EMC, its Communities, and social media

EMC is among the corporate leaders in social media, recently listed as the 16th most "social media savvy" corporation in the US (Microsoft came in at #1). They rose to fame initially through the personal visibility of Dan Schwabel "Personal Branding Expert, Bestselling Author, Speaker, Consultant, Columnist, Publisher and Blogger" who says on his site:

EMC had no idea what I had been doing outside of work, and I didn’t feel that they needed to because I considered it a hobby. EMC public relations had caught wind of the article after receiving a Google Alert notice and sent it directly to a Vice President who was starting a team to manage EMC’s social media program. I received an email the next morning from the VP, and we met. I then met with the head of Public Relations and was ready to interview with him, and I even brought a press kit. I created the first ever social media position at EMC, and at a Fortune 500 company, without ever applying. Instead of pledging to the company like a fraternity, they were coming after me for my talent, thus I was able to make money doing what I loved. I knew at this time that I was onto something big!

In fact Schwabel resigned from EMC in January 2010 to pursue his own fame. Len Devanna is Director of Social Strategy at EMC and recently listed a range of the company's communities. The EMC communities are all under the umbrella of the EMC Community Network which has nearly 100,000 members, and include:

• Developers Network;
• EMC Labs;
• Connect Community, for user groups; and,
• EMC Partner Community.

Nothing unusual for an IT firm to have these communities, but @EMCcorp is very active and also these are only one part of a wider EMC social media strategy (see Len's 2-Year Retro, and below). 

See the EMC YouTube channel and also for example one of their active and very public technologists Stuart Miniman @stu and Polly Pearson, VP Employment Brand and Strategy Engagement on Slideshare.

You'll find a good list of EMCers at Listorious.

What Can Social Media Be For EMC?

In 2008, Jamie Pappas, Manager, Social Media Strategy @ EMC, wrote:

• Platform for collaboration, communication, and culture
• Employee collaboration on a global scale
• Improved productivity and communication between Geo’s and BU’s
• Influencer of purchasing decisions in all markets
• User generated content is most trusted source of information for purchasing
• Think support forums, discussion forums, recommendations, ratings
• Early warning system for negative and positive opportunities
• Who’s saying what about EMC and how do we join the conversation? 
• Barrier to entry from competitive threats
• Converts customers to loyal recommenders of EMC products
• Demonstration of EMC brand in action
• EMC Thought Leadership demonstrated
• EMC bloggers

Benefits realized:

• Stronger connections and awareness of expertise among employees
• Virtualization of employee skills and knowledge
• Empower employees to contribute and innovate
• Knowledge retention and re-use – A corporate memory
• Ability to dynamically create and sustain productive, virtual teams
• Increased employee satisfaction
• Reduced employee support costs – employees support each other
• Coordinated planning and execution against strategic initiatives

Have you experience of EMC's social media efforts and do you think that they are achieving the above benefits?

Have you experienced EMC's competitor's social media efforts and how do they compare?

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