Social Media Roundup: Staying Open for Hurricane Sandy

Things aren’t looking so hot at the moment — but you’re plowing through.

Even if you don’t have an event in danger of getting hit by a hurricane, you’ll probably run into a situation like this one — when you decide to keep things moving despite inclement weather, a last-minute setback (opens in a new tab), or worse. Was it the right move?

That and more in today’s Social Media Roundup:

When you gotta keep going

https://twitter.com/ShannonDReid/status/262966541170118656

As we reported earlier, a number of association events shut down (opens in a new tab) as a result of Hurricane Sandy, some of which got postponed. Not everyone’s going to be happy about the outcome, to put it simply. Events for Good’s Lindsey Rosenthal, fortunately, is on the case, asking questions about canceling events from the perspective of your attendees  (opens in a new tab). “We often think of the financial repercussions to ourselves and our organizations when making cancellation decisions, but what about the impact on our attendees?” she writes. “And more importantly, determining when the peak impact of that decision may be on any and all of our stakeholders? How can we make sure that the decision strikes that delicate balance between those unhappy that the event wasn’t canceled soon enough and those unhappy that the event was canceled at all?” If you’re still running an event, do you just slog through now? (ht @ShannonDReid  (opens in a new tab))

We’re just there

Being Online Has Become So Common That Some People No Longer Identify It As Being Online #eventprofs  (opens in a new tab) #assnchat  (opens in a new tab) http://t.co/nyDvUqYe  (opens in a new tab)

— ConferencesThatWork (@ConfThatWork) October 29, 2012  (opens in a new tab)

Are we getting so used to the internet that we don’t even consider it a different place anymore? That’s what a Forrester Research report, spotted by TechDirt’s Zachary Knight  (opens in a new tab), suggests. The report shows a decline in reported online usage by respondents, but as Knight explains, “that doesn’t actually reflect people’s true online activity. People are using more services and devices that are connected by default to the internet, which doesn’t resonate as online activity for many people.” Know what that reads like to us? We’ve become so used to online access that we just expect it to be there, no matter where or when it is. Feel the same way? (ht @ConfThatWork  (opens in a new tab))

Feel like you’re offline right now? (Hint: If you’re reading this, you’re still online.) Let us know why you feel that way in the comments.

(photo by miss_rogue/Flickr)