The #SCRM Group. That hashtag — which we use to communicate on Twitter — embodies the very essence of what social media is about: genuine, authentic, direct, and real conversations. Being a participant and a practitioner, I thought I would share my observations and thoughts… not just from this event, but what I’ve seen in the actions and behaviors of this group over the past year or more… And these foreshadow a world that is being created right now as you read this… [Editors' Note: You can follow the #SCRM Accidental Community's tweetstream here: http://twitter.com/CRM/scrm-accidental-community — a Twitter List maintained and curated by CRM magazine.]

#SCRMsummit and #SCRM. This past week in D.C., Paul Greenberg brought together some of the most amazing minds in social business — to learn, to share, and to grow the body of knowledge. One of the interesting things is that the snowstorm that blanketed the Northeast helped foster an extended discussion — literally. Planes were grounded, flights were canceled, and not even taxi cabs would take us downtown for a meal. So the 80 or so of us just parked ourselves in the lobby/bar area. Some of us were already longtime acquaintances, having known each other for over 10 years, and many others have become friends over the last several years. Some of us, though, were brand new to each other. We drank, we ate, and we all got to know each other even better.

Oftentimes what happens at a conference is that you barely have time to talk to anyone, much less have real conversations. But we did. We talked about the philosophy of social business, where it’s going, what’s changing in our worlds as a result, and what we see for the future.

There’s Networking — and Then There’s Relationship-Building. Of course, we’re all in business and we all have something to “sell” — yet the conversations weren’t about that. They were about how we as a group can evolve the thought leadership about social CRM and social business; how we can help educate other business professionals who haven’t had the privilege to be part of this group; how social CRM is literally changing the way business is done and will be done in the future; and how we’re going to collectively create the future — for ourselves, for our businesses, and for the world. (I’m not saying that we didn’t close business or work on projects — we did — but the difference was the tone, the vibe, the collective collaborative spirit…)

[More after the jump.]

Up-Leveling the Business Conversation. That type of conversation is a much “higher” conversation than what is usually at a conference or even in business. It felt to me as if, instead of being about closing deals or getting leads, it was about the collective consciousness grappling with how the world is changing and how we are at the affect of the change. At the same time, the conversation was also about creating the changes we want to see in the world, i.e., being the change agents. And not just as individuals, but as a collective spirit — a group that has been in CRM and Customer Service, Sales, and Marketing a long time. This group has truly learned from the sales/implementations mistakes of the past and we’re exploring how we’ll approach these next steps differently, by incorporating lessons learned.

Making the “R” Real in SCRM. The best part of the conference for me was the ability to interact with all of the thought leaders in the social CRM, social customer service, and social business space. What I noticed was that, over the past year or so, this group has stuck together — and in doing so has shown some unique things about Twitter and the value of social media to business. You could almost say that we use Twitter in an Enterprise 2.0 way. By this I am referring to the internal collaboration between employees, resellers, partners, developers — the way Intel uses its community platform — that Enterprise 2.0 applications provide.

To Tweet or Not To Tweet. There is a lot of conversation around whether Twitter has any business value, or whether it’s just narcissistic self-promotion. My impression is that, while there is some nonsense on Twitter, there is also true business value. Over the last year or so this group (using the hashtags of #SCRM and/or #customerservice and sometimes, #socialmedia) have formed a real bond in Twitter.

Debates are had; questions are answered; blogposts are written, shared, and commented on. In doing so, the fields of social CRM, social customer service, social marketing, social sales, and social business have evolved. For me, Twitter is a necessary and essential link to a community of brilliant people who deeply care about evolving the world. I don’t know how much more important an app or tool can be than that!

Don’t feel left out — all you have to do is start following the hashtag #SCRM. And if you’re wondering what was discussed at #SCRMsummit itself, you can check out the PDF of selected tweets from the conference that was created by Esteban Kolsky for the group.

Do we have all the answers yet about social media, Web 2.0, Enterprise 2.0 or the apps (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) that allow us to interact? No, we don’t. But what I learned from participating in this group for over a year is that the only way to learn — the only way to advance the knowledge and capabilities — is to do it.

So here’s to just doin’ it!

Cheers!

@DrNatalie on Twitter