@JoelECarlson: Hello everyone, and welcome to today’s Twitterview of @DavidAlston, the CMO of @Radian6. Lets get started!
David: Sounds like a plan Joel – happy to participate
Q – #1 So @davidalston, lets get to know you a bit. Where did you grow up, what kind of schooling did you get and what was your 1st job?
David: I grew up in New Brunswick (Canada), I went to @Acadiau for my BBA and started first job at NBTel as a Product Mgr.
NBTel was the local provincial phone company with a great entrepreneurial spirit. Great basis for my thinking today
Q – #2 What steps/jumps did you take from NBTel to get to be the CMO of @Radian6?
David: My roles at NBTel were a mix of marketing/product/tech and customers which are all my fave things
NBTel also incubated some start ups and I gravitated to them working in two of them, one which eventually IPO’d
It was during this startup experience that I met a number of the team I work with today at @radian6 –
Q – #3 I see. Could you explain what your role is with @Radian6 as the CMO? What kinds of projects are you involved with?
David: Sure, in the beginning I was a department of one but over the last 3.5 years many rockstars have joined the team
We took the approach of using listening to our community and creating content they wanted as a way to build our brand
With an extended marketing/community team of around 15 my role is really one of collaborating on directions to take.
I spend a lot time with customers, members of the community, bloggers etc.. Its relationships that underpin our brand
Q – #4 Now for the “elephant in the room”. It was announced in March that @salesforce is buying @Radian6. How are you affected?
David: Affected only in a great way.Radian6 will be operating as an independent unit. They recognize what a great team we have
They have a tremendous entrepreneurial culture & people I’ve met r great. We are looking forward to gr8 things together
Q – #5 Super! Many people talk about @Radian6 as a very good analytical tool. How is it going to continue to grow?
David: Our recent announcements at #social2011 can give u a flavor. More mobile. More Insights from the data. More integration
Around our Insights platform alone you can now uncover “meaning” in the data gathered, semantic web style
And on integrations social connects to all parts of the enterprise, using the voice of the customer to drive strategy
Q – #6 Good to know! I see that you have a blog – http://communityinstinct.com/, how long have you had it?
David: Ah my blog, kinda embarrassed that it’s so neglected. I generally spend time on Twitter, Linkedin & Facebook
I know to really blog you need to dedicate time to it & the readers there. Someday I keep telling myself :)
I’ve had it/and predecessor Tweetpr for about 3.5 years. I use it mostly for long form thoughts & ideas
Q – #7 Only so many hours in a day right? :) More about you. FAVORITE(S): Restaurant, store, comfort food, recent book & hobby.
David: Indeed :) Hmm, fave store/flyer is @futureshop (Canada’s BestBuy) because of all the electronic toys :)
Fave book of all time is probably The Cluetrain Manifesto for bus books and I like the Dan Brown genre for pleasure
My last remaining hobby is amateur photography http://rad6.ly/hLxBP5 I love to shoot while on the road
Comfort food would be anything my doctor would probably tell me to avoid :)
Q – #8 Fun! I see pics of @MarketingProfs. I have a Twitterview with her in the near future! Any goals for you for this year?
David: @MarketingProfs (Ann) is a great person – you’ll enjoy the Twitterview with her
I’m definitely looking forward to the adventure ahead this year and onward. The acquisition has added fuel to the fire
The social space is still in it’s early days and their is so much as a community we’ll continue to learn together
These are exciting times we all live in. Social is going to have a bigger impact on biz that mass media did.
@JoelECarlson: It certainly seems to be! Thanks for your time and sharing some great comments today @davidalston. Have a great day doing fun work!
David: It’s been fun. Thanks for all the questions. Have a great one as well