It started off as an effort to gain industry input into the development of an open sourced framework for accessing an organizations’ maturity in social media.  Though the framework has been well received and adapted/modified by the fine folks participating in our round tables, it has also become a conversational spring board for the most recent, topical issues that businesses face in social media.

I couldn’t possibly cover the entire discussion, but I can share some interesting themes:

• Can you imagine the death of facebook? google, etc
• How do you drive social thru the organization?
• Related to this, the issue of restricted social media access within an enterprise.  [see @schnitzelboy's post - about the restricted use of social media within the enterprise -- "What Star Wars teaches us about Social Media at work"]
• The difficulty in managing social media and employees participation within it (@EdLynne states – what of organizations with 32, 000 employees?)
• The importance of including social aspects to product builds – as @simonsmith stated – angel investors will not invest in anything that does not have a social component.
• The idea that some people / some brands are not “‘social by nature”  (e.g. health brands that consumers rely on anonymous search not social for learning)
• Does social jump the cue in customer service?
• A beautiful comment by @xsabaa on whether or not we would pay a premium for an anonymous profile.
• @xsabaa also commented on the existence of brand fear as the consumer is sometimes a bully in social.
• And did you know that it takes only 25 letters to move legislation? via @judyforce
• Managing a community – with insight from @tanyasays
  • the multiple administrators issue
  • the explosion of social networks to manage but social media marketing teams have stayed the same size
  • the need for brands to go into the messy personal territory within social (lovely idea from @xsabaa)
  • role of the ^ – moderator identifier within community management
• And – within our evening attendees, some agreement that the term “maturity” is premature in describing social media..  [consistent with an earlier #SoMeNite – Is it premature to talk about social media maturity?“

For the first time since I’ve started in social media (2006), I caught wind of a news event from Google +, not from tv, nor twitter.  And this was real time news.

I’ve been following @sarahMidMO, a news buoy for KOMU-TV, from Columbia, MO for 1/2 a yr now.   She is a leader in the integration of Google + hang-outs as part of her regular news delivery.  To watch her integration is to learn about how the tool can be leveraged for business.

Last night Sarah was preparing for a hang-out on air from @jfdesmarais , a journalist from Montreal and in the thick of the Montreal protest, providing a live cam into last nights march.   A hang-out is essentially a video conference call among 10 people.  A hang-out-on-air [or 'onAir Hang-out] is a live video conference with the ability for many people to view it, but still only 10 can be apart of the live broadcast.  The comment functionality works for all.

I  joined the hang-out on air and particularly enjoyed three minutes into @jfdesmarais’  broadcast, where he gives a great summary of what the Montreal student protest is about.

Meanwhile, because I understand French, I could quickly understand what the hashtag was that he described [#manifencours - which is short for 'manifestation en cour'].   I could add that to the comment line – while Sarah interviewed.  Then, I could find the event on twitter – translate other comments and fed it to my twitter stream / hangout comments.

@sarahMidMO recapped the broadcast  - and some comments are emerging about the option of hang-outs are aiding in broadcast.   Joshua Barkdull comments – “I have been saying since G+ was in Beta that Hangouts real power was in citizen journalism.”  or Ron Watson [@PawsitiveVybe ] who comments “I think hangouts and the entire Google suite of apps is highly disruptive.”.

Comments go further to discuss the avent of mobile broadcasting.   As Sarah comments “we are all anxious to have mobile OnAir Hangouts as another tool in a journalist’s toolbox.”   

It is quite worth singling out early enterprise adopters to just watch how they use new tools.  Admittedly, I have Sarah Hill and a few other Google + early adopters [I follow the Google circle]  in their own circle so that I can watch how she uses the platform.    This is much like how I watched @cammipham and her use of Hashable, or lately her style in delivering the #RBCchat.

[credit for headline "a powerful tool for immediate stories" goes to @michaeltuckertv]

If you have any Google related account – you’ve probably received notification of their privacy policy massive consolidation to the tune not seen since the Toronto amalgamation.  Essentially, they are blending 60 privacy policies into 1 policy that covers all their products.   Aye, there within is to be noted.   They state:

Our new policy covers multiple products and features, reflecting our desire to create one beautifully simple and intuitive experience for your users across Google products.

In other words, your behaviours in YouTube may inform and result in better targeted advertising in your gmail account.

To get updated on this – I’ve noted a number of excellent blog posts already covering the topics..

• For a thought provoking consumers point of view on how changes affect you, read @beryn’s Big Brother is Thy Name Google?  (hey @beryn – check out my last reference)
• For a review of key points Google made to the Feds on their policy changes, read 5 Key points from Google’s privacy policy letter to Congress
• For a reminder on Google’s market share, see a new infographic Google Search plus your world
• For the most entertaining review that I’ve seen, read Pleated-Pants.com ‘s  Changes to Google’s Privacy Policy