The fifth instalment of our 'Going social' series in our monthly online magazine Insight welcomes back guest author Heather Townsend. In this blog post Heather looks at ways to avoid wasting time and network more effectively in different situations.

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In the fourth instalment of our 'Going social' series in our monthly online magazine Insight, CIMAsphere blogger and FCMA Linda Cheung weighs up the merits of Twitter over email. Could 'microblogging" services like Twitter usurp the centrality of email to business by offering a more effective communication toolset?

Hi,

I didn't know where to post this request but I am currently studying for an MBA (CIMA exams didn't put me off studying forever!) and I’d be eternally grateful if you could spare me 5-10 minutes (possibly less if you are quick!) to complete my online questionnaire and offer feedback as I have never designed a questionnaire before and have been struggling with this part of my MBA dissertation. 

The third instalment of our 'Going social' series in our monthly online magazine Insight moves onto our blogs in order to walk the walk. This month guest author Heather Townsend looks at the arguments for using both online and face to face networking to generate business and career success.

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This weekend saw the climax of the CIMA Global Business Challenge 2011 as the finals took place over two days in Chengdu, China with teams from 17 regions worldwide competing to be named champions in this showcase of aspiring business talent. In turn, CIMA provided realtime coverage of the event using social media with staff co-ordinating via web and mobile in China and London.

As a software start-up building on the Azure cloud, we’re part of the Microsoft BizSpark community. At their last event, there was live video streaming and Twitter interaction throughout. You didn’t need to be in the room to be part of the event and its conversations.

A new series of articles titled 'Going Social' starts in the July 2011 issue of our monthy e-zine Insight.

The series will cover the issues and opportunities surrounding social media that are relevant from the point of view of careers, business, and professional life.

Feel free to leave your comments and questions about the Going Social series here.

This week saw the issues and opportunities raised by Enterprise 2.0 land squarely in the field of vision of management accountants as CIMA's Enterprise Web 2.0 event took place at the Microsoft London offices. Leading experts and practitioners in the enterprise 2.0 and cloud accounting space shared insights, and new research into the topic was unveiled.

Hi all,

In advance of our free half-day conference on Enterprise Web 2.0 on the afternoon of Monday 13th June 2011 at the Microsoft offices in London, I wanted to open up the discussion to anyone who is interested, whether you can attend the event or not...

Cometh the "Web 2.0" revolution and it wasn't long before "Enterprise 2.0" was going to transform the way business was done. The "how" was a little less clear, however...

The Promise

The main arguments were that:

•  The new technologies would streamline existing business processes

•  Better user ergonomics would increase productivity on a minute by minute basis

•  Higher levels of connectedness would allow:

Social media is a rapidly-expanding technology which is generating a radically different way of doing business.

However, as we have read via Alvin Toffler’s “Future Shock”, our inability to keep up with and adapt to rapid changes in technology can leave us all left behind and unable to benefit from it.

•    Is social media a Marmite product which we either love or loathe ?
•    Is this technology only for young people to benefit from?

Some people believe the adoption of Enterprise 2.0 can go a long way towards not only solving problems but delivering value. First coined as an expression by Andrew McAfee, Enterprise 2.0 has been defined as:

A few months, and a lot of desk research ago I began to get a bit ticked off with articles or websites or conferences that promised to discuss the return on investment of organisations' use of web 2.0. They just did not deliver.

Hi,

If anyone uses Twitter - the microblogging website - and wants to connect with us there, you can now follow CIMAsphere on it at: http://twitter.com/cimasphere

You can also get updates on CIMA news and events at http://twitter.com/CIMA_News

Regards,
Deirdre
(CIMAsphere community manager)

We live in interesting times. Social media heralds the start of a truly fundamental change. The worlds of business and society entwine to offer immense opportunities. Add to this scenario the sharing of knowledge as well as experiences with people – known or unknown across any part of the earth. And what’s more it is done without any substantial carbon footprint!