing good practices which can both help Cablinc and all conference participants.
Great food
Great food makes for great conversations and memorable memories. Enjoy amazing lunch breaks and a fun networking dinner at the end of day 1.
Your Business Requirements
ADVISORY BOARD
Frequently Used Excuses (not) to Register
It is a long way away. I do not know if I will be available then
We understand the feeling. But we also know the frustration when we let never-ending demands dictate our diary and prevent us from attending the conferences we really value. Such as Social Now.
So allow yourself the right to attend a conference which is sure to benefit both you and your organisation.
And, if for any reason, when time comes, you really, really cannot make it, remember: we have a very friendly cancellation policy to cover your back.
We already have an intranet / collaboration platform
Great! But are you getting the most out of it? What sort of business processes can you tweak or put in place to get increased adoption and maximum impact?
At Social Now you see tools in action in the context of Cablinc – a fictitious company with challenges very similar to your organisation’s. You then get practical recommendations from seasoned professionals on how to make the most of your platform.
So, yes, you may have an internal collaboration platform but you will still greatly benefit from attending Social Now.
I don't feel safe due to COVID-19
We are doing everything in our power to minimise the concerns and the uncertainty which the covid-19 pandemic has brought into our lives.
To make the conference safe for all participants
- We will follow the guidelines of the Portuguese Directorate-General of Health.
- The conference venue has the European Tourism security seal for covid-19.
- We will aim to answer your questions regarding restrictions, regulations and recommendations.
And… Portugal has one of the world’s highest vaccination rates against the coronavirus.
To help with the uncertainty
We have a very friendly cancellation policy in case you need to cancel your registration.
In the unlikely event Social Now 2022 is cancelled due to any restrictions related to the covid-19 pandemic, you can either choose to keep the registration(s) for the next edition of Social Now or request a refund.
All good reasons for you to register now and give yourself this conference to look forward to.
I don't want to listen to sales pitches all day
Neither do we!
At Social Now, tool presentations have to follow strict rules: 15 minutes to present, no slides, live demonstrations of the tool being used at Cablinc. No sales blah blah. These live demonstrations give you a good sense of how the tools could be used to add value to your organisation.
In any case, you are in control: you get a flag you can raise if, at any point, a talk starts sounding a bit salesy: two flags and the talk is ended.
My organisation cannot afford to implement expensive tools
Not all enterprise social tools are expensive.
Besides, expensive tools are not the ones that cost a lot of money but those which are underused: they do not add value nor do they offer return on investment.
At Social Now you get to see different types of technologies, with different pricings. You see them in action, so that you can see what sets them apart and take away practical ideas for using them to improve your organisation’s processes and practises around communication, collaboration and knowledge sharing.
Most of the ideas you hear will be implementable whatever tool you have or end up choosing for your organisation. At the end of the day, social collaboration and communication is more about culture, processes and practises, than it is about the specific tool you choose.
I cannot take two days off work
How can you not clear two days in your agenda? This is the thing that has been bothering you for a while, that you have been postponing because you are unsure of where to begin.
Maybe you have to implement a new intranet or social platform for your organisation, maybe you have to improve the return on your current one, maybe you have to improve employee engagement, internal communication, team collaboration or knowledge sharing in your organisation.
Either way, these two days are the perfect opportunity to:
- see the tools in action from the “anonymity” of your participant’s chair;
- from the challenging questions from the panel, understand what to consider when choosing an enterprise social tool;
- benefit from the critical eye and experience of the other participants when it comes to using social technology.
How much time will this save you going forward?
It doesn’t make sense to have a physical meeting to talk about digital communication and collaboration
Yes, it totally does! Good digital interactions are built on a great understanding of physical ones. Besides, there are experiences which digital technologies cannot yet replace. The “togetherness”, the informal and relaxed networked, the cosyness, that Social Now is known for, and which makes for all the great learning, is not something we can make happen online just yet.
In 2022, the edition will be even less “digital” because we will not be live streaming it. We want to offer participants a well-deserved “time offline” to recognise the tremendous work they have done enabling their teams to work remotely during the pandemic-imposed confinements, to talk openly about their doubts, worries and frustrations, so that we can collectively reflect together on practical ways to make hybrid work work for all.
What is your excuse?
Sessions at Social Now
| Session Type | Description | Benefits | This year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Consultant talks | 20-minute practical talks where experienced professionals – not necessarily consultants – share practical recommendations to help Cablinc address its challenges. | The fact that all these talks are focused on a specific organisation means that the recommendations are more grounded, practical and, therefore, actionable. |
Pilar Ortí Sílvia Rivela Ricardo Andorinho Marcel Kampman |
| Vendor presentations | 15-minute narratives of “a day of work at Cablinc” – live demos of platforms and tools showing how they are part of work routines and improve internal communication, collaboration and knowledge sharing. Participants can raise a flag if they feel the presentation is going into sales-pitch more: 2 flags and the presentation ends. |
Because vendors cannot use slides and have to stick to the Cablinc narrative, participants get a real feel for the central role these platforms can play and get specific ideas for how to maximise the value they get out of their existing ones. |
GuruScan Ichicraft Boards MangoApps Microsoft 365 (by Raona) SWOOP Analytics |
| Panel | At the end of each vendor presentation, a panel of real people from real organisations will wear the hat of Cablinc’s management team and ask the tough questions about the demonstrated platform or tool |
These questions will address the aspects to consider when evaluating these technologies. The fact that they are asked by others, makes it more comfortable for you. The fact that they are answered in front of an informed audience, makes it more likely that you will get an honest and complete answer – if not from the vendor, from the other participants. |
Augusto Fragoso (ANACOM) Eugene Victorov (Arrival) Rui Mendes da Costa (Águas de Portugal) |
| Hero stories | Short presentations by real organisations describing how they are using the social technology to successfully overcome a specific challenge. | Not all is rosy when introducing social technologies but all organisations get real value out of them. By focusing on a specific gain, you know that is real and you can borrow that practice for your own organisation. |
Politie (Dutch National Police) Rabobank Sorigué Virgin Media O2 |
| Peer Assist | A facilitated session where experienced professionals from real organisations share advice on what Cablinc should do and not do as it kicks off a new project. Participants will then work together to cocreate a list of dos and don’ts based on the advice received. |
Because it is framed as advice, you get real, honest inputs: nobody needs to know if it is based on successes or failures, nor if it comes from learnings at the current or previous employer. The list cocreated by all is another tangible, practical outcome to get you going when you get back to work on Monday. |
Ingo Johannson (NNE) John Schultz (Mayo Clinic) |
| How to Tutorials | Snappy, focused sessions showing how to get more out of common social tools to improve and rethink traditional ways of working. | More tangible, actionable ideas to get you going and quickly delivering value for you, your team and organisation. |
Teams Yammer Workplace Mural by OrangeTrail |
| Hands-on sessions | 90-minute sessions where all participants are invited to help Cablinc address one of its challenges. A certified practitioner will facilitate the session. | You will get to know your fellow participants, hear their experience in a facilitated context, and experience a (new) facilitation tool or technique. | Paul Nunesdea: Liberating Structures |
| Keynotes | 30-minute talks by top professionals. Probably the least unique element of the whole conference. |
You get the context, the boost, the inspiration and the arguments to be able to make a difference when you go back to your organisation. |
Rachel Happe Sharon O’Dea |
| Networking session | During this time, vendors are assigned a table and participants can join them if they want to ask questions or see anything in more detail. | You benefit from the answers to other participants’ questions. Besides, in such a public setting, you get more honest answers and you learn from the challenges and past experiences of other participants. | |
| Lunches | Long seated lunches with Portuguese food | Quality, informal time for rich, insightful conversations with speakers and other participants | |
| Book launch | Introduction to a new book | You get to hear directly from the author and spend quality time with her as you have some drinks on a Lisbon rooftop in Spring. | Céline Schillinger’s Dare to Un-Lead |
| Social moments | Dinner on day 1 and a Lisbon bus tour on Saturday morning | Enjoy Lisbon and the continued company of speakers and fellow participants. Extend the great, informal conversations that are sure to last in your memory. |