BIO Convention and Business Socialization

We previously posted our comments on BIO 2011. However, one aspect of the conference that really stood out was the use of social media. Attendees were encouraged to provide links to our LinkedIn, FaceBook, Twitter, and other accounts for the myBio web site. The velocity of tweets from the convention was astounding (and continues). And, of course, an informal tweetup was held at a local pub on Monday night.

There is already a lot of banter on the web on how pharma/biotech companies should/should not use social media tools. But what about employees and professionals affiliated with the industry?

BIO demonstrated that private, personal, and professional lives will continue to blur. As we share more personal information on Facebook/Google Plus, professional information will begin to creep into our personal profiles. Conversely, we already see LinkedIn (the “professional” site) encourage users to include personal information, hobbies, interests, etc.

As more of us become more comfortable exposing ourselves online, more of us will be more readily found and accessible. We concede that this is not always a good thing, and some things should definitely be off limits. But, those who are increasingly active and easy to find will likely have access to opportunities that “off line” folks will never see through traditional channels.

This doesn’t mark the end of traditional networking. Far from it. An increasingly noisy blogosphere/twitterverse will make traditional networking functions like BIO increasingly important, especially to build long-term relationships.

In other words, business networking will become more social, and social media will involve business/professional contact points even more. As BIO 2011 demonstrated, a balance of digital and face-to-face approaches will have to be managed (and encouraged) over time.